Chapter 259: The Iron Rice Bowl Is a Thing of the Past
Li Tang knew Alice had worked hard during her recent trip, so he didn't ask her to read the whole report aloud. Instead, he took the documents back to his own office.
Once seated, he quietly began reviewing the materials.
Lianying Mining was an unremarkable, small publicly listed company. Since its founding, it had never turned a profit—not even a single revenue-generating transaction.
Its primary asset was the ownership of 3,100 square kilometers of land in the Pilbara region, along with the associated exploration permits.
Beyond that, the document even listed the company's employees as important assets—mainly because it still retained several mining engineers.
In the past, the company had acquired various instruments for magnetic and gravity surveys to support exploration.
The asset list was simple.
Its liabilities were also straightforward—about 5 million AUD in bank debt, due soon.
Its cash flow was nearly dried up, clearly not enough to repay that debt.
It was likely that Lianying Mining's leadership was scrambling behind the scenes to secure emergency funding.
It had to be said: these documents were thorough and gave a complete picture.
On the surface, the company appeared utterly average—nothing to set it apart from countless others.
And yet, who would have guessed that this unremarkable company would hatch a golden egg?
Because in a few years, it would become the world's fourth-largest iron ore producer.
The man who would bring it to life was named Fred.
This now-famous individual had just been ousted from the nickel company he founded—forced out by major shareholders like EagleMag Resources.
If nothing had changed, he was probably relaxing at home in the inner suburbs of Perth right now, not yet even considering a move into iron ore.
Because at the moment, market consensus was nearly universal—iron ore wasn't profitable.
The capital markets' cold shoulder toward iron was the best evidence of that.
Fred's eventual acquisition of Lianying Mining, his bold entrance into the iron ore industry, and his challenge to Lito and BHP's dominance wouldn't happen yet. He was still waiting for a spark—for someone to show him the way.
Someone with true foresight in iron ore would soon give him that nudge, lighting up his path.
And with that, the global iron ore landscape would change forever.
But that wouldn't happen until sometime later.
The founding of the world's fourth-largest iron ore producer would be in 2003—which was still a year away.
Plenty of time remained to prepare.
Li Tang set the report down and leaned back in his chair, eyes on the ceiling, gently rocking.
In his mind, he was weighing the idea: Should he follow in Fred's footsteps?
That would be a bit shameless.
But this was business. Someone always gets lucky and catches the wind just right.
To walk another's path and leave them nowhere to go—that's the nature of the game.
He quickly made up his mind.
But he wasn't feeling smug. Even if he knew where the opportunity lay, it was still unclear whether he had the strength and flexibility to ride the wind all the way up.
After all, this was Australia—not his home turf.
If he tried to copy Fred's strategy step for step, he might face even greater resistance.
At the very least, Mongolia's regulators, media, and general public would never offer him the same level of support.
Because he was an outsider.
To truly walk Fred's path, he would have to make changes.
How to do that?
This plan was too vast, too complex. He couldn't work out every issue or potential direction just yet.
Even with his vision, there was no telling what kind of landscape awaited after altering the course of history.
Perhaps it would be the barrel of a gun—or bullets sparkling in the dark.
"One step at a time," he muttered to himself.
But the seed of entering the iron ore industry had already taken root deep in his heart.
He stood up and went to Alice's office.
She was buried in expense reports from the trip. He pulled up a chair and sat across from her.
Hearing the chair move, Alice looked up. "Finished reading the report?"
"Mostly. I've got a pretty good sense of Lianying Mining's situation."
Li Tang crossed his legs and studied her serious expression. "I've decided. We're going to acquire Lianying Mining."
Alice set her pen down, clearly shocked. "You're really going through with it?"
"Yes," he nodded firmly.
He knew the road ahead would be rough. This was a foreign market, and he was an unknown player.
But as a man, he had to face the thorns and never back down.
Even if the wind ripped him apart, he would go down fighting.
"Why?" Alice asked. Then realizing how vague that was, she clarified: "According to our investigation, Lianying Mining has no ability to make a profit. Apart from a few engineers, the company has basically nothing."
"They own 3,100 square kilometers of land in Pilbara," Li Tang said. That was the true prize.
"But that land is worthless."
Alice had planned to see it with her own eyes but hadn't made it out there. From what others said, the area was mostly desert and wasteland.
Such land in Australia held no value—unless it was in a major city.
"You missed one critical piece of information."
"Sorry, I must have overlooked it."
Alice thought he was criticizing her.
"I'm not blaming you."
Li Tang quickly clarified. "That land, in the Pilbara, is the most important detail. You couldn't get Lianying's geological data, and that's understandable—it's their core trade secret. You know as well as I do: in a junior exploration company, the real asset isn't the land, or what's on it. It's what lies beneath."
In Australia, like most countries, surface and subsurface rights were distinct.
Clearly, Lianying not only owned large tracts of land but also held exploration permits for what lay underground—that was what mattered most.
"I know technical data is everything for you," Alice admitted, frustrated. "I tried to get a detailed technical report, but they weren't easy to convince."
"That's not your fault." Li Tang was understanding.
"But I did manage to speak with some of their staff. They said they did find some iron ore—but the grades weren't great."
She wasn't a technical expert and could only summarize: "They said the ore within their claim has low grade and low quality."
"Yeah," Li Tang nodded.
"If it weren't, they wouldn't be short on investors."
"But they did find ore, didn't they?" Li Tang grinned.
"Yes. But they didn't tell me how much."
Alice looked regretful. She hadn't been able to understand much of the technical jargon either.
"That's okay."
Li Tang smiled, uncrossed his legs, and leaned forward.
"We're buying Lianying Mining to invest in exploration. Trust me—our technical team is better than theirs."
"It's 400 kilometers from the port," Alice pointed out. She was often more grounded than Li Tang. "Even if we invest in exploration, it'll be hard to turn a profit. Unless we discover something on par with Hamersley's iron ore—and even then, we'd need a massive deposit to draw interest."
"We will. Trust me."
Li Tang smiled again.
Somewhere along the line, Alice realized she liked seeing him smile like that—like a boy made of sunshine.
"Alright. I'll put together an acquisition team and start drafting a plan."
She paused, then added, "We have no experience acquiring overseas listed companies. I suggest hiring an international investment bank. I know people at Goldman—they might help us."
"That would be perfect."
Li Tang handed the entire task over to her.
Recruiting Alice had proven to be one of his wisest decisions.
But the company still had a serious talent shortage. There weren't many who could truly shoulder responsibility.
Aside from his expertise in exploration, Li Tang had limited management skills.
Leaving Alice's office, he took a turn and headed to He Runqi's.
This young deputy had no airs. Inside, he was arguing animatedly with a technician over some data, both of them practically spitting in each other's faces from the debate.
"What's going on?" Li Tang asked as he stepped in.
Runqi looked up and shrugged. "We're discussing the geological model of the Shazhai molybdenum deposit. We're thinking about publishing a paper—maybe get our company's name out there a bit."
"Not bad," Li Tang nodded. "I actually came to discuss something with you."
"You guys wait outside for a bit," He Runqi said to the other engineers. "I'll find you later and we'll continue the discussion."
He then turned back to Li Tang and asked, "Is it a new project?"
"Yes." Li Tang nodded. "But this time, it's overseas. You've been there before—Pilbara, Western Australia. Iron ore."
"Doing projects abroad?" He Runqi immediately thought of the town of Karratha and that bar…
He still remembered that balloon-bellied Patrick and the wild pack of scantily clad Playboy Bunnies.
"We're really short on talent—especially people experienced in overseas exploration."
Li Tang checked the date and then said thoughtfully, "We urgently need translators, technical staff familiar with the Australian exploration environment, and professionals who understand their standards. We need to build an elite team."
"Recruitment?"
He Runqi had some experience with hiring, especially earlier in the year. "I can reach out to the professors again, see if they can recommend some top-tier talent—people fluent in foreign languages and with solid technical backgrounds."
"By now, most seniors will have graduated."
"For what you want, we probably need to recruit master's or even PhD students."
"To build a truly elite team, we should definitely focus on high-education candidates—especially those with overseas education," Li Tang agreed. "Look into what salary and benefits other companies in our field are offering. We'll offer more—just enough to be competitive."
"Okay."
To be honest, the thought of hiring PhDs made He Runqi nervous. He didn't speak English and didn't know how to write the technical job specs either.
"If you run into anything, come talk to me anytime."
With that settled, Li Tang left it to him and went over to the finance department.
Lin Xiaoshu had formally transferred her employment to Li Tang Shengshi Holdings. She had no intention of returning to Gaolu, the city in the northwest where she previously worked.
Originally, Xiao Yongyue had arranged for her to work alongside Li Tang in hopes she could use her charm to get close and possibly even marry him.
But by now, she could clearly tell that Li Tang had no interest in her.
Still, when she saw him, she couldn't help but feel shy, her cheeks turning red. "Director Li."
"Things been busy in finance lately?" Li Tang asked casually.
The company had been handling loans, salary distributions, asset accounting, and more—most of it led by Lin Xiaoshu.
They had hired one more person in finance, but it still wasn't enough. When it got busy, it got really busy.
Lin Xiaoshu glanced up and quickly looked back down. She nodded, then shook her head. "It's okay."
"We recently sold 17% of Shazhai Molybdenum. Has the first 50 million been transferred into the company account yet?" he asked.
"It has," she replied succinctly.
"Come with me."
Without waiting for her to respond, Li Tang turned and walked out, heading for the Mining Rights Operations Command Room.
Now that the Talego Copper-Gold mining license had been approved, the command room had fulfilled its initial purpose. Some of the shareholders' liaisons had already returned to their original companies.
But a few still remained—possibly for the long term.
Li Xinqi and Xiaoxi were still here, often passing the time with casual conversation since they had no assigned tasks.
When they saw Li Tang walk in, both stood immediately.
"Xinqi, come to my office," Li Tang said, gesturing.
Then he returned to his office and looked back at the two women. "Have a seat."
Xinqi sat down gracefully, while Lin Xiaoshu was a bit nervous, perched on the edge of the couch, hands gripping her blouse.
"We borrowed a total of 50 million yuan from Huajin Group and Shenxia Group, due in one year. The repayment deadline is coming up, and since we've just received the first payment from the Shazhai sale, we'll use that to repay the loans."
Li Tang kept it simple. "Xiaoshu, you and Xinqi coordinate and complete the repayment. Follow formal procedures."
"Understood," Lin Xiaoshu nodded softly.
"You mentioned wanting to buy Yunding Tower?"
Xinqi hadn't forgotten. "If you repay this now, do you still have enough to buy the building?"
"Probably not," Li Tang shrugged with a helpless smile.
"Will you borrow more?"
Xinqi almost seemed hopeful—if he borrowed more, she'd still be his creditor.
"If you're willing to lend, I'd be thrilled!" Li Tang laughed.
"In that case, I'll talk to my dad. You two can work it out yourselves."
"Perfect."
Li Tang was short on funds, and with Shenxia Group's recent profits, raising another hundred million or two was probably no problem.
Given the strong partnership between their two companies, loans would be easy to arrange.
"I'll head back to the office then, to handle your 50 million repayment first," Xinqi said, getting up. She waved to Lin Xiaoshu, "Come on, sis. Let's go work out the details."
With that handled, Li Tang left the rest to them and waited for the result.
He'd been juggling so many things recently, but now everything was finally falling into place—especially the Talego mining license.
The other shareholders had wanted to throw a celebration, but he had postponed it. He wanted time to rest.
After half a year of nonstop work, even the boss needed a break.
After work, he returned to his home near Yunding Tower. But as he approached his apartment, he noticed the front door was open, and voices could be heard inside.
Curious, he stepped in—and was surprised to see his parents had come to visit.
"Mom? What are you doing here?"
He rushed over and hugged his mother tightly, overwhelmed with happiness.
This was her first time visiting.
Li Zaiqiang stood by the window, looking at the garden below. When he heard Li Tang's voice, he turned and smiled at the touching reunion. "Your mom's on summer break, so I brought her out to see the city."
Tang Chuqiu hadn't seen her son in months. She beamed as she looked him up and down in his sharp suit, clearly proud.
"It's been half a year since New Year's, and you haven't come home once. Now that I've got time off, I thought I'd come check on you."
"I've been waiting for you to visit!"
To Li Tang, there was no greater joy than healthy parents and a loving home.
"She's so happy to be here now," Li Zaiqiang chuckled. "I told her to come earlier, but she refused. I had to book the tickets in advance and say they couldn't be refunded before she finally agreed."
"I didn't want to be a burden," Tang Chuqiu murmured, but now that she'd seen her son, all her doubts had vanished.
"Why don't I run out and buy some groceries?"
Li Tang hadn't been staying here lately, so the fridge was nearly empty.
Since his parents had come all this way, he wanted to treat them well.
Then again, he thought to himself—cooking wouldn't be much fun.
"Let's just go out to eat. It's not every day you visit. Yanjing has tons of great food."
"Let's get roast duck!"
Li Zaiqiang had clearly done his homework. "She's never had it. She was already craving it on the plane."
"Perfect. I'll make a reservation now," Li Tang said, pulling out his phone.
"Li Tang," his mother suddenly said, "Our university's Dean of Academic Affairs—Ms. Liu Zhenfen—you remember her, right? She's here in Yanjing too."
"Aunt Liu?" Li Tang remembered her clearly. She had been a strict, no-nonsense teacher. Hard to forget.
He hadn't seen her in years and couldn't even picture her clearly anymore.
"Her son just graduated and is job hunting here. She came to help him out."
Tang Chuqiu hesitated to trouble her son but said, "She heard you used to work in a state-owned enterprise here. She was hoping you could help her son find a job."
"What did he study?"
For Li Tang, it was no big deal—he could probably get the kid a job with a single phone call. But if he was going to help, he wanted to make sure it was the right fit.
"I'm not sure." Tang Chuqiu felt a little bad asking. "If it's convenient, help if you can. If not, it's okay."
"No problem. Small matter."
Li Tang thought for a moment. "Why don't we invite them to dinner? She's an old colleague of yours, and your supervisor too. We should treat them properly."
"There's no need for formality here," Tang Chuqiu said gently. As a teacher and homeroom instructor, she had always worked diligently without chasing grand ideals, so she never cared for these social graces.
"Let's all have dinner together," Li Tang said, looking at his mother. "Do they have a phone?"
"Yes, Director Liu's family is doing quite well. Of course they have a phone."
Tang Chuqiu pulled out her phone, scrolled through her contacts, and called Liu Zhenfen to arrange dinner at the roast duck restaurant.
Li Tang had never bought a car for himself. He spent most of his time traveling for work, so it never seemed necessary. The company had assigned him a car anyway.
He stopped by the office to pick up the keys, then drove his parents straight to the restaurant.
At the same time, Liu Zhenfen and her son, Deng Chengpeng, arrived at the restaurant's entrance.
Before entering the private room, Liu pulled her son aside and said, "We're meeting an old friend from school today—someone I know well, Tang Chuqiu. Just call her Aunt Tang. Her son also went to university here in Yanjing. Who knows, maybe you've met."
"What's her son's name?" Deng Chengpeng asked, adjusting his glasses.
"I think it's Li Tang?"
"Doesn't ring a bell. We're probably not from the same school. Tons of kids from our hometown came to Yanjing to study—you never really run into each other."
"I've heard Li Tang works at a state-owned enterprise. Your father says he's done something impressive."
As she tidied his collar, Liu Zhenfen added, "During dinner, see if he might help you make a connection. Maybe he can help get you into a state-owned company."
"Mom, I've told you a dozen times—I majored in computer science. State-owned enterprises aren't a good fit."
"All majors are the same. Getting into a state enterprise—that's the real 'iron rice bowl!'"
"Times have changed, Mom. There's no such thing as an 'iron rice bowl' anymore."
"Jobs at state firms are still more stable and relaxed."
"Okay, okay. We'll see how the dinner goes. If something suitable comes up, we'll talk."
"Just be polite."
With that, Liu took her son's arm and led him in. They asked a server and found their way to the private room.
When Li Tang heard the knock, he got up quickly and opened the door. Seeing them, he beamed. "You must be Aunt Liu? Please, come in!"
Li Zaiqiang, now chief engineer at the geological team, had polished his social skills. "And this must be Deng Chengpeng? It's been a while—you've really grown into a fine young man!"
"Come on in, it's just the few of us."
Tang Chuqiu welcomed them warmly.
"So this is Li Tang?"
Liu Zhenfen looked at him, surprised. "I remember you from your school days. It's been years—you've grown up!"
"Please, Aunt Liu, have a seat."
Li Tang turned to Deng Chengpeng and gestured to a chair. "Chengpeng, if I'd known you were also studying in Yanjing, I would've found time to hang out."
"Didn't know, so that's a bit of a pity." Deng was polite.
As soon as they were seated, dishes began arriving—besides roast duck, there were several other local specialties.
Better too much than too little.
Liu and Tang were old colleagues and chatted happily about school gossip, their laughter brightening the room.
Halfway through the meal, Liu set her chopsticks down and looked at Li Tang. "So, where are you working now?"
Li Tang wiped his mouth with a napkin. "I used to work for Wukuang Group."
"That sounds like a great company," Liu said, having no real idea what it was but impressed by the word "group."
"Are they hiring this year?"
"They hire every year," Li Tang nodded. Given his relationship with Wukuang, helping someone get a job wasn't difficult.
He looked at Deng and asked seriously, "What's your major?"
"Computer science. Master's degree," Deng replied briefly.
"Great field," Li Tang said. It had always been in demand, and having a master's made Deng a solid candidate.
"It's okay. Computers are gradually catching on in China," Deng replied.
"Already graduated?" Li Tang asked.
"Sort of. I haven't officially left school yet."
"What kind of job are you looking for?"
"I've been submitting résumés to different companies and doing interviews, but nothing's worked out yet."
Deng gave a wry smile. "I'm not great at interviews. Otherwise, I'd have a job by now. A bunch of my classmates secured offers months ago—foreign firms, joint ventures. But I'm still here. Some companies have shown interest, but they're tiny, or they sell pagers and recorders."
"Not what you're looking for?"
Li Tang understood. With a master's degree, Deng had higher expectations. "What kind of job do you want?"
"I honestly don't know. I'm not sure what suits me."
He was clearly struggling with his transition to working life. Everything felt cold and indifferent.
Everyone says studying is the easiest phase. He now realized that was true.
In school, he could bury himself in textbooks, type away quietly, without worrying about others' opinions.
"Do you really want to join a state-owned enterprise?" Li Tang asked again.
"I don't know. I've heard many don't even have computers. I don't know what I'd do there."
Deng's voice was full of self-doubt.
Li Tang finally understood why Deng's job search hadn't gone well—he didn't lack skills, just confidence.
"Do you know how to set up computers?" he asked.
"Yes."
"What about building websites?"
"I know a bit, but it depends on the scope."
"Our staff all have computers now, but not everyone knows how to use them well. And they often run into problems—so we need someone to guide them."
Li Tang suddenly realized that having an IT professional was essential.
"Besides helping our team with installation and training, I also plan to build a company portal website."
They were hiring across the board, and many of their staff lacked basic computer skills.
The future of exploration and mining was digital and automated.
Improving their IT literacy was critical.
He wasn't sure Deng was ready to take on bigger responsibilities yet, but for basic support, he was more than qualified.
"You're a foreign company?" Deng asked.
"Neither. We're a domestic firm—but we have international projects."
Li Tang smiled. "We're a tech-driven company. And we really need someone like you. If you're interested, give it a try."
This could be a win-win.
"A big company?" Deng asked, unsure.
"That depends how you define 'big.'" Li Tang chuckled.
Deng looked at his mother.
Liu Zhenfen didn't love the idea. "I still think a state-owned enterprise is best. If not, come home. With your degree, you'd get a government job easily."
"But I studied computer science. The only real opportunities are in Yanjing," Deng replied quietly.
"You can try working at our company first," Li Tang said gently. "If you don't like it, I promise—on my honor and for Aunt Liu—I'll help you get into Wukuang or another SOE. Anyone I know, I'll call for you."
He meant it.
Liu Zhenfen was his mom's colleague and superior. Helping them was the right thing to do.
A few well-placed words could spare his mom some trouble at work.
This was life. He had lived once already and knew how the world worked.
Deng was still hesitating, unsure what to do.
He lacked confidence and experience, and didn't know how to choose.
He was just… lost.
"I'll think about it," he said, eyes downcast.
Li Tang understood. He handed over a business card. "Here's my info—our address and my number. You can stop by anytime or just give me a call."
He had already done his best to help.
Li Zaiqiang knew his son's position. That kind of offer wasn't something most people would ever receive.
But Liu and Deng still looked uncertain. They had no idea how valuable Li Tang's promise was.
But you can't explain that kind of thing.
Everyone walks their own path. It depends whether they can grasp the olive branch that fate hands them.
"Let's eat. Job hunting isn't something you sort out in one night."
Li Tang smiled and raised his chopsticks. "You two are both living in Yanjing now—keep in touch."
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