Sail across the sea

Chapter 405 Based on your relationship with Director Xu
Why did you take on such a troublesome task for me again?

In Ruizhang, the provincial capital, at Gao Fan's new home, Gao Yiping was scolding his son in a bad mood.

The one who was scolded, however, was grinning and drinking the lotus root and pork rib soup his mother had served him, looking completely carefree.

After Gao Yiping was promoted to general manager of the fertilizer company, his focus shifted to Ruizhang. Although he still served as the director of Canghai Fertilizer Plant, the plant's operations were handed over to the deputy director. Ran Yuying also changed jobs and now holds a sinecure position at the fertilizer company. As a result, the couple built a new home in Ruizhang and began living a life of their own, since their two children were no longer home.

Gao Fan's main work is still in Cangtang. There is a vitamin factory, Canghua Science and Trade's traditional business of chemical cleaning agents, and a research base that Gao Fan established in cooperation with Peking University. Currently, more than a dozen Peking University professors conduct research there year-round, and graduate and undergraduate students from the Department of Chemistry at Peking University also frequently come to do internships.

For more than a year, Gao Fan has been running around in various parts of the province. In Gao Yiping's words, which were not without a hint of jealousy, he has been a firefighter. However, Gao Fan himself knows that he is not putting out fires, but rather busy fanning the flames, igniting the passion of kind-hearted people like Pei Hengxue.

With the matter at Zeyan Institute temporarily settled, Gao Fan finally had time to return to the provincial capital to visit his family. Upon seeing her son return, his elderly mother prepared a delicious meal, while his elderly father prepared a long list of nagging words.

"Rare earth smelting is something that can be done by companies in the mining, metallurgy, and non-ferrous metals industries. Why are you asking fertilizer companies to get involved? This is a fertilizer company. Are rare earths considered fertilizer?" Gao Yiping questioned.

"Dad, you know what, the Zeyan Institute is actually researching rare earth compound fertilizer. They've done experiments using rare earth mine waste as fertilizer, which can increase camellia oil production," Gao Fan said seriously.

Gao Yiping said dismissively, "This was already concluded 20 years ago; it's about trace elements. But you're talking about rare earth smelting, which has absolutely nothing to do with fertilizer companies."

"But hydrometallurgy falls under the category of chemical engineering."

"The chemical industry is a very broad field. Oil refining is also a chemical industry. You don't mean to think about building an oil refinery, do you?"

"why not?"

"I'm serious!"

“Dad, I’m serious.” Gao Fan put down his bowl, then wiped his mouth with the towel his mother handed him. “I specifically asked a few professors in the department about rare earth refining when I was in Beijing. They said that Professor Xu’s cascade extraction method is very mature. As long as there is enough investment, and the extraction process can be expanded to level 50 or higher, it will be possible to extract high-purity rare earths with a purity of 99.99% or higher.”

"I've done a simple calculation. Building a rare earth smelter would require an investment of between 4000 and 5000 million yuan, processing 1000 tons of mixed rare earth per year. Even with the most conservative estimate, the annual output value would be over 3 million yuan, with a profit of at least half, or 1.5 million yuan. Isn't that much better than you setting up dozens of ammonium phosphate conversion plants?"

"Such high profits?" Gao Yiping was somewhat incredulous.

The idea that you can recoup your investment in four months and then make pure profit sounds too fantastical.

Gao Fan explained, "The reason is simple: China has a monopoly on heavy rare earths. Rare earth smelting may seem very profitable, but it's actually because the government undervalues ​​rare earths; they're essentially selling gold as sand."

Gao Yiping, being an expert, understood immediately. He nodded and said, "Yes, yes, it's like Middle Eastern countries selling oil; the profits are very high, mainly because the resources are valuable." Gao Fan continued, "The country's strategy is to gradually shift from exporting raw rare earth ore to exporting refined ore, increasing the added value of the resources. Then, the price of the resources will be increased. In the future, the contract prices for mine owners in Gu'nan will be further increased, so that the country can obtain the maximum benefit from resource development."

"Raising the contract price is not easy."

"It's actually quite simple; all we need to do is let the local government see the benefits."

"What's wrong with the social atmosphere these days? Everything is about economic benefits. It's nothing like the old days..."

"Stop, stop, Dad. Don't tell me that local governments didn't negotiate with the central government in the past. I remember you telling us when we were kids how the province fought with the central government to win the Yihu Refinery project. I heard that Director Xu was even praised by the provincial leaders for being a woman who was just as capable as men because of this."

"Why would I tell you about this?" Gao Yiping asked, somewhat surprised.

He certainly knew about this, but he didn't recall ever mentioning it to his children. Moreover, according to Gao Fan, it was mentioned when Gao Fan was a child.

“I remember you saying that when you were drunk,” Ran Yuying revealed from the side. “You said a lot of things when you were drunk.”

"Oh..." Gao Yiping was a little embarrassed, then quickly changed the subject, frowning as he said, "If the profit is that high, it's worth doing. But how do we explain this to the department if a fertilizer company does it?"

Having served as the fertilizer plant director for so many years, Gao Yiping was practically a local tyrant, and naturally, he wasn't a rigid or inflexible person. A project that could generate 1.5 million yuan in revenue annually—even if it were located across the Pacific Ocean—wouldn't be rejected by Gao Yiping, let alone if it had anything to do with chemicals.

The larger the company's business scale, the greater one's power and the higher one's status in the eyes of the leadership. This is something that anyone with work experience understands.

His son had previously analyzed the situation for him, stating that the abolition of the Chemical Industry Bureau was inevitable. Whether Gao Yiping could retain his position after the Bureau's collapse depended on the size of the Fertilizer Industry Company. If the Fertilizer Company surpassed the combined size of all units under the Chemical Industry Bureau, it would be much more difficult for others to seize Gao Yiping's position.

After all, the Chemical Industry Bureau is gone, but the Provincial Economic Commission is still there. Which leader doesn't want his subordinates to be capable of getting things done?

The only obstacle Gao Yiping felt was whether the Chemical Industry Bureau would agree to allow the fertilizer company to get involved in rare earth smelting; there always needs to be a legitimate reason for doing something.

Gao Fan shook his head easily and said, "This is simple. We just need to get on Director Xu's good side. Dad, with your relationship with Director Xu..."

As soon as he finished speaking, he felt the temperature on the dining table suddenly drop, and the oil on the surface of the pork rib soup began to solidify.

Gao Yiping picked up a piece of food with his chopsticks, put it in his mouth, and then slowly said:
"Do you think I don't know what Xu Ying is thinking? She's always been thinking about our children becoming in-laws. Her daughter is two years younger than you, and she's currently a sophomore at the High School Affiliated to Beijing Normal University. I heard she's doing quite well academically and her goal is to get into Peking University."

(End of this chapter)