Landlord in the Arctic

"Of course!" Little Barry lifted his chin, speaking with complete confidence. "At Barry Container House Company, the only limit is your imagination. There’s nothing we can’t do."

Hearing Little Barry’s bold claim, Feng Shan was both a little skeptical and filled with anticipation.

He looked down again, carefully flipping through the sample designs one page at a time.

His mind involuntarily began to sketch out the future of the camp based on these designs. A glint of excitement shone in his eyes, as if he could already see a renewed and vibrant Crown Territory.

"If I needed several different designs combined, would that be possible?" Feng Shan looked up, his gaze searching.

"Of course, no problem."

A confident smile appeared on Little Barry’s face.

’Looks like this order is in the bag.’

But the thought of giving Old Tom a commission made him wince internally.

He prayed silently, hoping this client would place a generous order. After all, the company hadn’t landed a big one in a long time.

"Follow me." Feng Shan stood up from his chair and began to walk Little Barry through the camp.

The two of them walked, stopping from time to time.

Feng Shan would point to an empty lot and explain his ideas in detail.

For example, he wanted to build a multifunctional recreational area in one spot, combining several different styles of container houses to serve for entertainment, dining, and relaxation.

Or, over on another empty plot, he envisioned a centralized visitor accommodation area, using distinctive double-decker or single-story container combinations to meet the housing needs of more people.

Little Barry quickly took out a notebook, his pen moving like a dancing elf as he continuously jotted down Feng Shan’s ideas.

As his notes grew, the smile on his face widened, as if he could already see handsome profits and a prosperous future for his company.

According to Feng Shan’s vision, the entire camp was about to undergo a complete overhaul. The core change was that all buildings would be replaced with container houses.

After a quick calculation, Feng Shan alone would need to purchase at least 50 container houses.

And that was just the beginning. It was highly likely that once the other residents of the Crown Territory saw these new, practical, and beautiful structures, they would also order container houses from him.

’This is a huge order.’

’A bona fide mega-order, in fact.’

His company usually didn’t even sell 20 container houses in a whole year, and Feng Shan’s initial request already surpassed that number.

What was even more exciting was that as the Crown Territory continued to expand, subsequent orders would inevitably pour in like a tide.

Just thinking about it made Little Barry so excited he could barely contain himself.

It was as if he could already see his company’s performance soaring and a bright future ahead.

However, there was one extremely thorny problem in the way.

Transportation.

The Crown Territory was remote and lacked convenient land-based transportation, which was already a major obstacle.

If they forced it with ground transport, it would inevitably cause unforeseeable damage to the Far North Tundra.

Moreover, the current climate was completely different from a few decades ago.

In the past, environmental awareness in the Alaska Region was relatively weak. Even if development caused some damage to the tundra, few people would step forward to condemn it.

But now, things were completely different.

The moment any act of environmental destruction occurred, regardless of any so-called benefits, those environmental crusaders would be the first to stand up and vehemently obstruct it.

These environmental crusaders might seem quiet on a normal day, but once they got serious, even the president had to tread carefully around them.

Not long ago, he’d heard about something that happened in California.

The governor of California, in an attempt to win the support of these environmental crusaders, had actually refused to sign the "Water Resources Restoration Declaration."

This declaration was incredibly significant, intended to approve the diversion of abundant snowmelt from Northern California to arid Southern California to solve their urgent water shortage.

But because of the governor’s refusal, tens of millions of gallons of fresh water from Northern California that could have alleviated the drought in Southern California were instead helplessly discharged into the ocean each year.

The reason the governor gave for his refusal was even more dumbfounding.

It was to protect a small, insignificant fish called a smelt.

Apparently, this smelt is a brackish water species. The governor believed that discharging fresh water into the ocean would effectively lower the sea’s salinity, thereby creating a suitable habitat for the smelt.

But California is a hot, dry region where wildfires are frequent. Without the support of fresh water from the north, the consequences of a super-fire would be unthinkable.

This case from California was a profound illustration of the destructive power of environmental crusaders.

Therefore, if they were to transport a large number of container houses across the Far North Tundra, the damage to the fragile tundra ecosystem would be obvious. The environmental crusaders would certainly not let it slide and would undoubtedly stir up a huge controversy.

And if they chose to use helicopters to transport such a vast number of container houses, the shipping costs alone would be an astronomical, jaw-dropping sum. From a cost-benefit perspective, it definitely wouldn’t be worth it.

Little Barry agonized over this for a long time. On one hand, he desperately wanted to land this order, which would be incredibly significant for his company’s development. On the other hand, out of professional ethics, he knew he couldn’t hide such a critical issue from his client.

In the end, he decided to be honest and told Feng Shan about the transportation problem.

After hearing this, Feng Shan just waved his hand dismissively, his expression calm and composed. "You don’t need to worry about transportation," he said. "What you should be worried about right now is whether you can produce the quantity and quality of container houses I need before March."

"As for the transport issue, I have my own way of solving it."

’Before March?’

’That’s a really tight deadline.’

Little Barry couldn’t help but frown.

His so-called company was, strictly speaking, just a small-scale private workshop.

The entire company had only four workers in total. Even if they worked around the clock, 24/7, without eating, drinking, or sleeping, it would be absolutely impossible to produce so many container houses in just two months.

Besides, ordering the raw materials needed to build the containers would also take a considerable amount of time.

Thinking of these practical difficulties, Little Barry felt a sense of helplessness and slowly shook his head.

"I’m sorry, Feng. With my company’s current capacity, we really can’t complete this order. However, I can recommend a larger company with greater production capabilities. They might be able to handle your order."

Oh!

Feng Shan was a little surprised, looking at the honest middle-aged man before him with a slightly appraising gaze.

Having knocked around in the world for so many years, he had seen all sorts of people who would do anything for profit.

Faced with such a huge order, Little Barry could have easily accepted it on the spot, then subcontracted the order to another, more capable company and effortlessly pocketed the difference.

But he didn’t do that. Instead, he frankly admitted the truth.

In Feng Shan’s eyes, that was an exceptionally rare and valuable quality.

"Let’s try a different model. You can be the agent for the Crown Territory." Feng Shan’s gaze fell on the crestfallen Little Barry. "I’ll be responsible for placing the orders, and you’ll be responsible for finding people to fulfill them. How you do it is up to you, but I have one clear requirement: the quality must be guaranteed. After all, these are houses for people to live in. Safety is the top priority."

Little Barry’s eyes lit up instantly, his face filled with astonishment.

He had been convinced that after admitting his company couldn’t handle the order, the deal was completely dead.

He never imagined that the other party would throw him another fantastic opportunity: to become the agent for the Crown Territory.

What did this mean?

It meant he barely had to do any of the manufacturing himself. He just needed to leverage his connections and resources to find manufacturers who could produce the container houses.

"Thank you so much for your trust. I will definitely do a good job." Little Barry’s voice trembled slightly with excitement.

Feng Shan nodded and thought for a moment. "How about we set your agent’s commission at 0.05% of the total order value?"

Little Barry agreed immediately, without the slightest hesitation.

...