Peter Brown quickly returned, and everyone watched as he crushed some wild grass on the ground with a stone, turned it into grass mud, and applied it to Emmanuel Reed’s leg. He then found several bamboo pieces and tied them with grass ropes before saying, "There you go, you’ll be fine in a month. Of course, I can’t say for sure if you have a doctor perform surgery or anything like that."
Seeing Peter Brown’s apparently haphazard bandaging, everyone sympathized with Emmanuel Reed. That’s what happened to the first one who jumped out.
Emmanuel Reed, however, began to feel a cooling sensation on his previously painful leg, as if it had healed.
"Mr. Wang, on behalf of Jalen Carter, I apologize. He owes you 500 million, and I will pay you back right away." At this moment, Javier Carter was determined to improve his relationship with Peter Brown, who was too terrifying.
"Boss Luca, you’re joking. It was just a joke at the time. I won’t be taking the money."
Hearing Peter Brown say so, Javier Carter became anxious, wondering if his son would recover without Peter Brown’s treatment.
Just as Javier Carter was about to speak, Peter Brown interrupted him, "Boss Luca, if you have extra money, it’s better to do more charity. You saw it when you came to Green Water Village - the road is tough. It would be nice if there was a highway. Sigh, the lack of road access in the mountain village is restricting their development!"
Everyone was perceptive and immediately understood Peter Brown’s meaning. He was asking Javier Carter to finance the construction of a highway to Green Water Village.
This kid surprisingly doesn’t want money. He refused such a huge sum and only asked Javier Carter to use the money for road construction!
The look in the eyes of some of the leaders had changed. This was something they had never expected.
At this moment, everyone was asking themselves: If someone gave them 500 million, would they accept it?
Leaders from the township and county were all gleaming at the prospect. The construction of such a road would be extremely beneficial to the development of the whole county. Their eyes turned to Javier Carter’s face.
Javier Carter was also calculating his options secretly.
His main business was road construction, and he owned a company that specialized in highway construction. He was well aware of this industry’s ins and outs. Although highway construction seemed to cost a lot, most of the money was actually siphoned off by various units or individuals. The actual costs were not very high. By financing and building the road himself, he could save even more money.
Peter Brown then said, "When we arrived, we had to cross three mountains. The rest of the journey was actually quite easy."
Javier Carter nodded subtly, for he had noticed on his way there that the three mountains could not be bypassed easily. It took several hours to travel from the foot of the mountain to the top and then back down. If the distance were straight, it wouldn’t be far at all.
Thomas Carter from the township then said, "We have measured the straight-line distance to Green Water Township, which is actually about 12 kilometers. There are three mountains, two of which are one and a half kilometers apart, and one is one kilometer."
Mr. Morris said, "It costs about 100 million per kilometer to dig a tunnel. That’s a total of four hundred million for tunnels alone. The remaining eight kilometers might need two kilometers of bridges, each costing around eighty million at the very least. That’s 160 million more. Plus 50 million per kilometer for the remaining six kilometers, that’s another 300,000,000. Overall, it’s about eight to nine hundred million. It’s not easy to build this road!"
Peter Brown chuckled, "I’ve heard that the profit margin in highway construction is as high as 50 to 60 percent. Is this true?"
"Whoever said that is lying. It’s good if it’s 20 to 30 percent. That’s with good management," a young man who clearly followed the Luca Clan said.
Peter Brown simply laughed, "I heard that Luca Clan is specialized in this field and is indeed quite a powerful company!"
The young man said, "We are indeed professional in this area."
Peter Brown smiled and said, "I believe that building a road here would be beneficial for local development, right?"
As he said this, Peter Brown looked at the Deputy Mayor, Walter Armstrong.
Walter nodded slightly, "This is true. The government supports such initiatives."
"Would the local government handle land acquisition fees and other expenses?"
Walter smiled, "These costs are virtually nonexistent as the land is mostly mountainous and barren. Even if they do exist, the local government would be happy to cover them."
Peter Brown turned to Javier Carter and said, "Boss Luca, how about this: Your company builds the road, and I’ll put in two hundred million. I think we should be able to complete the highway, right?"
"What? You’re putting in two hundred million?" Javier Carter looked at Peter Brown in astonishment, calculating the costs in his head.
Actually, Javier Carter knew that if intermediate processes were eliminated, the cost of building the highway would be reduced by about 40 to 50 percent, something outsiders didn’t know. If managed well and costs were further reduced, the total cost could be brought down to around 400 million. He wouldn’t even have to pay the 500 million Peter Brown was willing to put in. If Peter Brown invested another 200 million, Javier would only need to contribute just over 200,000,000 to build the road.
Thus, Javier would actually save one or two hundred million.
At this thought, upon seeing Mr. Morris, both men seemed to have an unspoken agreement. If they worked together and planned a provincial route through the village that connected to the neighboring province, the majority of the funding would come from the state, with the rest being private funds. Once a toll station was set up, it would be a highly profitable venture.
This road will be built!
Javier Carter determined to agree with Peter Brown’s plan. Once the road was completed, not only would the dispute between them be resolved, but Javier could even possibly reap additional benefits from Peter Brown.
With this in mind, Javier Carter’s mood improved greatly, and he smiled, "I also believe that building bridges and mending roads is a matter that benefits the country and the people while accumulating virtue. I agree in principle to this matter. Let’s work together to make it happen."
At this moment, the rest of the leaders present were beaming, not expecting such a good thing to await them in this impoverished mountain village.