50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 352 Year-End Industry Inspection
Once the request from above was made, he understood why they hadn't taken his 800 million.

The country does lack foreign exchange, but it does not lack small amounts of money.

For a country, $800 million is really a small amount of money. When we came here to build a liaison office, the government allocated $800 million.

Compared to those two key islands, this 800 million is a reasonable reward.

Of course, he was almost certain that there was more to the game behind it.

Those who sided with him and those who opposed him must have clashed many times before finally reaching this compromise.

Otherwise, it wouldn't have taken several months to get a reply.

His background, his past achievements, and his family in China are all factors that contributed to his success in this round.

Although he didn't know the details, he could imagine the complex logic behind it.

Regardless, he is now the ultimate beneficiary, but he will also become the target of others' attention in the future.

At this crucial juncture when the focus on economic development is about to begin, he himself has likely become a pilot figure, and many will be watching his subsequent actions.

His future actions will also become a bargaining chip in the next confrontation between the two sides.

"It seems my old boss trusts me a lot," Sun Zhiwei said with a wry smile.

Old Han was considered a high-ranking official, so he had anticipated this outcome. He was still a little surprised when he heard Sun Zhiwei's words.

"It's good that you can see this. We've all placed our bets on you, so don't embarrass the old leader."

"Director, don't you know me? My biggest worry right now is the security of my information at home."

“The CIA and KGB both have people in my home. The more famous I become, the more dangerous it is for me. Jiajia, could you please pass on a message to Director Xu and ask him to take care of me?”

"You don't need to tell me that, otherwise, do you think it's so easy for your spouse to get that position?"

"Don't you even think about how many merits you made before you were promoted to principal?"

"Your spouse doesn't have that many achievements to speak of. You can figure out the reasons why they were promoted yourself."

After Lao Han's explanation, Sun Zhiwei immediately understood. He had already come under the watchful eyes of those in power, and many favors had been given to his family without them even realizing it.

"I understand. Thank you, Director, and thank you to my family as well."

It seems that there's no need to worry about the future of Sun Hongying and Sun Aiguo, as long as they don't make any mistakes.

"Do I need to handle the construction of those two islands?"

"No need, the higher-ups will send someone to handle it. Just know that this is happening, and don't let it slip when you talk about it in the future."

"Oh right, there are a few more commission agreements that need to be signed. Only with these can the construction team legally go to the island to carry out construction."

As he spoke, Old Han took out several agency agreements from his drawer.

Sun Zhiwei took it and glanced at it; it was an agreement to commission a construction company to build an island.

He signed his name without a second thought, considering the two islands as something he had no use for; it would be better to give them to the country.

Compared to what he got, the two small islands were nothing.

From now on, he is a domestically certified "red-hat merchant" (a businessman with connections to the government), but he is a secret "red-hat merchant," unlike the Huo family.

After leaving the liaison office, Sun Zhiwei returned home.

The following afternoon, he appeared at the newly opened coffee shop right on time.

Then, he spent three days resolving the authentication business that had accumulated over the past two months, and happily collected $50 in authentication fees.

Before he had even stayed for a full week, he embarked on a new journey. At the end of December, Sun Zhiwei began a new round of industry inspections.

First stop: a farm in Maryland.

The farm is doing very well now. All the original farm employees have settled down on the farm, and the scale of the breeding farm has also been expanded.

The finance department reported on this year's income and expenditure. There were two harvests this year, one of wheat and one of soybeans, all of which were sold to grain merchants.

The total income is $15, and the Department of Agriculture's subsidy, expected to be $5, will be distributed next spring.

The newly opened farm this year earned $2, which just covered the farm's expenses for the year.

Sun Zhiwei was overjoyed to learn that he could earn a net income of $20 from the farm this year.

To celebrate the harvest, he gave each worker a year-end bonus and each of their children a Christmas gift.

Nobody dislikes a boss as good as him.

After confirming that there was nothing to worry about here, he stayed for only one day before heading straight to California.

This time, mine manager Brian Clark personally greeted Sun Zhiwei at San Francisco Airport.

After arriving at the mine, he learned in detail about the changes that had taken place there over the past few months.

The biggest change was that the production department expanded due to the addition of a new ore vein, increasing the number of workers to 360.

Secondly, the previously ineffective safety department has been strengthened, and safety matters at the mine are now under comprehensive management. It is believed that the occurrence of underground accidents will be significantly reduced in the future.

After eliminating several of Baron Bailey's staunch henchmen, the security team added a new squad.

The expanded security team also broadened its patrol area, taking over the management of the area surrounding the mine.

Zorn from the technical department has figured out the scale and grade of the new ore vein. In comparison, the new ore vein is three times the size of the original old ore vein.

After standardization of management, the old mining area has increased its monthly output by 20%, now reaching 6000 ounces per month.

The new ore vein began trial production a few months ago, and the monthly output is gradually increasing.

Gold production is expected to peak at 12000 ounces per month by the middle of next year.

Finally, the finance department summarized the amount of gold harvested from both the old and new mining areas over the past few months.

November: 5000+1000 ounces
November: 6000+3000 ounces
November: 6000+5000 ounces
November: 6000+7000 ounces
December: 5000+8000 ounces (not yet full moon)

Currently, the mine's vault holds 52000 ounces of gold, all of which have been cast into 130 standard 400-ounce gold bars.

"Chairman, I think we have too much gold stored in our mine, and we need to deposit it in a bank as soon as possible."

After explaining the revenue figures, the finance manager, Cooper, began to offer suggestions.

"Otherwise, our mine will soon become the next target of robbers."

Indeed, the 130 gold bars, weighing 52000 ounces of gold, are worth more than $650 million at current international gold prices.

If this news were to leak, it would be enough to provoke a desperate attack by ruthless robbers.

"Okay, I'll go to the bank and rent a safe today."

"Starting next month, the gold smelted each month will be escorted by the security team and stored in a bank safe deposit box."

“Understood, Chairman.” Mine Manager Clark, Financial Manager Cooper, and Security Captain Anderson all agreed.

(End of this chapter)