Chapter 478 - 239: Everything is Ready

Chapter 478: Chapter 239: Everything is Ready

"Boss, can I put my arm around it and take a few selfies?"

"Selfies?" Hearing this, Su Chen and Xiao Chen exchanged a speechless look. ’How can women be so unpredictable?’ One moment she was scared to death, and the next she wanted a photo with a tiger.

The two single men, of course, could not fathom why a woman’s mind was so fickle.

"Uh... If you want to, that’s fine. Pang Hu is very obedient!" Su Chen stood up and gestured toward Pang Hu at his side. He then patted the tiger’s head, signaling it to behave and not scare Li Li.

Li Li looked at the big White Tiger right before her. It would be a lie to say she wasn’t nervous. Even though her boss had said the big tiger wouldn’t do anything, her innate fear of a ferocious beast was unavoidable.

After giving herself a forceful mental pep talk, Li Li’s desire for selfies ultimately conquered her fear. She took out her phone, opened the beauty camera, sidled up to Pang Hu, and began snapping photos with her arm around him.

She took several pictures in a row but still seemed a little dissatisfied. She then pulled Pang Hu into several different poses, taking photos for another three to five minutes. Only after looking at the pictures on her phone did she let Pang Hu go, completely satisfied.

"Ahem." Su Chen, sitting on the sofa, gave a soft cough at just the right moment.

Li Li, who was admiring the photos on her phone, felt her heart skip a beat. She hurriedly put the phone back in her bag. Her expression shifted instantly, and the aura of a powerful career woman emerged. Any trace of the young, girlish woman from a moment ago was gone.

Seeing the change in Li Li’s temperament, Su Chen nodded to himself. ’It looks like the former Secretary Li has truly blossomed into an executive who can hold her own.’

"Boss, these are the documents for the mining company acquisition. Please take a look." Li Li deftly pulled a stack of papers from her briefcase, stood up, and handed them to Su Chen with both hands.

After taking the documents, Su Chen waved his hand, motioning for her to sit down as she spoke.

"The company isn’t operating very efficiently right now. The main issue was corruption among the management; they were embezzling funds through methods like selling off assets for cheap and under-reporting extraction numbers. The moment we took over, we launched an internal investigation and fired all problematic middle and upper-level managers."

"Not a single member of the mining company’s middle or upper management was spared. The people I brought over from our main group are managing the company for now."

"Also, regarding the mineral rights for the gold mine you discovered, Boss—I’ve already acquired them through the mining company’s parent company. They made a concession on the revenue share; we only need to hand over eight percent of the profits!" As she spoke, Li Li pulled another document from her bag and handed it to Su Chen.

Su Chen was stunned by how quickly Li Li had acted, especially in securing the mineral rights to the gold mine. He wasn’t particularly bothered by the eight percent profit share.

He had recently taken the time to familiarize himself with Russia’s policies on gold. Normally, the rate was between ten and fifteen percent, so eight percent was a remarkably good deal.

Looking at the mineral rights agreement in his hand, Su Chen smiled at Li Li. He gave the papers a little shake and said, "This must have cost a pretty penny."

Normally, when a gold mine is discovered, the resource management department sends out a professional team for surveying. It was highly unusual for them to sell the mineral rights without doing so.

Yet no one had come to survey Su Chen’s mine, which meant Li Li must have gone to great lengths to handle the matter.

"Boss, it cost an extra one hundred million rubles. As long as we’re mindful of environmental protection, I can guarantee no one will come poking around our mine."

Su Chen understood the reason. The gold mine was located less than ten kilometers, as the crow flies, from Lake Baikal. With a river running through the area, any carelessness could lead to the lake’s contamination.

If that happened, it would inevitably attract unwanted attention, even with connections in high places.

But none of this was an issue for Su Chen. The gold was just a side benefit; the real prize was the rubidium ore. Once the raw ore was extracted, Su Chen could simply ship it back home through legitimate channels.

Exporting raw ore wouldn’t raise any eyebrows. After all, it was a common practice. To an outside observer, it would simply look like he was trying to liquidate his assets quickly.

After thinking for a moment, Su Chen looked at Li Li and said, "I’m planning to put you in temporary charge of this mining company. Once things are running smoothly, I’ll find a replacement. What do you think?"

Li Li fell silent upon hearing his words. After a moment, she looked up and said, "Boss, I’ll stay and be in charge."

This wasn’t just a sudden whim on Su Chen’s part. Once the mining company was running smoothly, the management could be handed over entirely to Ivan. From then on, it was just a matter of extracting the ore, loading it onto trucks, getting it to the train station, clearing customs, paying taxes, and shipping it back home.

All that was required was to oversee the mine’s development and ensure no one dared to steal and sell the raw rubidium ore. That task would naturally fall to the private military organization he had already established.

For this private military organization, Su Chen had directly taken the Tiandixuanhuang operatives from Xiao Chen, under the fine-sounding pretext of "putting talent to its best use." He also folded the ranch’s patrol team into the new organization.

Setting up a private military organization in Russia was surprisingly simple. Su Chen had learned from Ivan that all one had to do was go to Irkutsk, register a company, and abide by local laws. There were no other stringent requirements.

Su Chen and Li Li discussed further details about the mining company, including when to start operations at the site. After all, winter weather in Siberia made mining impossible, so they had to be as efficient as possible in the time they had.

They talked until noon, finally hashing out all the details. Su Chen had the kitchen prepare a special feast. First, to welcome Li Li, and second... well, it was naturally a farewell meal for Xiao Chen.

Just as the three of them were enjoying their meal in the villa’s dining room, two figures burst in frantically from outside, provoking a loud roar from Pang Hu.