My Manor

Seeing Jiang Hai's slight smile, the middle-aged man couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

In fact, when he first heard the people above propose these conditions, he was momentarily stunned.

He knew that Jiang Hai was pursuing a high-end market. His beef was sold domestically, focusing on quality rather than quantity. Even with a herd of one thousand or ten thousand cows, each cow produces only a few hundred kilograms of meat. Even with millions of kilograms from ten thousand cows, it's a massive amount. However, considering China's population of 1.3 billion, millions of kilograms of beef, when released into the market, would barely make a ripple.

Of course, the beef was expensive. At 2400 yuan per kilogram, millions of kilograms would total 12 billion yuan.

However, after factoring in the taxes and duties at customs, these beef shipments only generated a little over 10 million yuan in customs duties.

It wasn't easy to ask Jiang Hai to help with customs duties of more than 10 million.

"Don't worry, there's a second condition. We can exempt Qi's restaurant from business tax, urban construction tax, and personal income tax," the middle-aged man said quickly upon noticing Jiang Hai's growing impatience. Hearing this, Jiang Hai frowned even deeper. Qi's Western restaurant, after all, had been fully funded by Qi Li, and all the money it earned belonged to her.

But that had nothing to do with Jiang Hai. He and Qi Li were not a real couple, so it didn't concern him.

Seeing Jiang Hai's deepening frown, the middle-aged man felt a little panicked. The first benefit might not mean much to Jiang Hai, but the second one should be tempting. According to Qi's current business performance, her net daily profit exceeded 2 million yuan.

This year, the turnover was 730 million yuan. With taxes at 5% for business tax, 7% for urban construction tax (12% total), and a 20% personal income tax, the total tax burden amounted to 30%. This equaled a hefty 219 million yuan in taxes—saving Jiang Hai this amount would be more than 30 million U.S. dollars!

The middle-aged man thought Jiang Hai would surely be interested in that, but Jiang Hai's lack of reaction puzzled him. The situation seemed to contradict his expectations. Why wasn't Jiang Hai tempted?

"To be honest, I'm not interested in what you're offering," Jiang Hai said, waving his hand and signaling the middle-aged man to hold off. The truth was that none of the benefits directly concerned him.

"What does Xiao Jiang mean? If you have any requests, I'll convey them to my boss." The middle-aged man was taken aback. Was Jiang Hai asking for something more? He had just mentioned that this was the government's assistance, but Jiang Hai's reaction made him think otherwise.

Jiang Hai glanced at him and said, "What I want is quite simple. First, I want our country's tourism sector to open a new route to our town."

The middle-aged man blinked. "What?" he exclaimed. Open a tourism route? Was this even a condition?

Adding a new tourist route, even at the department level, was an easy approval. Did Jiang Hai really need to bring this up?

Jiang Hai, noticing the other man's surprise, asked, "Is that not possible?"

The middle-aged man immediately nodded. "Of course, there's no problem with that. If you have any other requests, feel free to tell me."

Although it was a trivial matter, the middle-aged man didn't want to seem like it was too easy. He had no idea why Jiang Hai made such a request, but it wouldn't hurt to help him out on this.

Jiang Hai nodded, a little surprised at how easy it was. "The second request: I want to introduce some domestic animals."

"Of course," the middle-aged man answered without hesitation. "Except for species unique to China, such as giant pandas or golden monkeys, any other animals are fine. Siberian tigers are fine, too. As for plants, most species are acceptable except for the Da Hong Pao mother plant. The only condition is that the United States must accept them."

Jiang Hai was a bit taken aback. He thought this might be a difficult request, but it turned out not to be. As long as he didn't try to take out protected species, this was an easy task for someone in the middle-aged man's position.

Jiang Hai's excitement grew. Bringing domestic animals and plants abroad would help him expand his interests and avoid relying on others for good food and tea. It was a simple request that would bring him significant benefits.

His third request came after a moment's thought: "If anything happens to me in the country, the government must help me settle it."

"No problem," the man responded quickly, though he didn't understand the reason for the request. However, as long as Jiang Hai didn't get into trouble, they could easily ensure his safety.

"These three conditions, plus the first three that were offered, are all I require," Jiang Hai said. He felt like he was pushing his luck but didn't want to leave anything out.

"Alright," the middle-aged man replied. In his mind, the first two requests were trivial, and they didn't require approval from higher authorities. The only substantial one was the third, which he could grant on the spot. Jiang Hai had shown himself to be quite patriotic, which surprised him. He'd expected Jiang Hai to ask for more, but instead, these requests felt modest.

Jiang Hai had no idea what the middle-aged man thought. He was content with his conditions. With the tourist route to Winthrop, his real estate there would see more business, and introducing domestic animals and plants would allow him to enjoy his culinary and agricultural preferences without relying on others. The government's protection of his safety was just the icing on the cake.

After the six conditions were settled, the two men signed a written contract, ensuring privacy. If either party broke the agreement, it would be null and void, but privately, it would still be effective.

(To be continued.)