The little star from the Gobi Desert, handed over to the state, is hailed as a national treasure.

"Dean Xu, look!"

Exclamations rose and fell, and everyone's eyes lit up.

The cave entrance was small, hidden by wild trees, and its edges were covered with weathered pebbles. Some small stones rolled down the slope, and a few of them were the kind of mineral that Sweetie had described as "singing".

Several miners approached the cave entrance, carefully examining the texture and weathering marks of the rock strata. One of them lay down, pressed his ear to the entrance, and looked up, saying, "Director Xu, there's airflow inside. This cave might be connected?"

Xu Qiang nodded, turned around and gave a few instructions. The accompanying technician immediately opened his notebook and quickly recorded the precise location, terrain features, and current status of the cave entrance.

They even meticulously recorded the types and distribution of the surrounding vegetation. "Be careful, don't rush in. Take samples at the entrance first to gather firsthand information."

Xu Qiang added.

Workers removed rocks from the edge of the cave entrance, marked the sampling locations, sorted and bagged them, and then took out long-handled shovels to dig shallow samples from the soil outside the cave entrance to avoid damaging the original topography of the cave.

Zhou Xiaobing took out a Seagull brand camera from his backpack, loaded the film, and adjusted the aperture. "Click," "click," the cave entrance, the surrounding rock layers, and the scattered mineral samples were all captured on the film.

After doing all this, the group began preparing to enter the cave.

The wild trees growing outside the cave had been neglected for years, their branches spreading wildly and obscuring most of the cave entrance. Someone brought a machete and quickly chopped down the obstructing branches, finally revealing the entire cave entrance to everyone.

The entrance to the cave was small, only wide enough for two people to pass side by side. Looking inside, it was dark and bottomless, exuding a damp and cold atmosphere.

An old miner stepped forward, squinted and peered inside, then hesitated and said, "Dean Xu, this cave doesn't look like it was formed naturally; it looks more like an old mine shaft dug by the older generation."

Xu Qiang nodded slightly upon hearing this. In earlier years, there were indeed records of private mining activities in this area, but most of them involved digging for lead, zinc, copper, and iron. Later, the mines were depleted and the area was completely abandoned, with no one paying attention to it anymore.

If there really is uranium ore here, those older generations who have been digging all their lives probably don't even know what they've missed.

Just as he was about to step inside, Mao Zhan preemptively switched on his flashlight and stepped in front of Xu Qiang, saying, "Dean Xu, I'll go first."

Xu Qiang smiled and followed behind Mao Zhan without refusing.

Liang Zhe carried Tian Tian in the middle of the line. Tian Tian rested her little head on her father's shoulder, curiously peering inside.

Only Fu Dashi remained silently at the back of the group, his expression shifting between anger and uncertainty.

The huge beam of the flashlight swept back and forth in the darkness, illuminating the mottled rock textures on the cave walls, and the air was filled with the damp, earthy smell and the scent of rocks.

Xu Qiang held up his flashlight and carefully examined the cave wall inch by inch.

Suddenly, the beam of light froze.

"This is……"

His heart skipped a beat, and he strode forward, almost touching the rock wall. Under the focused beam of his flashlight, a grayish-yellow mineralized zone, as wide as an adult's palm, was clearly visible on the cave wall.

The mineralized layer meanders along the direction of the rock strata, resembling a giant golden python sleeping underground.

Xu Qiang's heart suddenly raced.

He took the geological hammer from the miner, carefully chipped off a rock sample, and held it in his palm. By the light of the beam, the ore's delicate texture, warm color, and dense quality were clearly visible.

"Good ore," he murmured to himself, his voice trembling slightly with excitement. "This color, this structure, it's a rare find..."

Several technicians immediately gathered around, eagerly passing it around to see, their eyes shining like bright lamps.

"Dean Xu, this is quite sophisticated; it's definitely top-tier quality!"

"It's even better quality than the ore sample that Engineer Fu brought out before!"

"Look at the direction of this vein. If you follow it downwards, the reserves are definitely not small!"

"Comrades, there might be a huge mineral vein hidden beneath this slope!"

The crowd chattered excitedly, their enthusiasm palpable.

Xu Qiang didn't respond. He just examined the mineral sample in his hand over and over. Suddenly, as if he remembered something, he took out a piece of ore wrapped in layers of oil paper from the sampling bag on his back. When he opened it, it was the same piece that Tian Tian had picked up during the landslide.

He placed the two pieces of ore side by side. Without any instruments, it was clear to the naked eye that their color, texture, and degree of mineralization were almost identical, and even the golden veins extending like capillaries inside matched perfectly.

These are clearly from the same source, originating from the same mineral vein!

"It's from the same vein," Xu Qiang said. "The ore that Tian Tian found in the landslide came from here."

He ordered in a deep voice, "Bring the equipment."

Zhou Xiaobing quickly handed over the radiation detector. The probe was aimed at the mineral sample, and amidst the buzzing sound of electricity, the pointer on the dial jumped rapidly, soon stopping at the number 2800.

It's a rich mine!

It's a high-quality uranium ore!

Everyone present was filled with mixed feelings of surprise and delight.

The fatigue from days of repeated exploration and the anxiety from getting nowhere have now vanished.

A problem that had troubled everyone for a long time was unexpectedly solved by a four-year-old girl in such an unintentional way!

If Sweetie's first discovery of the ore was a stroke of luck, then her leading everyone to this hidden mine today is nothing short of a miracle.

However, among the jubilant crowd, only Fu Dashi stood like a wooden stake on the outside, never moving forward.

His face changed from red to green, then from green to white, his expression constantly shifting, making his whole face a fascinating sight.

Zhou Xiaobing caught a glimpse of Fu Dashi's unusual behavior out of the corner of his eye, and suspicion immediately arose in his heart. He couldn't hold back any longer and stepped forward to question him: "Engineer Fu, you've been exploring the north slope for so long, running back and forth countless times. This cave entrance is so obvious, even if it was hidden by vegetation, you shouldn't have missed it at all, right?"

Fu Dashi frowned, his expression stiff, and said, "Comrade Xiao Zhou, you're mistaken. The north slope is so vast, a desolate wilderness overgrown with thorns. Even if I were extremely meticulous..."

"It's impossible to turn over every single inch of soil, isn't it?"

"Really?" Zhou Xiaobing's lips curled into a cold smile. "You're a veteran in exploration. This cave entrance is less than a mile away from the outcrop you so confidently claimed had minerals. Whether this is an 'accidental oversight' or 'dereliction of duty,' nobody knows."

"What do you mean?!" Fu Dashi could feel the sudden gazes directed at him, and he couldn't help but angrily defend himself.

"You need evidence to support your claim! I swear, this is the first time I've ever seen a cave like this. I've never found it before. You can't accuse someone without reason!"

"But you repeatedly emphasized that the north slope, apart from the area you pointed out, was all wasteland, and you urged the mine to start construction quickly and not waste time. And what happened?" Zhou Xiaobing pressed on relentlessly, showing no mercy. "You didn't even notice the rich ore entrance hidden right under your nose?"

Zhou Xiaobing had already concluded that Fu Dashi's actions were suspicious and that he must be up to something, but he didn't have any concrete evidence to draw a conclusion or expose the truth.

"alright."

Xu Qiang raised his hand, interrupting the tense standoff.

His gaze was calm, yet like a bottomless pool, staring directly at Fu Dashi.

"Engineer Fu, the subsequent exploration work will be fully launched immediately. All exploration logs and drawings on the north slope will be sealed and reviewed one by one later. For now, collect the ore samples and return to the camp immediately for a meeting to discuss the protection and mining plan for this new ore vein."

"As for the other issues..." Xu Qiang paused, "we'll verify them one by one later."

Xu Qiang's words, while seemingly showing leniency to Fu Dashi by not confronting him on the spot, also clearly demonstrated his determination to investigate thoroughly, and his words were full of vigilance.

Fu Dashi's heart skipped a beat, and a cold sweat instantly broke out on his back. He knew that his previous unusual behavior had completely aroused everyone's suspicion, but now it was useless to explain. The more he said, the more mistakes he would make, and the worse it would become.

He could only hold his breath, his face grim as he helped pack up the tools, keeping his head down and remaining silent the entire time.