What happened next was typical. In the afternoon, they picked grapes, and in the evening, they finished gathering them. After dinner, it was time to bathe in the hot spring.
Becky Hall was almost as shy as Hilda had been the day before.
However, she was much better than Hilda. She didn't delay her work, and there was nothing unusual about the way she looked at Jiang Hai. She simply observed him quietly during the breaks, waiting for the night to fall.
Finally, the sky gradually darkened. In Boston, it got light early and dark early, much like the northeast of China.
By around six o'clock, it was already a bit dark. Dulles and his team had finished picking grapes and preparing everything. They planned to rest after dinner, but while the meal was still being cooked, an old car drove up to the gate of Jiang Hai's manor. In fact, no one in Winthrop would be unfamiliar with this car.
The car belonged to Walton Kirk, the nominal mayor of Winthrop.
Seeing the mayor arrive, Jiang Hai didn't wait for the meal to be served and opened the door to let him in.
"Hi, Mr. Mayor. What brings you here?" Jiang Hai asked as Mayor Wallis got out of the car. There were three people with him, all of them around his age. After they all got out, they were chatting and laughing. Hearing Jiang Hai's greeting, Mayor Wallis approached.
"Ah, Jiang. These three are my old friends. I heard that our tourism efforts here have been quite successful, so we decided to visit. Tonight, we couldn't sleep, so we planned to go night fishing. Unfortunately, there aren't any suitable boats in the town. Some fishing boats will take tourists out early tomorrow morning, so I thought of you and came to borrow a small boat," Mayor Wallis explained with a smile.
Recently, he had been living a happy life, and his smile reflected that.
Thanks to Jiang Hai's efforts, Winthrop's tourism industry had flourished. It had been a month since the tourism initiative began, and over 900 Chinese tourists had visited. These tourists were generous and friendly—though their generosity was the main thing. Aside from buying lobsters from Jiang Hai, they also purchased cosmetics, clothes, bags, and more. And, naturally, they spent money on activities like excursions, shooting ranges, horse farms, seafood feasts, and more.
On average, each tourist spent around $1,000 over five days, which wasn't a huge sum.
Of course, some traveled on a budget and didn't buy much, but most Chinese tourists would pick up a few items.
These products were expensive in China but cheap here, and the quality was excellent.
Many tourists took advantage of the opportunity to buy clothes and cosmetics brought from the U.S., significantly boosting their value upon return.
Jiang Hai's guides never took tourists to any designated shopping spots. The tourists found and bought things on their own, and this was something they appreciated.
With $1,000 per person and over 900 visitors, Winthrop had made $900,000 in a single month. This didn't even include the revenue from the tourist accommodations.
Out of that $900,000, Jiang Hai earned about $250,000, and the remaining $600,000 went to the town's government and the local residents. Winthrop wasn't very large, but each store made around $10,000, which added up to $120,000 a year. This was just the money from Chinese tourists, not counting the regular income.
For restaurant owners or small businesses, making more than $200,000 a year wasn't out of the question.
Thinking about all of this, they were all excited. Mayor Wallis and Jiang Hai were genuinely happy for the changes they had brought to Winthrop. The town's income allowed them to repair public transport, hire more cleaners to maintain the land and sea, and solve many local work issues. Americans were too proud to take on garbage collection jobs, and many Black Americans didn't want to do them either. But immigrants from smaller countries were happy to take on such work for decent pay. This led the Boston government to send a commendation to Winthrop's town government.
Recently, Winthrop had become famous, and many nearby Americans came to visit. It was much cheaper for them to visit Winthrop than some of the popular beaches.
As for Mayor Wallis's old friends, they might not have seen each other in years, but now that Winthrop was well-known, they were here to visit. But what was this talk about night fishing?
"No problem, but what about night fishing? Isn't it dangerous?" Jiang Hai asked. He didn't mind lending them a small boat—after all, it wasn't his yacht. But he was curious about this night fishing. Would these elderly men really go out fishing on the open sea at night? That seemed risky.
"Is it dangerous? Sure, there will be some risks. We plan to fish in the open sea," Mayor Wallis said with a smile. The three old men with him looked even more excited.
"Going to the open sea? That's too dangerous. It's summer, and even though there's no storm warning, things can change quickly. How about fishing in my fishing grounds?" Jiang Hai suggested, concerned.
Summer was the peak season for typhoons, and boats generally avoided going out during this time.
Although it was now September, it was still technically the tail end of summer in Chinese terms, and Jiang Hai felt uneasy about the potential danger of night fishing. These old men were too daring.
"Fishing here? We won't catch anything. We want to go to the open sea!" Mayor Wallis replied dismissively, looking at Jiang Hai with a mocking grin.
Jiang Hai awkwardly smiled. Indeed, fishing in his waters wasn't exactly easy these days.
He wasn't sure if it was because the fish had become smarter from eating spiritual water plants and feed, or if their taste had just improved.
Whatever the reason, the fish in Jiang Hai's fishery were notoriously difficult to catch.
In the past, when Mayor Wallis came to chat with Jiang Hai, he heard there were many good fish in his waters. So, he decided to try fishing. However, after three hours of fishing, he only caught two palm-sized fish, which made him worry that Jiang Hai was losing money.
He even donned swimming goggles to take a look at the fish in the sea and found the fish school in Jiang Hai's waters was unusually dense. The fish didn't mix the water, and they didn't bite the hooks, despite their apparent health.
Since then, he realized Jiang Hai's waters were unique. Instead of fishing for grouper, he preferred to fish for cod at the small pier in Winthrop. So, when Jiang Hai suggested fishing there, Mayor Wallis nearly spat out his salt soda.
"Alright, alright, I'll lend you the boat, but... I'll come along to make sure you're safe. I don't trust you guys out there alone." Jiang Hai raised his hands in surrender, unable to deny the mayor's request.
"You're coming too? What's wrong, can't bear to leave your boat?" Mayor Wallis teased with a laugh.
"I'm not reluctant to leave my boat, but I'm worried that if something happens to you, the people of Winthrop will come after me. Either you fish here, or I come with you," Jiang Hai joked, though he had a date planned with a beautiful woman that evening. He wasn't sure who would come, but he knew someone would. Still, he wouldn't turn down Mayor Wallis's group.
"Alright, when do we leave?" Mayor Wallis asked, knowing Jiang Hai was only trying to ensure their safety. The old men understood that Jiang Hai's presence would make things safer.
"I haven't eaten yet. Wait until I finish," Jiang Hai said helplessly as he looked at the four eager old men.
He tried to invite them inside, but they insisted on sitting outside and chatting. So, Jiang Hai went in to have dinner with the others.
Afterward, he apologized to Aphra for not informing her earlier, as he didn't know who to tell, so she would handle it for him.