Chapter 1602 - 1571: Atan Feels a Bit Distressed (Part 3)

Building the walkway and wooden bridge isn’t something that can be accomplished in a day, so it needs to be contracted out to a construction team. Marcus Quinn decided to discuss this matter with Braxton, a leader from the county. Before, when the elder Quinn was around, the county leaders had long been promoted, and Braxton only came over a few years ago, always hoping to achieve something in Green County.

Previously, Braxton knew Anfield Village was untouchable due to some higher-up’s word, so he basically let it develop on its own. Now, the descendant of the elder Quinn has returned, and at first, Braxton just wanted to curry favor with the higher-ups by helping Marcus apply for national entrepreneurship funds. Unexpectedly, within a week, all the paperwork was simplified, and the grants were released. The speed of it! Anyone saying Marcus doesn’t have connections behind him would have their head chopped off for soccer practice.

Thus, Braxton paid more attention to the matters of Anfield Village. Moreover, Marcus was quite savvy, sending crates of agricultural specialties to the county and city. While they weren’t worth much—just a few boxes of fruit and some rice—the gesture was sincere and certainly earned a good reputation, much to Braxton’s delight.

Upon learning that Marcus wanted to build a walkway and wooden bridge on both sides of the lake, Braxton considered using township construction funds to help with this. Since Marcus was willing to contribute funds, naturally the county would provide the manpower.

So Braxton readily agreed and arranged for a construction team to come over by the afternoon, also planning to visit Anfield Village himself in the coming days to see how the village was progressing. If it became a model village in Green County, it would become one of his achievements to document during his tenure.

With all three aspects working together, the likes of Uncle Shui were handling the holiday business for the National Day, A-tan was responsible for all the holiday village’s publicity and online platform issues, and Marcus led the team to improve the village’s infrastructure. Everyone was working fervently.

On the second day of National Day, the crowd was only larger than the first day. Uncle Shui and Auntie Shui cooked all fish dishes, making 300 meal sets for lunch, earning 26,000, and all 150 pounds of pig’s feet were sold out, raking in over 6,000. Over 200 boxes of tangerines were sold, along with more than 300 pounds in loose sales, totaling over 5,000. Bottled water sold even more briskly, selling out completely. Wang Gang and Calvin Zamora saw that everyone was too busy to handle it, so they asked A-tan for money and called the supermarket to order more bottled water.

A-tan saw that these two young lads were indeed clever, so she simply gave them the money to let them handle it themselves and gain some experience.

They worked breathlessly throughout the morning; everyone ate two bowls of rice for lunch, then took their customary break in the afternoon, suspending business for the time being. Seeing it wasn’t Marcus who cooked lunch, Elder Weng and the others remarked that although the taste wasn’t quite the same as Marcus’s, Uncle Shui’s culinary skills were much better than those of any outside restaurant. They also noticed that Marcus, drenched in sweat with a tank top soaked through, was busy working with the laborers under the blazing sun, so they held their tongues.

They just hoped Marcus would soon finish the village’s construction matters so he could have time to cook, considering that his culinary skills were practically wasted otherwise.

A-tan calculated the day’s total revenue to be 41,000, still excluding wages and costs. Reflecting on the fact that just selling lunch and fruit could yield so much was quite impressive.

After lunch, the workers needed rest, and they didn’t have to worry about food or drink, as their foreman had already ordered lunchboxes from the county town. After eating, Marcus went inside to take a shower and then sat resting in the breezy corridor.

A-tan noticed Marcus had scrapes on his palms and arms, bruised and purple, with some on his back too. She furrowed her brows with a hint of worry and went to Auntie Shui to get some medicated oil, applying it for him while softly saying, "Didn’t you hire workers? We’re not in a rush, so take it easy and avoid getting injured."

Marcus was strong, much more physically robust than the average person, so he often did the heavy labor that others couldn’t. Scrapes were something he was used to. Seeing

A-tan lower her little face, her small hands carefully applying the medicated oil, standing so close that his body involuntarily tensed, feeling more exhausted than working hard under the scorching sun.

"I’m fine. It’s just a bump and a scrape. The more we do, the sooner we finish. Once the lakeside is beautifully developed, we can build lakeside cottages," he said, his rugged face inadvertently softening, speaking in a low, gentle tone.

A-tan gave him a sharp look, scoffing at his idea of building lakeside cottages. A row of cabins would do; she liked the inner courtyard of the farm and didn’t want to relocate. As for future expansion, they’d see based on the holiday village’s accommodation situation.

"This afternoon, you’re not allowed to go out and work," A-tan said fiercely, but her voice was soft, sweet, almost endearingly stern.

Marcus’s eyes deepened: so A-tan cared for him, after all. After waiting for three months, she finally kept him in her heart? The man’s excitement was such that his muscles tightened.