Chapter 204 – First Time a Stranger, Second Time Familiar
They began discussing again.
Especially the people from Jiujiang Copper and Tongdu Nonferrous Group—upon hearing this, they looked quite distressed.
At the beginning, each of them had only invested five million, holding a mere 2% stake. Pathetically small!
Now, seeing what an incredible resource the Tarego Copper-Gold Mine had turned out to be, of course they wanted a bigger share—ideally, even control.
They could only regret: why hadn't they invested more in the beginning?
But there's no medicine for regret. Now that they wanted a bigger slice of the pie, no one else would agree.
Some had already noticed Li Tang's calm expression. Li Xingchao gave a knowing smile and asked, "Li Tang, do you have something in mind?"
"My idea is: for the next phase of project implementation, let's take a loan."
Li Tang didn't want his shares diluted too early.
If he subscribed to new shares in proportion to his existing stake—based on a maximum fundraising of 100 million—he would need to contribute 34 million to maintain his current shareholding.
But in the current situation, he couldn't come up with that kind of money.
So there was only one option: raise the funds through loans.
Hearing this, Li Xingchao nodded and smiled. "With the results Tarego has shown, if you say you're short on funds, the higher-ups will help you sort out the loan."
Niu Fu didn't care what Li Tang's reasoning was for choosing loans—he was the first to express support. "I support Li Tang's decision. Borrowing 50 to 100 million is no big deal."
"I support it too."
Li Xingchao, Cheng Muye, Qian Hao, Luo Qinzhong, and others all raised their hands in agreement.
The third-largest shareholder, Zise Mining, possibly due to the short notice of the meeting, didn't have Chen Jinhe attend personally. Instead, he sent a representative who, apparently following Chen's instructions, also expressed unwavering support for Li Tang's decision.
Feng Sinian and Geng Feiran saw everyone raising their hands. As minor shareholders, they had no real say, so they raised theirs too.
Clearly, Li Tang's proposal had overwhelming support.
"Since everyone agrees, let's start working on the loan arrangements before the New Year," Li Tang said, turning to Niu Fu, Li Xingchao, and others. Smiling, he added, "We'll definitely need your help with the bank loan guarantees and such…"
"Our Wukuang Group can guarantee for Zhongcheng Mining!" Niu Fu didn't even need to think—he accepted the responsibility right away.
With the value of the Tarego mine, was anyone worried Zhongcheng Mining wouldn't be able to pay back a few dozen million?
"Our Shenxia Group can help as well," said Li Xingchao with a warm smile.
"With the support of our shareholders, I feel at ease. Again, thank you all for taking the time to attend this meeting."
Li Tang directly announced the end of the meeting. "If there's nothing else, this shareholder meeting is adjourned!"
"Come on, let's all go to dinner tonight!" Niu Fu took on the role of host and extended the invitation.
After all, apart from Li Tang, Wukuang Group held the largest stake in Zhongcheng Mining.
They were also among the earliest participants in the Tarego project and played a significant role in negotiating the exploration rights.
Wukuang Group invested 30 million for a 17% stake.
Zise Mining also invested 30 million, but only got 12.2%—a notable difference.
This clearly reflected the bond between Li Tang and Wukuang Group.
If it weren't for their long-standing relationship, Li Tang wouldn't have approached Wukuang Group first.
Thanks to this, Wukuang Group gained a head start and greater influence in Zhongcheng Mining.
Anyone with eyes could see that Li Tang and Wukuang Group, together holding 51% of the company, had a controlling interest—clearly pre-arranged.
Moreover, Li Tang held veto power.
This move showed incredible foresight.
Given the value of the Tarego mine, that veto was invaluable!
Everyone craved Li Tang's and Wukuang's shares, but as long as they could get a piece of the pie and a voice in decisions, they were happy.
As the meeting room doors opened, everyone walked out with smiles, chatting enthusiastically.
Clearly, the Tarego Copper-Gold Mine still had them emotionally stirred, with plenty to discuss.
Lu Zhentian, general manager of Jintian Copper, like Feng Sinian and Geng Feiran, had stayed in Yanjing in hopes of speaking privately with Gao Ruisi from Bihebituo again. But just like the others, he was unsuccessful.
These past few days, the three had been sticking together. Today, Feng and Geng were attending the shareholder meeting at Zhongcheng Mining, and since Lu had nothing to do at the hotel, he decided to come along for the excitement.
As an outsider, he wasn't eligible to attend the meeting, so he waited in the lounge area outside.
Through the glass wall, he could see the corporate executives inside—chatting, laughing, and debating, some even giving impassioned speeches.
Unfortunately, the room was soundproof, so none of the conversation reached him.
Bored, he started chatting with some Zhongcheng employees and vaguely learned that the company had made a major breakthrough, though he didn't know the specifics.
He had been at the initial advocacy meeting when Zhongcheng Mining was founded, but didn't invest.
He also knew that Zhongcheng's sole business was the Tarego Copper-Gold Mine in Meng Country.
Could they have made a major discovery?
He was envious of companies like Jiujiang Copper and Tongdu Group that owned mines and could produce their own copper concentrate.
Jintian Copper only operated downstream. They had no upstream industry—a long-standing regret.
Seeing Feng Sinian and the others come out, Lu quickly approached. "What's got you so excited?"
He could feel the excitement in the air.
"Tarego has found a world-class deposit!" Feng Sinian didn't hide it from his old friend.
It wasn't a secret—soon to be public knowledge.
"A world-class deposit?" Lu Zhentian didn't fully grasp the meaning.
Feng patted his shoulder with regret. "Brother, we only invested five million, holding 2% of the shares. I regret it like hell! If we'd had more foresight and invested 50 million, once Tarego starts producing, our smelting plant wouldn't have to worry about sourcing copper concentrate!"
The truth was simple—the larger your stake, the louder your voice.
Once Tarego began mining, shareholders would have priority access to copper concentrate.
Lu still didn't quite understand, but he could sense that Tarego was something extraordinary.
Feng patted him again. "You've got even more to regret. You didn't invest a cent. A few days ago, you were lamenting your company's lack of mining involvement—and now you've missed the golden opportunity. I remember you were at that Mining Association meeting."
"Tell me exactly what's going on!" Lu pulled Feng aside, eager for details.
Feng only had a rough idea, but shared what he knew: "23 million tons of copper reserves…"
As he spoke, Lu's expression became increasingly animated.
In the general manager's office nearby, Niu Fu led the others inside.
"Let me introduce a few friends from Qianzhou Province," he said, pointing to a few people seated in the office.
Han Dexun, Zhou Zhenxing, and the others hadn't expected these national enterprise executives to personally greet them. They quickly stood and smiled warmly.
Even after decades in the workforce, dealing with all kinds of people, facing this many top executives still made them a bit nervous.
It had been a long time since they felt that way.
"Hello," Han Dexun hesitated, then greeted them.
Niu Fu nodded and began the introductions: "You probably don't know—this gentleman here is Li Tang's father, Li Zaiqiang."
"Really?"
"To raise someone like Li Tang, you must be a highly educated, talented man, Brother Li!"
"Only an extraordinary upbringing could produce a talent like Li Tang! Brother Li, come visit our company sometime and give us some guidance!"
"First time a stranger, second time familiar—let's exchange numbers. Call me when you're in Yanjing. If I go to Qianzhou, I'll definitely call you. I'll be bothering you then!"
Smiling, everyone came up to shake Li Zaiqiang's hand.
Hearing he was Li Tang's father, no one dared be careless.
Li Zaiqiang had never been treated with such respect, nor experienced such a scene. He was so nervous his palms were sweating as he shook hands.
Of course, he knew they weren't being respectful because of who he was, or because he worked at the 101 Geological Team of Qianzhou's Geology Bureau, or because he participated in the Tarego project.
It was only because he was Li Tang's father.
That simple.
But it filled him with immense pride.
"This is Director Han Dexun of the Qianzhou Geology Bureau, and this is Team Leader Zhou Zhenxing of the 101 Geological Team," Niu Fu said, respectfully introducing them as well.
The others also greeted them warmly with handshakes.
"Hello, hello…"
Han and Zhou never dreamed that these top executives would personally talk to them.
It had once been hard just to meet one of them.
Now, they were all here at once!
They felt honored and acted cautiously.
They understood why the executives were so friendly.
They weren't naïve enough to think a simple handshake would lead to deep friendships and big projects from these mining giants.
That was unrealistic. The executives were probably just being polite.
Take it seriously, and you've already lost.
But the good news: most of them exchanged contact information with Li Zaiqiang.
That alone was enough.
"Let's go have dinner together!" Niu Fu laughed heartily and officially announced on behalf of Zhongcheng Mining, "Since the Tarego project has achieved such great success, let's take advantage of everyone being here and go out to celebrate!"
Luo Qinzhong slipped off to the Reform Leadership Office to meet with his boss, Lai Xiangrong, and give a quick briefing on today's meeting at Zhongcheng—so his boss wouldn't be clueless over dinner.
Just as he reached the door, he saw Lai Xiangrong, looking disheveled and carrying a big teapot, walk out.
"Director Lai, what happened?" he asked quickly.
After the establishment of the Hua Aluminum Corporation, with Huazhou Aluminum as the core of the new company, Lai Xiangrong had unsurprisingly become the first general manager.
Unexpectedly, instead of staying at Huazhou Aluminum, Luo Qinzhong had been appointed deputy GM of the new corporation, becoming Lai's right-hand man.
Luo still oversaw what he had previously managed at Huazhou.
Lai, walking with his head down, glanced at Luo without much warmth. "Got scolded by Director He all afternoon. In a foul mood."
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