Chapter 299: Mining

Chapter 299: Dabbling in Mining

Lu Hanchuan: "Alright, I have something else special for you."

Ye Xiaoxiao: "What is it?"

"It's a secret."

Acting all mysterious, Xiao Xiao dropped it.

Originally, Lu Hanchuan had planned to take a few more days off—it was just a scheduled break.

But now, he was eager to get back to base ASAP.

The next day, Lu Hanchuan caught up with friends in Beijing.

Ye Xiaoxiao didn’t join him because she also had friends to meet.

After swinging by to retrieve her car, she first swung by Rende Pharmacy.

Qu Miao was actually interning at Rende Pharmacy.

It seemed his earlier claim about working there after graduation wasn’t just talk.

"How’s the job treating you?"

Ye Xiaoxiao smiled as she looked at Qu Miao, who looked even sharper in his white coat.

Qu Miao removed his mask. "Done with your internship already?"

"Yeah." Xiao Xiao nodded proudly.

Qu Miao looked her over before finally saying, "You didn’t even get tanned. I heard people develop windburn or a tan over there."

Ye Xiaoxiao: "Not that bad. I was only there for a few months—maybe my skin just didn’t react."

What she didn’t mention was that she was stuck inside most days at the medical clinic.

If she’d been out in the fields, she definitely would’ve tanned.

Qu Miao ushered Xiao Xiao into his office.

"Look at you with your own office now!"

Qu Miao: "Your office is still here too. You can start working anytime after you return—perfect timing to help us handle some tough cases."

He pulled out a stack of medical reports from his drawer and handed them to Xiao Xiao.

She hadn’t expected to be handed work right away.

"I’ll go through them slowly."

Flipping through the stack, she confirmed they were indeed tough cases.

Even for her, she’d need to study them carefully before drawing conclusions.

"While you were away, people actually asked for you. You spent two years abroad, then left for an internship, yet they still remember you."

Qu Miao was simply stating a fact—not jealous or anything.

Plus, he really hoped Ye Xiaoxiao would stay at the hospital for good.

"If you hang out here, our numbers will definitely go up."

Ye Xiaoxiao chuckled, "It’s not like your paycheck depends on it, and I believe you all can manage."

Qu Miao: "Hang out here for a while. Zhang Kaining will be coming soon."

Ye Xiaoxiao: "He didn’t intern anywhere else either?"

Qu Miao: "He’s Manager Zhang now—why would he need to intern elsewhere?"

Zhang Kaining independently manages a factory, pulling in tens of thousands a month, easy, with plenty of bonuses.

He’s already set for life and even bought a house in the city.

He’s one of those young hotshots making it big these days—accomplished at a young age.

"Did he pack on more pounds?"

Qu Miao: "No, but he’s on thin ice—already sporting a beer gut."

Ye Xiaoxiao grinned, "Now I *gotta* see Zhang Kaining."

Just to mess with him a little.

Ye Xiaoxiao stayed in the office, sitting in on Qu Miao’s patient visits. His medicine skills had come a long way—evident from how he could now handle diagnoses independently.

After grabbing lunch at Rende Pharmacy, Zhang Kaining showed up in the afternoon.

The second he walked in, he spotted Ye Xiaoxiao.

"Am I hallucinating? This is so sudden! Long time no see, Xiao Xiao!"

Ye Xiaoxiao gave him a once-over—he looked much better than before, no extra pounds, just more grown-up vibes.

Zhang Kaining had never been about looks anyway; he was always about what you could do.

"Of course you’re not mistaken. I’m done with my internship, and I haven’t reported back to school yet. Just chilling for a few days first."

Zhang Kaining: "Chilling is good. Come to the lab with me this afternoon—check out what we’ve got cooking."

The moment Ye Xiaoxiao returned, everyone was piling work on her.

But even while abroad and in the northwest, she hadn’t been idle, often whipping up new product formulas for Song Xiaoguang.

Zhang Kaining’s products were all pharmaceuticals—difficult to develop, with long testing cycles. If something went sideways, a lot of people could get hurt.

Ye Xiaoxiao took medical matters very seriously.

"Alright, I’ll take a look."

After all, she’d be working at Rende Pharmacy anyway.

Zhang Kaining was thrilled. "Great, great! You’re finally back—now we can really get things moving."

"Haven’t you always been working on projects?"

"It’s different this time. I’m going full throttle!" Zhang Kaining said, fired up.

In the afternoon, Ye Xiaoxiao and Zhang Kaining went to the laboratory.

It had been a satisfying, laid-back day.

Ye Xiaoxiao didn’t know if Lu Hanchuan would come back in the evening. When she returned home, no one was there.

Since she'd already eaten, she turned on the desk lamp and started sketching the design.

The place didn't have a TV, so aside from reading, there wasn’t much else to pass the time.

Ye Xiaoxiao had originally planned to finish the draft of the design today, but she didn’t have time during the day and could only work on it now.

Around seven-thirty, Lu Hanchuan returned.

He smelled like alcohol but wasn’t drunk.

Ye Xiaoxiao immediately asked, “Tell me you didn’t drive.”

Lu Hanchuan: “No, Tiger (Hu Zi) drove me back. He just dropped me off and left.”

Ye Xiaoxiao: “You should’ve asked him up.”

She didn’t know who Hu Zi was, but he was probably one of Lu Hanchuan’s friends.

Lu Hanchuan: “It was getting late, so I let him go home early. Have you eaten?”

Ye Xiaoxiao: “I have.”

With Zhang Kaining around? Of course she'd eaten.

Lu Hanchuan hadn’t just been socializing with friends today either. Aside from shooting the breeze, they mainly talked about the current situation in the capital and whether any major events had occurred.

He picked a few interesting things to share with Xiao Xiao. When he'd sobered up a bit, he went to take a shower first.

When Lu Hanchuan came out of the shower, Ye Xiaoxiao showed him the draft design.

“This is the basic idea. What do you think?”

Xiao Xiao was pretty good at drawing, and the draft was well done.

After looking it over, Lu Hanchuan nodded in approval. “It’s great. We'll go with this version. Tomorrow, I’ll help you find a construction team and talk to the crew to see what materials to use.”

Ye Xiaoxiao put away the blueprint. “Good. We can add more details while communicating with them.”

Over the next few days, after Ye Xiaoxiao’s revisions, the courtyard redesign was finally finalized.

The construction team was from Han Xing’s company, and all building materials were also provided by them. Ye Xiaoxiao only needed to wait and see how it turns out.

No need to micromanage—after all, they knew better than to cut corners or slack off on this project.

...

Meanwhile, at a northeastern mine.

Ye Changqing had a crew of twenty-plus workers conducting exploration work on the mountain.

This mine was called Little Stone Mountain, and Ye Changqing held the mining rights.

Three months had passed, and though they'd sunk several shafts, they hadn’t hit paydirt yet.

"Boss Ye, your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you, right?"

Ye Changqing shook his head, "I’m telling you, there’s something here. Let’s give it another shot."

Unlike the anxious expressions of the others, Ye Changqing remained remarkably calm.

Even though he was deep in debt—like, hundreds of thousands.

If this gamble failed, he’d be wiped out—and still in the red.