Chapter 94: Resources, Oh Resources

The residents in the Siheyuan poked their heads out one after another, curiously sizing up these two unfamiliar faces.

"Excuse me, is this the Siheyuan where Comrade Li Mingyuan lives?" the tall one asked politely.

Yan Bugui hurriedly stepped forward, piling on a smile: "Yes, yes, yes, Chief Engineer Li lives right here. You two are..."

"We are here for work," the tall one answered briefly, pulling a document from his pocket and flashing it before Yan Bugui's eyes.

Yan Bugui only managed to see the red-headed document and the official seal on it, and his attitude immediately became even more respectful:

"Oh my, leaders! Please, come in quickly. Chief Engineer Li is not home right now; he should be at the factory. You two are here to..."

"We are responsible for living in these two rooms," the short one said, pointing to the rooms formerly belonging to Yi Zhonghai and Long Laotai.

Jia Zhangshi's expression changed, her eyes widening, but she was grabbed by Jia Dongxu and didn't dare to make a sound.

The two soldiers nodded briefly to the crowd, then walked straight toward those two rooms and pushed the doors open to enter.

Soon, the sounds of tidying up came from inside the rooms.

The residents in the courtyard began to whisper among themselves.

"Who are these people?"

"Looking at that posture, they must be officials!"

"Shh, keep your voice down. I think they look like comrades from the Security Division."

"Security Division? What are they doing here?"

"What else could they be doing? They must be here to protect Chief Engineer Li!"

This last sentence was like a bomb, causing a gasp of astonishment in the Siheyuan.

Upon hearing this, Jia Zhangshi's complexion turned ugly to the extreme.

The crowd soon dispersed, each returning to their own homes; only Jia Zhangshi stood where she was, her eyes fixed firmly on those two rooms, muttering incessantly:

"Fine, fine, I was wondering why that Street Office wouldn't give us the rooms—so they were reserved for Li Mingyuan's people!"

"Mother, let's go back inside, don't talk about it here," Jia Dongxu said, nervously tugging at his mother's sleeve.

"What is there that I can't say!" Jia Zhangshi shook off her son's hand and raised her voice, "We've lived in this courtyard for half our lives, and now we're treated worse than outsiders! Some people really know how to climb the social ladder; they ride in cars every other day, and now they even have people specifically assigned to protect them. What grand official airs!"

Jia Dongxu was sweating with anxiety: "Mother, keep your voice down! Chief Engineer Li is not someone to be trifled with. Have you forgotten the fate of Yi Zhonghai and Long Laotai?"

Jia Zhangshi seemed frightened by her son's words; her face turned pale, and her voice stopped abruptly.

She stomped her feet fiercely and turned to enter the room, but the resentment in her eyes grew even deeper.

Inside the room, Jia Zhangshi closed the door, trembling with rage: "Why? Why does Li Mingyuan get so many special treatments? Being picked up and dropped off by a private car is one thing, but now he even has bodyguards! Those two rooms were clearly empty; wouldn't it have been better to give them to us? They just had to give them to those officials!"

Jia Dongxu looked nervously outside the door, terrified that someone might hear: "Mother, keep your voice down. Chief Engineer Li is a talent under key national protection now, someone who has made great contributions to the country. Can we compare to him? Just stop thinking about those two rooms."

"Hmph!" Jia Zhangshi let out a cold snort, a flash of malice in her eyes, "In this life, what I, Jia Zhangshi, despise most are these bullying officials! Just wait and see, the tides turn, and he, Li Mingyuan, won't be so smug forever!"

Jia Dongxu's heart pounded when he heard this, but he didn't dare say anything more and could only sigh helplessly.

In the East Wing Room of the Siheyuan, those two "staff members" had already settled in and begun their mission—protecting the safety of the country's precious talent, Li Mingyuan.

And at this moment, Li Mingyuan did not yet know that two bodyguards had arrived at his doorstep, as he was busy at the factory planning the matter of those farmlands.

Dragging his exhausted body back to the Siheyuan, Li Mingyuan was somewhat surprised to see two unfamiliar faces, and especially when he learned that these two were here to protect him, he couldn't help but feel a mix of amusement and frustration.

"You two comrades have worked hard, but I really don't need any special protection," Li Mingyuan declined politely.

The tall soldier's expression was serious: "Chief Engineer Li, this is an instruction from our superiors; please understand. Your safety concerns the national interest."

Li Mingyuan shook his head helplessly; it seemed there was no room for negotiation on this matter.

Judging by their rigid expressions, the mission they had received was likely something along the lines of "Protect Li Mingyuan, and sacrifice yourself if necessary."

People of this era really take "sacrifice" too seriously.

After entering the room, Li Mingyuan noticed Jia Zhangshi standing at the doorway, staring at him with a cold, sinister gaze.

He chuckled inwardly; it seemed she was coveting those two rooms. However, he couldn't be bothered to care about such trivial matters.

Right now, his mind was occupied with more important things.

Deep in the night, the residents of the Siheyuan were all asleep, but the light was still on in Li Mingyuan's room.

He sat at the table, his brow furrowed, with a sheet of paper covered in data spread out before him.

"Resources, oh resources..." Li Mingyuan sighed softly, spinning the pen in his hand a few times.

The success of the rocket launchers and the anti-aircraft weapon had made him carry more weight in the eyes of his superiors.

But this also made him see a greater problem—resource shortages.

The Light Weapon Production Line and the rocket launcher production line were already running stably, but the supply of raw materials was becoming increasingly tight.

Steel, aluminum, copper, and even basic coal and oil were already starting to run short.

"The things I'm making now are still relatively simple; if I take another step forward, the situation will only get worse," he muttered to himself, thinking of his next plan—electronic equipment.

The materials needed for electronic equipment were much more complex: copper, aluminum, nickel, tungsten, molybdenum, germanium, silicon, rare earths... some of these hadn't even been discovered in Long Country at this time, let alone mined on a large scale.

Li Mingyuan walked to the window and gazed at the dim night outside.

He was born in an era where resource development was already quite mature, and he had a certain understanding of the distribution of resources in Long Country.

But that knowledge was too general and lacked specific details.

"System, bring up the existing resource distribution map of Long Country," Li Mingyuan thought to himself.

The system interface unfolded before his eyes, and a detailed resource distribution map appeared.

At this time in Long Country, resource development was still in its infancy, and most mineral deposits were still sleeping underground, waiting to be discovered.

Li Mingyuan narrowed his eyes, carefully observing the marked points on the map.

The oil resources in the North Land region were particularly abundant; important oilfields like the Daqing Oilfield and the Shengli Oilfield were all in this area, but most had not yet been discovered at this time.

The Northwest region contained rich rare earth resources, including the world-famous Bayan Obo Mine, which was also not yet valued.

The South Frontier region had a large number of non-ferrous metal deposits; copper, aluminum, nickel, tungsten, and others all had abundant reserves there.

The Dongbei region was a treasure trove of coal resources, and coal mines such as Fuxin and Fushun were the vital sources of fuel for the industry of Long Country during this period.

Comparing the resource points displayed by the system with the resource points known in the early fifties, Li Mingyuan discovered a large number of treasures that had not yet been found.