As a Magnate, I Started Checking in at a Convenience Store

566 Bold Military Strategy (2)

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

Upon hearing this, Liya’s expression became somewhat complicated. After blinking several times, he uncertainly looked at Zhou Chao and asked, “If we had continued deeper that day, would we have reached the gold mine you mentioned?”

Zhou Chao smiled and nodded without any concealment. “Exactly. If you had kept going forward for about half an hour, you would have reached the location of the gold mine.”

Abdullah, now understanding the situation, glanced at Liya, and both of them showed a hint of regret in their eyes. If they had ventured further into the forest that day, perhaps their situation wouldn’t be so passive now.

The two exchanged a glance, with a hint of regret flashing in their eyes. If only they had ventured further into the forest earlier, the situation might have been entirely different now.

After all, as the host of this place, if Liya had discovered the gold mine back then, he would have surely found a way to claim it for himself. They wouldn’t have encountered Zhou Chao, and their clever tactics would not have been in vain.

But it was too late to regret now. Regardless, even if they were to resort to some underhanded methods, Zhou Chao would have already prepared countermeasures. As for dealing with this matter on a larger scale, it would only bring more trouble, especially considering what Abdullah had learned about Zhou Chao’s background last night.

As they drew closer to the location of the gold mine, Abdullah and Liya became more excited.

Soon after crossing a small hill, a not-so-large basin appeared before them. A small river about two to three meters wide flowed gently through the basin, its surface shimmering under the sunlight.

Zhou Chao looked at the basin before him and then turned to Abdullah and Liya. “We’ve arrived. Your people can start working.”

The two of them nodded and gestured to their exploration teams behind them. Immediately, everyone got busy, taking out various instruments from their toolboxes. The entire mountain became lively in an instant.

“Chen Nan, Lev, spread out with your teams to ensure everyone’s safety and set up tents,” Zhou Chao instructed, aware that they were now in a primitive forest where one couldn’t predict what kind of animals or beasts might appear next. Any accidents would be difficult to handle.

As the others dispersed, only Zhou Chao and his two companions remained with their personal bodyguards.

Abdullah and Liya frowned as they looked at the not-so-large basin before them, silently wondering how there could possibly be such a large amount of gold stored here as Zhou Chao claimed.

Zhou Chao noticed their expressions and said, “Abdullah, Liya, let’s go down and take a look. You both wanted to try your luck with gold mining, didn’t you? There’s a small river here. We can give it a try later.”

As soon as they heard this, both of them became interested.

“Alright, let’s go!”

They quickly walked from the hillside to the basin. Zhou Chao stood by the riverbank and was momentarily lost in thought.

“What are you looking at, Zhou? Why aren’t you coming?” Liya approached, looking into the water with Zhou Chao, but he couldn’t see any gold.

“I’m looking at the gold!”

“Gold? Where’s the gold in the water? I didn’t see any.” Liya looked into the river again but still couldn’t see any gold.

Instead, Abdullah, who was beside him, suddenly changed his expression, signaled to his bodyguard behind him, murmured a few words, and then saw the bodyguard take off his clothes and jump directly into the river. Fortunately, the river wasn’t deep, only about a meter deep.

As soon as the bodyguard jumped in, the river became muddy. The bodyguard dug into the riverbed and finally brought up a handful of sand, placing it in front of them.

Seeing the sand in front of them, both Abdullah and Liya’s faces changed drastically. The sand brought up by the bodyguard was sparkling with countless bright lights. Both of them knew that this was gold sand that had settled on the riverbed.

Seeing this, Liya quickly had Agfu bring over the gold panning tools that had been prepared earlier. Wearing waterproof clothing, Liya jumped directly into the river. After randomly scooping some sand from the riverbed into the gold panning tools, he began to wash it.

Although his technique wasn’t very standard, the high gold content in the riverbed made up for it. After just a few washes, Liya’s gold panning tools were filled with gold sand.

Seeing is believing, but hearing is deceiving. At this moment, Liya was also stunned by the amount of gold coming out of this riverbed. He had just casually grabbed a bit, yet he had washed out so much gold sand. Who knew how much gold this river could yield?

When Liya came back to his senses and climbed ashore, he looked at Zhou Chao with some astonishment. “Did you already know this river was extraordinary?”

Zhou Chao shook his head gently in response. “I just believed the reports given to me by my subordinates.”

“Alright, let’s take a break for now. After all, exploration isn’t something that can be done quickly.”

Then, he led the group towards the tents that had already been set up, and Lev had already lit a fire.

Once the excitement wore off, Liya felt a chill creeping over him. Although his clothes weren’t wet, jumping into the river earlier had left him feeling cold. The temperature in the basin was basically close to zero degrees, and it was quite cold.

“Have some tea to warm up,” Zhou Chao said with a smile as he watched Liya sitting by the fire, rubbing his hands. He hadn’t expected the top young master of Russia to be so impulsive.

“Thanks!” Liya took the tea and took a sip. After finishing a cup, he felt much warmer.

Meanwhile, Chen Nan had hunted a small deer and was now roasting it over the fire.

“We’re in for a treat at lunch. I’ve never tasted wild roasted deer meat before.”

“Zhou, you’ve never had deer meat? How is that possible with your status? You must have eaten these things before,” Abdullah curiously asked Zhou Chao.

“Isn’t it normal not to have eaten it? You should know that the spotted deer is also a protected animal in China. I’m a law-abiding citizen,” Zhou Chao replied casually, adding some wood to the fire.

Abdullah and Liya exchanged glances upon hearing this. “Is he implying something?”

The atmosphere quieted down for a moment.

Finally, Abdullah broke the silence. “Zhou, how do you plan to deal with this big gold mine? Do you intend to dig it yourself?”

“I don’t have that kind of time. Besides, I don’t have any industry on this side of Russia, so I can’t stay here all the time. Moreover, this gold mine won’t be mined in a year or two,” Zhou Chao said, his tone becoming slightly heavier when it came to industry.

In contrast, Abdullah and Liya’s eyes flashed with excitement at this moment, but their faces remained calm. Both of them knew that, especially at a time like this, being too excited could lead to trouble. And even if they wanted to get involved, they would definitely have to pay a price.

But with such a big cake, they wouldn’t easily let it go.

“So, are you planning to sell this gold mine?” Liya asked tentatively.

Zhou Chao remained calm. “I won’t sell it. I’ll find a partner later. I just need to count the money behind the scenes.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Liya and Abdullah’s expressions changed drastically. According to Zhou Chao’s words, in the end, only one of them would be selected as a partner. This was clearly a scheme, designed to make the two of them pay a higher price.

Although it was a scheme, they had no choice but to get involved. They had thought they could be partners, but now they had become competitors.

After exchanging glances for a moment, Abdullah looked at Zhou Chao with some nervousness and said, “Zhou, I think having just one partner might be insufficient. It’s better to have two. One can be responsible for mining while the other handles the gold. It would also save you a lot of trouble, don’t you think?”

A hint of a smile flickered in Zhou Chao’s eyes, but it disappeared in an instant. He pretended to ponder for a moment and responded, ‘Til need to think about your suggestion carefully.”

Zhou Chao didn’t immediately give an answer. After all, at this moment, only by remaining calm could he secure a better outcome.

Seeing this, Abdullah and Liya didn’t say much either. They knew they had to wait for the exploration team’s report before proceeding further.

‘Boss, good news!” A voice with a Middle Eastern accent rang out from afar..