Chapter 21: Resistance to the End
Li Tang knocked several times on the doors of Hu Yangyu and Wei Shixing's hotel rooms, but no one responded. It didn't take long for him to realize—they were staging a silent protest.
It wasn't until lunchtime, when Li Tang knocked again, that Wei Shixing groggily opened the door. Seeing it was Li Tang, he looked genuinely apologetic. "Sorry, Team Leader Li. I didn't sleep all night—only dozed off a little before dawn."
Li Tang knew how loud Hu Yangyu's snoring was. He could understand why Wei Shixing was exhausted.
Inside the room, Hu Yangyu was propped against the bedhead, comfortably flipping through a wuxia novel.
"Freshen up. Let's get lunch."
Li Tang had waited the entire morning. His stomach was full of anger, but he gritted his teeth and kept his cool.
During lunch, Hu Yangyu was quite energetic—eating heartily as if nothing had happened.
Before the dishes even arrived, Li Tang spoke in a low, firm voice: "I said we'd head out early today because we had an appointment with the mine manager. But your behavior was extremely disappointing."
"I couldn't help it," Wei Shixing said with a miserable face.
Li Tang glanced at him and said flatly, "Starting tonight, you'll get a single room."
Then he turned his eyes to Hu Yangyu. "Don't you have anything to say?"
Hu raised his head nonchalantly, full of indifference. "Say what?"
"I get that you're bitter, but I'd hoped you could get past it. I don't want to see this kind of laziness, lack of organization, and total disregard for discipline again. You're a veteran employee. You know better than any of us what work means."
"Don't lecture me."
"You got up early today. Why did you go back to bed instead of heading to the site? If Shixing didn't sleep well, the three of us could've gone ahead."
"Why are you so eager? You think everyone's like you? This job is just about going through the motions. Show your face and it's enough."
"I don't understand what 'going through the motions' means."
"That's the company's way. You're new—you don't get it. You work this hard, no one will want to team up with you again."
"Sounds like your so-called way is just cutting corners. I haven't seen that written in any official company manual."
"Heh." Hu Yangyu scoffed, acting completely unfazed.
After lunch, he went back to his room and took his usual afternoon nap.
That afternoon, Li Tang took He Runqi and Wei Shixing to the mine for a quick tour. The site was large, and time was short—they only managed a surface-level visit.
The next day, things were the same.
Hu Yangyu got up early, had breakfast, then shut himself in again.
He was always punctual for meals—after all, they were free—and he ate more than anyone.
Wei Shixing, now in a single room, still slept until noon. Upon seeing Li Tang, he apologized again, blaming the hotel bed for a sleepless night.
Three days passed like this.
Finally, at dinnertime, all four members of the group happened to be present.
Li Tang handed a form to He Runqi. "Here's the attendance sheet. You'll be responsible for it from now on."
The form tracked each member's fieldwork days and required daily signatures, serving as the basis for receiving fieldwork allowances.
Runqi had been signing the form for several days and knew the procedure. He carefully tucked it away.
"From today forward," Li Tang said, "no fieldwork, no signature. If someone doesn't work, they're marked absent."
He Runqi blinked. "Got it."
But Hu Yangyu felt the pressure of that rule immediately. His appetite vanished. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"This isn't a vacation. No one gets paid for lying around."
"Ever since I joined, the rule has always been: leave Yanjing and you're on a business trip. Five yuan per day—non-negotiable."
Losing his fieldwork allowance—five yuan a day—felt like being robbed.
Li Tang's rule hit his core interests. No wonder he was furious.
"Sorry," Li Tang replied coldly. "In my book, money's for work. More work, more pay. No work, no money."
He had initially hoped time would change Hu's attitude. But clearly, Hu was growing bolder each day.
Li Tang wasn't going to put up with it any longer.
"You really… don't get how this company works!" Hu stood up, jabbing a finger at Li Tang as if ready to fight—but backed off at the last second. "We always got our per diem from the moment we left Yanjing to the day we returned, even if we came back five or ten days early and didn't work. You've never spared a thought for your team! You're saving the company money—but you don't see a penny more yourself. What's the point?"
He rattled off these skewed arguments as if they were gospel.
Li Tang met his glare calmly. "If you want to get paid—you work."
"You're just a fresh grad who knows nothing. Pretending to be a leader! You probably can't even identify a rock type!"
Hu sneered, full of confidence. "Without me, your little group of rookies will be lost in those hills."
After his outburst, he lost his appetite and stormed back to the hotel.
In his mind, a mine like this couldn't be handled without real experience.
Most graduates couldn't even distinguish basic lithology—a sad reality.
He was sure that once the others fumbled around cluelessly, they'd come crawling back to him.
That was the plan he'd been following—just wait for Li Tang to beg him.
Too bad he miscalculated.
Sure, He Runqi and Wei Shixing were mostly clueless on the mountain—everything was new and confusing.
But he'd underestimated Li Tang.
The next day, perhaps sensing Li Tang's determination, Wei Shixing got up early, eyes still heavy, and joined the others to ride out to the mine.
Hu Yangyu, meanwhile, stayed stubborn, resisting to the very end.
Demen Copper Mine was a 20-year-old operation. Half the mountainside had been carved away, leaving a narrow, sunken pit.
An excavator worked at the bottom, clawing at the ore.
Heavy trucks loaded with ore or waste rock rumbled up the winding roads to the top, delivering it to the processing plant.
The first step: crushing. Machines pulverized rock with deafening ka-ka-ka noises.
The mine's Technical Department director was a 70-year-old retired veteran who'd been rehired. On the mine director's orders, he came to the gate every morning to meet the Wukuang team—without fail, even when no one showed.
"Mr. Xu!" Li Tang hopped off the vehicle and jogged over.
Xu Shaoxi, one of the mine's earliest workers, was now the Technical Department's lead. Three generations of his family had worked at the mine.
"You're early today."
Xu was slender, a bit hunched. The mornings were chilly, so he wore a dark blue work jacket and a green Liberation Army cap.
It was the first time Li Tang and his team had arrived this early. They'd always shown up in the afternoon before.
"We want to take a full tour today. Sorry to trouble you again, Mr. Xu."
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