Manager Suos fell silent, waiting for Feng Shan to speak.

’Heh, you little trickster.’

’Trying to play hard to get with me, huh?’

Feng Shan’s eyebrow twitched. He keenly sensed that this manager, Suos, had come prepared. His every move and word seemed to conceal some ulterior motive.

Just then, Black Hide brought over a tea set. Everyone else in the wooden cabin had already left for work; Xiaohua and Hu Zi had gone to help in the vegetable garden, leaving only an idle Black Hide behind.

"Brother Shan, I couldn’t find any tea, just this tea set."

"That’s fine. Go get a kettle of water from the river."

This tea set was a gift from Zhang Kai, who had brought it from China.

Feng Shan put the compressed charcoal into the tea stove, lit it with a lighter, and then placed the teapot filled with Ice River water on the stove.

When it came to brewing tea, Feng Shan wasn’t actually very skilled.

He wasn’t familiar with the complex tea-brewing techniques and procedures and didn’t have much experience in this area.

But he could still brew a decent cup of tea.

After the water boiled, Feng Shan didn’t hesitate and directly poured the entire small, sealed packet of tea leaves into the scalding teapot.

This was a relatively simple and direct way of brewing tea, skipping complex steps like washing the leaves.

The hot water met the tea leaves, releasing a delicate fragrance.

Watching from the side, Black Hide couldn’t help but grimace.

As the saying goes, even if you haven’t eaten pork, you’ve seen a pig run. In his experience, other people were very particular when it came to brewing tea.

Proper tea brewing was an art. From selecting and rinsing the leaves to controlling the water temperature and steeping time, every step was meticulously managed to produce a perfect cup, flawless in color, aroma, and taste.

Unlike Brother Shan, who just did things haphazardly, crudely dumping the tea leaves into the pot with a complete disregard for proper technique.

It was painful for Black Hide to watch, but Manager Suos found it novel and interesting.

Seeing the ancient-style tea set, his mind immediately jumped to China’s millennia of cultural heritage, making Feng Shan seem all the more profound and inscrutable.

Feng Shan casually picked up a small teacup and placed it in front of Manager Suos.

Seeing this, Black Hide, who was standing by, really wanted to remind Brother Shan that according to traditional tea ceremony etiquette, the cups should be handled with tongs, not directly by hand.

The words reached the tip of his tongue, but fearing a beating from Brother Shan, he forced them back down.

The teapot was now gurgling, letting off steam and waves of fragrant tea aroma.

Feng Shan picked up the teapot and filled the cups for Manager Suos and his assistant to the brim.

’Just this small cup?’

Manager Suos looked at the small, round teacup, carefully cradled it, and brought it to his lips. The taste wasn’t as amazing as he’d expected, but he still forced a compliment.

"Delicious!"

The young assistant mimicked his manager, ceremoniously lifting his own cup and taking a sip.

The tea, however, was disappointingly plain. It tasted like boiled weeds.

He couldn’t help but look at his manager in confusion, secretly wondering.

’Could it be that Manager Suos also understands the Chinese tea ceremony?’

Judging from the manager’s expression, he seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the taste of the tea.

"If it’s good, then drink more. To the brim!" Feng Shan picked up the teapot and refilled Suos’s cup.

Watching from the side, Black Hide’s eye twitched.

’Are you two having a drinking contest or something?’

’Filling it to the brim, even.’

And so, both sides had a tacit understanding not to bring up the matter of the base station, and just drank their tea quietly.

Feng Shan didn’t ask any questions either; he just kept refilling their cups.

Black Hide had already fetched three kettles of water from the Ice River, but he still hadn’t seen Brother Shan change the tea leaves.

Don’t be fooled by the small cups; drinking nonstop will still make your stomach bloat.

Manager Suos was so bloated from the tea he couldn’t take it anymore. He covered his cup with his hand, signaling not to pour him any more.

"Mr. Feng, let’s talk business."

"Oh, please do." Hearing this, Feng Shan put down the teapot, looking as if he were all ears.

Manager Suos first unbuttoned his winter coat to let his tea-filled stomach relax a bit, alleviating the uncomfortable bloating, then he got down to business.

"Here’s the situation. Our AT&T Company agrees to build a base station in Crown Territory. However, Crown Territory will be responsible for all costs related to land, electricity, and the construction process. AT&T, for its part, can provide the equipment and related technical services free of charge."

’Are you kidding me?’

’You use my land, my water, my electricity, and all you do is provide the equipment?’

Feng Shan silently cursed the other party for being shameless.

If Baima Wangmu hadn’t mentioned the land use fees and other related costs yesterday, he probably would have been duped without even knowing it, and would have ended up feeling grateful to AT&T Company to boot.

"Mr. Suos, please allow me to introduce the future blueprint for the town of Crown Territory."

"Please, go on!" Although Suos didn’t understand why Feng Shan had suddenly changed the subject, he still put on a show of listening intently.

A faint smile appeared on Feng Shan’s face. He then raised a hand and pointed toward the camp behind him.

"You must have seen my camp. Because of the burning underground shale gas, the temperature of the entire riverbank is much higher than the surrounding area. Moss, vegetation, and trees are all able to survive. In the entire Far North Tundra Region, isn’t that a miracle?"

It had to be said, Feng Shan wasn’t wrong.

On his flight from Fairbanks to Crown Territory, all Manager Suos had seen was a desolate landscape.

On the vast, boundless land of the Far North Tundra, apart from the white snow and stark, snow-capped mountains, there was nothing but endless desolation.

The only patch of green he’d seen was in Crown Territory. That splash of life seemed incredibly precious in this pale land.

After getting off the plane, the severe cold of minus 30 degrees was accompanied by falling snow, and the bone-chilling wind made one shiver uncontrollably.

After walking into the camp, however, the difference was immediately noticeable.

He even felt a bit hot in his winter coat. Manager Suos had been wondering why two completely different temperatures could exist on the same piece of land.

So it was because of the burning underground shale gas that such a temperature difference existed.

’This guy in front of me is really lucky.’

Seeing Manager Suos’s thoughtful expression, Feng Shan continued.

"So, I am going to turn Crown Territory into a tourist destination in the Far North Tundra."

"Starting with this camp right here, tourists will be able to experience the glaciers, auroras, tundra, and wildlife of the Far North."

"As you can see, I have already completed the initial construction of the lodging facilities. I am currently building a bar and a specialty restaurant, and also developing many tourism-related activities. In the future, a large number of tourists will definitely come to Crown Territory. At that time, communication equipment will be in high demand. This is an excellent opportunity for AT&T."

Manager Suos gave a cooperative little nod, but then spoke bluntly.

"Most tourists choose Fairbanks and Anchorage as the starting points for their trips. After all, they can see the scenery you just mentioned in those two places as well, without having to experience the extreme climate of the Tundra."

"Of course!" Feng Shan poured himself a cup of tea, took a satisfying sip, and said, "But Fairbanks and Anchorage don’t have me."

"Just this past October, I hosted a tour group of over 30 people. The general manager of China’s largest tourism company was in that group. He had nothing but praise for Crown Territory and agreed to organize more tour groups to come here in half a month."

"If you don’t believe me, you can confirm with the Fairbanks City Government whether a Chinese man named Zhang Kai came to Fairbanks to inspect tourist routes."

"Of course, the other three companies—Dowton, Cricket, and T-Mobile—are also very interested in Crown Territory."

Standing off to the side, Black Hide’s eyes went wide as he listened.

’Brother Shan sure has some nerve, making things up out of thin air. Including Brother Kai, there were only three people, but he’s stretching it into a tour group of 30.’

From a profitability standpoint, if they were to invest 1 million US Dollars to build a communication base station for a small place with only a dozen or so people, it would definitely be a loss-making business.

However, if it was really as Feng Shan said, and Crown Territory could be developed into a tourist destination, then installing a base station would certainly be profitable.

The key problem now was that there was no way to verify the truth of Mr. Feng’s words.

If he agreed to invest a huge sum to build the base station, but things didn’t turn out as Mr. Feng described, it would be a significant blow to his own career.

After some careful thought and deliberation, Manager Suos stood up and took out a satellite phone. "Apologies, Mr. Feng, I need to verify a few things you’ve said."

Feng Shan raised his hand in a "be my guest" gesture.

Then, Manager Suos walked briskly out of the fire pit rest area with the satellite phone, leaving the young assistant sitting alone on his chair.

"Here, have some more tea!" Feng Shan enthusiastically picked up the kettle and filled the young assistant’s cup.

The young assistant looked up with a pitiable expression and picked up his cup. "Thank you, sir, but I really can’t drink anymore!"

「Ten minutes later.」

Manager Suos returned to the fire pit rest area, beaming. "Mr. Feng! Our AT&T Company is willing to invest in building a communications base station in Crown Territory!"

The hand Feng Shan was using to hold the teapot twitched slightly, then he unhurriedly set the teapot down.

"Oh! It seems what I said was all correct."

Manager Suos nodded. "That’s right. The Fairbanks City Government confirmed Mr. Zhang Kai’s identity, and we also learned from Mr. Zhang Kai himself that he will be bringing a tour group to Crown Territory in half a month. We at AT&T would be very willing to be a part of the Crown Territory tourism project."

"Sit, have a cup of tea. We can talk things over slowly." Feng Shan’s face still held that same calm, unruffled expression.

But in Manager Suos’s eyes, this was a sign that he was waiting for the highest bidder.

When he thought about the three competitors—Dowton, Cricket, and T-Mobile—eyeing the communications market like hungry tigers, he knew that if he wasn’t more proactive, another company would snatch up the Crown Territory project.

"Mr. Feng, this is AT&T’s plan: We will build a high-power, multifunctional satellite communications base station in Crown Territory. It will have mobile phone and data transmission capabilities, including video calls, data collection, ring network switching, wireless communication, and personnel tracking, with a communication range of 50 kilometers."

"Furthermore, this base station is AT&T’s latest research achievement and has not yet been officially deployed in Alaska. If possible, the company would like to put the AT&T logo on the exterior wall of the station."

"Of course, no problem. So, how will the land fees and resource usage fees be settled?" Feng Shan smiled and raised his teacup.

Manager Suos stated the company’s offer.

"The annual fee will be 500,000 US Dollars. However, we require that the base station has its own independent generator to ensure the equipment has a stable power supply. The construction costs for the generator, as well as the equipment and other related expenses, will all be funded by our company."

"This is the best offer AT&T can make. I’m confident the other three companies couldn’t possibly offer such terms."

Feng Shan stood up, a broad smile on his face, and extended his hand.

"It’s a pleasure doing business with you. I’ve always been a loyal AT&T customer and have never switched."

"Of course. It’s an honor for AT&T to have a customer like you," Manager Suos replied, also smiling as he extended his hand.

"In that case, can I get a new phone? I heard your GoPhone plan was upgraded, and I can get a new handset."

"..."

The two parties happily reached an agreement.

Feng Shan enthusiastically saw the two men off, watching them board the plane and depart.

Black Hide stared at the plane as it gradually disappeared into the clouds. Even now, he still couldn’t figure out what had just happened.

They were paying to install the equipment for us, yet somehow we were the ones collecting a fee.

But the key thing was, they were actually willing to pay it.

"Brother Shan, I don’t get it!"

"You’re not supposed to."

Feng Shan turned, looked at his bewildered young friend, and patted him on the shoulder. "In a place like the United States, some folks are people, and some are ghosts. There’s a lot more to it than meets the eye."

...