"Honestly, this is the most economical plan. Fourteen billion for a fully equipped town of a hundred people, capable of lasting a century, is very cost-effective. Xu Yan said, 'With only a tenth of the budget, a mere 140 million, you really can't do anything.'
'Don't rush! Let me plan it out. You estimate how much the budget can be reduced,' Jiang Ye said.
'Alright.' Xu Yan sighed.
'First, remove the power plant, remove the desalination plant, remove the fire station!' Jiang Ye waved his hand.
Xu Yan's eyes widened. 'How can you remove those? We won't have water or electricity! What if there's a fire?'
'I can live without a water plant or power plant, and others surely can too,' Jiang Ye said.
'Fine. The budget is reduced by about sixty million, leaving 1.34 billion,' Xu Yan frowned helplessly.
'The residential areas are too large. Moving into villas right away? That's not how it works! Everyone can have a yard and a small house of a hundred square meters. The base vehicles will be parked in the yard, so no walls are needed for the yards,' Jiang Ye said. 'Convert all 120 houses to this standard.'
'Isn't this a slum?' Xu Yan's eyes widened.
'How is it a slum? A hundred-square-meter house, a yard, and a base vehicle? That's very wealthy! Jiang Ye retorted, 'I lived in a ninety-square-meter house when I was young!' Da Feng Novel Network
Xu Yan looked at Jiang Ye with disbelief, then relented and sighed:
'The budget is reduced by 1.1 billion, leaving 240 million.'
Jiang Ye smiled. 'You don't need to build the road network. I have a road printer; I'll build the roads myself.'
'150 million,' Xu Yan crossed her arms, her face showing the dissatisfaction of a boss being haggled down to the last cent.
'It's still too expensive,' Jiang Ye thought. 'Let's reduce the houses from 120 to 60. I'll recruit fewer people initially. Also, the houses don't need to be of high quality, just enough to live in for a few decades. No need for century-old houses.'
Xu Yan rolled her eyes. 'Anything else? Say it all.'
Jiang Ye looked up at the ceiling and listed them one by one:
'No need to decorate the buildings. Just paint the walls.
Build the police station to the minimum specifications; it shouldn't require many people.
Don't provide any furniture. None at all.
That's about it. What's the final quote?'
Xu Yan sighed deeply, her expression defeated, and said:
'100 million. It really can't be any lower. This quote barely makes any profit; it's just for advertising. Let your residents know about Termite Real Estate. It's essentially selling at cost just to get the word out.'
'Can I pay in installments?' Jiang Ye asked again.
'You!' Xu Yan stomped her high heel in anger. The heel made a sharp click. Gritting her teeth, she said, 'No installments. Full payment is required!'
'Alright, then I'll contact you when I've saved up 100 million,' Jiang Ye said with a smile.
After bidding farewell to Xu Yan, Jiang Ye returned to his base vehicle.
There were some leftover rice in the pot. He heated it up simply and ate it.
While eating, he tallied the money he needed:
1: The final payment for the express center project, a total of sixty million.
2: The construction cost for the town, requiring 100 million.
3: The money requested by the military's Li Nannan, which might or might not be used. Jiang Ye estimated at least forty million.
All of it added up to a total of 200 million!
This didn't even include the money for base upgrades, which would also be a considerable expense.
Two hundred million. As soon as this number appeared, Jiang Ye couldn't help but tremble.
Was he being too ambitious?
But considering his income, it wasn't impossible. At worst, it would take a few months to save up.
Let's do it! The greater the investment, the greater the return!
Gamble for it, and you might get a villa by the sea!
A wave of drowsiness washed over him. Jiang Ye climbed into bed and snuggled under the covers.
At five in the morning, the deep and powerful howl of wolves woke him up on time.
He sat up and opened the window.
The wolf pack had learned its lesson. As soon as they saw their master peeking out, they all shut up, and the world instantly became quiet.
Jiang Ye spent an hour washing up, feeding the wolves, and feeding himself.
He left the base, went to the dock, and set sail!
He pushed the fishing boat's speed to the maximum and headed across the sea.
Sailing across the vast ocean, he headed towards the neighboring continent.
At ten in the morning, the fishing boat finally docked.
A brand new landmass!
The air was filled with a peculiar scent, a bit like the cough syrup he drank as a child, mixed with a faint aroma of coffee.
Jiang Ye was excited. Such a complex smell strongly suggested minerals!
He went ashore with his assault rifle, a shovel clipped to his waist.
A large expanse of yellow sand lined the shore, wet from the sea. Unknown aquatic plants and shellfish were scattered in the sand.
Jiang Ye moved to the center of the beach. The smell of minerals was already very strong. Further ahead, the smell gradually weakened.
He gazed into the distance. A gray-black wasteland, devoid of any living creatures.
Turning back, he retreated to the center of the beach.
Taking out his shovel, he dug rapidly at his feet!
The sand was very easy to dig, requiring almost no effort. Jiang Ye's shovel spun like a windmill, quickly digging a three-meter-deep pit.
*Clink!*
A crisp sound, and sparks flew as the shovel hit something hard.
Jiang Ye rejoiced, squatted down, and dug at the sand with his hands.
A minute later, he held up a piece of deep yellow stone and looked at it against the sunlight.
The stone had a special texture. The surface seemed transparent, but there were some brownish impurities inside. The entire stone looked like diluted cough syrup, a brownish-yellow with a hint of red.
Jiang Ye stood up and returned to the fishing boat with the mineral.
He directly placed it into the cargo hold's trading bay and went to the captain's cabin to check the analysis results.
[Item: Fluorite]
[Item Description: A calcium fluoride mineral, well-crystallized, with various colors. Among all minerals, fluorite has the most diverse range of colors, and a single piece of fluorite can exhibit multiple different colors. It has wide applications in industry, serving as a co-solvent in the production of copper and hydrofluoric acid, and a catalyst in the production of high-octane fuel. It is used in the production of synthetic cryolite for refining aluminum, lead, and antimony, and also in the production of milky glass.]
[Estimated Value: 100 yuan]
Jiang Ye nodded silently.
He was familiar with fluorite. When he played Minecraft before, he would add some fluorite when building houses. It glowed at night, better than lamps.
However, the fluorite he dug up did not glow. It was just ordinary mineral.
One hundred yuan for a small piece. The price was acceptable; it was worth mining!
He grabbed a handful of empty sacks, disembarked, and walked horizontally along the beach for several hundred meters.
The smell of fluorite remained strong.
This indicated that beneath the entire beach, a very long mineral vein was distributed, with huge reserves!
However, digging with a shovel using his bare hands would definitely not be cost-effective.
It was too far from the base; the journey would take three to four hours. Even without eating or drinking, digging diligently for a day would only yield a few hundred thousand yuan, less than what he could earn from fishing.
He needed to find a way to bring the excavator over.
Once the excavator arrived, he would become rich!
After a brief period of thought, Jiang Ye clicked the screen in the captain's cabin and steered the fishing boat back.
At noon, he returned to the base.
He docked the fishing boat as close to the dock as possible, almost grounding it.
He disembarked and headed straight for the excavator.
He operated the excavator and drove it towards the dock.