Chapter 256: Chapter 226: The Corner (Part 2)

One of them wasn’t bothering to sell his crabs, and the other built a restaurant but never opened it.

Those two were really a piece of work.

...

「Crown Camp.」

Two strangers appeared in the camp, a man and a woman, wandering around with a camera and a notebook.

They would occasionally stop to write, sketch, and take photos and videos.

If Feng Shan hadn’t told the staff ahead of time that they were just tourists, they might have been arrested as thieves.

It wasn’t until midnight that a plane landed on the runway, braving the biting cold wind of the Tundra.

As soon as Young Master Xu and Su Ziweng got off the plane, their legs gave out and they collapsed to their knees on the ground.

"The New Year’s bows are a little early, aren’t they?" Feng Shan said, walking up to the two with a wide grin.

"New Year my ass, my legs have turned to jelly. Quick, give me a hand," Su Ziweng said, propping himself up on his hands, his face etched with exhaustion.

The flight from Anchorage back to Crown Territory was over a thousand kilometers, nearly ten hours crammed into a narrow cabin.

Master Xu was just as weary from the journey. He was sprawled on the icy ground, his handsome face a mixture of anger and frustration.

"Where’s Xu Hongxin? That damn girl, launching a sneak attack while I was away."

"Give it a rest. Your cousin went to bed ages ago!" Feng Shan pulled them both up from the ground and brushed the snow off their clothes. "What kind of family do you have? Trying to kill each other over business?"

"Ugh, it’s a long story," Young Master Xu sighed.

Su Ziweng stumbled onto a snowmobile and yawned. "Brother Feng, I brought presents for everyone. Don’t forget to grab them. *Hiss*... It’s way colder in Crown Territory than Anchorage. Nash, take me back to my cabin."

Feng Shan knew the guy was giving him and Young Master Xu some space to talk, so he waved him off.

The pilot unloaded the gifts, and without a backward glance, took off.

On the vast, empty runway, only the two of them remained, their only company the blinking guidance lights.

"Brother Feng..." Young Master Xu had just started to speak.

"Later," Feng Shan cut him off. "Let’s load up the stuff you bought first." He glanced at the boxes and bags of all sizes on the ground. "That little punk sure took off fast. Hurry up, I’m taking you to a good place."

Once they had loaded all the gifts onto the sled, Feng Shan drove the snowmobile to the hot springs.

The large pool had been taken over by the camp’s female employees. They all seemed to prefer bathing in the open air, which didn’t make it a great spot for a private conversation.

The streetlights cast a dim yellow light.

The sound of the women’s laughter and cheerful chatter carried through the white steam rising from the steaming hot spring.

Feng Shan found a smaller pool, stripped off his clothes, and jumped into the hot water. He looked at Young Master Xu, who was just standing there staring blankly. "What are you waiting for? Get in."

Oh!

Young Master Xu fumbled with his clothes and, upon slipping into the water, let out a sigh of pure bliss.

The warm water enveloped his body, instantly melting away his exhaustion and worries.

"Brother Feng, when did you put in this hot spring? This is fucking awesome!"

"It just popped out of the ground two days ago," Feng Shan said dismissively before changing the subject. "So, what’s the deal with your cousin? She comes here trying to poach my business right under my nose. Isn’t anyone in your family going to do anything about it?"

Young Master Xu gave a wry smile. He scooped up a handful of warm water and washed the frost from his eyebrows.

"Sigh, how do I explain this... A long time ago, my grandfather and his three brothers left the countryside in Fujian for Singapore. They started from scratch with a single grocery store and built it into a multinational conglomerate. Now, my grandfather’s generation is all retired, and the second generation—my father and my uncles—are gradually taking a backseat."

"As of now, I have over twenty cousins. The family’s plan is to choose a capable successor from among us. To do that, the family gave each person in the third generation a sum of money to start our own businesses. They’ll evaluate our performance and then pick a successor."

At this, Young Master Xu let out a sly chuckle.

"I never had any intention of taking over. The moment I got the money, I started traveling the world. Eating, drinking, and having fun is so much better. Just look at my old man—he’s up working before the sun rises and has to schmooze with people at night. Sometimes I’m lucky if I see him once a month."

"That’s not the life I want. Everyone knows it’s hard to start a business, but even harder to maintain one. ’Wealth never lasts past three generations,’ right? My original plan was to just blow through the startup funds and then go home to be a freeloader. It’s not like the old man would actually let me starve."

"That time on Saint Paul Island, I overheard the crab buyers plotting to lowball you. Then I saw the Chinese characters on the *River Beach* and got pissed, so I decided to get a piece of the action. Didn’t think I’d actually score! Awesome!"

"Mind your language. What’s all this about getting a piece and scoring?" Feng Shan shot the lucky third-generation heir a look. "And then what?"

"And then, I made a killing, of course!" Young Master Xu grinned smugly. "You have no idea how damn well your crabs sell. Even if Xu Hongxin hadn’t come, I was still going to talk to you. I was just planning to wait until after the Emperor Crab season ended."

"Damn it, you son of a bitch. You were planning to squeeze another haul out of this," Feng Shan swore, though he was smiling.

Just then,

Nash appeared through the steam, carrying a basket of cucumbers and tomatoes, which he set down by the edge of the pool. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Having been found out, Young Master Xu just gave a cheeky grin. He picked a tomato from the basket, polished it off in a few bites, and let out a full burp.

"There’s no shame in making money. Besides, it was a clean transaction. You sell, I buy, we’re all square."

"I know a deal like that can’t last forever. I want to partner with you. You handle the fishing, I’ll handle the sales channels, and together we can build the ’Crown Territory Seafood’ brand. Oh, and by the way, I already registered the trademark for it."

"Fuck, you shameless bastard!" Feng Shan grabbed a cucumber and threw it at him.

Young Master Xu caught the cucumber and took a satisfying bite. "Duh. This is business. We talk business first, friendship second. Otherwise, you can’t stay friends."

"So what about that cousin of yours?" Feng Shan appreciated this attitude—keeping business and friendship separate.

"What else can I do? I’ll deal with her when the time comes. I’ll talk to her first, and if it comes to it, we can just cooperate. That girl has always been fiercely competitive, always has to be number one. She’s the type born to take over the family business. My job is to just lie back and enjoy the ride."

As Young Master Xu spoke, he stood up from the hot spring, walked to the bank, and picked up the basket. "From here on out, don’t you worry about a thing. I’ll handle the negotiations. I guarantee you won’t get the short end of the stick."

With that, he walked toward the large pool with a cheeky grin, vanishing into the thick steam. A moment later, his voice drifted out from the mist.

"Hey, ladies! I’ve got some cucumbers over here. Anyone want a taste?"

Feng Shan could only shake his head in resignation.

’I’ll never understand these family squabbles. As long as it doesn’t get in the way of me making money, I couldn’t care less how they sort it out.’

...

「The next day.」

The hours of daylight continued to shrink, now lasting less than two and a half hours.

It felt as if time itself was being compressed, driving home the harsh reality of a winter in the Far North.

Even during the day, the sky remained veiled in a thin haze. The sun struggled to pierce through the barrier, its light appearing faint and powerless.

After breakfast, Feng Shan gazed up at the pitch-black sky. If not for the clock on the wall, he would have thought it was still the dead of night.

First thing in the morning, Tom called.

The mature fruit trees he had purchased had arrived in Dead Horse Town and would be delivered to Crown Territory by noon.

The journey from Ontario, Canada, to Crown Territory was nearly 4,200 kilometers. Thanks to the interconnected highway system between the two countries, the truck made it to Prudhoe Bay, the northernmost point on the road, in four days.

The rest of the way would have to be by helicopter.

The mature fruit trees themselves weren’t expensive, costing only between 200 and 500 US Dollars each.

The shipping costs, however, were not. The rate for the flatbed truck carrying the trees might seem cheap at an average of 3.2 US dollars per kilometer, but the total trucking fee for the trip came out to nearly 50,000 US Dollars.

And that didn’t even include the helicopter. A medium-sized helicopter cost 20,000 US Dollars an hour, and with the polar night conditions, that fee would increase by another 50%.

All in all, Feng Shan was looking at a bill of 600,000 US Dollars for shipping alone.

’To put it bluntly, it’s all due to the remote location. The vast majority of the expense is just for transportation.’

If there was a road directly connected to Crown Territory, the situation would be very different.

Convenient access would drastically lower shipping costs, allow for a smoother flow of goods, and ensure all sorts of supplies could reach Crown Territory much faster.

’Unfortunately, I really can’t afford to build a road.’

’It’s a bottomless pit that could never be filled. An investment that could easily run into the billions. How many crabs would I have to sell to make that kind of money?’

RUMBLE RUMBLE!!

The roar of propellers echoed across the grey-white sky.

...