Chapter 187: He's in Charge?
"Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?" Zhou Zhenxing asked, glancing at Li Zaiqiang with a touch of reproach.
Li Zaiqiang looked equally bewildered, turning to Li Tang and repeating Zhou's question: "Yeah, why didn't you say anything?"
"This only got finalized recently," Li Tang said as he wiped his mouth with a napkin, speaking calmly. "To avoid any conflict of interest and to prevent gossip, I originally hadn't planned on involving you in the project. But President Qin and the rest of the team felt that your expertise in porphyry deposits was nationally recognized. To make the project more foolproof, they suggested bringing you on."
Seeing that no one seemed to believe him, he simply pointed at Qin Jianshe, pushing the blame onto him with a smile. "Honestly, even I didn't know you were coming today — President Qin reached out to you without telling me."
"This project really involves hundreds of millions?" Li Zaiqiang asked hesitantly.
"The total investment might exceed 200 million," Li Tang admitted frankly to his father. "Just to acquire the exploration rights, we've already spent 70 million. Most of that funding came from major state-owned enterprises."
"Well then, leaders," Qin Jianshe chuckled, "with such strong backing from top-tier companies, you can focus on the exploration without worrying about funding."
At those words, Han Dexun and Zhou Zhenxing exchanged glances, their hands clenched into fists under the table. They could barely contain the surge of excitement.
They hadn't held out much hope. After all, the last time they came to Wukuang Group to pitch a project, they were left waiting in a hotel room for a week with no results. That experience had left a scar.
It had made them deeply skeptical that Wukuang would ever hand them a large-scale project.
Now, judging from what Li Tang and Qin Jianshe were saying — the project was already internally designated to them.
Practically a done deal.
A project with an investment of over 200 million — that was monumental!
Han Dexun, trying to rein in his excitement, asked with a slightly trembling voice, "So if the project isn't led by Director Niu of Wukuang, who's calling the shots?"
"We've established a new company — Zhongcheng Mining. Li Tang is the general manager and the project's chief executive," Qin replied.
Though Qin was Li Zaiqiang's old classmate, he now technically worked under Li Tang's leadership — yet showed no signs of discomfort or wounded pride.
If someone couldn't handle this kind of dynamic, they'd have no place in a professional environment after twenty years in the field.
The workplace is like a battlefield: adapt or perish.
"So… you're saying, this project — he's the one in charge?" Zhou asked, pointing at Li Tang in astonishment.
Qin nodded. "Major decisions still go through the board, of course. But daily operations and strategic calls? That's all up to Li Tang."
"We're all supporting him," added Ren Qingqing with a smile. "Our job is to assist."
"This is just…" Han Dexun was momentarily at a loss for words.
He turned to look at Zhou Zhenxing, who was also wide-eyed, mouth slightly open, speechless.
Li Zaiqiang had never imagined that his son could accomplish something so extraordinary.
It felt unreal. He stared at Li Tang, seeing a dazzling aura around him — almost too bright to look at.
It didn't seem real.
But as Li Tang poured tea into his father's cup, a simple, everyday gesture, it hit Li Zaiqiang all at once — this was real.
There was no pretense about Li Tang, no airs of superiority, no detachment from the world.
Instead, there was a sense of groundedness, and a maturity far beyond his years.
"Why are you staring at me like that?" Li Tang asked, thinking he had food on his face.
"You were running a project in Tibet — how did you end up forming a company with multiple state-owned enterprises?" Li Zaiqiang asked, feeling like Li Tang's path had taken several sharp turns, lacking focus.
"The Gongcun copper-gold project is still ongoing. We've already figured out the right approach and exploration direction, so I don't need to supervise it daily. The real issue is funding — we had to slow the pace, pulled out most of the drill rigs, and left only a few in key areas."
Li Tang gave a simple explanation. "But the Taluge project is more urgent. If we didn't act quickly to secure the license, someone else would've grabbed it. A while back, the Mining Association held a meeting in Yanjing for major companies. I pitched an idea there, and surprisingly, they were all on board and willing to invest. The early stages have gone smoothly."
"Isn't this a lot to take on?" Li Zaiqiang had been dismissive earlier about his son's sunburn, thinking it was just part of being a man.
But now that he thought about it — managing his own project while also being accountable to major enterprises — that was a heavy burden.
If it were him, he doubted he could handle it even for a day. The stress would be paralyzing. How would one even start? Every night would be filled with sleepless anxiety, terrified of failing the people who had invested so much.
But Li Tang appeared relaxed. "Not really. I'm doing what I love, and that makes it all enjoyable."
Seeing everyone had mostly finished eating, Qin suggested, "Shall we head to the office to talk? Chief Engineer Zhang Tao from the China Geological Survey should be arriving. We can review the project data and discuss next steps."
"Sounds good," Han Dexun nodded.
As he stood up, he whispered to the office manager in charge of expenses, "Go settle the bill."
Qin overheard and laughed. "Director Han, you come all the way to Yanjing and end up paying for lunch? That's not right!"
"You're giving us a huge project — this is the least we can do."
"The bill's already taken care of," Qin smiled. "If I visit Guizhou, don't expect me to be this polite."
"You're welcome anytime!" Han replied with a hearty laugh.
…
The restaurant was close to Yunding Tower. A short ten-minute drive and they arrived.
Han Dexun, Zhou Zhenxing, and the others entered the new office space with curiosity and excitement.
"I thought we'd be meeting at Wukuang Group's building. Didn't expect a dedicated office."
"This building is brand-new. The renovation is clean and bright — very comfortable."
"Zhenguan Exploration Company, Zhongcheng Mining, Li Tang Shengshi Holdings… hey, why does this one have Li Tang's name on it?"
The moment they stepped out of the elevator, their eyes were drawn to the nameplates on the wall.
Seeing "Li Tang" prominently displayed, they were stunned.
"Pretty bold name for a company," someone chuckled.
Qin explained, "This half-floor belongs to Li Tang. To support the Taluge project, he provided the office space free of charge — it's now the project HQ."
"This is your floor?" Zhou looked at Li Tang in disbelief.
"Not mine, exactly," Li Tang quickly clarified. "Just half a floor — my startup base. Bought it with a loan, and the payments are steep."
Inside the office, Zhang Tao from the China Geological Survey was already there with a few team members, flipping through project documents.
Seeing Qin and his group arrive, he quickly stood up to greet them.
After brief introductions, everyone became acquainted.
Zhang even shook hands with Li Zaiqiang for a long time. "We've got a bond from our time working together in Tibet."
"Yes," Li Zaiqiang replied warmly. "When we first went to develop Qulong in Tibet, we met Chief Engineer Zhang in the nearby town. The Survey Bureau gave us tremendous support — experience with high-altitude work, basic geology, and more. Honestly, our success at Qulong was only possible because we stood on the shoulders of giants."
Zhang looked regretful. "At first, we were searching for epithermal deposits — so we misjudged the direction. We even identified the surface mineralization at Qulong, but the ore characteristics were so different from what we were looking for that we didn't pursue it further. Your bureau saw right through it from the start."
Talking about old times, it was clear Zhang still felt the sting of missing Qulong.
"Your contributions still made a difference," Li Zaiqiang reassured him.
"Speaking of Qulong, let's dive right into the Taluge project," Zhang said, smoothly transitioning into work mode. "This site had known mineralization since the 1970s. From 1997 onward, BHP Tuo did some work. What we have here is the result of that."
He had read the materials multiple times and even prepared a preliminary exploration plan.
Zhou and Li Zaiqiang quickly entered work mode, flipping through the translated documents.
"The surface geology is thorough — good insight into mineral rocks and ore genesis," Li Zaiqiang said after a detailed read. "You have to admit, the foreign team was meticulous. They did almost everything by the book."
"That's the problem," Zhang replied. "Even after several years of detailed work, they didn't get great results. Which means this is a real challenge for us."
He hadn't felt relaxed upon seeing all this prior work — quite the opposite.
If they worked for years and found nothing, was there really anything left to discover?
If they were going to succeed, they'd need new methods and new technologies.
That was no small challenge.
"Right," said Li Zaiqiang, glancing at his silent son. "If they've already done so much and still handed off the rights, what gives you the confidence to pour such heavy investment into this?"
"Do you have secret data?" Zhang asked, eyes fixed on Li Tang.
They all knew now — Li Tang was the initiator of the project.
Without him, this wouldn't be happening.
And they couldn't figure out what he saw that others didn't.
All eyes turned to him. Li Tang sat up straight and replied, "I believe in this project for two reasons. First, the area is huge — over 230 square kilometers — but only 23 drill holes have been made. The density is extremely sparse. There's still enormous untapped potential. Second, I believe the veterans at the Guizhou Bureau may have noticed this — in the two holes where BHP Tuo hit ore, the core samples mainly contained bornite…"
"Bornite?" Li Zaiqiang interrupted, clearly having noticed the same. "That means the drilling only reached the upper oxidized portion of the porphyry body. They didn't hit the deeper primary sulfide zone!"
Li Tang wasn't surprised — when it came to technical matters, he trusted his father implicitly.
Since his father had said it, he didn't need to go further.
Zhang suddenly had a moment of clarity. "So those two mineralized holes — they never actually reached the main ore body?"
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