Chapter 137 Chromium Ore and Non-Sale Items (Revised)

"Miss He, you are indeed a smart person."

Haldane sat up straight on the sofa and, for the first time, looked directly at this unwelcome guest.

"It seems that Megerdinov is not a complete idiot after all."

Haldan suddenly changed his tune: "No, Megerdinov is a fool. He personally pushed you to my side."

He Changyi said, "Although I am just a businessman, I can do business with anyone, but sometimes I have to be selective about my partners."

Haldane laughed loudly, "Then you've chosen the right partner this time!"

She picked up the diamond necklace and wrapped it around her arm, admiring it as she said, "I know my father will love this suggestion."

He Changyi said calmly, "That would be my honor."

Haldane picked up the ring again and held it up to his hand.

“Don’t worry, we’ll give you a good price.” She looked up at He Changyi. “I’m not like that idiot Medertinov.”

He Changyi said with a smile, "I don't think there's a worse business partner than Mederzinov. Miss Hordan, how could he possibly be compared to you?"

Haldan laughed again: "I really like you! If you were a man, I would make you my lover!"

He Changyi said calmly, "It is indeed a pity, but we can still be friends—"

"Am I fortunate enough to be your friend, Your Highness?"

Haldan readily agreed, "Of course! You really are the most interesting Chinese person I've ever met!"

She looked at the pretty little face opposite her and said regretfully again, "Why aren't you a man... It's such a pity, I really don't like women..."

He Changyi: "...Sometimes friends last longer than lovers."

Haldane had the servant pour two glasses of wine, raised his glass, and laughed loudly, saying, "For a friendship that lasts longer than men!"

He Changyi gladly raised his glass: "To friendship."

He Changyi didn't leave the mansion until it got dark, and Xie Xun, who was waiting at the door, couldn't wait to greet her.

He asked urgently, "Are you alright? Are you hurt? Did Haldan give you any trouble?"

He Changyi ventured into the lion's den alone, without Xie Xun or any bodyguards. During the time Xie Xun waited outside, every second felt like an eternity. He waited from dawn till dusk, and by the end, he was itching to bring his men and fight their way in.

He Changyi reeked of alcohol, but his mind was still relatively clear.

"I'm fine. This isn't the place to talk. Let's go."

Although Haldan dressed in a European style, he was actually drinking vodka, not wine. After the two parties reached a cooperation agreement, he dragged He Changyi into drinking heavily and even wanted to invite her lovers to join them.

Fortunately, He Changyi had a good capacity for alcohol and easily got the Akmanstein princess drunk while they were drinking. Otherwise, she would not have been able to get away for a while.

After the group disguised themselves and returned to their temporary lodgings, He Changyi said to Xie Xun, "It's done," after confirming that there were no tails following them and no listening devices in the room.

Xie Xun breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "It's Medertinov's turn to cry. He never expected you would approach the president's daughter."

He couldn't help but laugh and shake his head: "However, I didn't expect you to come up with this idea."

He Changyi said lazily, "Is it okay for Medertinov to cheat us, but not for us to cheat him? I'd really like to know how he's going to explain this to that Prime Minister."

Like many former member states, a power vacuum emerged at the top of the alliance after its collapse.

The high-ranking officials of the Alliance lost their backers, while the previously weak local faction rose to prominence. In the special period after the disintegration of the Alliance, the two sides physically clashed, vying for power in the vacuum of power.

At the same time, religion and extreme nationalism, which were once strictly prohibited by the alliance, have made a comeback. Coupled with the impact of Western ideology, former member states have fallen into chaos.

It wasn't until several years later, when the alliance's remaining influence in its former member states dissipated, that this war without gunfire finally came to an end.

At this time, the president and prime minister of Akmanian were still deadlocked and unable to determine a winner.

The prime minister's faction habitually leans towards Russia, while the president's faction, having tasted the sweetness of independence, prefers to be a fence-sitter, playing a dangerous balancing act between major powers, rather than returning to the past.

In order to defeat each other, the two factions used every means except assassination. The Prime Minister's faction purchased supplies from He Changyi in order to gain more public support.

However, it's true that they want to win over the public, and it's also true that they want to get something for free.

In this society where many nomadic customs still remain, people might tip a seller a few coins if they're in a good mood, but rob the seller if they're in a bad mood. With such a fierce and unruly culture, merchants who have traveled from afar are practically risking their lives to do business; they'd be doing themselves a disservice if they didn't fleece them handsomely.

This further fueled the trend of robbery.

It was only because He Changyi was careful enough that she was not robbed. However, the enraged robbers even tried to pressure her through diplomatic channels to hand over valuables worth 30 million US dollars, which was a bit against the code of honor.

Fortunately, He Changyi has found a way to counter it.

"Holdan's family controls Ackermanstein's largest chromium mining company, and she agreed to exchange chromium concentrate for goods."

Xie Xun showed a hint of doubt, not because he doubted He Changyi's negotiating skills, but because—

What is chromite?

He Changyi gently patted his head and said softly, "Good boy, don't think so much. It's enough for us to study Chinese and math well. There's no need to learn geography as well."

She got up and walked steadily towards the bedroom, giving Xie Xun a gentle smile before closing the door.

"Don't worry, we can't skimp on education. If you really want to learn, I'll find you a tutor."

Xie Xun: ...So she really was drunk.

It wasn't until the next day that Xie Xun learned the details of the changed transaction from He Changyi, who had sobered up.

"300,000 tons of chromium concentrate, with a grade of over 44%, will be shipped to them first."

Xie Xun exclaimed in surprise, "Three hundred thousand tons? Is the chromium ore itself that cheap, or is the ore's impurity content too high? If so, will it still sell well domestically?"

He Changyi said lightly, "Don't be fooled by the low price of chromium ore. It's much more sought after than tungsten ore. I'm afraid 300,000 tons won't be enough to meet the demand."

Xie Xun was puzzled, but having learned from yesterday's lesson, he simply nodded as if he understood: "That's good, we'll do everything as you say."

He Changyi asked curiously, "Aren't you going to ask why?"

Xie Xun smiled gently and said, "I don't have any plans to hire a tutor for the time being."

He added, "Especially geography class."

He Changyi stared at the little fox, who casually met his gaze and asked, "Would you like some hangover soup?"

...She needs a fox fur scarf now more than anything.

Unlike tungsten ore, chromium ore resources are relatively scarce in China. However, chromium ore is an indispensable key material for the production of stainless steel and special steel, and in the present and foreseeable future, it needs to be imported in large quantities from foreign countries.

However, China's tungsten reserves are quite substantial, ranking among the world's top. Although the current mining and smelting technologies are not yet advanced enough, they can at least basically meet market demand.

Therefore, although the unit price of tungsten concentrate is nearly thirty times higher than that of chromium concentrate, it sells better and is more profitable than the cheaper chromium ore in the Chinese market.

As for Akmenstan, as one of the world's richest chromium-producing countries, its chromium resources are so abundant that they can be directly mined in open pits. However, due to the sudden demise of the Union, its original export markets almost disappeared overnight. It's like a tire factory losing its downstream car companies and being left with nothing but the mines.

One is China, which urgently needs to import chromium ore and develop its steel industry; the other is Akmantan, which urgently needs to export chromium ore to earn foreign exchange. The two are like a golden breeze and jade dew, and their meeting is more precious than countless others in the world.

The tungsten concentrate originally intended for barter was unexpectedly converted into chromium concentrate. After He Changyi tentatively spread the news of 300,000 tons of chromium concentrate in the market, the phone calls from China never stopped. Impatient people couldn't even wait for her to return to China. They wanted to finalize the cooperation verbally now and rush to transfer the payment in advance to prevent others from getting there first.

He Changyi asked, "Aren't you afraid I'll take the money and not deliver the goods?"

The other party laughed loudly: "Miss He, you're not that kind of person! You've never even cheated the Russians, how could you cheat your own people?"

In the end, after an extravagant international long-distance call, the other party even tried to buy all of He Changyi's chromium concentrate at a high price, which she refused with a laugh.

Just kidding, this guy is obviously trying to hoard chromium concentrate and disrupt market prices. She's not just selling this one batch of chromium concentrate; she'll be cooperating with the Haldane family for a long time. How could she let someone else use the ore she got through barter to compete with her?

Before the chromium concentrate even left Akmantan's borders, He Changyi had already found a buyer.

In exchange for $30 million worth of goods, we received 300,000 tons of chromium concentrate. This translates to a price of only $100 per ton of chromium concentrate, lower than the current international market price of $125.

Furthermore, the goods worth thirty million US dollars did not actually require a payment of thirty million US dollars—large customers with bulk purchases, short payment terms, and good credit always managed to get the most favorable prices. Even without considering freight, insurance, and storage costs, He Changyi would still make a substantial profit even if he sold this batch of chromium concentrate at market price, which would be a fair reward for all his hard work over this period.

Once the cooperation was finalized, to prevent any unforeseen complications, He Changyi took Xie Xun and the draft contract to see Huo Erdan.

It was afternoon, but Haldane, as if he had just gotten out of bed, casually said while wearing a bathrobe, "You should have your secretary communicate with your secretary instead of coming to me personally."

She leaned lazily against her lover's chest, raising an eyebrow at He Changyi.

“Honey, we shouldn’t waste our time on this boring business. You need to learn to make yourself happier.”

Her handsome and strong lover smiled and leaned down to kiss Haldan. She hooked her arms around his neck, her nightgown slipped down, revealing a large expanse of her plump, snow-white skin, as well as the dazzling diamond necklace that He Changyi had given her.

Xie Xun was stunned, not knowing where to look, and finally had to awkwardly lower his head, pretending that he hadn't seen anything.

He Changyi was not surprised at all. Even though this new lover was not the same person who had accompanied her before, he still had the energy to praise her: "Your taste is as excellent as ever."

She then changed the subject: "However, I'm not here for that $30 million deal, but for a long-term project to purchase chromium concentrate from Ackermanstein. You can decide the transaction method, whether it's barter or settlement in US dollars; and you can also decide the payment method, whether it's an Ackermanstein bank, an American bank, a Swiss bank, or any bank you like. In short, it's up to you."

Haldan shoved his lover away, tossed his long hair, jumped off the bed, walked up to He Changyi, took the contract from her hand, quickly scanned it, and a satisfied smile appeared on Haldan's face.

"He, you are such a lovely little fellow."

Haldan raised his hand and touched He Changyi's face, saying regretfully again, "Why aren't you a man?"

Before He Changyi could answer, she suddenly said to herself, "Should I not be so limited by my gender...?"

Warning bells rang in Xie Xun's mind!

He stepped forward and said with a smile, "Miss Haldane, I haven't introduced myself yet. It's a pleasure to meet you. I am He Changyi's partner. You can call me Xie Xun."

Haldan was initially displeased, but after seeing the other person's face clearly, her eyes lit up, and she immediately walked away from He Changyi to greet Xie Xun.

"you……"

Haldan looked Xie Xun up and down, subconsciously licking his lips, scanning the handsome Chinese man with a gaze a thousand times more intense than when he looked at He Changyi.

"You're quite good. What's your name again?"

Before Xie Xun could answer, Haldan suddenly raised his hand and pinched his chest hard, then said with some dissatisfaction, "This is terrible, you're too thin. Are all men in China as thin as you? Can they even lift women in bed?"

The last sentence was addressed to He Changyi by Hordan, using a rather unrefined expression that was full of the ruggedness of nomadic people.

Alarm bells rang in Xie Xun's mind once again!

He forced a smile, said nothing, and silently backed away until he was behind He Changyi.

He Changyi turned to look and saw a pale, panicked little face with its fox fur bristling.

Haldan looked at He Changyi, then at Xie Xun, and said knowingly, "He's your lover, isn't he?"

Before the two could answer, Haldane continued:

"Let him stay with me, and I'll give you a good price."

She added, "It's about chromium concentrate, and you won't be disappointed."

He Changyi did not refuse immediately, but considered it seriously for a while, but her remaining conscience stopped her.

"Forget it, he's not for sale."

Haldane was somewhat disappointed, but not too disappointed.

"Okay, as a friend, I respect your decision, but it's your turn to give me a good price."

He Changyi said with a smile, "Of course, I will do my best to fill your safe deposit box in the Swiss bank."

Haldan said affectionately, "You cunning little thing, don't you think your safe will be filled up at the same time?"

He Changyi blinked: "That depends on your decision, after all, you are the eldest princess of Ackermanstein."

Haldan laughed loudly, "No, that depends on my father, but he will definitely like you as much as I do!"

With the business settled, as he was saying goodbye, Haldane gestured for He Changyi to take his handsome and strong new lover with him.

"He's too thin."

Haldan nodded at Xie Xun with his chin and said to He Changyi, "You should taste what it's like to be a strong man."

He Changyi gladly accepted this special gift, and then gave the guy some money after leaving, telling him to watch his mouth.

The new lover had a pair of deep eyes typical of Eurasian mixed-race individuals, thick, dark eyebrows that looked like they had eyeliner and eyeshadow on, and he looked at He Changyi with a deep and affectionate gaze with practiced skill and professionalism.

"Don't you really need me?"

He glanced at Xie Xun, who had a dark expression, and added, "I'll show you what a real man is. You'll be very happy, happier than you've been with anyone else."

Before He Changyi could speak, Xie Xun sneered, turned around, pulled a pistol from the gun pouch tucked into the bodyguard's waist, released the safety, and aimed it at his new lover.

"Get out, or die."

The new lover gasped, stopped flirting, and ran away with his head in his hands.

Then, Xie Xun turned to He Changyi and asked, "What are you hesitating about?"

He Changyi retorted, "What are you referring to? Just now? But I hadn't even had a chance to speak before you chased him away."

"Do you really want him to stay?!" Xie Xun reminded him with a dark face, "Not for sale."

He Changyi pretended to suddenly realize something.

"Don't worry." She winked happily at Xie Xun. "Even if Haldan offers a higher price, I won't sell you to her."

When Xie Xun's expression softened slightly, He Changyi nonchalantly delivered the final blow.

"No matter how much I need money, I can't get involved in the illegal trade of wild animals."

-----------------------

Author's Note: It's December! I'll try to finish it in 2025~