Lawyer Daniel always felt that although Boss Yan was quite capable, he was ultimately a young person. For instance, buying that small mine, a mine that no one would buy in the short term, was it really necessary to keep pushing to buy it? Just leave it there, and eventually, one day the government will come back begging to sell it to you. Including buying pasture land, the moment Yan Fei arrived, he directly expressed his desire for the surrounding pastures. Aren’t you blatantly telling the surrounding pasture owners to raise their prices and take advantage of you? Although later on, Yan Fei was busy with ranch construction and didn’t start with the surrounding pastures, in Daniel’s view, Boss Yan is still a young person with a somewhat impetuous temperament! Until just now, Daniel once again felt that Boss Yan was too young! Not mature enough, you’re a rancher, just manage your ranch and invest to make money. Why do you care about environmental development? What if a mine is opened here? It has nothing to do with you! As long as environmental pollution doesn’t affect your ranch, as long as it doesn’t delay your making money, isn’t that enough? You’re not even from Australia! Now you’re yelling at a mayor about protecting the environment and even planning to buy a mine without exploiting it, are you crazy? If someone intends to sell a mine, they intend for someone to buy it for development and economic growth. I’ve never heard of anyone buying a mine with no plans to exploit it! Look, you spoke too quickly, and now you’re probably regretting it, right? At this moment, Yan Fei’s expression indeed showed some regret, and in the eyes of Zavier and Daniel, he seemed to be regretting what he just said! However, Zavier’s thoughts were completely different from Daniel’s. As he looked at Yan Fei, he liked him more and more, wishing he could immediately decide to sell those two mines to Yan Fei... That’s right, Elder Mr. Zavier was an out-and-out fanatical advocate of primitive environmental protection—the so-called primitive environmental protection is to maintain the land, mountains, and rivers in their original state. If it’s wasteland, then let it remain wasteland. Of course, as a politician and a city manager, Zavier couldn’t unrestrainedly display his enthusiasm in this regard. If you don’t exploit mines and leave resources unused, will those dreaming of mining bringing jobs and revenue still vote for you? Sometimes people must lose some things they desire for other things they want. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ noⅴelfire.net So Mr. Zavier just grumbles at home to his old wife, lamenting how the human heart has changed and the world is cooler, lamenting that the sky in Australia isn’t as blue as when they were kids—this is idealism, people always derive many subjective beliefs from deep within when they’re dissatisfied with societal changes. Complaints are only complaints; what Mr. Zavier could do was to try not to sell those mines during his term. This was his greatest effort. The government can make some exploitation regulations during mine auctions, but those regulations are about how to exploit mines, not forbidding exploitation—most buyers buy mines to exploit them, what’s the use of an unexploited mine? Some large mining companies purchase mines to stockpile without immediate exploitation. But that’s temporary, based on market changes. If they think at a certain time, a mineral’s price has peaked, and no significant increase is expected in the coming years, they’re likely to change their plan and exploit the mine immediately. Because buying a mine without exploiting ties up funds, and exploiting requires substantial investment; if future price increments aren’t as fast as needed investments, exploiting now is evidently the most cost-effective. In any case, once a mine is out of the government’s hands, the government’s regulation isn’t as direct and strict—even strict laws and regulations have loopholes. And now suddenly there’s this fool appearing...that’s how Daniel viewed Yan Fei, starting to think Yan Fei was too young, too idealistic again. In a company’s development phase, no amount of investment is too much. For many entrepreneurs, capital is the biggest issue. As the saying goes, "Good steel is used on the knife edge." Every bit of capital should be used where it’s needed, that’s the proper attitude—but buying a mine just for a mountain, what kind of move is that? "Mr. Yan, your arguments are novel." Zavier suddenly burst into laughter. "But I support your environmental perspective, maybe we can exchange views on environmental protection if there’s a chance. You know, as the government, we also value environmental protection." "I hope so." Yan Fei nodded, looking somewhat dissatisfied with Zavier’s platitudes. "Then we’ll take our leave, I’ll immediately arrange for the payment to purchase the mines to be transferred over, then proceed with the handover with the government." He finished speaking without staying longer, flashing a rather forced smile at Zavier before turning away. In the eyes of Zavier and Daniel, this was a young idealistic entrepreneur, very talented, but ultimately too inexperienced in society, with some ideas considered "naive" by people in society.