"Happy New Year." Since we’re celebrating in Hainan.

Even though the night wind feels a bit strong, it’s much more comfortable than celebrating in the north.

Gong Ruzhi also brought Gong Jiaming and Wan Yihui up the mountain to collect dead branches, and on New Year’s Eve, they made a bonfire in the middle of the yard.

"Wow, I’ve heard about having a campfire party!" Gong Jiaming was excited.

Gong Ruzhi curled his lips, sighing at the cluelessness of the child, wondering how he could have never seen this before.

"If you like it, we can do it again in a few days."

Gong Jiaming did like it, but he was more interested in, "When can we go out to sea?"

Going out to sea? "Sure, but can you swim? Have you ever swum in the ocean?" Gong Ruzhi boasted.

Gong Jiaming wanted to brag that he could swim, but the question of swimming in the ocean left him speechless.

"You should just splash around in the ocean now, and then take a boat trip around here," Gong Ruzhi saw Gong Jiaming’s face looking uneasy, knowing he definitely misunderstood.

Gong Ruzhi indirectly wanted to tell Gong Jiaming that he lacks experience, but he really meant well.

"You should know the waves at sea are much smaller than those when boating in a lake or river."

"They can’t even compare—last time we went out to sea and faced waves..." Gong Ruzhi animatedly described their previous adventure at sea.

Oh no, the waves were that big? Gong Jiaming was stunned, "That high?"

"Yeah, and the captain even said the waves weren’t big." Gong Ruzhi still carried a bit of fear.

Gong Zhuang was attracted by Gong Tao’s talk about going out to sea but didn’t expect the risks to be so high.

He glanced at the feigned calm of Gong Tao, "Second Brother, you actually deceived me?"

"How did I deceive you? Going out to sea is fun."

"And cooking seafood directly with seawater—the taste is amazing."

Gong Tao called out to Gong Ruzhi to recount the taste of the meal they had on the boat.

"Absolutely fantastic." Gong Ruzhi gave a thumbs up, saying the taste was truly indescribable.

"Even better than the last time we went to the seaside." Gong Ruzhi still reminisced.

Gong Zhuang looked at Gong Ruzhi with an expression that screamed "foodie," finding it hard to understand, "I feel the seafood we bought still tasted pretty good."

Definitely tastier than what he bought from the fish farm.

Gong Ruini shook her head, "The taste is completely different."

"Although we directly procured from the seaside, it’s been a while; the seafood on the boat was just freshly caught." Gong Ruini nostalgically recalled that meal.

Sigh, unfortunately, the space really doesn’t accept seafood. In recent days, Gong Ruini has been busy at the beach, trying to put seafood and seawater in her space.

The result was nothing but exhaustion and mental drain; the seafood simply couldn’t be put into the space, much to Gong Ruini’s frustration.

Fortunately, fruits can still take root and sprout, otherwise, Gong Ruini might have been really upset—coming to Hainan, only to eat and drink, without reaping any benefits.

Gong Ruini furiously stuffed seafood into her mouth; since she couldn’t take it away or make a seafood farm in her space, she’d just eat to the fullest.

Recently, Gong Zhuang has been incessantly checking out houses around here; he felt deeply moved by it, "The land here is really cheap."

"It’s cheap, indeed. Who comes here?" Cai Ming recalled discussing coming here for the New Year with business partners, and they were all astonished, asking why come here.

"In winter, everyone has to work and do business; even during Chinese New Year, it’s only a few days off. Some places don’t even have holidays, and people aren’t used to traveling during the festival." Even his own father-in-law and their family, if not for a little scheming, Gong Zhuang doubted they’d be willing to travel.

"Yeah." Zhao Gang wasn’t foolish, "When I first came here, I thought it was a pretty good place."

"The weather in the north is too cold; if people from there come here for the winter, even just for one season, we could earn quite a lot." Since Hot Spring Villa filled the coffers, Zhao Gang changed his mindset.

What he thought would be a losing business surprisingly earned them so much with ease, prompting Zhao Gang to consider exploring new avenues.

Although his ideas might prove lucrative in the future, investment here is currently impossible.

So much capital can be better used in other profitable ventures; why put it here?

"How about we execute a land capture like in Yangcheng?" Gong Zhuang was well aware of how the others profited from their actions in Yangcheng.

Gong Zhuang truly regretted not joining when Gong Tao had asked him, thinking the risk was too high then.

If he had joined, even though Gong Tao had much more wealth, at least he wouldn’t be trailing far behind.

So upon noticing the land prices here, Gong Zhuang became keen, considering acquiring land and waiting for prices to rise.

Gong Ruini was quietly eating and drinking juice on the side, suddenly hearing Gong Zhuang’s proposal, she was shocked.

Her third uncle must have good luck, to see the value in Hainan’s land prices.

Currently, land prices here are akin to cabbage pricing, yet nobody is willing to invest. However, in a few years, when it becomes a special economic zone, prices will soar.

Though Gong Ruini doesn’t know much about this history, she’s aware many fell into this trap, including so-called second and third generations, dragging their forebears with them.

After arriving here, Gong Ruini considered this idea; not looking to snatch much land, just enough to cover the cost of studying in the United States.

She thought about it for a long time, and even when she tried steering the conversation in this direction, Zhao Xuran or Zhao Gang didn’t take the bait.

Even though she was deeply regretful, she had to swallow this idea; if she kept pushing this, she really wouldn’t know how to explain her insistence.

But now that Gong Zhuang brought it up, Gong Ruini saw a glimmer of hope.

Gong Zhuang’s idea is good, "Third Brother, do you think if we invest this money elsewhere, we could earn more?" Although Cai Ming is somewhat keen on Hainan, he’s reluctant to invest heavily here.

"I know, and since the land isn’t expensive, let’s buy some plots in the city center or near the coast." Gong Zhuang didn’t mind Cai Ming’s criticism.

"We’ll take good locations now, slowly acquiring them in phases so nobody notices." Gong Zhuang had already thought through the plan.

Gong Zhuang isn’t foolish, realizing later why Cai Ming’s group didn’t profit hugely from land deals, because they attracted significant attention.

With just a bit of money, Gong Zhuang didn’t want trouble; handling something at minimal cost shouldn’t suddenly require huge sums, which he didn’t have ready.