Chapter 59

Jifeng smiled and said, "Don't talk about borrowing anymore. How about this: we brothers will partner up, and you will manage it. Anyway, the cargo volume on this island is not going to decrease anytime soon. Of course, if something happens in the future that affects the cargo, we can still go elsewhere. As long as the ships are here, there's no way we can lose money." The cargo volume on Jeju Island was still quite large, especially for some of the large ocean-going vessels that needed to deliver goods to South Korea. Many of them actually used this place as a transit point. Even without this, the cargo volume needed on the island itself was a considerable number. Therefore, Jifeng was quite impressed with Mu Chuixue's insight.

Leng Wuxing agreed, "Right, Fourth Brother, don't make it too difficult for yourself. Bring Second Brother in, and we four brothers will partner up. With Third Brother here to back us up, is there anything we can't accomplish?"

Mu Chuixue took a deep breath and smiled, "I just don't want to take too much advantage of the three of you. You know my family's situation; we're not very well-off. I only managed to gather ten million this time."

Leng Wuxing took a sip of coffee and, after Mu Chuixue finished speaking, said, "How about this: I, Second Brother, and Third Brother will each contribute ten million, and Third Brother will lend Fourth Brother sixty million, making a total of one hundred million. We'll each have a ten percent share."

Jifeng nodded slightly. For him, a few tens of millions was just a drop in the bucket, and he didn't really care much about the profit from this.

Mu Chuixue shook his head, "That won't work; Third Brother would be taking too much of a loss."

Jifeng laughed, "Alright, it's settled. We're brothers, so what's this talk about losses and gains? Are you saying you don't have confidence in running the company? I'm willing to lend it, so why are you hesitant to take it?"

Mu Chuixue, seeing the looks from Leng Wuxing and Jifeng, nodded with a slightly red face, "Alright, thank you, Third Brother. I'll pay you back when I have the money."

Jifeng waved his hand and smiled, "No rush. Focus on developing the company first. I don't need the money for anything, so just keep it for now."

Leng Wuxing added, "Exactly, don't be formal with us. We'll definitely help where we can. If it's beyond our capabilities, then there's nothing we can do."

Mu Chuixue nodded again. The matter was settled, and he then talked about his plans. With one hundred million in capital, he had to revise his original plan. He decided to buy two passenger ships first and start a ferry service between DL and Jeju Island. The waves in the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea were relatively calm, making it safer.

He also planned to use the remaining money to buy cargo ships for the freight service between Qingdao, Lianyungang, DL, and Jeju Island. Since Jeju Island had become more closely linked with China after separating from South Korea, he didn't plan to buy long-distance cargo ships yet, as they were too expensive. He would start with short-distance shipping.

Leng Wuxing and Jifeng both approved and supported his ideas. After Mu Chuixue finished, Jifeng turned to Leng Wuxing, "Big Brother, what about you? What do you have in mind? If you find a good business, bring us brothers in to share the wealth."

Leng Wuxing laughed and scolded, "Damn, you still care about my small amount of money? Seeing the booming tourism here and Fourth Brother's plan for economy-class ferries, I decided to open several economy-class hotels. I found this industry to be quite profitable. With the real Teddy Bears here, the popularity won't decline as long as you don't give them to other countries."

Jifeng laughed, "That's a good idea. Jin Bingli complained to me the other day that there are too many tourists on the island and not enough hotels. If you want to open them, do it quickly. I suggested to Jin Bingli that we limit the number of hotels and tourists, so don't get left out."

Leng Wuxing was taken aback and pointed at Jifeng, "You're really ruthless. That's just a way to raise prices, but don't worry, I'll find a place and register the company tomorrow. The funds are already in place. My family also supports my idea and gave me five billion, in RMB."

Mu Chuixue looked at Leng Wuxing with some envy and asked, "Wait, Big Brother, is this money from your family or your own? Third Brother has no obligation to let your family benefit."

Leng Wuxing smiled bitterly, "Does it matter? My money is from the family, but this time I can take sixty percent, and the remaining forty percent is from the family. I withdrew my investment fund early, plus my brother's, which is just enough for half. I originally planned to use just our money, but the family insisted on joining, and I couldn't refuse."

Jifeng laughed, "No problem, let them join. Do you want me to take a share? Fourth Brother has no more money to invest. How about I take two shares, and you count him as one?"

Mu Chuixue hurriedly said, "No, I won't get involved with the hotels. You guys handle it. I just want to focus on my shipping company and maybe start a travel agency in China to mobilize the economy-class tourist resources in Northeast China."

Leng Wuxing laughed, "Why should you pay for his share? I'll cover it for Fourth Brother. We can also bring in Second Brother, who is now the vice president and has some spare money. It's better to spend it now so he doesn't become a playboy later."

Jifeng laughed, "Second Brother and his wife have been together for so long. If he were going to be a playboy, he would have done it already. You're the only one in our dorm who's a bit of a playboy. Are you and Xiuying serious this time? Don't make me get scolded by Xuxian later."

Leng Wuxing sighed, "After all these years of playing around, it's time to settle down. I think she's pretty good, so I'll go with her."

In the end, Jifeng didn't get involved with the economy-class hotels. Leng Wuxing had enough funds, and there was no need for Jifeng to join. He let Leng Wuxing handle it on his own.

The next day, the two of them went their separate ways to register their companies. With Jifeng's guarantee and his help, the process went smoothly. They were even recommended an office location. A new six-story office building had just been completed and was ready for lease, and Leng Wuxing negotiated for the entire building, planning to convert it into his first hotel.

After receiving Leng Wuxing's call, Lin Enliang immediately transferred the money to their accounts and said he would come over when he was free. He supported his brothers and wanted to invest in Jeju Island to make some money.

After the Spring Festival, the number of tourists on Jeju Island increased dramatically, and the number of business teams also surged. Multiple tenders for Jeju Island began on the eleventh day of the first lunar month.

The hotel owners on the island were both happy and frustrated as they saw so many business teams, but their hotels were already nearly full with tourists. Even after booking all the top suites, they still couldn't accommodate all the business representatives. The city government had to find a solution, and Jifeng eventually gave up half of his building. He had always kept the entire building for himself, but since it was his property, he could do as he pleased.

Dozens of star-rated hotels and large government conference rooms were packed with business representatives. On the first day, several companies were awarded contracts transparently. Involving billions of dollars, the representatives of the winning companies were overjoyed, while those who didn't win were disappointed and sighed.

Among the winning companies, those from China clearly dominated. Many industries previously monopolized by South Korea were now open, and China had a clear value advantage in terms of quality.

Fortunately, the first day only involved goods and food, and not much infrastructure.

On the second day, the bidding became more intense after the qualification review. By evening, the final results for transportation, logistics, and infrastructure projects were announced. The most notable was the successful bid by China Railway for the Jeju Island ring high-speed railway project, with a total bid of 1.85 billion US dollars, including a 258-kilometer double-track railway and several stations. After completion, people could travel around the island as conveniently as taking the subway, completing a full circle in just an hour and a half.

Toyota from Japan won the contract for thousands of school buses and public buses on the island, making the Japanese business community quite proud. Hyundai from South Korea was angry and frustrated, but they couldn't compete. The government no longer had the final say, and the current government, though still the same people, no longer listened to South Korea.

A larger contract for cargo ships was divided among shipyards from neighboring countries and China and Europe, with a total value of over 5 billion US dollars. This would ensure that dozens of shipyards would have orders for the next two years, even though the profit margins were not high.

On the third day, perhaps as a consolation, or because they were more experienced, the contract for the wireless station construction was awarded to South Korea. This made South Korea feel a bit better, as they would have been devastated if they had won nothing, especially in their own backyard. Jifeng actually wanted to give it to China, but China's response was too slow and hesitant, so South Korea got the contract.

Meanwhile, on February 10th, the newly integrated Jeju Bank was officially opened with Spark's enthusiastic announcement. It was also announced that a new Jeju Island currency would be introduced at an appropriate time within the year. The design of the currency was being finalized, and the printing plant was under construction. The machines and equipment were ordered from Switzerland. In the future, only the local currency would circulate on Jeju Island, and while other currencies would still be accepted for card transactions, cash transactions would not be allowed.

Spark, with Jifeng's approval, announced that the island owner's assets, worth over 100 billion US dollars in cash and bonds, would be managed by the Jeju Bank. The Jeju Bank, a private bank owned by the island owner, would be the only legal bank on the island.

(Last night, my wife and I attended a gathering with some of her classmates. One of her classmate's daughter kept climbing onto her mother. Her classmate, frustrated, pulled her down and said, "Why are you climbing? You're not heavy." The little girl, with tears in her eyes, cried out, "Daddy is on you, and you don't think he's heavy..." We all burst out laughing.)

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