Of course, most of them were Qi Minglin's people; very few people next to Zhang Richeng raised their hands.

After a moment's internal struggle, Li Guanghao raised his hand, indicating his agreement with Chen Feng's idea.

Li Chunlai looked back and forth, blinked, and then pretended to raise his hand as well.

Whether he counts it or not doesn't matter, just give it a try.

“Okay, then those who support Zhang Richeng’s suggestion to go to the new location, please raise your hands.” Qi Minglin lowered her hand and spoke again.

This time, another group of people were lifted up, with Zhang Richeng and his assistant Gao Hua raising their hands the highest.

Qi Minglin looked around and saw that several people did not raise their hands regardless of which side they were voting for, which meant they had abstained.

"No matter what, I want to make my stance clear: I am firmly against returning to Pingcun City; that would be a complete waste of time," Zhang Richeng said, raising his hand.

Qi Minglin counted them and found that they were basically half and half, which gave her a headache.

Choosing Chen Feng was indeed a huge gamble, as the team returned to Pingcun City based solely on his words without any basis.

This trip will last at least a month, which is practically an act of recklessness for a modern exploration team.

If most people support Chen Feng's suggestion, then Qi Minglin will make the final decision.

But with this half-and-half situation, she really didn't dare to make a decision.

"Does no one want to change their decision or discuss it further?" Qi Minglin asked, looking at everyone.

Everyone looked at each other and shook their heads.

"Let's have a free discussion. I'm going out for a bit." Qi Minglin said this while holding her phone and walked out of the meeting room.

It was supposed to be a free discussion, but no one spoke, and the atmosphere in the meeting room was somewhat oppressive.

Qi Minglin took her phone, went outside, sat on the steps of the building, and made a call to the top leader upstairs.

This leader is the direct supervisor of the special exploration team. His name is Zhang Ce. How high is his position? It can be said that Wang Shan has to call him "leader" when he sees him.

He was looking at documents in his office at the time, with a pot of tea beside him. His hair was slightly gray, clearly indicating that it had been dyed.

Of course, someone of his level can't avoid getting involved in such activities; since he frequently appears in public, he still needs to be mindful of his image.

Zhang Ce's private phone rang. He glanced at it and saw it was Qi Minglin. He answered it.

"Xiao Qi".

"Boss, we've run into a disagreement, and I'm not sure what to do, so I thought I'd report this to you."

"What's wrong? Tell me." Zhang Ce held his phone and put down the file.

"There are now two opinions within the team: one is to return to Pingcun City and re-explore, and the other is to go to the previously reserved location."

"What do you think is the best choice?" Qi Minglin said, combing her long hair back with her hand.

"Return to Pingcun City? Who suggested this, and what is the basis for it? Didn't you already explore Pingcun City before?" Zhang Ce asked.

"It was Chen Feng's suggestion, without any basis. He said it was a gut feeling, that his great-grandfather appeared to him in a dream." Qi Minglin has been laughing lately as she talks about it.

"Grandpa appeared in my dream?" Zhang Ce laughed upon hearing this.

"What kind of ridiculous reason is that? We are staunch materialists, why are you spouting nonsense?" Zhang Ce said.

However, after Zhang Ce finished speaking, he changed the subject.

"But what Chen Feng said... given his previous achievements, it still has some reference value."

"What are your thoughts?" Zhang Ce asked.

“My thought is to trust him this once and go back to Pingcun City with him to see.”

“After all, we’ve been searching for a mine for so long without finding one, it’s time for a change,” Qi Minglin replied.

“Actually, you already had the answer before you even asked me, right? So let’s listen to him and go back to Pingcun City for another exploration,” Zhang Ce said knowingly.

"But there's another point. Chen Feng is demanding full command authority. Should we give him that too?" Qi Minglin asked.

"What does he want to do with all the command?" Zhang Ce frowned slightly upon hearing this.

You can choose the location yourself, but command is a big deal. This whole team listens to you. What if you give bad orders and things get chaotic?

Moreover, there may be dangers involved. If something goes wrong, who will take responsibility?

"That's right. He said that only if he has the authority to command can he guarantee that he will be able to find rare earth mines. If no one listens to him, then even a god would be useless."

Qi Minglin hesitated.

"This... is indeed a bit of a dilemma, but what he said makes some sense. He chose the location, and perhaps only he knows how to find rare earth elements."

"But all of this is based on the premise that he can actually find rare earth elements, and not just make things up."

"What's your opinion?" Zhang Ce asked after analyzing the situation.

"My opinion... is actually that I'm inclined to listen to him this once," Qi Minglin said, revealing her true feelings.

"Then let's do it your way, but remember, we can't give him complete command."

"You need to assist and control him, and supervise him. If his decision is sound, then you can naturally listen to him."

"But if he does anything out of line, you must stop him. If necessary, strip him of his command. Do you understand?" Zhang Ce said seriously.

"Understood, boss. That's all for now. I'll head back now." Qi Minglin stood up and spoke into the phone.

"Okay, go ahead. Report back immediately if anything happens." After Zhang Ce finished speaking, the two of them hung up the phone.

Qi Minglin dusted off his pants and prepared to return to the conference room to announce the decision.

Zhang Ce put down his phone, thought for a moment, and took out a document from the drawer. It was Chen Feng's information.

To be honest, he was a little nervous; this was no small matter.

However, as the coordinator, adhering to the principle of "if you doubt someone, don't use them; if you use someone, don't doubt them," he would still delegate command to Qi Minglin as much as possible and try not to interfere with her decisions. He would only be responsible for supervision.

"This Chen Feng... I hope you won't let us down." Zhang Ce looked at Chen Feng's resume and spoke slowly.

As everyone inside waited, they began to speculate.

In fact, many core members knew that Qi Minglin had gone to make a phone call to the leader.

"Brother Zhang, what do you think the leaders will decide?" Gao Hua whispered to Zhang Richeng.

"It's highly unlikely that Qi Minglin's opinion will be adopted. I don't believe he would ignore so much professional information and instead believe a dream from an old man. How ridiculous," Zhang Richeng chuckled softly.

Zhang Richeng had also dealt with these leaders. These leaders were shrewd and cautious, and what they wanted was stability and prudence, not highly risky decisions.

Even with a 49% probability, they wouldn't choose that option; they would always choose the 51% one.

To put it bluntly, matters of national importance are not to be taken lightly, especially for those who are truly in charge of decision-making.