Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 901: Chapter 897: Repairing the Main Road Openly, Secretly Taking the Hidden Path

Gu Xu and his team moved quickly, investing three hundred million under the name of Diecuiyuan in the Changhua local government. They opened up mountains and built roads, planted fruit trees, and dug ponds to draw fresh water. The government, intoxicated by Gu Xu’s charms, naively believed that they truly intended to build a rural leisure villa in the mountain range, and almost without further consideration, they swiftly agreed to their requests and contracted the vast expanse of abandoned hills and fields encompassing the Chicken Blood Stone mine to Gu Xu and his team.

Little did they know, Gu Xu’s strategy was just an open play, hiding his real intentions. As soon as he learned that the abandoned iron mine was unmanaged, he thought of deceiving everyone with this covert operation, which would neither arouse the local government’s suspicion nor prevent him from legitimately acquiring usage rights to the mountain.

The thirty-year leasing fee was fifty million, indeed not inexpensive. Previously, that abandoned mine just lay idle, and now, with a lease contract signed, the local government could immediately receive a fifty million leasing fee. Such a favorable deal was naturally most welcome by the government, enhancing their achievements and providing more welfare to those under their charge.

So when Gu Xu submitted the application to the Changhua local government, the responsible officials signed it without hesitation, their efficiency astonishingly fast, surprising even Huo Sining, who had long grown accustomed to the various difficulties posed by bureaucratic staff.

The Changhua government did not know that the ultimate goal of Huo Sining and her team investing in an abandoned mine was the Chicken Blood Stone mine in that cave; they were still in a dreamlike state when signing the contract.

Several staff members responsible for this project believed that Gu Xu and his team had money to burn, building an agritourism resort on an abandoned mine; who would possibly stay in such a place? They feared that the three hundred million investment wouldn’t even cover half the costs.

However, naturally, no one dared to voice such thoughts aloud; no one wanted to stick their neck out, and as long as the government could get the money, the life or death of the investors was of no concern to them.

In less than a week, the team sent by Gu Xu was completely ready.

From gambling on stones in Changhua in July to stepping into the Yuyan Mountain Range once again, only about three months had passed, yet Huo Sining’s state of mind was entirely different.

That day, when she and Zhong Zifan encountered danger within these mountains, they nearly died in this mine. Now, stepping back into that cave and seeing the obvious scratch marks on the walls, Huo Sining felt a bit dazed.

Those marks were left by her and Zhong Zifan the last time they were in the cave searching for a way out. Surviving through death, standing once more in this abandoned iron mine’s cave, she still felt uneasy but more so excited and tense because she was well aware that the time for unveiling the enormous Dahongpao Chicken Blood Mine had arrived.

Several hundred meters away from the cave, a foundation was being laid to build a summer resort. Under such smoke and mirrors, Huo Sining, Gu Xu, and Ouyang Jun’s group acted secretly in this cave, almost as if no one was the wiser.

Among this group were Gu Xu’s three childhood friends, three rock experts, and a dozen excavation workers.

Given the confidentiality of the matter, the rock experts were individuals Qin Tian had requested from Qin Lianshan, while the excavation workers were all retired military personnel, with clean backgrounds, most of whom had previously worked under Gu Xu.

Led by Huo Sining, the group arrived at the site of the Chicken Blood Stone mine. Upon seeing the tightly concealed Wutiek Iron Ore on the mountain wall, the rock experts were particularly puzzled; from any perspective, there was no indication of a Chicken Blood Stone mine here.

Huo Sining clearly noticed the intent in the experts’ eyes. She gestured to a mining worker, who promptly stepped forward.

”Master, could you please chisel into here? You don’t need to apply too much force, just enough to break open these Wutiek Iron Ores to reveal the rocks inside,” Huo Sining explained, and the worker immediately understood, following her instructions to take a few swings with his pickaxe.

”Wait, wait!”

After only a few swings, a sharp-eyed senior rock expert shouted to stop the worker’s actions, his expression filled with excitement as he bent down to pick up a fragment, half of which was Wutiek Iron, the other half rock, trembling in his hands.

”This is...”

The other two rock experts also noticed the old expert’s actions. They froze at the sight of the exposed surface of the stone, and soon, they too reacted, their expressions filled with a fervent zeal.

Meanwhile, Ouyang Jun and the rest looked thoroughly confused, unable to fathom why the experts were so agitated over what seemed like just a piece of waste iron ore. It was utterly baffling.

Though unfamiliar with rocks, Huo Sining could guess at something. Presumably, these veteran experts had discovered certain peculiarities on the stone that excited them so.

While everyone stood bewildered, the three experts, upon encountering something that piqued their interest, became so absorbed that they completely forgot about their task, leaving the others aside.

Huo Sining shrugged helplessly at Gu Xu, and after who knew how long, the first expert to discover the stone instructed the workmen:

”Come over and chisel open this entire section of the cave wall. Remember not to damage the internal rock layer, just like before, merely cleave the Wutiek Iron open.”

The workers all turned to Gu Xu for confirmation, adhering strictly to his instructions. Seeing Gu Xu nod in agreement, they swiftly grabbed their pickaxes and started chiseling.

As these workers progressed, Huo Sining curiously asked the old expert, ”Teacher Zhu, what’s special about this iron ore?”

The old expert surnamed Zhu’s eyes flickered with pride, but realizing that Huo Sining was the one who discovered this vein, he quickly adjusted his bearing and earnestly explained:

”Miss Huo, this is no ordinary ore. You only saw the front part as Wutiek Iron, but failed to notice that its reverse side is even more valuable! Can you see this surface here? These rock fissures are arranged very regularly. If I’m not mistaken, this is a classic weathering zone!”

Weathering zone?

Huo Sining was taken aback. She might not be familiar with Chicken Blood Stone, but she did know other stones, such as Jadeite Raw Stone, which was her specialty, played to perfection.

The term ”weathering zone” had appeared in her studies on jadeite, and because she was very interested in jadeite at the time, she had delved deeply into that knowledge, making ”weathering zone” a term not unfamiliar to her.