Last night, Peter Brown drank quite a bit of wine and now found himself hungover, having no recollection of how he got home.
As he opened his eyes, the morning sunlight was shining on him and he realized he was stark naked.
Glancing around the room, there was no one else present.
After relieving himself in the bathroom, he heard some noise from the kitchen and found Quinn Walker preparing something to eat.
"Peter, you’re up?" A smile spread across Quinn’s face.
Noticing the pot on the stove, Quinn said, "I made some porridge for you to eat. Drinking a lot is not good for the body, so eat something to warm your stomach."
Peter went over and hugged Quinn, planting a kiss on her face.
Quinn, her cheeks flushed, chided, "Stop it, I need to make breakfast for you."
Peter, not being concerned since they were already close, continued to be affectionate.
Just as he was about to take things further, he heard his cell phone ringing from the bedroom.
"Go answer the phone quickly, it must be something important. If... if you want... I can... I can keep you company tonight..." stammered Quinn, her face turning even redder.
Peter gave her another kiss before heading back to the bedroom.
The call was from Grayson Walter, asking about how Peter planned to carry out the village development project.
After Peter ate the porridge and arrived at the village community council, Grayson and others who’d been excited by Peter’s plan the night before were already waiting. They saw hope in his vision.
As soon as Peter entered, all eyes were fiercely fixed on him.
"Peter, how should we manage our land, and also, how should we handle the villagers working in the company?" Grayson asked first.
"Uncle Grayson, here’s what I think. We want villagers who are willing to work, but we won’t tolerate laziness. We need to maintain a system of accountability."
Grayson agreed, "You’re right, we must rectify any slack behavior."
"Uncle Grayson, besides my decisions for our company, I plan to establish a board of directors for routine decisions. You will serve as the vice chairman, and the board will make decisions as a collective."
Although he’s previously mentioned this and Grayson holds 30% of the shares, nobody objected.
After these matters were settled, Peter pulled out his village development plans to explain it section by section.
"Peter, I’ve thought about it. We have plenty of people who know how to farm, but they have a hard time replicating the conditions you mentioned. Is there a special technique to it?" One village official asked, echoing everyone’s curiosity.
Grayson frowned at the man, "That’s Peter’s secret. If he wants to share, he will."
Of course, Peter wouldn’t reveal his method casually. He merely laughed, "There’s no big secret. I’ve concocted a fertilizer made from herbal medicine. After applying it to the soil, it naturally changes its properties."
Everyone nodded in understanding. So, it was a special recipe.
Seeing their expressions, Peter realized he didn’t have enough jade to set up the formations for the large-scale development. He would need to acquire more.
Anyone who knew how precious the jade was and that Peter used it only for formation and agriculture could scorn him as a squanderer.
However, Peter wasn’t bothered by this. If such a method could help everyone, he was content. Besides, the plants like ginseng he grew were very valuable too. The only difference was that money came in slower than gemstone gambling.
"In the future, we should aim for self-sufficiency as much as possible. A lot of food in the market is genetically modified, which isn’t good for health. Uncle Grayson, you should calculate if the food we grow is enough for our village’s consumption. A little surplus is fine. We should use the bulk of our land for growing valuable medicinal plants like ginseng. They would fetch a good price in the market."
Grayson nodded, "Yes, if we could grow those, our village would become prosperous."
With Peter’s planning, they quickly allotted several areas for different uses.
"By the way, Uncle Grayson, considering the situation in our village, I’ve decided to help redesign our living areas. I’ll get an expert from the city to design a residential district for our seventy-one households. We’ll select a new site and build villas with courtyards so that everyone has a comfortable place to live."
Everyone gulped at the ambitious plan.
"Peter, that’s a huge expense!"
"Yes, even if we have land and can manufacture bricks and burn lime ourselves, we can’t bring down the cost below $300,000, can we?"
Peter nodded in agreement, "Right, to make nice buildings for seventy-one households, the cost might be around 30 million. We won’t complete it all at once. We’ll reserve the land now to give everyone something to look forward to."
"Peter, is this feasible?" Grayson couldn’t keep calm, This was a huge leap from their poor village to constructing a villa district.
Looking at the eager faces around him, Peter laughed, "Our wine will definitely be in high demand once it hits the market."
"Really?" Everyone looked uncertain.
Peter just laughed and didn’t explain further. Before he left, Edward Martin asked to be the provincial general agent for the wine he completely believed would be in demand. They would want it, wouldn’t they? Even if the medicinal effects were reduced, it was far superior to ordinary wines.
"In addition, our medicinal plants will definitely sell well. The quality is guaranteed, so everyone be rest assured."
Grayson looked at Peter and said, "We’re following your lead. If it truly sells well, we will build the villas. I’ll have the workers start making bricks and burning lime now. We will lay the foundation, and when we have the money, we will start building."
Peter laughed, "Don’t worry, this will definitely be successful."