NOVPUB
Chapter 1036: 908
"Mmm, this is really delicious."
"Glad you like it, I’ll peel another one for you."
"Mm."
"..."
Seeing Chai Ren and Zhan Xi getting all lovey-dovey.
Everyone else felt a bit cold.
"Tangtang, keeping so much gold at home? And you’re often not around, aren’t you afraid of thieves?" His aunt joined the conversation now, gaining a new appreciation for Tang Qing’s wealth at this moment.
"Not worried, the security is so good, no thief would dare to come in, and if you don’t talk about it outside, nobody else will know," Tang Qing said with a smile.
His aunt quickly nodded, "Okay, you two heard that, right? You mustn’t talk about it with others, I’m talking to you, Shiqi, stop that, let go of that little gold pig, if you break a piece off, that’s your dad’s annual wages."
"..."
...
Evening.
After dinner.
Everyone headed to the large circular balcony on the second floor.
The sky scattered with stars.
The night sky tonight was exceptionally clear.
No clouds.
The sea breeze, carrying a slight saltiness, blew over, very comfortable. Honestly, after staying at Tang Qing’s villa, they were reluctant to return to their own homes, feeling depressed each time they did.
It wasn’t really about the money.
They weren’t broke.
It was that kind of attitude towards life.
The ladies were swimming in the U-shaped pool below, the men cheered from the second floor. Seeing no one else was around, Tang Kai leaned over and whispered, "Tangtang, is the production at your gold mine still increasing?"
Tang Qing shook his head, "No, the mining area of the gold mine is limited, and production has reached a bottleneck, about ten tons of gold per month." With the ’Golden River’ in the underground caves, the status of this gold mine had plummeted.
"Be careful."
Tang Qing knew about the mine but hadn’t reported it to the Government of Algeria.
Tang Kai couldn’t help but feel a bit worried.
"Don’t worry, it’ll be fine." The gold mine was surrounded by fences, desolate all around. Next month, the Algerian Ministry of Energy and Mining was going to conduct a safety inspection of mining fields nationwide.
The fighters were also well prepared.
Tang Qing had just finished speaking.
Chai Ren walked over.
"Boss Tang, what are you whispering about?"
"Nothing much, just asking about the mining company’s situation, looking for any possible opportunities," Tang Kai said half-truthfully.
Hearing it was that issue
Chai Ren’s spirit lifted, "Boss Tang, speaking of opportunities, they’re always there, but big opportunities are hard to come by. Previously, when Little Tang and I went to Africa to buy a mine, we just caught a lucky break.
"But, with your connections in Myanmar, why not start mining in Myanmar?"
Tang Kai shook his head, "It’s tough, the competition for mining rights there is fierce. I have good relations within the Myanmar Economic Zone, but not so much in other areas."
Minerals.
In the current economy-crazed Myanmar, these were the juicy slices of meat that the initial interest groups wanted to gobble up first; the waters are too deep, and Tang Kai didn’t feel he could swim in this pond safely.
Because of the many undercurrents.
"I really envy Boss Tang, holding an electric car like a treasure trove, you’ve eaten most of the profits from both upstream and downstream in the supply chain." Since there was no chance, Chai Ren quickly changed the topic.
This statement.
Was absolutely sincere.
It was Liu Qian who had told him that Tang Kai controlled the factories manufacturing several key components of electric cars in Myanmar, along with the profits from terminal sales, its cost advantage left other competitors in despair.
He even wanted to invest in other projects there.
But Liu Qian said, there were no good projects left, and it was nearly impossible for outsiders to set up factories within the Myanmar Economic Zone now, and Tang Kai had also exhausted the relevant benefits of being a member of the Myanmar Asia Chamber of Commerce.
He couldn’t help him.
In the end.
Chai Ren had to give up the idea.
Tang Kai waved his hand, "Just good luck, not comparable to the scale of your business, Chai Dashao."
Chai Ren shook his head, "What’s the use of a large scale? You know, the mining and metallurgical industry demands huge investments, with long payback periods, and it’s troublesome from start to finish. Slow payments are common too.
Sometimes, accounts receivable can drag on for over a year, able to bankrupt a company. It’s just making a living after all."
"Haha, Chai Dashao, your piece of bread is quite big, isn’t it?"
Tang Qing laughed, although Chai Ren was stating facts, those struggles were common for ordinary people. As for Chai Ren, he never worried about running out of cash or people defaulting on payments, how could his life be bad?
"Hehe, it’s alright. But Little Tang, why do you want to set up such a big steel factory in Congo Gold? If the steel is exported to our country, I could handle it too. But the tolls charged by the local government are also very expensive."
About Tang Qing’s steel factory.
Chai Ren had always been skeptical.
"I never thought about exporting the finished steel products back to the domestic market. Africa is such a gigantic market, why bother selling it back home?" Tang Qing said nonchalantly, his chess game had already begun.
But it was a hidden game.
Which he couldn’t mention to Chai Ren.
"Where is the market?" Chai Ren was puzzled.
"With so many underdeveloped countries in Africa, poor infrastructure, and the difficult lives of their citizens, there must be a huge demand for steel for building houses and bridges," Tang Qing stated matter-of-factly.
Chai Ren was even more baffled now.
These words.
It didn’t sound like something Tang Qing would say, somewhat too... naive, Chai Ren advised, "But they hardly have any money, and the investment environment is quite hostile, with few construction projects."
"Firstly, if there’s no money, ways can be found. If enterprises don’t have money, can’t they just take loans from their own governments or have the governments pay on their behalf? And even if their countries have no money, don’t they still have minerals?"
Tang Qing revealed one of the roles of that steel factory.
Poor investment environment?
It was exactly because of the adverse conditions that there was a need for change.
If it weren’t adverse, Tang Qing wouldn’t even bother going there because it meant there was not much room to operate.
In an instant.
Chai Ren understood Tang Qing’s intentions.
"Are you planning to roll local assets?" Chai Ren asked in surprise, looking at Tang Qing.
Tang Qing nodded, "Why not? Those African countries’ currencies have no purchasing power, the government has no money, the people have no money, hoping to make money from them can’t be very hopeful.
So, the model of asset rolling could also be tried. As long as my terms are attractive enough, they’ll rush to do business with me."
No money?
Then take minerals as payment.
Tang Qing had never thought of quickly extracting cash flow from Africa. What would he need the money for? Money begetting money wasn’t interesting to him, but changing assets was something Tang Qing was very keen on.
This method of trading products for minerals.
It certainly offered a larger discount than cash, possibly even at half price, along with other benefits, and he could also collect ’value added tax’, negotiate terms, it was too good to pass up.
Besides, there was temporarily not much money to take.
Anyway, Tang Qing wasn’t short of money; the steel factory matter was a trial, as well as a training, how much money he made didn’t concern him, what he cared about was the experience gained from the whole process, it was an exploration of a model.
In theory, it could work.
But that was just theory.
"The idea is good, but aren’t you afraid of sudden changes in the local situation?" Chai Ren asked curiously, as he exported all his minerals back domestically and did not face significant risks, whereas Tang Qing was rolling local assets.
That meant it was hard for the money to leave.
Chai Ren could exchange minerals for money.
Tang Qing could only exchange steel for minerals.
And then more minerals.
The issues involved were much more complicated—regional security situations, neighboring countries’ maneuvers, internal power struggles, inherent economic pressures, the consequences of failure, the conspiracies after success...
He thought Tang Qing might have lost his mind.
"Change it, even if it changes, who else can take away my stuff?" Tang Qing smiled confidently.
He was not a typical businessman.
He wielded a gun.
"..." Chai Ren was speechless, wondering if such arrogance was really good. Recalling the past two times he was rescued in Africa, and thinking about the mining company’s safety productions, as well as the mysterious and formidable strength of Black Prison.
That must be where Tang Qing’s confidence came from.
However.
Chai Ren still felt the risk was substantial.
Another’s country.
Why would they keep protecting the interests of the Chinese forever?
"Little Tang, you still need to be careful about this issue. My classmate’s father has retired and doesn’t have much influence anymore."
"I understand, I often do business at a loss, but here, I can’t lose."
"Tangtang, better safe than sorry."
"I will."
