Those who face the wall, but are in the Nascent Soul stage.

Chapter 81 Miao Fuquan, Zhang Yuanchao, Yang Jinwen

Miao Fuquan returned with a shiny face. He had just completed the handover ceremony of the coal mine, which now officially belonged to the Taiyuan Municipal Government. Of course, as compensation, he also received a considerable sum of money.

I really don't know what Taiyuan needs so much coal for.

It feels like that city has become obsessed with coal mining.

After Miao Fuquan returned, he invited Zhang Yuanchao and Yang Jinwen to his home for drinks as usual. Zhang Yuanchao gladly accepted the invitation. For Zhang, a retired worker in dire financial straits, being able to save his family a meal was a great thing.

In contrast, Yang Jinwen, a retired physics teacher, was a bit hesitant, but after being urged repeatedly by Miao Fuquan and Zhang Yuanchao, he finally decided to go.

Miao Fuquan's young lover, a girl from Sichuan, cooked a lot of dishes. This girl's cooking skills were so good that Yang Jinwen suspected that Miao Fuquan didn't fall for her belly, but for her spatula.

"He who eats another's food is bound to him, and he who takes another's money is bound to him." Even though he felt a little uncomfortable with Miao Fuquan, Yang Jinwen still started praising Miao Fuquan to Old Zhang at the dinner table.

"Boss Miao, your trip to Shanxi went quite smoothly this time, didn't it? You're so full of vigor, you're much more promising than me and Lao Zhang."

Yang Jinwen, having worked in the education industry, even if not particularly sociable, had at least toasted school leaders for several years, and could easily rattle off some polite phrases. Zhang Yuanchao, on the other hand, wasn't involved in the conversation, still engaged in a battle of wits with the plate of spicy chicken.

"It's alright. I didn't expect the government to be so generous, giving more than two million yuan in compensation... Two million yuan is worth much more now than ten million yuan used to be. You couldn't get such a price before. We have to thank the national policy and the bosses in Taiyuan who are not short of money."

Taiyuan is not short of money.

This is one of the most popular sayings in recent years, and almost everyone has heard of it. Its popularity is comparable to that of "I'd rather have a bed in Puxi than a room in Pudong".

Yang Jinwen had a fairly good understanding of the country's basic policies, which was precisely why he still had some doubts.

“Boss Miao, it’s not that I look down on you, but I know that your coal mine is ultimately just a small one. Even if you dig it all out, you might not be able to sell much. How can they spend so much money to buy it?”

"You wouldn't understand," Miao Fuquan said, taking a sip of his drink. "This happened very suddenly, but I know what's going on. Aren't our oil resources almost exhausted?"

"Oil depletion?" Zhang Yuanchao, who was eating, looked up in confusion. "Didn't they say the Middle East wouldn't sell oil?"

"Not selling oil is just a pretext. The real reason is that the oil in the Middle East is almost exhausted. It's not just the Middle East, but also our Bohai and Fuman oil fields, as well as the oil fields of Russia and the United States. They are almost depleted. Aren't we putting a lot of effort into promoting new energy electric vehicles now? In a few years, gasoline cars will run out of fuel."

"What does this have to do with buying your coal mine? Shanxi has so much coal, Taiyuan is already incredibly wealthy, why would it need your tiny bit?" Yang Jinwen asked.

"Haha." Miao Fuquan sat up straight with his arms crossed, looking quite like he was giving orders: "Coal is ultimately not as useful as oil. The scientists above have come up with a solution, which is to start gasification experiments on the backward coal industry, and then turn coal mines into gas generators, so that the coal in the middle of the coal seam can be turned into combustible gas from underground, and then mined and transported by surface drilling to realize the modernization of the coal industry."

"So what does this have to do with you...?"

"Such a large-scale technological project definitely needs to be tested at a test site. As luck would have it, my coal mine just happens to meet the requirements of this experiment. Moreover, it is far from the main coal seam area and is an independent small coal seam space, which is very suitable for carrying out coal gasification experiments. And so... 200 million was transferred over."

Zhang Yuanchao silently picked up a few peppercorns and put them in his mouth so that they wouldn't be sour.

Because he was numb. Yang Jinwen also curled his lips: "Old Miao, you really don't suffer any losses at all. You've caught all the good times. 200 million, even a little bit of it is enough for me and Old Zhang to live to our graves."

Just then, the Sichuan girl came over with a plate of Mapo Tofu. Miao Fuquan couldn't resist pinching her butt, which earned him a glare from her.

"Let's eat, let's eat." With that, Miao Fuquan started toasting the two men again. He did look very energetic, while the other two looked rather listless in comparison.

"After I finish eating, I plan to go to the bank to withdraw the money. In this dishonest society, I feel more at ease having money in my own hands," Miao Fuquan said.

"Wait a minute? The government deposited the money in the bank for you? They didn't give it to you in cash directly?" Yang Jinwen asked.

"No, what's wrong?"

"Hiss." Yang Jinwen nudged Zhang Yuanchao with his elbow. "Old Zhang, your daughter-in-law works at a bank. Tell me about it."

Zhang Yuanchao said gloatingly, "Xiaohong works at the Construction Bank. She said that the area outside the bank is so crowded that it looks like people are about to be trampled to death. The people at the counters are packed like pancakes, and they don't leave at night. She has been working overtime for several days in a row and doesn't even have time to breastfeed Yanyan."

"Why are there so many people?" Miao Fuquan suddenly had a bad feeling.

“Who knows?” Zhang Yuanchao said, “I don’t know where this evil wind blew up from, and it started spreading rumors that the money in the bank was in danger, and that the money in the bank would soon be impossible to withdraw. This directly caused panic. What is it called again?

"A bank run," Yang Jinwen said.

"Yes, my daughter-in-law said this is called a bank run. They are restricting withdrawals now, with a limit of 10 yuan. They won't let you withdraw more unless you can explain that there is something particularly important. The ATMs are all empty. If you want to withdraw 10 yuan, go to the counter and queue up. If you start queuing now, you should be able to get a turn by tomorrow night."

"Damn it!" Miao Fuquan roared in fury. "If I had known, I would have just taken the cash. No wonder I didn't take it when they offered it to me, and they even looked at me like that. I was worried about my safety on the train back. Damn it!"

He couldn't even finish his drink. Miao Fuquan had more than just 200 million yuan in the bank. Over the years, he had accumulated a considerable amount of money, at least tens of millions, after all, he had been a coal mine owner for several years.

"I'm going to the bank to withdraw money."

Yang Jinwen said, "They have a limit on the amount, and you have to queue up. What's the use of going now? The news just said that the government will unfreeze the amount after this wave of bank runs passes, and the situation will return to normal sooner or later."

"Are you an old intellectual? Don't you understand this simple principle? Just listen to the government's words in reverse!"

As he spoke, Miao Fuquan had already finished tidying up: "Old Zhang, Old Yang, you two eat here first. We can't waste this table of food. Da Niu, change your clothes and come with me." The last sentence was directed at the Sichuan girl.

"Only 10 can be withdrawn!" Zhang Yuanchao shouted.

"I'll buy two cases of Moutai and give them to the bank manager. He can take as much as he wants!"

Considering the extensive development and depth of the world-building, the perspective cannot be fixed on the protagonist for long. As the synopsis states, this is a novel that tends to showcase the brilliance of the original characters, but the main plot will not deviate from it, nor will the plot become out of control due to random additions. Readers can rest assured about this.

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(End of this chapter)