"Hi, Jiang." Seeing Jiang Hai come downstairs, Cindy Clive, who had been sitting on the sofa, stood up.
However, when she saw Jiang Hai's bare upper body, she couldn't help but feel a little speechless, her face turning a slight shade of red.
Hearing Darlene's words, Jiang Hai didn't say much. He stopped his exercise, draped a towel around his body, and walked out. When he runs outside, the sweat on his body dries much faster thanks to the wind.
But now at home, it's not possible, so he runs without a shirt to avoid getting wet. Bernice isn't bothered by this and doesn't care.
But now, Jiang Hai came down with a towel around his neck, and Cindy Clive was momentarily taken aback. After all, this was the first time she had seen his upper body, and it was incredibly toned, making her feel a little shy.
"Hi, Cindy. What's the hurry? Why are you here on such a rainy day?" Jiang Hai smiled, walking over to sit across from her. He wasn't sure exactly how he felt about Cindy Clive.
If you asked him if he liked her, Jiang Hai didn't feel any overwhelming desire to have her in his bed or do anything further.
On the other hand, if you asked if he didn't like her, he did enjoy being around her. It was a strange relationship—something between lovers, yet not quite lovers. Jiang Hai was genuinely confused, and Cindy Clive probably felt the same way.
Since Jiang Hai returned, they had met only twice. The first time was when Jiang Hai went to the town government to meet her.
The second time had been less than a week ago. The construction of Winthrop Town was finally completed—the road into the town was widened, a large parking lot added, and Jiang Hai's row of villas by the beach were also built. He visited to check them out. The environment was quite good. The villa's front yard featured a neatly manicured lawn, and outside stood a row of old trees, all dug from the outer edge of the Appalachian Mountains. The backyard led to a private beach. The interiors of the villas had various styles: American country, high-end hotel, European, Gothic, Chinese, and Indian. Though each villa had a different appearance, the layout was diverse, with the most common being the hotel style.
The villas were fully furnished with everything, including a barbecue box for outdoor cooking.
It was clear that the setup had been very thoughtful. The daily upkeep of the rooms was handled by middle-aged women from Winthrop who had nothing else to do. Mrs. Turner, Philemon's wife, was the main person in charge.
Along with Mrs. Turner, Cece's wife, Charles's wife, and Christian's wife all helped with the town's work and received additional salaries. Since they lived nearby, it was a good choice to employ them.
Similarly, on the commercial street, eleven of Jiang Hai's twelve storefronts had been rented out. Some were restaurants, others shops, and there was only one vacant store. After discussing with Mayor Wallis, they merged the empty store with the neighboring one to create a small, free museum. This museum displayed small objects and photos to introduce American history and Indian culture. They even invited an Iroquois speaker, arranged by Mayor Wallis, to give lectures there. After many days of construction, the town was nearly finished.
Cindy Clive had been free recently and invited Jiang Hai, Darlene, and Marianne to dinner in town. Though the ingredients weren't as good as those at Jiang Hai's place, everyone was still happy.
During this time, Cindy Clive's relationship with Jiang Hai had grown closer.
As for Jiang Hai, he considered his feelings for her as something natural. Regarding Winthrop, Jiang Hai had planned to make money from it, but some people didn't want them to succeed.
"The plan for town tourism may have some trouble." Cindy Clive sighed as she looked at Jiang Hai. Her words caught Jiang Hai off guard. The town had been built, and he had invested 250 million yuan. For her to say the plan had problems seemed absurd.
"Our town is nearly completed, and lately, Mayor Wallis has been going to Boston every day, hoping to attract tourists through the Boston government and create a tourism route. But... the situation isn't looking very good," Cindy Clive continued, seeing Jiang Hai's frown. She sighed helplessly.
In her opinion, the town's construction was excellent and attractive, with its culture, charm, and atmosphere. The problem, however, was that no matter how well the town was built, it would be useless if no one visited.
"What do you mean by 'not optimistic'? Are they not bringing in tourists, or are they actively blocking them?" Jiang Hai asked bluntly. He knew it was entirely possible that those in Boston didn't want Winthrop to thrive.
"Well..." Cindy Clive hesitated, feeling a bit speechless. She understood Jiang Hai's point and shared his doubts. She didn't think the people in Boston had any good intentions.
This was understandable. In any country, if you want to develop tourism, you have to report it to the "higher-ups." In other words, if Jiang Hai had invested the 250 million in Boston, they might have used that money to develop Cambridge or Chelsea, not Winthrop. He would've had no say, and Winthrop would have received nothing.
Even though the town was built, the 250 million yuan hadn't directly funded the construction. The construction team had connections with the government, and the quality was supervised by them. It's possible that some of the funds were diverted to other projects. No one would directly embezzle the money, but they could easily misappropriate it for other purposes.
Jiang Hai had bypassed all this and built the town himself, which made a lot of people unhappy. As a result, they were trying to sabotage Winthrop's success.
The easiest way to do this was by preventing tourists from coming. Without publicity or a tourism route, no one would know about the town. There were thousands of small towns like Winthrop in the U.S., so why would anyone care?
Without tourists, the town wouldn't gain fame. Without fame, no one would come. It was a vicious cycle—essentially cutting off the income for Jiang Hai and his team. That 250 million yuan would be wasted.
To make matters worse, Mayor Wallis had been begging for help in Boston, hoping these people would show some leniency. He even offered to donate a portion of the town government's revenue to satisfy their demands.
Seeing Mayor Wallis's worried expression, Cindy Clive had hesitated for a few days before coming to see Jiang Hai. She felt he might have a solution. After all, rich people always seemed to have ways of solving problems.
Jiang Hai smiled when he heard her words. Sometimes, you couldn't blame others for making mistakes.
"Alright, I understand. Where's Mayor Wallis now? I'll talk to him and help solve the tourist issue," Jiang Hai said seriously.
Cindy Clive was taken aback. "Jiang, do you know anyone in Boston?" she asked, her excitement rising.
"No, but I already have the route and tourists lined up," Jiang Hai answered with a mysterious smile.
Back in China, Jiang Hai had helped the court arrange oil sales and had shared six key points with Minister Qin. The most important one was that the country would send tourists to visit Winthrop.
At the time, Jiang Hai had hoped to expand his financial network. Now, it was well-known that the richest tourists were Chinese. Wherever they went, they spent money, which supported local tourism and development.
This had made many major tourist cities rely on Chinese tourists to boost their economies.
Mayor Wallis and his team were unaware of this. They still believed tourism was primarily for Americans and Europeans. But how could those groups compete with Jiang Hai's powerful Chinese tourist base?
At first, Jiang Hai hadn't said anything. He had simply planned to expand his tourist base. However, the "normal route" in Mayor Wallis's mind had been blocked by people in Boston.
Without publicity, it was clear that few Americans or Europeans would come to visit. Jiang Hai could buy advertising space on TV to promote the town, but that would be another significant expense.
For Mayor Wallis, it was a dead end, but for Jiang Hai, it was simple.