I Treat You as My Sister, But You Want to be My Wife?!
Chapter 114 African Gold Mine_1

Chapter 114: Chapter 114 African Gold Mine_1

Shen Dong and his two companions had come to check on the progress of the renovations.

All thirty-one stores were being renovated uniformly.

By observing the progress at one store, they could generally gauge the status of the others.

The renovations alone had cost Shen Dong ten million yuan, a significant investment.

Moreover, Shen Dong would need to continue pouring money into the venture because all the equipment and furniture had to be purchased and replaced with new ones.

All of Meizizi Hot Pot’s old furnishings had been cleared out and discarded.

For this aspect of the investment, Shen Dong’s budget was another ten million yuan.

Earlier, while in Chen Yuanxiang’s office, Shen Dong had transferred twenty million yuan directly into the account of the Shuidilao company.

By providing ample funds, Shen Dong made it easier for Chen Yuanxiang to work without worrying about finances, focusing solely on doing the job well.

All these investments were worthwhile.

Once Shuidilao caught fire, it would start making money.

After making a round, the group left and prepared to find a restaurant for dinner.

"Dong Qikang’s Xingwang Hotpot just opened yesterday, right over there," said Chen Yuanxiang, pointing in a direction.

That store’s location was much inferior to Chen Yuanxiang’s.

This spot was right by the subway entrance. One had to walk a few dozen meters to reach Xingwang Hotpot.

"Let’s go, take a look," Shen Dong said, his interest piqued.

The three of them made their way over.

At the entrance, two waitstaff were present.

It was dinner time now, and the place was fully seated; business was booming.

Inside the restaurant, Feng Lijuan greeted some familiar customers.

"Why is she here?" Chen Yuyan asked, puzzled, upon seeing Feng Lijuan.

"She’s the manager of this restaurant," Chen Yuanxiang explained.

He had a firm grasp of the situation at Xingwang Hotpot.

"It must be Dong Qikang who put her here as the manager, just to annoy us," Chen Yuyan said, visibly irate.

At that moment, Feng Lijuan looked towards the entrance and spotted Shen Dong and his companions; her eyes lit up.

She excused herself from the customers she was greeting and came outside.

"Yuyan, you guys haven’t eaten yet, right? Come on in and try our hotpot, it’s really good, but we’re fully booked at the moment, so you’ll need to wait a bit," she said.

Feng Lijuan’s words were laced with a sense of showing off the restaurant’s busy state.

Chen Yuyan remained silent, as did Shen Dong and Chen Yuanxiang.

Feng Lijuan felt the sting of a cold reception to her warm greeting, her expression stiffened slightly, but she continued, "You see, our Xingwang Hotpot is doing so well; there’s no need for you to open your Shuidilao at all. You might as well rent the space to us—you’ll get a steady five hundred thousand. After all, Xingwang Hotpot is doing great, and opening two stores on Kande Road wouldn’t be a problem."

Still basking in her triumph, she couldn’t believe they wouldn’t respond to her taunt.

"Don’t be so smug; once our Shuidilao opens, you’ll be crying," Chen Yuyan said, having none of Feng Lijuan’s braggadocio.

"Yuyan, our Xingwang Catering is a well-known old brand, familiar to many people. Who knows about your Shuidilao? And you expect to do well?" Feng Lijuan said, full of disdain.

Upon learning that Chen Yuanxiang’s store would become a branch of Shuidilao, Feng Lijuan had come up with a detailed plan to target them.

She was determined to fulfill the task Dong Qikang had given her.

Confident in her plan, she believed Shuidilao’s business would be dismal and eventually unable to continue.

"People might not know about it now, but they will in the future. The name Shuidilao will resound throughout the nation," Shen Dong said nonchalantly.

"Resound throughout the nation?" Feng Lijuan scoffed at Shen Dong, "Look, Shen Dong, you made some money by luck, buying cars and houses is one thing, but getting involved in investments is where you’re mistaken."

"Put your money in the bank and earn a steady interest. You and Yuyan would have nothing to worry about for the rest of your lives."

"But you don’t understand anything about it, yet you insist on investing. If you wanted to invest, you could have just kept Meizizi Hot Pot running the way it was."

"Meizizi Hot Pot as a brand is still quite profitable. Even if the earnings are modest, it would pay back its investment in ten or eight years, and then it’s pure profit."

"But you just had to meddle and change the well-established brand name of Meizizi Hot Pot after more than a decade to what, Shuidilao? Isn’t that courting death?"

Feng Lijuan’s words flew out with spit, severely belittling Shen Dong.

After speaking, she felt incredibly satisfied.

"You’ll soon know whether my money will go down the drain," Shen Dong said indifferently, and walked away with Chen Yuyan and Chen Yuanxiang.

There was no point in staying and listening to Feng Lijuan’s nonsense.

...

The next morning.

As soon as Shen Dong woke up, he heard a notification from the system.

[Ding! Message too long, email has been sent to your inbox regarding the gold mine of Xijiang Gold Company in the African Nation of Ghana... Please check your email!]

Shen Dong immediately got out of bed, opened his laptop, and checked his email.

After reading the email, Shen Dong became excited.

Ghana is a country in the south of Africa, known for its rich gold reserves.

Last year, Xijiang Gold Company had acquired a gold mine there.

This mine, based on exploration, was suspected to have a large amount of gold.

But after the acquisition, it was discovered that the geology was very complex, making mining conditions difficult.

So far, not much gold had been found.

The staff of Xijiang Gold Company had been mining there for over a year but had only found a small amount of scattered gold, making them doubt whether the exploration was accurate.

Moreover, Ghana was currently very chaotic, and Xijiang Gold Company felt it couldn’t keep up with the losses, not knowing how much more it would have to sink in, and was ready to cut its losses.

Now Xijiang Gold Company was seeking a domestic buyer to take over the operation.

What Xijiang Gold Company didn’t know was that, after being bought by a certain individual, the exact location of the gold was discovered within half a month, and later it was sold to Dongshan Gold Company for a price of eight hundred million.

From then on, Dongshan Gold Company grew rapidly and became the leading enterprise in the domestic gold industry.

Now, Xijiang Gold Company was looking for a buyer, and their asking price was extremely low.

Shen Dong decided to acquire this mine, and following the instructions in that email from the system, find the exact location of the gold and then transfer it to Dongshan Gold Company. He could make a clean eight hundred million.

However, it was impossible for an individual to make the acquisition.

Shen Dong needed to register a company to buy it in the name of the company.

In the following days, Shen Dong registered a company.

Once registered, he contacted Xijiang Gold Company.

For Xijiang Gold Company, the gold mine had become a hot potato.

They needed to transfer it as soon as possible to stop the losses and pull out.

When Shen Dong actively approached them, the CEO of Xijiang Gold Company was very pleased.

Of course, he had someone investigate Shen Dong and found out that Shen Dong’s company was a new one, established only a few days ago, without a single employee, making Shen Dong seem unreliable.

But they could not be too choosy anymore, as long as Shen Dong was willing to pay, they would transfer ownership.

To them, the gold mine was a burdensome load.

Transferring it would allow their people to withdraw back to the country and prevent further expenditure.

The executives of Xijiang Gold Company arranged to negotiate with Shen Dong in two days.

Because the vice president in charge of this project would only return from abroad in two days.

Meanwhile, after these days, the renovations for Shuidilao were completed.

Shen Dong and Chen Yuanxiang discussed and settled on the opening day, which would be the sixteenth of this month!