The richest man started taking advantage of loopholes after joining Alibaba.

Back at his residence, Lin Che took out the notebook again after closing the door.

He turned to the page with the symbols and pushed it to the middle of the table.

"You all see where he went wrong."

Shen Nan pulled over the notebook and glanced at it. He recognized the symbol; it was a set of markings Lin Che had created himself, meaning that the information had been verified and was ready to be used.

"The model's foundation is dead," Shen Nan said, his tone confident after considering both legal and commercial factors. "His assessment, from sampling to calculation, is entirely based on historical data. This system is very accurate in a static environment. But the environment of this place is about to change."

"The changes are in two places," Lin Che said, holding up two fingers.

“One issue is policy,” Shen Nan continued. “He used policies that were already in effect at the time of the assessment, which is correct and standard practice. But once the control order was issued on February 1st, the main mineral produced in this mine became a strategic resource, and mining and export all had to be recalculated. Land prices, entry barriers, and returns all had to be scrapped and started from scratch. This was not part of his model.”

"He wasn't unaware of the decree," He Wei added from the side. "He simply didn't know such a decree was coming."

"That's right." Lin Che nodded. "If you don't know, you can't calculate it. It's not his model's fault; it's his fault for not having this information."

"The other issue is electricity," Shen Nan continued. "He extrapolated the costs based on the current state of electricity in this area and its past growth rate. The logic is sound. But he doesn't know how the electricity gap here will be filled, or how quickly it will be filled. Once the electricity supply catches up, the mining costs will immediately come down. The 2024 threshold he calculated is more than a year and a half ahead of schedule."

He Wei listened and wrote down these two points.

She suddenly realized that the other party's thick report was indeed very professional, but the limit of professionalism was the amount of data it could obtain. It could illuminate the past, but not the future. And what Lin Che held in his hands was precisely the future.

"So his mistake is perfectly reasonable," He Wei said. "Every step he took was correct, except for the conclusion."

"That's the hardest part." Shen Nan closed the notebook. "A fool's mistake is easy to spot. But a smart person with a good hand makes a mistake, and even if you point it out, he won't admit it. He'll argue with you to the very end using that stack of data."

He paused, then changed his perspective. This was the aspect of him that Lin Che relied on most throughout the journey: he could look at the same matter from both the legal and commercial perspectives simultaneously.

"And it's not just a matter of whether he believes it or not." Shen Nan tapped the table with his finger. "From a legal and contractual perspective, the other party's assessment carries weight. If we really have to go to court or dispute the price with the government in the future, this report from a global institution in his hands will be his basis. It's useless for us to just say that the core is in the middle; we need something of equal weight to back it up."

"A third-party exploration report," Lin Che continued.

"Yes." Shen Nan nodded. "Only a neutral and equally authoritative report that confirms the core issue can fundamentally overturn his assessment. Until then, a hundred of our words are no match for his stack of papers."

"So arguing with him about right and wrong now is the stupidest thing to do," Lin Che continued. "I don't have any paper in my hand that can outdo him, so I can't win with just words."

"You can't win." Shen Nan repeated, "The more you argue, the more it seems like you can't accept defeat and are just putting on a brave face."

He Wei listened from the side, and her anxiety gradually subsided. She had thought that seeing through the other party's mistakes was half the battle won. But after Shen Nan's explanation, she realized that seeing through someone's mistakes was one thing, but turning that insight into a viable strategy was another.

The room was quiet for a while.

Lin Che got up and walked to the map of the mining area on the table. He circled the gentle slope in the middle of the map with his pen.

"I'm never betting on every single number." He stared at the circle. "I still need to wait for a third-party report to tell me exactly how thick the enrichment zone in the middle is and where its boundaries are. The little bit I have is about 68% accurate; it's not something I use to make up numbers."

"It's used to delineate the area," Shen Nan added.

"Yes." Lin Che turned around. "Sixty-eight percent, that's to draw a very broad line, not to give a specific answer. I only believe one thing: this land is worth exploring, and the core is in the middle section. I'm confident about that. As for the rest, let the report speak for me, let the facts speak for me."

He Wei looked at him and slowly nodded.

She recalled the journey, from Shen Nan's defensive and non-offensive structure, to the money that only came in but never came out, to the silence on the table. It all meant the same thing: he didn't rely on himself to speak, he relied on others to speak, and on the facts to speak.

"So what about the next round?" Shen Nan got to the point. "His mistake is obvious. When and how do you plan to bring it up?"

This is the first time in a continuous reading passage that someone has put the words "counterattack" on the table.

He Wei also looked up, waiting for Lin Che's reply. She thought Lin Che would say that once the third-party report was released, he would immediately shatter the other party's conclusions about the northern section.

Lin Che shook his head.

"If I confront him now, he'll just change his tune," he said calmly. "If I expose him today, he can come up with a different story tomorrow, take back his words, and rewrite his story. I'll put in all my effort, he'll walk away unscathed, and I still won't be able to get this land back."

He paused for a moment.

"Think about it, why is he so arrogant now? Because he thinks his hand is flawless. If I were to expose his weakness, it would be like reminding him that his hand has a flaw, and he would immediately fix it. Once he fixes it, the flaw would be gone."

"Then don't remind him," Shen Nan continued, "let him keep thinking he's going to win."

"Yes." Lin Che's gaze darkened. "The most thorough way to expose someone isn't for me to do it. It's to make him say things he's already said, until he has no way out. Make him turn that assessment of the northern section from an opinion into a plan he signs off on. Make him bet his entire fortune on that wrong judgment."

"Wait until he's fully bet," Shen Nan added.

"Wait until he's paid up all his bets, then let the truth come crashing down," Lin Che said. "By then, he won't even have time to change his story; it's all there in black and white. I don't need to lift a finger; he'll collapse on his own. Collapse completely, leaving no room for maneuver."

He Wei felt a chill run down her spine upon hearing this.

She finally understood Lin Che's entire strategy. It wasn't that he didn't want to win; he wanted to ensure his opponent had no chance to turn the tide. Those few amateurish questions today, that one lack of rebuttal—it wasn't cowardice, but rather paving a path for his opponent to sink deeper and deeper until there was no way out.

Shen Nan looked at him but didn't ask any more questions.

He knew all too well the weight of this tactic. Lin Che didn't want to win a verbal battle; he wanted to trap his opponent within the wall he had built himself.

The room fell silent again.

Lin Che sat back down at the table, opened the notebook, and wrote another line of text next to the symbols.

Only he himself could see those words.