AHEM, AHEM, AHEM!!

If he didn’t stop them, they’d get completely out of hand.

Feng Mountain coughed loudly, his expression turning stern as he pretended nothing had happened.

"Alright, let’s get down to business. We need to talk about the Crown Territory’s future development plan."

’Hmph!

Coward!’

The three girls grumbled to themselves. That little scene just now... it wasn’t just a heat-of-the-moment impulse. It was half impulse, half genuine desire.

’It’s a shame Feng Mountain managed to break free at the last second. Otherwise...’

But this certainly wouldn’t be their only chance. The three girls exchanged glances, seeing a certain spark in each other’s eyes before nodding silently.

Then, they immediately put on attentive expressions and sat up straight, their eyes fixed forward.

Unaware of the three young women’s schemes, Feng Mountain saw that everyone was looking serious and nodded in satisfaction.

"Okay, so the Crown Territory is still missing a lot of basic infrastructure."

"First, the dining situation. A group of tourists will be arriving at the Crown Territory in about two weeks, and they can’t eat in the log cabins. I plan to build a restaurant, and Jenny, you’ll be in charge of it."

"What kind of standard for the restaurant?" As a former Michelin-starred head chef, Jenny knew this business inside and out. She nodded, accepting the task.

Feng Mountain thought for a moment.

"Let’s go with Michelin standards. You can decide on the equipment and the design of the restaurant. If you need anything, call Tom directly. Oh, right. I remember Demi came to the Crown Territory a couple of days ago. Where is she?"

"Demi went to Fairbanks to buy bar equipment." Jenny wondered how Feng Mountain knew Demi had visited, but she quickly pushed the thought aside. "Where would be a good place to build the restaurant?"

"Talk to David about the location. From now on, all architectural planning within the camp will be his responsibility. Any problems with that?" Feng Mountain looked at David, who was sitting in the corner. David quickly stood up. "No problem."

"That settles the restaurant," Feng Mountain nodded. "Tammy and Maria, you’ll continue to manage the vegetable gardens. You can expand the cultivation area."

"Okay," the two girls replied cheerfully.

"What about me?" Erica asked eagerly, seeing that everyone else had a task.

"You!" Feng Mountain paused to think. "How about developing new tourism projects? Think you can handle it? If it sounds like too much trouble, just forget it."

’Is he looking down on me?’

A surge of anger welled up in Erica. She puffed out her chest, making her A-cups look like B-cups. "I’ll take it! It’s just developing new tourism projects. I’ll need a team."

"Everyone in this room is at your disposal," Feng Mountain said, inwardly pleased.

"Including you?" Erica narrowed her eyes.

Feng Mountain nodded. "Of course. Including me!"

"Good!" A cunning smile spread across Erica’s face, like a fox whose trick had just succeeded.

Watching from the side, Xiaohua sighed to herself.

’Brother Shan thinks he’s so clever, but he’s about to get caught in his own trap.

Anyone could see it was reverse psychology, yet he’s the one who fell for it.’

After assigning tasks to everyone, Feng Mountain stood up. His tank top slipped from his shoulder, revealing a firm bicep. He shot an angry glare at the main culprit.

"I’ll be in charge of contacting someone about the hydro-turbine generator."

"Let’s all work hard and try to get the bar and restaurant built within two weeks. When they’re finished, drinks are on me. Meeting adjourned!"

...

Everyone went off to plan their respective tasks.

Feng Mountain walked back into the living room. Seeing the mischievous smiles on Xiaohua and the other two, he let out a long sigh.

"Sigh... the bigger the team, the harder it is to lead."

"Hard to lead? I’d say you’re just afraid of having too many people around," Xiaohua said, smiling. "I saw the way those three girls look at you. They only have eyes for you."

Only Xiaohua would dare to say something like that. If it had been Hu Zi or Black Hide, they’d have been guaranteed a slap across the face.

"Oh, get out of here!" Feng Mountain shot Xiaohua a glare, though that was all he dared to do. "So, what are your plans? Are you leaving or staying?"

At the mention of this, Xiaohua and the others looked troubled. Hu Zi and Black Hide didn’t dare to speak, frantically signaling with their eyes for Xiaohua to be the one to break the news.

Seeing the subtle exchange between the three of them, Feng Mountain already guessed the answer.

Xiaohua shot a contemptuous glance at her gutless friends before coming over to sit beside Feng Mountain.

"Feng," she began, "I want to go back to China. I’m not used to living here. I don’t know how to do anything useful, so I’ll only be a burden to you if I stay. Our supermarket back home has been closed for days, which must be inconvenient for the neighbors."

"Yeah, Brother Shan, I just got my car wrapped..." Black Hide also tried to play the pity card, but Feng Mountain’s glare cut him off mid-sentence.

Sigh!

Feng Mountain sighed again and affectionately pulled Xiaohua into his embrace.

"You guys... If you want to go back, you can. Just wait until I’ve arranged everything for you back in China, then you can head back."

Xiaohua started to speak again, but Feng Mountain ended the conversation with a single sentence.

"Don’t say another word. Can’t you even stand to stay for a few more days?"

"That settles it."

With that, Feng Mountain stood and walked out of the log cabin, leaving the three of them with only the sight of his lonely departing figure.

"See? Look at you two! I said we should have told Brother Shan sooner, but you kept dragging your feet. Are you happy now?" Xiaohua turned and glared at the two men, who were cowering.

Hu Zi complained miserably.

"I was too scared to say anything! There’s nothing here but foreigners. I can’t eat or sleep well. The days are shorter than an afternoon back home. I open my eyes, it’s dark. I close my eyes, it’s still dark! If I don’t look at my watch, I have no idea what time it is. What kind of life is this?"

Black Hide quickly nodded in agreement, shamelessly trying to get on her good side. "Exactly! Brother Shan has a total soft spot for you. If I had said it, I would’ve gotten a beating!"

"You two..."

The flicker of anger Xiaohua felt vanished as she listened to their complaints.

It wasn’t just them who were unwilling to stay in the Crown Territory; deep down, she didn’t want to either.

Even though she didn’t have to worry about food or drink, she just couldn’t get used to living here.

They ate meat as a staple for every meal—rich dishes of fish and meat. You never saw anyone during the day, and you wouldn’t see a soul if you went for a walk at night. To talk to anyone, you had to use hand gestures. If it weren’t for Brother Shan, she would’ve wanted to go home after just two days.

Shooting the two men another glare, Xiaohua sighed.

"Forget it. Brother Shan said to stay a few more days, so we’ll stay a few more days."

...

After leaving the log cabin, the crisp, fresh air cleared some of the gloom from Feng Mountain’s heart.

’Looked at from their perspective, I might have made the same choice,’ he thought.

He then took out his satellite phone and called Zhang Kai.

Zhang Kai had just landed and was sitting in a car arranged by Tom. When he saw the call, he assumed he must have left something behind at the Crown Territory.

After they connected and exchanged a few pleasantries, Feng Mountain asked him to buy two houses in Hai City. He wanted them in a good neighborhood, preferably in a good school district. Money was no object.

Feng Mountain had his reasons for this. Once Xiaohua had their child, the kid would eventually need to go to school.

The quality of elementary school education in Alaska could only be described as abysmal. They were on vacation most of the time. Bringing a child up here would be doing them a great disservice.

You can skimp on anything but education, and kids shouldn’t have to suffer no matter what.

It was better to let the child stay in China and get a proper education.

After hanging up, Su Ziweng asked curiously, "Brother Kai, what did Brother Feng say?"

Zhang Kai held the phone, a headache already forming. "He wants me to buy two houses in a good school district for Hu Zi and Black Hide when I get back. Where in Hai City am I supposed to find new properties near a school these days?"

Feng Yang, who had thought it was some major issue, chimed in. His company was in exactly this business.

"A trivial matter. I have a few units reserved in Taishan Mansion, right next to Renmin Road Primary School. When we get back, I’ll sell them directly to Younger Brother Feng."

"Fourth Uncle, do you think opening a restaurant in the Crown Territory is a viable idea?" Su Ziweng asked his elder for advice.

Feng Yang nodded.

"It’s very viable. That place, the Crown Territory, is something else. Since Younger Brother Feng agreed, this is your chance. If you don’t seize it now, you’ll miss out. If you’re not interested, I can handle the operations, and you can just lend your name to the project."

Su Ziweng immediately flew into a rage, stopping just short of pointing a finger in his fourth uncle’s face.

"Are you even my uncle? Who tries to steal business right from under someone’s nose like that? I’m calling Mom right now. I’ll tell her you’re trying to poach my project, and she’ll skin you alive!"

"Wenwen, I was just kidding!" Seeing Su Ziweng actually pull out his phone, Feng Yang quickly backpedaled.

The car filled with the sounds of their playful squabbling.

Sun Jia gazed out the window, thinking about how Feng Mountain had agreed to his request to open a shooting range.

The business was definitely a go. The only question was, what kind of cut should he offer Feng Mountain?

「Meanwhile」

Tom was at the cargo airport, leading Yves to a warehouse.

He opened the warehouse door to reveal bundles of fruit trees stacked together, each one wrapped in layers of insulating cotton to protect it from the cold.

He had to pull a lot of strings and call in personal favors to buy this batch from different places, enduring no small amount of ridicule in the process.

"Well, here they are. The fruit trees Feng wanted. Are you sure they’ll actually survive here?"

"If Khilla said they’ll survive, then they’ll survive."

Yves’s tone was firm, showing his absolute trust in Feng Mountain.

"Buddy, ever thought about a change of scenery? A job, maybe? I could really use a guy like you," Tom said, making no secret of his admiration for Yves. He was even willing to risk offending Feng Mountain to poach one of his people.

Yves pretended not to hear, turning to signal a forklift to enter the warehouse and move the fruit trees.

Tom shrugged.

’Would’ve been great if I could snag him, but no big deal if I can’t.’

He pulled out his phone to contact Zhang Kai. First things first, he had to lock down these big spenders.

’I finally got them out of the Crown Territory. If I don’t empty their pockets of a few Franklins before they leave, I don’t deserve to be called a Vampire.’

「Back with Feng Mountain」

After hanging up, he took a stroll along the path and saw Nash and Wawa squatting down, clearing moss and weeds from the gravel walkway.

This task had become part of their daily routine.

The moss grew so fast that as soon as they cleared one section, another would sprout up right behind it.

Seeing this, Feng Mountain shook his head and chuckled.

’I completely forgot about this,’ he thought. He quickly communicated with the Fire Seed, telling it to stop enriching the soil beneath the gravel path. Without the enrichment, the soil would return to its original barren state, and the weeds would naturally stop growing.

Having solved the weed problem on the path, Feng Mountain continued his stroll around the camp.

It seemed that getting paid had motivated everyone.

The eager faces and busy figures filled the entire camp with a vibrant, bustling energy.

It was a large camp, and before, people rarely ran into each other unless they made specific plans. Everyone was busy with their own work.

Now, however, you could constantly see people bustling about.

Some were repairing the log cabins, others were organizing supplies, and still others were clearing new land for the gardens.

Everyone was working hard for the camp’s construction and development, as if some invisible force were driving them forward.

Hmm.

’We’re still short on people!’

Relying on just six people to do all the work in a camp this big... they were still spread too thin.

’When in trouble, call for backup.’

Feng Mountain took out his satellite phone and dialed a number.

Hearing the sound of rapid breathing on the other end, he knew Frank was up to his old tricks again.

"Buddy, you’re... back... at the Crown... Territory?"

"Maybe I should call back when you’re... less busy?" Feng Mountain hesitated, thinking it best not to interrupt.

"No problem. What’s up?"

"The Crown Territory is still short on people. Do you know anyone suitable?"

"How... how many?"

Feng Mountain did a quick mental calculation. "If possible, ten to twenty people would be great. And no potheads."

"OK, I’ll call you back." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Feng Mountain held his phone and shook his head. ’I knew I shouldn’t have given Frank that animal hide.

How long has it even been?

And he’s back to playing the groom every single day.’

...