Sail across the sea

Chapter 347 The people of Maolin are utterly wicked
That's all we can say about this matter.

Gao Fan's proposed plan needs to be discussed at the Party Committee meeting of the Ministry of Chemical Industry. After obtaining the Party Committee's approval, it will need to be further negotiated with the Maolin Provincial Department of Chemical Industry, all of which will take some time.

However, Zheng Linong supports Gao Fan's proposal. The central government's current policy is to encourage grassroots organizations to use economic means to solve economic problems. Gao Fan's proposal is in line with this policy, so it should not be difficult for it to pass the approval of the Ministry of Chemical Industry.

Of course, there are many factors to consider when deciding whether to entrust this task to Canghua Science and Trade or to Canghai Fertilizer Plant.

The two then discussed other topics related to the development of the national chemical industry before Gao Fan got up to take his leave. Zheng Linong was a very busy senior official, and Gao Fan didn't dare to take up any more of his time.

After leaving the Ministry of Chemical Industry, Gao Fan took two buses back to Peking University. As soon as he entered the campus, he ran into an acquaintance, Xia Shihui from the Department of Geology.

"Huh, what a coincidence?"

Gao Fan greeted Xia Shihui with a smile.

Gao Fan claims to have studied at Peking University for two years, but in reality, he has spent less than three months on campus in total. Apart from his classmates, the only other student he can be considered familiar with is the somewhat naive and adorable Xia Shihui.

Xia Shihui came to the gatehouse to pick up her mail. When she first saw Gao Fan, a hint of joy flashed across her face, but it quickly turned into anger. She stopped, her pretty face contorted with rage, glaring at Gao Fan without uttering a sound.

"What's wrong? Who offended you?" Gao Fan was taken aback.

He firmly believed that he had not offended this aunt. He had bumped into Xia Shihui once during his last visit to Peking University, and they had a pleasant chat. He hadn't seen Xia Shihui since then, so how could he have offended her?
"It's you who offended me!" Xia Shihui said.

"It's a misunderstanding! I just got back to Beijing, how could I have offended you?" Gao Fan cried out, feeling utterly wronged.

"I'm asking you, are you from Maolin?" Xia Shihui asked.

“Yes,” Gao Fan said.

"So I'm not talking to you anymore! You Maolin people are awful!" Xia Shihui said angrily.

She said she was ignoring Gao Fan, but she didn't move an inch, and her eyes remained fixed on him, clearly waiting for him to ask her why. Her reason was actually quite flimsy, but isn't that a privilege girls have? They can be logical about everything; what's the point of good looks then?

Gao Fan laughed and, as expected, followed Xia Shihui's lead and asked, "What's wrong? Did some Maolin guy offend you? Tell me, and I'll take care of him for you."

"You said that?" Xia Shihui asked.

"On the premise that I can handle him." Gao Fan added a consolation prize to himself.

“Many people from Maolin have offended me, at least 10, maybe more. Can you handle them?” Xia Shihui said.

“I’m not afraid of a lot of people. I’m a General Manager Gao now, and I manage several thousand people.” Gao Fan put on a smug look and said, “This isn’t the place to talk. How about we go to the training restaurant? I’ll treat you to lunch. Stir-fries, you can choose.” “Fine, I’ll eat!” Xia Shihui replied as if she had suffered a great loss.

After collecting the class's mail from the mailroom and putting it in her bag, Xia Shihui walked with Gao Fan toward the internship restaurant, chattering on about the things that made her angry.

It turns out that during the past two years, Gao Fan applied for exemption from his studies and started a business in his hometown to make money. Xia Shihui also didn't stay at school properly. Instead, she traveled around with Feng Yue, the tutor who had specially admitted her, and participated in many mineral exploration projects.

Unfortunately, there's a shortage of talent in all industries these days, and even an undergraduate like Xia Shihui was taken out to work by her supervisor as a strong laborer.

At the beginning of this year, Feng Yue received a task from the Ministry of Geology and Mineral Resources, which asked him to take students to several southern provinces to participate in the general survey of heavy rare earth minerals. Xia Shihui was one of the students who went with him.

China has the most concentrated distribution of heavy rare earth minerals in the world. At least so far, no other country has discovered such a concentrated distribution of heavy rare earths as southern China. Among the southern provinces, Maolin Province has the richest proven reserves of heavy rare earths, making it a key focus of this survey.

Xia Shihui went to Maolin Province in high spirits, but ended up working there for two months and spending a full 60 days in a huff—that's her account. Many times, she couldn't help but want to have a big argument with someone, but because she was still a student and her advisor hadn't spoken up, she didn't dare to act rashly.

"Who are you angry with?" Gao Fan asked with interest as he led Xia Shihui into the training restaurant and towards the order window.

Even now, he still felt that Xia Shihui might be making a mountain out of a molehill. Perhaps it was just a small work-related problem, but she had blown it out of proportion.

“It’s you Maolin people. Your local officials in Maolin Province, and those farmers,” Xia Shihui said.

"Would a serving of braised chicken pieces stop you from getting angry?" Gao Fan asked.

"Of course not, even if you add another serving of braised ribbonfish, it won't make a difference!" Xia Shihui said.

The training cafeteria had regular serving windows as well as windows where you could order stir-fried dishes separately. Gao Fan had just arrived at school and came straight here to eat, without bringing his own bowl, so he could only order from the stir-fry window. He ordered a plate of braised chicken pieces, and as Xia Shihui had requested, a plate of braised ribbonfish, and six ounces of rice. Then he and Xia Shihui found an empty table and sat down to eat.

"No wonder everyone says you've made money; you can even buy groceries at the window." Xia Shihui didn't stand on ceremony, picking up a piece of ribbonfish and eating it while saying this to Gao Fan. As she spoke, a smile appeared on her face, clearly forgetting that she had just declared she would never speak to Gao Fan again.

Gao Fan didn't ask Xia Shihui who "they" referred to. He had assigned research projects to his roommates, allowing them to earn some extra money; this couldn't be kept secret. With so much money just from the projects he assigned to his classmates, how could he not have made some money himself?
The only suspense is how much money Gao Fan actually earned—was it 1000 yuan or 3000 yuan?

“You haven’t finished yet,” Gao Fan said, avoiding the topic of making money. “What did our Maolin officials and farmers do to make you angry?”

At this point, Xia Shihui's face darkened again. She said, "They're going too far. It's completely barbaric mining. If they keep doing it like that, Maolin's rare earth deposits will be completely destroyed in just a few years."

"Brutal mining?" Gao Fan also became serious. He recalled some things that had been revealed in later generations and began to understand why Xia Shihui was so angry.

(End of this chapter)