Chapter 42

Thank you to "gfdhtrh" and "Shuyou120809064308986" for your generous support!!! I can't fulfill the request for 12,000 words of updates right now, I'm sorry. I'll do two 6K-word updates per day for now, please understand!!!

Over the next two days, Jifeng stayed by Xu Xian's side, taking her back to his place every day, but he only held her while they slept, not daring to continue their intimate moments.

Under the pressure from her sisters, Xu Xian admitted to breaking the final barrier with Jifeng. Eventually, she found it too embarrassing to answer their questions and was happy to stay with Jifeng.

One was a novice, the other was desperate, and after two days of restraint, they resumed their sweet love-making. Even the usually gentle and quiet Xu Xian was quite fierce in this aspect, wanting to have Jifeng every night.

Under the influence of love and desire, Xu Xian became even more charming and beautiful, especially her smooth, elastic skin, which made the other eight members of Girls' Generation envious, wishing they could find a man as well.

On the evening of the 31st, after picking up Xu Xian from a New Year's Eve gala, Jifeng headed straight to the airport with the other eight members of Girls' Generation.

Two planes were heading to Jeju Island from Incheon Airport that night. One was the G650 that Jifeng had acquired from a Russian oligarch who had just been taken down by President Putin. Knowing Jifeng's desire for a plane, Spark quickly arranged a deal, and Jifeng paid 1.2 billion yuan for the ultra-luxury private jet, which had flown for less than 300 hours, at a price only 100 million yuan lower than its original purchase price.

The other plane carried a delegation led by South Korean government official Park Jin-hui, who was about to hand over Jeju Island in less than an hour. Jifeng was the last to leave, while Park Jin-hui was already on Jeju Island.

According to the previous negotiations, the South Korean government would relinquish all rights to Jeju Island after the handover, including all facilities built or under construction on the island over the past few decades, and all government-owned or government-participated enterprises. After the handover, Jeju Island would have no connection with South Korea, for which Jifeng paid 5 billion US dollars.

After the handover, Jeju Island would become the world's largest private island, with full sovereignty. It is said that Forbes urgently adjusted its global billionaire list, and the mysterious island owner Jifeng became the world's richest person without dispute. The 1,845 square kilometers of land on Jeju Island alone was enough to make any billionaire envious, not to mention the vast surrounding waters.

At midnight, in the presence of thousands of media outlets, Jeju Island's interim administrative chief Kim Byung-rip, on behalf of Jifeng, received the document symbolizing Jeju Island's separation from South Korea at the Jeju City Government Square. This marked the end of the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province as an administrative division of South Korea, and Jeju Island became Jifeng's private property.

While countless South Koreans watched the event on TV with sorrow, the islanders were mixed with joy and worry.

After the handover ceremony, Kim Byung-rip announced a series of new plans for Jeju Island, which he had personally drafted and revised several times before Jifeng finally approved them.

In addition to continuing the policies of the Jeju Ten, the new plan first mentioned the island owner's encouragement for islanders to have more children. Each pregnant woman would receive an additional 60 days of prenatal leave, and maternity leave would be extended to 120 days, with the same benefits as regular work. Employers who treated them unfairly would face severe penalties from the Jeju Island government. Their husbands would also receive 30 days of paternity leave to accompany their wives and newborns.

The second item was the development of agriculture and animal husbandry on the island. Two areas would be designated for this purpose. A 200-square-kilometer large ranch would be built in the southwestern plain, with an investment of 1.5 billion US dollars for dairy and beef cattle farming, as well as automated slaughter and milk production. A 150-square-kilometer hilly area in the Halla SD region would be developed for farming, growing traditional crops and fruits of Jeju Island.

A large fishing company would be established on the western side of the island, and the size of Jeju Lake would be expanded for freshwater and marine fishing.

Islanders in the three designated areas could choose to relocate to other areas with the same land size or work for the island owner's farms, ranches, and fishing grounds, with salaries equal to those of Jeju Island administrative staff.

The third item was an 8.5 billion US dollar investment to improve the island's transportation, including the construction of a circular electrified railway. Islanders with new ID cards could ride for free, and tourists would pay a small fee to reach any station. Over 500 public transportation vehicles would be added or replaced, and the purchase of private vehicles would be restricted to those who own property on the island or have businesses on Jeju Island.

A week after the handover, new household registration books, ID cards, and passports would be issued. Jeju Island had already reached visa-free entry agreements with South Korea, Japan, the United States, and China, allowing citizens of these countries to visit Jeju Island for up to 30 days per year, and investors for up to three years. Jeju Island citizens would enjoy the same treatment when visiting these countries.

1 billion US dollars would be allocated to improve and strengthen existing insurance, pension, and healthcare benefits, aiming to achieve free treatment for major diseases for those over 65 and newborns up to 6 years old within two years, and a 50% reduction for the middle-aged.

1 billion US dollars would be invested in the renovation, expansion, and addition of schools on the island. Kindergartens would be managed uniformly, and children aged 3 and above would be required to attend. All fees would be waived from kindergarten to high school. Textbooks would be revised, and Korean history would be replaced with Jeju Island history. Bilingual (English and Chinese) teaching would be implemented in kindergartens, and students would have the option to learn other languages from junior high school, but not for exams.

500 million US dollars would be allocated for a unified school bus system, relocating people from remote areas to cities, and all students would enjoy free school bus services in the future.

4.5 billion US dollars would be invested in cultural attractions to attract more tourists to stay longer on Jeju Island. The tourism industry would be standardized and unified, with signs and services in four languages: English, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese.

The headquarters of the Han Tai Bank, privately owned by the island owner, would be relocated to Jeju Island, and the existing banking system would be integrated into the Jeju Bank, the only legal bank on the island. In the future, the island would issue its own currency, but foreign tourists could still use their credit cards for transactions.

6 billion US dollars would be invested to establish Jeju International Airlines, expanding direct flights to other countries and regions to attract more international tourists. A new large airport would be built in Seogwipo City to alleviate the congestion of flights on the island.

5 billion US dollars would be invested to establish Jeju International Shipping Company, increasing the number of passenger and cargo ships to cities and ports, and enhancing relations with neighboring countries to attract more middle- and low-income tourists. Several ultra-luxury cruise ships would be purchased to launch new long-distance cruise services.

2.5 billion US dollars would be invested to establish Jeju Energy Company, which would manage all energy-related matters on the island and conduct marine exploration and oil extraction in the surrounding waters. All crude oil would be exported and refined in other countries before being transported back to the island.

The Jeju Energy Company would also invest 8 billion US dollars to build a new power plant on a separate small island on the western side of the island, designed by the island owner and constructed through a global tender. After completion, the cost of electricity for island residents would be halved.

All land on Jeju Island, except for the areas designated by the island owner, would be managed and used by the Jeju administrative department. Legislation, judiciary, and defense would be directly responsible by the island owner. The administrative chief would be elected in a month, and the formation of political parties and party activities would be prohibited. The administrative chief would be accountable to both the island owner and all islanders.

The new policies and economic stimulus plans excited all the journalists present. The hundreds of billions of US dollars in investment would inevitably attract global tenders and collaborations, making it a huge opportunity.

The hundreds of billions of US dollars were enough to attract the attention of any government still struggling with economic downturns.

The residents of Jeju Island were also delighted. Like the mainlanders, they were concerned about education, insurance, and pensions. Those who had stayed on the island with worry could now finally relax. However, many who had left the island regretted it, but it was too late to return. The island owner had taken all the online household registration and identity information, and the number of registered islanders had dropped from over 570,000 to less than 350,000.

There would be policies to open up the island to new residents in the future, but only new islanders would be eligible. For example, foreign pregnant women giving birth in island hospitals would automatically grant their newborns islander status, but they would be prohibited from leaving the island for long periods before military service or for more than 30 days per year. The limit for foreign newborns would be 5,000 per year, and the policy would end if the total number of islanders exceeded 500,000.

Jifeng's investment of over 40 billion US dollars seemed large, but it was still far from his plans. Fortunately, the tax and fiscal revenue of Jeju Island were sufficient to support the island's financial operations after the reforms. Jifeng's money was a one-time investment, and he wouldn't need to continue adding funds, and even if he did, it would be minimal. Moreover, the island's annual fiscal surplus would be available for Jifeng's use.

The island's annual fiscal revenue last year was 700 million US dollars, and the projects mentioned would cost a maximum of 500 million US dollars annually, leaving a surplus of 100 to 200 million US dollars. Jifeng was naturally satisfied, as his money would be better spent on winning the hearts of the islanders, making them actively create value for him and accept and support him as their island owner.

Not to mention, this was just the fiscal revenue, not including the profits from the well-operated enterprises taken over, which would not be much less than the fiscal revenue.