Today, Pu Jian dressed very formally, wearing a custom-made set of work clothes made of labor cloth from somewhere, complete with a mask and a hat, looking quite like an expert. He pretended to introduce the project plan to Mo Han, but Mo Han obviously didn’t have the patience to listen to his nonsense.

Xu Chunliang’s phone rang; it was a call from Chen Qianfan. This call was expected, as Chen Qianfan had been eyeing this piece of land from the beginning and had even secretly inspected it. Now that Xu Chunliang beat him to it, he must be feeling upset.

Xu Chunliang answered the phone on the side, immediately turning it to speaker: "Brother Chen, Happy New Year."

Chen Qianfan said, "Chunliang, I just heard that you were transferred to work in Hu Shan Town."

Xu Chunliang said, "I just got here, I’m seconded to help out. Brother Chen, you’re really well-informed."

Chen Qianfan said, "Do you remember the last time I wanted to contract the winery?"

Xu Chunliang said, "I remember."

"We had almost reached an agreement, but who would have thought someone would unexpectedly snatch it midway."

Xu Chunliang said, "Now that you mention it, I do recall. Equatorial Capital signed a contract with the town, but this happened before I came here. I only just found out." He shifted all responsibility away, as if it wasn’t for him pulling Mo Han into the deal, how would Mo Han have been interested in a dilapidated winery?

Mo Han and Pu Jian heard it all clearly on the side, exchanged glances, and both got the feeling that this guy was being quite unscrupulous.

Pu Jian knew the background of this whole affair. Xu Chunliang’s unscrupulousness was built on Chen Qianfan’s initial lack of scruples. Back then, Chen Qianfan came under the pretense of investing in a Healthy Elderly Care Hospital on Weishan Island, but after arriving, he made a feint and focused on the Weishan Island Winery instead.

Xu Chunliang’s characteristic is that if you treat him sincerely, he won’t play tricks with you, but if you try to scheme against him, he’ll have countless dirty tricks waiting for you.

"Chunliang, given your relationship with Mo Han, you wouldn’t have been unaware beforehand, would you?" Chen Qianfan obviously thought Xu Chunliang was playing dumb.

Xu Chunliang smiled at Mo Han and said, "I really wasn’t aware."

Chen Qianfan said, "Brother, tell me, why would she, as a woman, compete with me for a winery? Our Qianfan Group is in winemaking, Equatorial Capital is focused on investments, why would she be interested in a ruin of a winery?"

Xu Chunliang said, "I don’t know either, she’s always been a bit odd, and her way of doing things is unpredictable."

"You’re just too involved to see clearly. Brother, can’t you tell she likes you? Contracting the winery was just an excuse to get close to you."

Xu Chunliang smiled and looked at Mo Han, whose expression was cold as ice. Initially, she didn’t intend to snatch Chen Qianfan’s winery; it was all due to Xu Chunliang’s instigation. For Chen Qianfan to say such things, as long as the winery was in her hands, he could forget about taking it back.

Xu Chunliang deliberately said, "Really?"

"Yes, how could it not be? Mo Han just wants to gain proximity to win your favor. Now that you’re a government official, you must stay clear-headed and not fall for her beauty trap."

Pu Jian was listening on the side, trying hard not to laugh, almost unable to hold it in. Xu Chunliang was indeed unscrupulous.

Chen Qianfan had no idea Xu Chunliang had the call on speaker and continued, "Let me tell you, the people from Equatorial Capital are no good. They use all sorts of unscrupulous means in the capital market. Don’t be deceived by Mo Han’s beauty; who knows what tricks she might have up her sleeve."

Xu Chunliang said, "Brother Chen, I have a meeting here, let’s not talk now."

Chen Qianfan said, "Alright, I’ll be visiting the Capital City in the next couple of days, and I’ll stop by Dongzhou when I pass through."

Xu Chunliang agreed and hung up the phone, only to see Mo Han glaring at him. With an innocent face, he said, "Why are you glaring at me? I wasn’t badmouthing you."

Mo Han said, "You played the good guy, and I was the one getting cursed. Xu Chunliang, it was you who told me to take over this wreck of a winery."

Pu Jian pretended not to have heard anything, bowing his head to continue studying the wine cellar.

Xu Chunliang looked around: "Can’t people have some sense of contract spirit? What did we say back then?"

Mo Han said, "I talk about contracts with you, and you use schemes against me. If I find out you dare to deceive me, you’ll have to clean up this mess yourself."

At that moment, there was a sudden commotion outside. The three of them thought something big had happened and quickly went out to see.

They saw a group of workers gathered on the construction site. According to the design, a small fish pond was to be dug there. While the excavator was operating, it seemed to have broken a pipe, causing water to gush out from the ground, with steam rising all around.

Mo Han was about to scold them for their reckless construction, but Ding Si and the on-site technicians checked the map. According to the pipe network map, there were no underground pipelines below. Could there be an omission in the blueprints?

Just then, a worker said, "It’s so hot!"

A few others went over to feel the water flowing out and found it to be over sixty degrees Celsius, highly suspecting they had struck a thermal pipe on the island.

Xu Chunliang picked up a handful of water and smelled it, detecting a hint of sulfur. Ding Si confirmed repeatedly before reporting to him that there didn’t seem to be any major pipelines passing through the area they were excavating.

Xu Chunliang said, "Could this be a hot spring?"

Mo Han also perked up upon hearing this. Putting aside whether there were any dragon bones beneath this rundown winery, if they dug up a hot spring, it would be akin to uncovering a treasure trove of resources.

The onsite technicians called the thermal power plant and confirmed that no heating pipelines passed within the winery’s vicinity. They could now basically ascertain that the excavation site was indeed a hot spring outlet.

The standard procedure upon discovering a hot spring is to report it to the Natural Resources Administration Bureau. In Hu Shan Town, the deputy town mayor, Li Guangtian, is responsible for natural resource management.

Mo Han was well aware that hot springs are considered both water and mineral resources. According to the third article of the national Mineral Resources Management Law, mineral resources are owned by the state. The state’s ownership of mineral resources is not altered by the differences in the ownership or usage rights of the land on which they are found.

Thus, even though she leased the winery, and the hot spring was found within its premises, whether she could develop and utilize it still depended on the approval of higher authorities.

The news of Weishan Island Winery digging up a hot spring quickly spread, prompting Deputy Town Mayor Li Guangtian to visit the site as well.

The hot spring area had been temporarily secured, with a few workers soaking their feet in a small pool.

The distillery workshop was under renovation, mainly to reinforce the main structure of the building.

Xu Chunliang and Pu Jian were sitting under the sun drinking tea. Upon seeing Li Guangtian, Xu Chunliang waved at him.

Li Guangtian approached them and said with a smile, "Town Mayor Xu, you seem to be quite at ease."

Xu Chunliang replied, "Stealing some leisure amidst the busyness." He invited Li Guangtian to sit down next to them.

Pu Jian fetched a clean cup and poured Li Guangtian some tea.

Li Guangtian asked, "Is it really a hot spring?" He was somewhat skeptical, given that numerous past surveys had confirmed that Weishan Island’s springs were mainly concentrated around Shiliang Mountain, and those exploratory professionals had basically determined that the island did not have geothermal resources.

Xu Chunliang said, "Take a sniff, doesn’t the air carry a whiff of sulfur?"

Li Guangtian replied, "A bit, yes. This needs to be reported."

Xu Chunliang said, "The leaseholder has already reported it to the Natural Resources Administration Bureau. The current response is that since it’s holiday season, they will only send technicians over after the break ends."

Li Guangtian asked, "No one on duty?"

Xu Chunliang shook his head. These institutions usually have no presence, with little work pressure, mainly gathering idle people, so don’t expect much efficiency from them.

Li Guangtian glanced at the nearby enclosure and asked, "How’s the water flow?"

Xu Chunliang replied, "Quite abundant. The hot spring water is flowing rapidly now."

Li Guangtian said, "If it’s true, this would be the first hot spring discovered on Weishan Island, having epoch-making significance for future tourism development."

Xu Chunliang chuckled, "Da Heng has touted the Hot Spring Town for so long, and it turns out to be real, but with the hot spring ending up in the winery."

Li Guangtian couldn’t help but laugh, realizing that the contractor here might have struck gold. If Equatorial Capital successfully acquires the development and utilization rights to the hot spring, the value of this place would undoubtedly multiply several times. Not to mention that hot spring water alone could generate endless value.

If Da Heng’s Hot Spring Town wants to tap into this, they might have to pay a hefty fee.

Li Guangtian was quite knowledgeable about this aspect. He informed Xu Chunliang that although hot springs fall under the jurisdiction of the Natural Resources Administration Bureau, Dongzhou has a specific regulation for hot spring management. To rationally develop, utilize, and protect hot spring water resources, effectively promote the nationalization management of hot spring water resources, and ensure the appreciation and preservation of state assets, the Dongzhou Government authorized the city’s Ecological Environment Construction Investment Group to uniformly develop and manage the hot spring water resources within Dongzhou City’s administrative area, implementing unified planning, management, supply, and operation.

Aside from the City Ecological Environment Construction Investment Company, no other units or individuals are permitted to develop and utilize hot spring water resources.

Xu Chunliang thanked Li Guangtian for the reminder, not expecting the procedures for hot springs to be so complex.

The normal process involves the development reform department taking the lead in conjunction with relevant departments to draft a hot spring water resource protection and development plan, delineating the protected area, legally setting hot spring fees, and submitting them for government approval. They are responsible for formulating comprehensive coordination on hot spring water resource industry development policies and coordinating the advancement of major hot spring resource development projects.

The natural resource department is responsible for completing the approval of the hot spring water resource exploration and mining rights, collecting mineral resource fees, and law enforcement supervision.

The ecological environment department handles the environmental impact assessment approval procedures for the development and utilization of hot spring water resources; responsible for environmental protection and water pollution prevention during the development and utilization process, and law enforcement supervision.

The water affairs department is responsible for issuing annual water usage plans, water intake approval, determining water intake volumes, collecting water resource fees, and law enforcement supervision.

The finance, public security, health, and wellness departments cooperate with the water affairs department in their respective capacities to jointly manage and protect hot spring water resources.