59: Chapter 1 Betting Agreement

He had received a call from the secretary of the Provincial Party Secretary and knew that the Party Committee Secretary of Dahe Township was coming, so he had been waiting in his office.

Upon hearing this, he turned around.

Seeing Qin Chuan, he was slightly stunned.

In his habitual way of thinking, the Party Committee Secretary of Dahe Township should have been at least thirty or forty years old, perhaps even fifty.

Who would have thought he would be so young.

After all, as the Chief Engineer of the Provincial Coalfield Geological Exploration Team, his mental fortitude was quite strong; he was only momentarily stunned before immediately returning to normal.

"Secretary Qin, you really are young and promising, so young!"

Qin Chuan said, "Hello, Professor Cheng, thank you for the compliment."

The two exchanged polite pleasantries and sat down on the sofa. The young man from earlier brought over two cups of hot tea and then quietly retreated.

After chatting for a few moments, Qin Chuan proactively brought up the main topic, "Professor and Chief Engineer Cheng Weijia, I came here this time mainly for our Jiucailing Coal Mine..."

He first gave a brief introduction to the coal mine and then explained his purpose: he wanted to invite Professor and Chief Engineer Cheng Weijia to personally lead a team to Dahe Township and conduct a thorough exploration of the mine.

Professor and Chief Engineer Cheng Weijia was basically familiar with all the coal mines, large and small, in the province. He had heard of the Jiucailing Coal Mine and knew that the Provincial Coalfield Geological Exploration Team had never explored it.

"Secretary Qin Chuan, I am quite busy, and I am getting on in years. I haven't personally gone down to conduct coalfield geological exploration in several years. How about this, I will have Xiao Guo take a few technicians over."

Secretary Qin Chuan shook his head hurriedly.

An ordinary person wouldn't do; they would probably just drill a few holes and finish the job perfunctorily.

It had to be Professor and Chief Engineer Cheng Weijia.

This was also the main reason Qin Chuan had come to the Provincial Coalfield Geological Exploration Team in person; to put it bluntly, he wanted to invite Professor and Chief Engineer Cheng Weijia to go to Dahe Township himself.

"Professor and Chief Engineer Cheng Weijia, you are not old at all. You are in your prime. It is said that the reserves of our coal mine are enormous. I have heard from some local elders that in the past, when they dug cellars, they would sometimes dig up pitch-black coal."

Really!

However, Professor and Chief Engineer Cheng Weijia did not believe it.

He didn't believe a single word of it. He was very clear about where the coal reserves were rich and where the large coalfields were across the province.

He had even thought many times that all the places in the province that needed exploration had basically been explored, and it was essentially impossible for any more large coalfields to appear.

Of course, he also hoped for a large coalfield to appear, but his reason told him that such a possibility was extremely slim.

Seeing that Professor and Chief Engineer Cheng Weijia did not believe him, Qin Chuan used his silver tongue to persuade him.

Despite all his efforts to persuade him, Professor and Chief Engineer Cheng Weijia still lacked sufficient interest.

"Qin Chuan, it is really unlikely that I will lead the team there personally. I have several projects on hand. Besides, even if Xiao Guo and his team go, the cost will not be low. It will require a minimum of three million, and if the reserves are large, the cost will increase further."

Exploration fees were charged based on the proven reserves.

The larger the proven reserves, the higher the fee. Of course, the more personnel and equipment they needed to deploy, the higher the fee, which was reasonable.

Millions in exploration fees!

If you aren't the one in charge, you don't know the cost of living.

As the person in charge of Dahe Township, Qin Chuan was very clear about the township's financial situation. Coming up with several million would indeed be a bit of a strain.

If he could get it for free, that would be the best.

Not having to pay a penny while still getting the job done would be perfect.

With a sudden thought, Qin Chuan said, "Professor and Chief Engineer Cheng Weijia, do you hope to discover another large coalfield in your career?"

"Of course, this is something I have almost always hoped for." Professor and Chief Engineer Cheng Weijia nodded and admitted this without hesitation.

Qin Chuan proposed, "Professor and Chief Engineer Cheng Weijia, how about we sign a bet agreement?"

"Tell me, what kind of bet agreement?"

Qin Chuan said, "You lead the team to personally conduct a comprehensive exploration of our coal mine. If the proven reserves do not exceed one hundred million tons, after the exploration is completed, our Dahe Township will pay a fee of 200,000. If it exceeds one hundred million tons, you will receive nothing."

After listening, Professor and Chief Engineer Cheng Weijia smiled.

Suddenly, he became interested in this young man.

Or, to be precise, he became very interested in that 200,000.

200,000! The exploration team's performance had been mediocre these past two years, relying basically on financial allocations from above. If they could earn this 200,000, the team's financial situation would improve significantly.

After calculating in his mind, he realized he could push back the big projects on hand a little bit. So, for the sake of this 200,000, Professor and Chief Engineer Cheng Weijia agreed immediately.

"Fine, then we will sign this bet agreement. After the comprehensive exploration is completed, within ten working days, this money must be transferred to our exploration team's account."

Qin Chuan said, "No problem!"

As for the bet agreement, it was impossible to lose.

The system would not make a mistake; if it said the reserves could rank in the top twenty in the country, then they would definitely rank in the top twenty.

Yesterday, Qin Chuan had specifically checked online, and coal mines that could rank in the top twenty in the country had coal reserves of at least one billion tons.

He had only mentioned one hundred million tons just now because he was worried that if he said too much, Professor and Chief Engineer Cheng Weijia would be even less likely to believe him.

The two sides quickly negotiated the details. Even the head of the Coalfield Geological Exploration Team made an appearance. He also did not believe that Dahe Township could have a coalfield with reserves of over one hundred million tons, and he was also very interested in that 200,000.

Before long, the two sides signed the bet agreement.

The agreement stipulated that within three days, Professor and Chief Engineer Cheng Weijia would lead a team to Dahe Township to conduct a comprehensive exploration of the Jiucailing Coal Mine.

Why within three days, and not set off immediately?

Because it wasn't just three or five people going; in addition to the technical personnel led by Professor and Chief Engineer Cheng Weijia, there were also a large number of exploration workers and quite a bit of professional equipment. They couldn't just leave at a moment's notice; it required some time.

After the agreement was signed, Qin Chuan folded it up, put it in his briefcase, and happily left the Handong Province Coalfield Geological Exploration Team.

Politely declining their invitation to dinner, Qin Chuan said that once they arrived at Dahe Township, he would be the host and treat Professor and Chief Engineer Cheng Weijia and his team to a meal.

As for noon, he would go home to eat.

It was rare to return home once, and time was precious, so he would spend more time with his parents. At most, in two days, he would have to return to Dahe Township.

After five in the afternoon, Qin Chuan drove to Handong University, parked the car in front of the teaching building, and picked up Zhu Qingxi after her class. The two had dinner together, then watched a movie and went shopping, not returning until after ten o'clock in the evening.

After staying in the provincial capital for three days, Qin Chuan boarded the train back to Sanjiang County with a bit of reluctance.

He did not know that during the three days he was away, Dahe Township had been very lively.