After everyone had finished pouring their drinks, when it was time to go back to the bottle, there was still a little less than half left. Zhang Ce picked up the first glass and turned to look at Chen Feng.
"First of all, I want to toast Chen Feng to thank you for your contributions to our country. Without you, we don't know how long it would have taken to develop this rare earth mine."
"I'll drink this one in one gulp." Zhang Ce clinked glasses with Chen Feng and downed his drink.
Chen Feng also downed his drink in one gulp, put down his cup, and said, "You're too kind. It's my duty to serve the country."
Zhang Ce nodded, and their cups were refilled.
"This toast is for everyone. Thank you for your hard work over this period of time. Without you on the front lines, the results would not have come so quickly."
Thank you everyone.
Zhang Ce raised his glass, and everyone else followed suit, drinking it all in one gulp.
Li Chunlai slyly drank half of it, then put down the cup, savored the taste, and planned to taste the remaining half later.
"Alright, everyone, let's get started. Don't be shy, but before we start, please take out your phones."
"Due to the upgrade in security level, your phones need to be encrypted now. We hope you understand." After Zhang Ce finished speaking, two people came in from outside, carrying a small box.
Although everyone was somewhat surprised, they understood and took out their phones to hand them over.
While handing it over, I wrote down the lock screen password on a piece of paper.
When Zhang Richeng heard about the upgraded security measures, he was immediately startled. He instinctively wanted to check if he had deleted all the messages on his phone, but he forcibly stopped himself from doing so.
He casually handed over his phone and wrote the password in the notebook.
"Is it completely deleted? It should be completely deleted by now," Zhang Richeng thought anxiously.
"What's wrong? Why are you so distracted?" someone next to Zhang Richeng asked upon seeing this.
"Ah, this wine is really good, it's making me a little tipsy," Zhang Richeng said, trying to brush it off.
"Your alcohol tolerance isn't very good either. You got tipsy after just half a cup?" the man chuckled upon hearing this.
"Are you kidding? Thirty-year-old Moutai, you can imagine its power. If you don't have any reaction, then you've wasted your time drinking it!"
Zhang Richeng grinned, indicating that he had managed to fool him.
"Eat, eat, eat! Don't be shy, start eating! Use your chopsticks, or even cut some food with your knife!" Zhang Ce said, trying to lighten the mood after putting away his phone.
Upon hearing this, everyone picked up their knives and began to half-stand up, cutting into the cow. Zhang Ce also stood up and cut off a piece of meat with the skin on.
"Here, try it and see if it's good." Zhang Ce put the meat on Chen Feng's plate.
"Oh, thank you, boss," Chen Feng said with a smile.
"It's okay." Zhang Ce cut off another piece, put it on his plate, and started eating.
Chen Feng picked up the piece of meat covered in seasoning and put it in his mouth to eat.
The moment the beef enters your mouth, the skin is crispy and crunchy, filling your entire mouth with the unique aroma of beef.
"Mmm, it smells delicious," Chen Feng said with a satisfied expression.
"It's really good, you really know how to eat," Qi Minglin said with a smile as she looked over upon hearing the voice.
If it weren't for Chen Feng, she really wouldn't have thought of eating this.
The meal was quickly finished, and they chatted quite a bit. Although there seemed to be a lot of them, four-fifths of the cow was left uneaten.
"Let's pack it up and take it home. It'll be gone in one serving, otherwise it would be such a waste." Qi Minglin's belly was already showing from eating so much.
Everyone went out supporting their pregnant bellies, each carrying a plastic bag; otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to carry it all.
"Boss, are you going back?" Qi Minglin asked Zhang Ce.
"I... I'll go back first and talk about it then," Zhang Ce said after a moment's thought.
He was actually concerned about rare earth elements and wanted to know exactly how much stock they had as soon as possible.
Otherwise, even if he goes back, he won't be able to do his job well; he'll always be thinking about it.
"Okay, let's go back first then."
Everyone got into the car and drove towards the mine.
"Come on, come on, who's hungry? We have a whole roasted cow here, it's probably not completely cold yet," Qi Minglin shouted to the staff as soon as she got out of the car.
"Wuhu, give me some to try!"
"Wow, you have so much left?" someone asked in surprise, looking at the bags they were carrying.
"What are you talking about? What do you mean by 'leftovers'? These were specially reserved for you." Qi Minglin glared at her and said.
"Oh, thank you so much, boss! Thank you so much, boss!"
"The old man is so kind, haha!"
Whether they were being sincere or deliberate, everyone started saying it anyway.
Although it was cold, it still tasted delicious. The campsite was instantly filled with the aroma of roasted whole cow, and everyone, no matter what they were doing, was chewing on a piece.
Some technicians even held instruments in their left hand and a whole roasted cow in their right, gnawing on it, making sure they didn't miss out on either.
And so it went until the morning of the third day, when the staff replied that the measurement results would be available by noon, and they would then know exactly how much rare earth mineral was in the area.
After breakfast, Chen Feng and the others sat together chatting and drinking tea, waiting for the results.
“The world’s rare earth reserves are currently around 30 million tons. According to our estimates, my country needs at least one million tons to achieve self-sufficiency,” Li Guanghao said, taking a sip of tea.
“One million is still a tight situation. If we want to completely get rid of the pressure and not have to consider imports for the next forty years, then we need at least 120 tons,” Zhang Ce said, taking a deep breath.
"Sigh, I never dreamed that I could get fat in one bite. You have to eat one bite at a time, and you have to find the mine one bit at a time."
"If this mine yields 100,000 tons, I'll be satisfied," Qi Minglin said, resting her chin on her hand.
"100,000 tons of heavy rare earth ore is actually quite a lot; it's several times the total amount we've mined before," Li Guanghao said with a hint of self-deprecation.
"God help us, please give us as much as possible, even if it's just 150,000 tons, it would give us a chance to catch our breath," Zhang Ce said, leaning back in his chair, his brow furrowed with worry.
"If there really are 150,000 tons, that would be wonderful," Li Guanghao said softly.
Around noon, the analyst from the technical department received the results and rushed over with the report.
"The results are in! The results are in!"
Upon hearing this, Qi Minglin and the others immediately stood up, their eagerness almost overflowing.
"How much? How much exactly? Has it exceeded 100,000 tons?" Zhang Ce asked hurriedly.
"One hundred thousand tons? That's impossible." The technician glanced at the order form and asked for confirmation.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Ce felt as if he had been doused with cold water, and even the light in his eyes dimmed.
"Is it still... not working?" Upon hearing this, Li Guanghao took a deep breath, shook his head, and looked utterly helpless.
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