Black Gold 1983

Tian Sui'er raised her head and looked at the man in front of her.

Their previous interactions were always either bickering or on their way to bickering. Today was the first time Tian Sui'er had looked at the man in front of her so seriously.

This guy, who's usually so carefree and doesn't even walk properly, is standing ramrod straight now, with a seriousness in his eyes that she's never seen before.

Tian Sui'er's heart skipped a beat.

Everyone inside and outside the house was staring at her, waiting to see how she would answer.

Wang Xiuqin was still muttering to herself, "Sui'er, you really need to think this through..."

Tian Mancang also looked at her, his brows furrowed.

Tian Sui'er bit her lip and subconsciously asked, "Three months... what if you can't do that?"

Renye grinned, a nonchalant smile with a hint of meaning: "If you can't do it, then I, Renye, will take your surname from now on."

"Who cares if you take my surname?" Tian Sui'er turned her face away, her ears turning bright red. "If you can't do that, then don't talk to me anymore!"

"Won't you suffocate?"

"you……!"

Seeing that the two of them were acting as if no one else was around, Ma Guoliang, who had been watching the commotion from the sidelines, coughed and interrupted, "Alright, alright. In front of so many elders and neighbors, don't they know how to avoid suspicion? What kind of behavior is this?"

He glanced at Renye, then at Tian Suier, and said sternly, "Since you two are mutually agreeable, I won't say much more. But let's make this clear from the start: before you're officially engaged and registered, the proper boundaries between men and women must be maintained. You must avoid any suspicion of impropriety, and we absolutely cannot allow any more gossip like today to occur."

Ma Guoliang then looked at the Tian couple and said, "Mancang, the child has already said so much, so please give him some time."

"Right now, the entire mine is putting in its best effort to win the advanced evaluation, and discipline is being enforced at the strictest level. We absolutely cannot allow any scandals caused by personal feelings to ruin the important affairs of our Hongxing Mine. Besides, as the old saying goes, it's better to tear down ten temples than to break up one marriage. If this kid doesn't produce anything by the end of three months, you don't need to tell me, I'll be the first to punish him!"

These words were spoken in a way that was neither too harsh nor too mild, giving everyone a way out.

Tian Mancang's face was ashen. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but Sui'er's mother tugged at his sleeve, and he didn't say anything more.

The Ren couple thanked them repeatedly, but they were worried about how to raise the money.

Seeing that no one responded, Ma Guoliang glanced at his watch again, waved his hand, and said, "Everyone, disperse. Let's call it a day. Especially those gossipy old women, stop spreading rumors and gossiping."

Wang Xiuqin pursed her lips, turned her big buttocks, and left.

Seeing this, the onlookers decided not to linger any longer, and the crowd slowly dispersed, whispering among themselves as they headed home.

"That kid from the Ren family can really earn three turns and a radio in three months? He's probably just bragging."

"Who knows? Let the young people do what they want."

The corridor gradually emptied, leaving only the family of three who had been driven out by Tian Mancang.

Back home, Li Yue'e glared at Ren Ye, both furious and heartbroken: "Look what you've done today! You dared to promise someone you'd raise the bride price in three months? Let's see how you earn it then!"

"Shouldn't our family take this money?" Ren Shouyi said in a muffled voice from the side.

Renye scratched his head and chuckled, "Dad, Mom. It's just a few hundred yuan. I spend more than that on a single meal."

He was stunned for a moment as soon as he said it.

"It's only a few hundred yuan," they say it so casually.

In his past life, he signed contracts worth tens of millions, and a single meal could cost someone else a year's salary. A few hundred yuan was nothing more than pocket money to him.

But that was forty years later. Now it's 1983, and he can't even get ten yuan out of his pocket. That's no small amount.

Ren Shouyi sat on the edge of the bed, a cigarette between his fingers, and said with exasperation, "Just a few hundred dollars? Anyone can talk big. Let me tell you, don't be foolish and think about doing anything speculative."

Li Yue'e immediately chimed in, "Your dad's right. You can't do anything illegal, you hear me! I'll go to your sister's house tomorrow and see if I can scrape together some money."

Renye immediately panicked: "Mom, my sister has been married for so many years, why are you bothering her? Won't her in-laws gossip about her?"

Renye also has an older sister who married into the city years ago and lived a relatively stable life. In her previous life, she made her own fortune, but unfortunately, her sister's health was not good, and she fell ill after only a few days of enjoying her retirement.

Fortunately, I'm back now, and there's still room for things to turn around.

Li Yue'e hesitated, seemingly realizing something was amiss, and remained silent, holding her breath.

Renye squatted down and helped Renshouyi lift his lame leg onto the low stool, casually saying, "Dad, Mom, don't worry, I don't steal or rob, I earn money honestly."

"How do you earn it?" Ren Shouyi stared at him.

Renye was silent for two seconds, then looked up and asked, "Dad, do you still remember that mining area where the roof collapsed three years ago?"

Li Yue'e was startled and quickly nudged Ren Ye: "Why bring up such unlucky things out of the blue! Have you forgotten that your father was crippled there?"

Ren Shouyi didn't take it seriously, stubbed out his cigarette, and said in a muffled voice, "You mean... the West Second Mining Area?"

He paused, his eyes filled with a sense of melancholy, as if he had returned to that afternoon three years ago.

"How could I forget? I remember that winter was even colder than this year. Our No. 2 coal mining team was tunneling in the west wing. I was on duty that day, leading about twenty brothers down."

"We hadn't gone far past the transport tunnel when the roof started cracking and splintering, and rocks started falling down. I knew something was wrong, so I told everyone to run. We'd only gone a few dozen meters when the whole roof collapsed."

"When the coal dust came, you couldn't see anything, and all you could hear was a buzzing sound. When the dust cleared up and you looked back, the entire transport tunnel was completely blocked by collapsed gangue."

Ren Shouyi paused here, touched his right leg, and shook his head, saying, "Although I broke a leg, there were a few brothers at the time... who never made it back up."

Li Yue'e chimed in, "Who says otherwise? Your father really survived a close call; it's terrifying to think about. It's good that he's not going down the mine anymore; at least he doesn't have to live in fear every day."

Renye felt a pang of sadness looking at his father's limp leg.

In the early 1980s, coal mining conditions were far from as favorable as they would later become.

Most tunnel supports are made of timber stacks, and when the roof is under great pressure, collapse is common.

Gas explosions, flooding, and roof collapses happen every year. The miners are used to this kind of life. A brother who was smoking together one day might be gone the next. They change their clothes and go back down the mine. It's not that they're not afraid of death; it's that there's work to be done underground so they can have food at home.

Ren Shouyi suddenly looked at Ren Ye: "Why did you suddenly bring this up?"

Renye leaned forward and chuckled, "Dad, I heard that mining area was later shut down because the mine felt there wasn't much coal left down there and it wasn't worth investing any more money in. Is that true?"

Ren Shouyi nodded: "They explored it, but the reserves weren't large, and there was a roof collapse accident. The mine did the math, and the input and output weren't worthwhile, so they simply shut it down."

"What if," Renno's eyes lit up, "there's more coal down there? Not the kind we found before, but higher-quality coal from deeper layers?"

Ren Shouyi was stunned, staring at Ren Ye for a long time as if he didn't recognize his own son.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Li Yue'e reacted first: "What do you know about things in the mine? You've never even been down in the mine!"

"Mom, I was just asking casually." Renye grinned.

He couldn't tell the old couple now that after he took over the Hongxing Mine in his previous life, he asked the exploration team of the Provincial Coalfield Geological Bureau to conduct geophysical exploration again, and they discovered that there was a layer of high-quality coking coal hidden beneath the surface poor coal that had been mined year-round in the West No. 2 mining area.

The two coal seams are separated by a layer of siderite sandstone, less than 20 meters thick, but with high density and high wave impedance.

With the precision of 2D seismic exploration in the early 1980s, it was impossible to distinguish the interface between this sandstone layer and the coal seam. The strong reflection of the siderite sandstone completely covered the signal of the coal seam below, so the geological team never discovered this coal layer.

It wasn't until the late 1990s, after the widespread adoption of 3D seismic exploration technology, that the provincial exploration team redid the work and was able to clearly see the reflected waves from another coal seam beneath that strong reflection layer.

The top layer of lean coal can only be used as ordinary boiler coal and cannot be coked as an industrial raw material, so its market value and selling price are far lower than those of coking coal.

But the high-quality coking coal underneath, with a caking index of over 80, is a fine raw material used in steelmaking, and in the late 1990s, it could sell for more than 400 yuan per ton.

However, the reserves in that mining area are not large, and the scale can only be considered small to medium. The proven recoverable reserves are 460,000 tons.

What does 460,000 tons mean? After deducting mining costs, taxes, and transportation, the net profit per ton is at least 150 yuan. This one mining area alone can generate nearly 70 million yuan in profit.

However, that was the price in the late 1990s. According to the current average pithead price of high-quality coking coal in China, it is about 25-35 RMB per ton, which is far from the price of that later period.

The so-called pithead price is the price at which coal is traded directly at the mine entrance right after it is mined.

This price does not include additional costs such as transportation and taxes, and directly reflects the mining costs and basic profit margin of the coal mine.

So Renye knew very well that this mining area wouldn't be worth much money now, but he had no choice; he needed start-up capital.

Of course, his start-up capital wasn't earned by hunting, picking mushrooms, or trading mountain products, but by saving every penny.

In his past life, he was a coal tycoon who had managed projects worth hundreds of millions. Although he is starting from scratch in this life, his vision and perspective remain the same.

Asking him to gossip about those trivial matters is not only a waste of time, but also a disservice to the benefits of this era.

Some people risk their lives to make a living for a meager monthly salary of a few dozen yuan, while others can become wealthy and multi-millionaires by getting rich without any investment.

In this era, the competition is about who can see what others cannot.

Renye pulled over a stool and sat down, then continued to ask, "I heard that after the West No. 2 mining area was shut down, the local villagers caused a lot of trouble at the mine."

Ren Shouyi nodded: "When the West Second Mining Area was first opened, the mine shaft and industrial area occupied land belonging to Shigou Village."

"State-owned mines had to deal with the production brigade when acquiring land, and the procedures were standardized. The mine would first contact the county government, which would then allocate land to the commune, and the commune would then talk to the brigade secretary. The compensation standards were documented in official documents, clearly stating how much per mu (unit of land area) was paid and how the compensation for standing crops was calculated. Once the brigade signed the agreement and the mine paid, the land was considered requisitioned."

"Back then, seventy or eighty mu of land in Shigou Village were requisitioned, and the mine paid compensation for five years in one lump sum. Later, the mining area was closed, and the mine did not continue to pay this money. According to the contract, the land had been requisitioned, and the compensation had been paid for the agreed period, so the mine did not violate the law. But from the perspective of the villagers, they lost their land, and it was inconvenient to grow crops. With the compensation stopping, life became tight, and they were naturally unhappy."

"The village party secretary of Shigou Village is named Ma Dewang. He is in his fifties, a former soldier, and his words carry weight in the village. He led the villagers to complain to the mine several times. The people in the mine's office received them, registered their complaints, and said they would look into it, but nothing came of it after that."

"It's not that the mine is deliberately dragging its feet; the mining area is completely sealed off. It's unclear which account this money should come from, who should approve it, and who should be responsible. That's how the process is in state-owned enterprises. If one thing gets stuck, even ten stamps won't be enough."

Renye nodded slightly, remembering that he had dealt with similar matters after taking over the Red Star Mine in his previous life.

The solution is not complicated. As long as the mine reopens and local people are given priority in employment, all conflicts can be resolved.

What the people want isn't the compensation money, but a way to make money. As long as they can earn wages at the mine, who cares about those few acres of land?

If I remember correctly, Shigou Village has more than 200 households and about 100 able-bodied men, many of whom have experience working in wells.

When the West Second Mining Area started construction, many villagers worked as temporary workers at the mine, and they were skilled at drilling, carrying, and cleaning tunnels.

With the mining area sealed off, these people lost their jobs. Some went to work in other places, while others could only find odd jobs at home, and they all struggled to make ends meet.

"Alright, look at the mess you've made today."

Li Yue'e couldn't make heads or tails of it, so she interrupted the conversation between father and son. After going into the kitchen, she didn't forget to give Renye a lecture: "Let me tell you, if you can really marry Sui'er, then our Ren family will be incredibly lucky."

Ren Shouyi sat on the edge of the bed, and after a long while, he reached out and patted his son's shoulder: "Whatever you're thinking about, just don't go astray."

Don't worry.