John Foster just made it clear: even if a gold mine doesn’t have major technical difficulties, even if the investment is minimal, a full set of equipment still costs a hundred to two hundred thousand US dollars.

　　And that’s not even mentioning the future operating expenses.

　　“It’s fine, I’m confident about this.” Edward Baker reassured Lucy Clark with full confidence, but secretly complained to himself—what confidence did he really have?

　　If he hadn’t been sure that John Foster, when sending David Sullivan back to the business center, had already told David Sullivan everything about the gold mine and was planning to ditch him to monopolize the Yibogu gold mine with David Sullivan, Edward Baker might have just kept laying low tonight.

　　Since John Foster left him no choice, he had to fight for it no matter what.

　　You only lay low when there’s profit to be had; if someone else takes all the benefits and you still lay low, that’s just plain stupid.

　　Besides, if his intuition was right, and the old chief Brian Baker’s kindness and expectations for him were genuine, then he was definitely qualified to compete with John Foster and David Sullivan.

　　After all, he was someone favored by Yibogu...

Chapter 8 Sister

　　“I admit I have my own motives in all this, but when Edward Baker pulled me to Yibogu village before, I really hadn’t thought of you at all…”

　　Edward Baker walked up the stairs and saw John Foster holding onto Emily Carter, talking with her by the window at the top of the stairs on the second floor. When John Foster saw Edward Baker coming up, his face immediately darkened.

　　Edward Baker snapped his fingers and walked nonchalantly into his own room.

　　John Foster was sowing discord, trying to win over Emily Carter to isolate him—Edward Baker wasn’t surprised at all. When he’d pulled John Foster to Yibogu village before, he’d indeed meant to avoid Emily Carter.

　　This kind of thing wasn’t even close to being settled, and Emily Carter couldn’t really help anyway, so why bring her along?

　　Of course, if John Foster only had the energy for these petty tricks right now, Edward Baker actually felt relieved. This turtle brat might have started working a few years earlier than him, but he was still full of scholarly pride, boasting about his prestigious university degree—maybe he even thought he was better at scheming than anyone else?

　　Pfft!

　　Thinking of this, Edward Baker almost wanted to go out and ask John Foster if he’d washed his peed-on pants yet. It’d be great if he could piss him off to death.

　　He’d stayed downstairs too long just now, and the desk lamp in his room, powered by a battery, was already growing dim; mainly because he’d been away from Degulamo for a few days and forgot to charge the battery.

　　Edward Baker took a candle and a lighter from the drawer, just about to light it, when the overhead incandescent bulb flickered and then came on.

　　The peak electricity usage period had passed, so the West Bank area had power again. Edward Baker took out his phone and saw it was almost midnight.

　　He turned on the fan, and the cool breeze made it less stuffy. Not feeling sleepy, Edward Baker turned on his computer and habitually logged into QQ first, seeing Grace Clark’s dimmed avatar constantly flashing.

　　“Are you there?”

　　“Why aren’t you replying to my messages? You’ve got some nerve! I’m going to tell grandma on you!”

　　A string of angry emojis.

　　“What’s wrong, you haven’t talked to me in six hours! Did I offend you? Are you upset because I said that Henry Clark has boys chasing after her? You were the one who ignored her first, you know.”

　　“Please, talk to me! I slept too late yesterday, grandma said girls should sleep more, so she didn’t wake me up, and I was late for school—almost got yelled at to death by the homeroom teacher…”

　　“Henry Clark came to my school again today. Don’t worry, she was alone, no boys with her.”

　　“What’s wrong, why can’t I reach your phone? Did I remember wrong, am I confused, I shouldn’t have tried to save money and not called your phone first…”

　　“You scared me! Such a pretty and cute little sister, and you still scare her—where’s your conscience?”

　　“Why aren’t you replying to my messages?”

　　……

　　After he arrived in Degulamo, even thrifty Grace Clark had gritted her teeth and bought a second-hand computer, so she could chat with him on QQ at night. It had become his routine for over a year.

　　He hadn’t told Grace Clark that he was going to Yibogu village to check out the local gold mining, so when he suddenly disappeared for several days, it really scared her.

　　Just as Edward Baker was about to leave a message for Grace Clark, Henry Clark’s still-lit avatar suddenly flashed:

　　“Edward Baker?”

　　“It’s me.”

　　“You scared me to death. Grace Clark just called me, said she hasn’t been able to reach you for days, cried on the phone, didn’t know if something happened to you or if she said something to make you mad.”

　　“Oh, I was suddenly sent on a business trip by the company a few days ago, to an area near Degulamo. Stayed there for a few days, conditions were terrible—no electricity, no cell signal, let alone internet. I’ll contact Grace Clark in a bit!”

　　As Edward Baker was thinking about what to say to Grace Clark, her avatar started flashing, first with a string of crazy and angry emojis:

　　“You idiot, dummy, jerk, are you trying to make your pretty and cute little sister die of anger?!”

　　“You went on a business trip for so long and didn’t even think to tell your pretty and cute little sister in advance?!”

　　Before Edward Baker could reply, a voice chat request came in:

　　“Brother?” Grace Clark’s timid voice came through, as if she was worried that it wasn’t really her brother Edward Baker on the other end, but someone else pretending to comfort her.

　　“It’s me,” Edward Baker said.