Chapter 256
Chapter 256: How Many Surprises Are You Hiding?
Du An Rao’s answer was both surprising and reasonable.
In fact, after she cut open that rough stone that day, Du An Rao had rushed off, full of excitement, to find Du De Sheng.
She used that rough stone, which had produced two top grade raw stones, as an example, and believed that, with her silver tongue, she had managed to convince Du De Sheng that she had spent a huge amount of money to bid on the two plots of land in the Northern Outskirts of the South District because she had done finger-counting divination and figured out that a gold mine was buried under the wasteland in the Northern Suburbs.
After listening to her explanation, Du De Sheng cooperated by showing a shocked face, then asked the same question Xi Jing Yue had just asked.
At that time, Du An Rao had been more inclined to sell the land. After all, even though she had the land use rights, she did not have the right to mine gold. Even if a gold mine lay under the land she bought, it would be useless if she could not dig it up. She might as well sell it to developers who did have mining rights.
After hearing her plan, Du De Sheng was silent for quite a while, then told her something a bit awkward. Mines were natural resources. Once they were discovered, they had to be handed over. You could not buy and sell them privately.
Du An Rao: “???” There was such a rule? Didn’t that mean the money she spent buying the land had all gone down the drain?
Du De Sheng: “……Not exactly. When the time comes, you can contribute the land as shares. You may not earn your money back in the short term, but at least you can get your name written down in the right place. In the future, you’ll get some small special treatment when you do things.”
Du An Rao did not think as far ahead as Du De Sheng, but she trusted her elder’s judgement. That night, after listening to his analysis, she calmed down. She just waited for the gold mine under that land to be found so she could bring the related documents and hand it over.
After hearing how it all happened, Xi Jing Yue was surprised, but at the same time he quickly made a decision in his heart.
“Looks like I’ll have to go in with you and see Elder Du again.”
Du An Rao froze for a moment. Thinking of how her granduncle disliked the man in front of her, she could not help asking: “Do you have something important you need to discuss with him?”
[If not, maybe we shouldn’t go? I don’t know why, but my granduncle really dislikes you right now. If you go in again, he’ll probably give you a cold face. Why bother?]
Xi Jing Yue: “……It’s fine. My skin is thick. I’m used to it.”
“You just said my information network was good, right? Do you know why my information is so good?”
“Why?”
“Because my family already has the right to mine gold, so we pay extra attention to this kind of news. That’s what you call a perfect match in our field.”
Du An Rao: “???” She might not be in school, but she had read plenty of books. That was not how you used that phrase, right?!
“Wait, what did you just say?”
“A perfect match in our field?”
“The sentence before that…”
“My family has gold mining rights.”
“And what does your family not have?”
[First it’s hospitals, then jewelry, then land development, and now gold mining rights… How many surprises are you still hiding from me? Mr. Xi, are you Doraemon or something? Can you pull anything I need out of your pocket as long as I shout?]
“Sorry, my family assets are a bit much. Sometimes I also forget how many businesses I still need to inspect and manage.”
Du An Rao: “……” What kind of brag was this, so smug it made people choke? She suddenly understood a bit more why Granduncle disliked Mr. Xi so much. This man really knew how to act.
Xi Jing Yue: “……I’m not, I don’t, don’t talk nonsense!”
“Then, Mr. Xi, you’re going to see my granduncle this time because…”
“Since you want to transfer it and my family just happens to already have mining rights, you can mention it when you hand the land over. Ask them to give the mining quota to me.”
Du An Rao did not understand all the twists and turns in this, but she was very shocked: “You can do that?”
Xi Jing Yue could not help laughing: “You’re already handing the land over. Making this request isn’t too much. After all, after they take the gold mine, they can’t just leave it there as decoration. They have to mine it for it to have value. To them, it’s all the same who digs it up. They might as well give you this favor.”
“Is that so?” Du An Rao rubbed her chin, deep in thought.
Her first reason for buying this land had been that she didn’t want it to fall into the hands of some people with bad intentions, which would make them stronger and help them cause trouble for her.
But according to what Du De Sheng had said, now that a gold mine had been found, the land had to be handed over. In the end, it might circle back to that person’s hands anyway. Then all that trouble she went through would be for nothing.
But if she directly named Xi Jing Yue to be in charge of this gold mine…
“That works too. I only managed to buy this land thanks to Mr. Xi’s help, anyway. Since Mr. Xi’s family has gold mining rights, I’ll try to bring it up when the time comes. I just can’t promise it’ll work.”
“That’s enough. My family has a lot of experience in this area. There aren’t many people who can compete with us on this. A few words from you will be enough to widen that advantage and let us get the upper hand.”
“That’s good then.”
[Anyway, it’s all the same who gets it, as long as it doesn’t go to those people who are eyeing my granduncle’s property. Giving it to Mr. Xi is at least keeping the good stuff in the family.]
Xi Jing Yue froze for a moment, then felt helpless yet amused.
So, in this little girl’s eyes, he was already not an outsider?
Luckily, Du De Sheng and the others could only hear what was in Du An Rao’s heart and not Xi Jing Yue’s inner voice. Otherwise, they might be so angry they would call the police on him in the middle of the night.
But even without knowing what he was thinking, Du De Sheng’s attitude toward him was not much better.
After learning why he had followed Du An Rao inside, Du De Sheng became so angry that he laughed and scolded without holding back: “Are you a dog? You smell a bit of meat and come running over. I’ve lived for so many years and I’ve never seen someone as shameless as you!”
“First you took the Lakeside Parcel in the Southern District to develop, and now you even want the gold mine. Aren’t you afraid you’ll choke yourself to death from eating too much?”
“The mining profits will be split with An An, half and half.”
Du De Sheng choked for a moment, then became even more angry: “Stop using these sweet words on me. She’s not short of money!”
“I know she’s not short of money, but no one hates having more. Besides, if she can lie down and collect money without taking any risks, I think that’s also what you want for her.”
Du De Sheng narrowed his eyes, and some coldness leaked out between his brows.
This was why he rejected the person in front of him from the bottom of his heart. His little granddaughter might be clever, but when she met this kind of cunning guy whose mind had eight hundred little schemes and not a single drop of water would stay in it, she would probably be eaten down to the bones the moment they met.
Du De Sheng stared at Xi Jing Yue for a long time. He saw that the young man’s face did not change at all and he did not flinch, which instead made Du De Sheng look like he was the one pushing too hard and bullying a junior.
He snorted and said coldly: “Don’t blame me for not warning you, kid. Plenty of people are eyeing this gold mine. You already stood out enough when you took that land in the South District. If you really take this gold mine too, you’ll become everyone’s target.”
“Isn’t there still you?”
Du De Sheng: “???”
Xi Jing Yue smiled, looking harmless: “With you here, I believe no one will dare to touch me easily. You won’t let me down, right?”