20: Chapter 20: $10,000 to buy an entire oil field!

With the details verified, the next steps naturally fell into place.

Old Smith led the team straight to the real estate agency in Isabella County.

The person in charge of reception was a middle-aged white man.

"Good morning, how may I help you?"

The middle-aged man greeted them politely.

Lin Tian stepped forward and said, "We intend to buy some land to hunt quail. Can you handle that here?"

"Buy land to hunt quail?!"

The middle-aged man looked completely bewildered.

Old Smith took out the topographical map of Boston Town and spread it on the table.

Lin Tian picked up a pen and drew a large circle on the map.

"We want this large area. Most of it is wasteland, and there are a few small farms. Find a way to help us acquire all the title deeds!"

Looking at the red circle on the map, the middle-aged man calculated for a moment and held up four fingers: "Four dollars an acre, and I guarantee I'll help you secure all the land!"

Land prices in the USA were shockingly cheap these days; one acre, equivalent to six Chinese mu, sold for only four dollars.

Even though it was so cheap, Old Smith still frowned, feigning dissatisfaction: "Too expensive! Even prime paddy fields in San Francisco only cost four dollars an acre. This place is full of saline-alkali land that can't grow crops; it's worth two dollars at most!"

After some bargaining, the agent finally gritted his teeth and agreed to a deal at a unit price of three dollars per acre.

The area Lin Tian circled was entirely the core oil zone identified by Prain, with a total area of a full ten thousand acres.

Just buying the land would require sinking in thirty thousand dollars.

Later on, they would have to buy extraction equipment, which would cost at least another ten thousand dollars.

The total investment would directly exceed forty thousand dollars.

According to the rules set before they came, the Smith family provided manpower and effort, holding a twenty percent stake.

Old Smith and Harvey would have to stay in this remote, desolate area for a long time.

Only after the oil extraction machines arrived, and the machinery was running and producing oil steadily, could the father and son return to the city.

A twenty percent stake sounded scary, but looking at the hardship the Smith father and son were about to endure, Lin Tian felt the money was well worth sharing.

After the deal was settled, Prain offered a suggestion: "Boss Lin Tian, once the oil starts flowing, we will need to build an oil pipeline to the port. It would be best to cooperate directly with Standard Oil; that is the only way to make big money!"

"Thanks for the reminder, I will consider it carefully." Lin Tian nodded in response.

The oil business was a money pit.

Without cooperating with a giant, the Lin family and the Smith family simply couldn't handle it on their own.

However, all matters would have to wait until the crude oil was actually extracted.

Only two days passed.

The thirty thousand dollars were paid in full, and the ten thousand acres of wasteland were officially transferred to the Lin family's name.

Half a month later, the extraction equipment was successively transported into Boston Town.

Good news came one after another.

As soon as the first well was drilled, black crude oil sprayed directly into the air, reaching dozens of meters high!

After on-site measurements, the experts reached a shocking conclusion.

The reserves of the oil field beneath their feet were at least fifty million tons.

Although cars hadn't been invented yet and oil couldn't fetch a sky-high price.

But a full fifty million tons of black gold was definitely worth over ten million dollars!

...

As soon as the news of black oil spraying from the ground spread, the major giant companies, like hungry wolves smelling meat, all sent people to their door.

At noon, inside a newly built wooden house in Boston Town.

Lin Tian, covered in mud and water, had just come down from the derrick and went straight to meet the negotiation representative sent by Standard Oil.

Upon seeing Lin Tian, the representative not only didn't look down on him because of his age, but his eyes were filled with shock.

"Mr. Bruce, it is a great honor to meet you!"

Seeing the other party's expression, Lin Tian was a bit puzzled: "Do you know me?"

"Of course! Looking across the whole world, who doesn't know your name!"

The representative smiled broadly and took a crumpled newspaper from his briefcase.

Taking a closer look, it was The New York Times.

The front-page headline had several rows of bold black text:

"The Chinese Child Prodigy You Never Knew, An Unimaginable Miracle!"

Lin Tian took it and glanced at it twice.

It not only praised his invention of the safety razor to the skies but also spent a large amount of space describing his heroic deed of shooting dead the wanted criminal Billy with one shot.

The article was full of flattering words, making even Lin Tian himself blush.

Continuing to read, the newspaper highlighted his righteous act of donating the full twenty thousand dollars to the victims.

In the middle, there were also several thank-you letters from the families.

For instance, the mother of the young attendant who died in the dining car publicly published an apology in the newspaper.

The old lady said she had misunderstood the Chinese in the past and would definitely treat Chinese laborers well from now on, because everyone was a compatriot of Mr. Bruce, and one should look for noble shining points in the Chinese people.

At the end of the article, there was an unverified piece of gossip:

"I heard this young hero dug up a large oil field in California; it seems God always favors kind people!"

The last line printed the source: Dictated by Anna Edison.

"So that girl Anna has returned to New York!" Lin Tian suddenly realized.

No wonder the article used such exaggerated language; it turned out this little heiress was the one pushing it from behind the scenes.

The representative rubbed his hands together, his tone very excited: "This newspaper sold out in New York long ago! A ten-year-old shooting dead a big bandit who gave the Federal Government a headache for over a decade, plus discovering an oil field like a golden mountain—I estimate sales could double again! Now everyone calls you the 'Miracle Boy'!"

Upon hearing these four words, Old Smith and several bodyguards nearby all covered their mouths to snicker.

Having long gotten familiar with everyone, Lin Tian glared at them fiercely, secretly cursing that this nickname was truly too cheesy.

However, complaining was one thing, but Lin Tian's fame had been completely established.

This time, with the daughter of Edison personally providing the scoop, the reach of The New York Times far exceeded that of California tabloids.

Nowadays, walking down the street, as long as the name Bruce was mentioned, even passersby would give a thumbs up and praise him as brave and noble.

Everyone hoped their own children could be as promising as him.

Consequently, the prejudices of Westerners against Chinese laborers also lessened significantly.

Recently, Chinese people had cut off their long braids, paid attention to hygiene, and even went to church to pray with white people.

At the docks and construction sites, the Chinese no longer maliciously undercut prices to grab work, but instead demanded equal pay for equal work.

The relationship between the two sides had eased significantly.

It was a pity that Lin Tian was stuck at the oil well every day and knew nothing about the changes in the outside world.

After the small talk, Lin Tian went straight to the point: "Give me a straight answer, how much does Standard Oil intend to pay?"

Old Smith, with a cigar in his mouth, leaned against the back of his chair, his eyes fixed on the representative opposite.

"One million dollars!"

The representative directly offered an astronomical price for this era.

Lin Tian, however, curled his lips and sneered: "Fifty million tons of reserves, and you want to use one million to dismiss a beggar? A gluttonous appetite is easy to choke on!"

The representative straightened his face, putting on a very professional demeanor: "But you don't even have a single oil pipeline in your hands! If you don't sell to us, the black water underground is worthless!"

This was indeed true.

Standard Oil had long since become a thorough monopolistic monster.

Rockefeller had annexed over forty competitors, holding ninety percent of the country's pipelines and eighty percent of the refineries in his hands; even the major railways were under his control.

Without cooperating with them, not a single drop of Lin Tian's oil could be sold.

However, Lin Tian had already prepared a countermeasure.

The mining expert Prain, who was sitting in the room, smiled and said: "Sir, we intend to ship our oil by sea. As long as we build a pipeline directly to the seaside, we can load all the crude oil onto ships!"

As soon as these words fell, the representative's expression changed instantly.

"Two million dollars for a thirty percent stake for Standard Oil. If you can do it, sign the contract immediately; if not, forget it!"

After Lin Tian finished speaking, he stood up, preparing to see the guest out.

The representative was so anxious he kept pulling out his handkerchief to wipe his sweat: "I cannot make the decision; I must send a telegram to the New York headquarters to request instructions!"

"Please do."

Lin Tian nodded.

The next day.

The representative ran back with the authorization.

The headquarters agreed to pay two million in exchange for a thirty percent stake.

To be honest, this deal had a very long return cycle for Standard Oil.

Although fifty million tons of reserves were worth ten million dollars, the initial investment totaled fifty thousand, and with labor and machine wear and tear, it would take at least a few years to recoup the two million paid.

But the giant signed the contract anyway.

Hearing the representative reveal privately, this astronomical contract was personally approved by the great Mr. Rockefeller.