Chapter 245: The Aura of a Big Boss
"Director Chen! What an honor to have you here!" Geng Feiran had been in Yanjing recently, working with He Runqi on the mining license application for the Shazhai Molybdenum Mine, so he arrived early at Yunding Tower. "You didn't attend the last board meeting in person."
Seeing Chen Jinghe arrive, he immediately stood up to greet him with great enthusiasm.
Chen Jinghe smiled warmly. "As soon as I got the call—especially since it was from Li Tang himself, saying there was something important to discuss—I dropped everything, went straight to the airport, and flew here. I didn't want to miss it."
"You didn't just make it—you're earlier than most of the Yanjing locals," Geng Feiran chuckled, guiding him to the lounge and pouring him tea.
"Where's Li Tang? I haven't seen him," Chen asked, puzzled that his old friend hadn't come out to greet him.
"He's in his office. I peeked in earlier—his face was like stone. I have a feeling today's topic is no small matter."
"I came here happy, thinking Li Tang wanted to share the joy of a successful project. The Talego Copper-Gold Mine's results have just made headlines both at home and abroad," Chen said.
"Doesn't look like a celebration," Geng replied.
Just then, more voices came from outside.
Lai Xiangrong from Hualv Group and Cui Mingyuan from Luoyi Molybdenum entered the lounge, led by Alice.
Lai greeted the others with a nod, then sat down and leisurely took a sip of strong tea. "Where's Li Tang?"
"Probably preparing materials in his office," Geng responded.
"He's getting quite the ego," Lai joked. "We came all this way, and he doesn't even come out to say hello. Success has made him proud, huh?"
His tone was light, clearly expecting today's meeting to be a joyful announcement about the mine's success.
The last time he'd worked with Li Tang was on the Yunshang bauxite project. Back then, Li Tang had been a fresh-faced technician.
Now, his status was entirely different.
Before Lai could go on, Cheng Muyang and Niu Fu from Huajin Group arrived, followed by Feng Sinian from Jiujiang Copper as the last to arrive.
The lounge was now filled with prominent figures from China's mining sector—people whose influence could rattle the country's economy with a single decision.
Each person who entered asked the same question: "Where's Li Tang?"
They were puzzled that he hadn't greeted them personally.
But everyone was in a good mood, aware that Zhongcheng Mining had recently made another major breakthrough.
The atmosphere remained cheerful.
Finally, Li Xingchao arrived with his daughter Li Xinqi and her assistant Xiaoxi, just in time.
"Xinqi!" Cheng Muyang, who was close with the Li family and knew her well, waved her over. "Come sit with Uncle Cheng."
"Hello, Director Cheng," she said politely before sitting next to her father.
"How's it going?" Cheng asked Li Xingchao quietly.
"What do you mean?" he asked back.
"Your daughter, of course!"
"Today's youth treat love like lazy donkeys—if the parents don't crack the whip, they won't budge," he grumbled.
He had vented this same complaint to Cheng over drinks many times before.
"You only get one chance at the best match. And honestly, you won't find a better son-in-law than Li Tang. If I had a daughter, I'd be trying to match her with him too," Cheng chuckled, glancing at Xinqi.
"She's here, isn't she?" Li Xingchao said, doing his part to create opportunities. The rest would be up to fate.
Ten minutes before the scheduled start time, Li Tang finally emerged from his office and entered the conference room. "It's almost time. Will all shareholders please move to the meeting room."
With that, he led the way and sat at the head of the table.
The other execs finally saw him, but the more observant among them immediately sensed something.
"Li Tang doesn't look right today."
"Did something happen at Zhongcheng Mining?"
"Did someone provoke him?"
"Let's go. We'll see what he says once the meeting starts."
They filed into the room.
These were all seasoned professionals—people who had fought their way through the business battlefield.
They understood the unspoken hierarchy of the meeting room.
"Director Chen, please take a front seat."
"No, Director Cheng and Director Li should sit up front."
There was a brief moment of polite shuffling before everyone settled down without fuss.
Everyone was smiling—except Li Tang, who sat at the head of the table, face like ice.
Such a cold expression was rare for him.
The moment everyone took their seats, the smiles faded.
They felt his mood—cold, heavy, serious—and it infected the room.
The once-warm meeting room instantly froze over.
Sitting behind her father, Li Xinqi looked at Li Tang in surprise.
She hadn't expected him to project such presence.
Perhaps this was what her father had meant when he once praised Li Tang's aura.
Everyone stared quietly at Li Tang, as if he were the source of gravity in the room.
"I've gathered everyone here on short notice because something urgent has come up that we must discuss."
Li Tang knew how serious the situation was, which was why he couldn't bring himself to smile. "Since we began exploring the Talego Copper-Gold Mine last year, we've made outstanding progress."
No one knew why he looked so grim. But they could all feel the weight of his mood.
As he spoke, the room fell completely silent.
"Exploration is complete, and I'm sure you've all seen the reports we've sent back," Li Tang continued. "So far, we've confirmed 31 million tons of copper reserves, 1,300 tons of gold, and 7,500 tons of silver. This is an unprecedented discovery."
This was a massive achievement—enough to merit a nationwide celebration.
Yet Li Tang's tone was heavy, not joyful.
The shareholders glanced at each other. A few raised their hands slightly, as if to clap—but couldn't bring themselves to do it.
"Is there something shady about the discovery?" someone asked carefully.
"If there was an error in the technical data, we could fix that. As long as it's not fraud, we can manage," another added.
"Was there a problem with the funding?"
"Let's not speculate. Li Tang, what's the issue?"
Everyone knew—this wasn't going to be simple.
"The data is solid. The finances have been managed by Deputy Director Ren Qinqin of Wukuang Group. She regularly sends reports to all shareholders. Every expenditure is clear. There's no problem."
Li Tang got straight to the point. "I've called you all here because of the mining license."
"The license?" several people asked, confused.
"I know a bit about this," Niu Fu said. He had been in contact with Qin Jianshe and had the latest updates. "After finishing exploration, they hired top technical teams and submitted the mining license application to Mongolian authorities."
"That's a good thing," said Li Xingchao, unaware of the issue. "Li Tang's planning is always ahead of the curve."
"It's something to be commended," Niu Fu agreed. "Getting the license early helps us plan our next steps."
"We ran into problems with the application," Li Tang said without sugarcoating anything. "Our documents were fully prepared. But the Ministry of Mineral and Petroleum rejected them three times. I felt something was wrong, so I went to speak with Minister Bayar directly."
"Was there something wrong with the documents?" someone asked.
"No," Li Tang said firmly. "What I learned from Bayar is that the Mongolian leadership doesn't want Zhongcheng Mining to hold 100% of the Talego Copper-Gold Mine rights."
"They don't want us to have full control? What does that mean?"
"They want to bring in Western capital to participate in the project," Li Tang explained bluntly.
The room fell silent.
In other words, without meeting their demands, the project would receive no support from the regulators.
Now everyone understood why Li Tang looked so grim.
"They want us to sell the entire project? Or just part of it?" asked Niu Fu, his face like thunder.
"Seems like their appetite is big," Li Tang said. He hadn't gotten to specifics with them yet.
"But Mongolian law allows foreign ownership of mining rights. They have no right to demand this!" someone shouted in protest.
"Bayar told me directly that if we insist on holding all the rights, the parliament will likely block the license approval," Li Tang added.
"They're threatening us! This is clearly a violation of our legal rights!"
"They probably saw how valuable this mine is and got greedy."
"Mongolia does require parliamentary approval for strategic resources. They're technically within the rules."
"But we acquired the rights legally. We're in the right."
"Still, if we lose their political support, any future votes will be hard to win."
The room buzzed with tension.
It was clear—this was a battle over interests.
Mongolia felt China had taken too large a piece and wanted some back.
And not just a small share—they might want the whole thing.
"Mongolia claims it wants a free market—but clearly, they're not playing fair."
"They want Western capital involved?"
"Sounds like outside forces are meddling. Could it be BHP?"
"Some Western companies only care about money. No morals."
As suspicions grew, everyone began to see the larger picture.
Bayar's sudden change of heart had to have been influenced by foreign capital.
After a pause, Niu Fu turned to Li Tang. "What's your stance?"
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