America: My Time

Chapter 296 Diamond Mine

Chapter 296 Diamond Mine
Morgan was scheming against John, and so were those old guys. But John didn't have the time to deal with them right now. His focus was on integration and the acquisition in Australia. For the time being, John needed to keep a low profile and couldn't continue to be high-profile, or he would become a target and be targeted by those old guys.

However, John wanted to keep a low profile, but some people didn't want to give him that opportunity, especially the guys at Warner Bros. Unable to reach a settlement, they launched a new round of targeting. They couldn't easily target the corporations, because Warner Bros. and Disney weren't facing a single company, but a series of attacks. In this situation, these guys turned their attention to John, using his personal issues as leverage.

Soon, rumors spread throughout the United States. The tabloids were really unscrupulous, digging out the identities of the beautiful women around John. They were all Asian, with not a single American woman among them. This gave the tabloids an opportunity to make their point, and all sorts of comments emerged, turning Americans into spectators.

Of course, there were also some external forces at play. Those who had designs on John were also secretly pushing things along. They didn't want to see John, this little fox, really go against the mainstream on personal matters and make them 'miss' their chance.

Unfortunately, the idea was good, but it was completely useless. John paid no attention to the changes, and didn't even bother to investigate the tabloids. In a crazy society like the United States, he couldn't be a flawless person; that would make many people uneasy, especially the general public. They didn't want to see him like that; they wanted to see a real person. These tabloids were targeting John's personal issues, making him seem less aloof and less intimidating to the general public.

Everyone has flaws, and John is no exception. Everyone previously witnessed John's business acumen and his almost superhuman intelligence. Now, they see that John has the 'major flaws' common to young people—the common hobbies of men. This is exactly the outcome they wanted. As for the rumors circulating about the identities of the women around John, it's a trivial matter and not many people care. For ordinary people, the last thing they want to hear about is a marriage alliance between wealthy families, something even the White House types wouldn't want to see.

If John, that freakish guy, were to marry someone, who would feel at ease? Warner and Disney haven't realized this yet, and by the time they do, it will be too late.

Although the tabloids kept talking about this and that, John didn't care. Instead, he started his school life and disappeared from the media's sight. As for John's family, they didn't care about the tabloids at all. Even a media mogul like John didn't say anything, so his parents naturally wouldn't say anything either. Moreover, as parents, they knew better than anyone what John was thinking. What use were a few tabloids? Their existence only made John safer.

John returned to school, but no one forgot about him. Pan Am was being watched closely, and many people wanted to know if John would succeed this time. They wanted to know if the little fox's eye for aviation was as sharp as ever. The old guys, in particular, were extremely nervous. This was the method they used to scheme against John, and if the plan failed, it would have a significant impact on them.

However, these guys soon lost interest in Pan Am's problems because they discovered John's mining plans. As John expanded wildly in Canada and one prospecting team after another appeared, some people began to feel uneasy and worried.

If it were just the original few prospecting teams, they wouldn't be too worried, after all, such a scale is nothing. However, when they discovered that John also had some prospecting teams in Mexico and South America, they had to be vigilant. It was only then that they realized that John had unimaginable ambitions in the mines.

"Jimmy, is this news true? John has more than a dozen prospecting teams operating. Where did he get so many people? Why didn't we notice anything before?"

"Boss, this is just a preliminary understanding. The real situation may be much more than we know now. John, that little fox, has restarted his business and established one small mining company after another in Canada, Mexico, and South America. So everyone has overlooked their actions. If it weren't for the emergence of the super diamond mine in Canada this time, I'm afraid no one would know that John, that little fox, actually has so many hidden plans."

"Another mine, and a world-class diamond mine at that. Lady Luck is really on his side. Why does he always have to find mines like this? Does this little fox have any plans to sell this time?"

"No, this time, the boss, John, that little fox, doesn't plan to sell. He intends to mine it himself and is currently preparing to start operations. However, his mine won't be operational in the short term, at least not in Canada. He needs some time to prepare. But one thing worries our experts is that the exploration area he's acquired is too large. Everyone is concerned that there might be more than just one diamond mine." "Jimmy, what's the attitude of those old guys now? What are they thinking?"

"I don't know. Rockefeller and the others don't seem to care. Although they know about John's situation in Canada, they haven't made any moves since they learned that John wanted to mine it himself. From what we understand, they've focused their energy on the layout of home appliances and semiconductors, and they're doing it very quickly."

"It seems they've really chosen this path. But aren't they worried at all that John, that little fox, will have even more to gain from his mining in Canada? The appearance of so many mining teams is not a good thing. I'm very worried that this kid will have more to gain and that the situation will get out of control. If he makes more gains in the mines, then there will be big problems."

"Boss, are you worried that what we know now is just the tip of the iceberg of John's plan?" In an instant, Jimmy understood his boss's concerns. The world is so big, and with John's cunning, it would be difficult to understand his plans for investing in mines in other countries in a short time.

“That’s exactly my concern. We can get information about Canada and Mexico quickly, but the problem in South America is much bigger. If it spreads to the whole world, do you think we can control everything? If this little fox is intentionally hiding, unless a large mine appears, we’ll know nothing. The problem in Canada isn’t too big; we can easily find out everything. But it’s not so easy in other places, especially Mexico. I’m worried that this little fox has bigger schemes. He put the Bentley factory there; perhaps he has ulterior motives we don’t know about!”

The emergence of another world-class mine has had a huge impact on everyone, including Morgan. Although it is just a diamond mine, and John intends to mine it himself, the more he does so, the more worried Morgan becomes. Now John has enough capacity to mine, and if this continues, John will become uncontrollable in the mining industry.

Does John lack funds? No, not at all. World-class mines never lack funds. Not only does John's mining company have the funds to sell the mine, but even without those funds, he can get loans from banks in Japan. Mines are different from other things; no one will refuse a mine as collateral!
There are already a dozen or so known exploration projects, and there are countless others that are unknown. With so many projects, if just two or three more world-class mines emerge, John, this little fox, can establish his own mining company in the shortest amount of time, and even control huge profits.

"Boss, should we talk to that little fox John and hear his thoughts? If he's interested in developing the mining industry, we can give him some help. Didn't we help him acquire a mine before?"

“Jimmy, haven’t you realized how much of a failure our previous decision was? If I could, I would really regret helping that little fox John acquire that mine, giving him control of the raw materials for semiconductor wafers. Now that little fox has absolute control over the raw materials for semiconductor wafers, and some people are already starting to complain.”

Indeed, after acquiring the mines, John made a surprising move by raising prices. The price of quartz sand increased, causing some wafer fabs in the United States to complain. However, they had no other choice. John's reasoning was simple: quartz sand was in short supply. As those old-timers got involved in the development of home appliances, the promotion of network systems, and the emergence of electronic products such as VCDs, the development speed of semiconductors accelerated, thus increasing the demand for quartz sand.

"We didn't expect this little fox to raise prices, but it's too late to regret it now. The transaction is already completed. And why don't those guys talk about their own problems when they're complaining? Why don't those guys in Japan complain at all, not caring about the price increase of quartz sand, and even cooperating perfectly?"

"The market? Those guys in Japan have a huge market in their hands, so naturally they don't care about this issue. Besides, they're raising prices too. They can pass all the pressure onto the buyers. And those bastards' appliance prices are rising even more than John's quartz sand prices. They can make more profit, so why would they object!"

(End of this chapter)