Chapter 196 The Mistress

The contraband problem in Oxford Town visibly disappeared over the next few weeks. The suspicious vehicles that could occasionally be seen near the gas stations on the outskirts of town were now completely gone.

On the police department's drug case reports for the last two weeks, the numbers had dropped from double digits to single digits, and then from single digits to zero.

Tom mentioned privately that Oxford Town was now so clean, it was as if no one had ever touched contraband here before.

Mu Xin knew who was behind it.

After Cohen's assessment report was approved at The Pentagon, the interdepartmental coordination task force was operating much faster than he had anticipated.

The liaison officer from the Federal Bureau of Investigation Cincinnati Field Office was in place, and the coordinator from the Defense Industrial Security Office was in place. Although Acton's appointment was still being processed, the task force had already begun a systematic screening of logistics nodes within a fifty-mile radius of Oxford Town.

The former nodes of the Connolly Family were all brought under surveillance, and any suspicious vehicles coming from the south would trigger an alert in the federal database before entering Ohio.

...

Meanwhile, the hotel's construction progress was nearly half a month ahead of schedule.

Among the last batch of large-scale cultural tourism projects approved by Governor DeWine during his term, this hotel was ranked as the top priority.

When Mu Xin and Jessica went to the construction site for a routine inspection, the final layer of dry-hanging stone for the facade was being completed.

The entire main hotel building unfolded along the gentle slope by Acton Lake, and the exterior walls were clad in travertine imported from Italy.

It was the exact same stone used at Amangiri in Utah, shimmering with a warm, pale golden hue under the afternoon sun.

"The interior design plans were all finalized last week," Jessica said, flipping through the schedule in her hand.

"The hard furnishing materials for the public areas will be shipped from Italy and Portugal at the end of this month. The furniture for the public spaces and guest rooms was ordered from a studio in Budapest that specializes in luxury hotel customization, and all sanitary ware and hardware are coming from France and Germany."

"What about the budget?" Mu Xin asked.

"For the public areas plus the guest rooms, the figure calculated by Victoria is quite a bit higher than I anticipated," Jessica said, closing the folder. "Are you sure you don't want to cut it?"

"No cuts," Mu Xin said as he walked. "This hotel was designed by the architect of Amangiri, it's clad in the same stone as Amangiri, and it will serve as an auxiliary facility for the anti-war theme park in the future."

"This hotel cannot just be slightly better than other hotels in Ohio. It must make everyone who walks into the lobby know from the very first second that this place is in a different world from other hotels in the United States."

Jessica didn't respond, just followed him as he continued to walk forward.

The two passed through the back door of the main hotel building and walked for a stretch along a newly paved gravel path.

Both sides of the path were planted with mature red maples just shipped from Northern California, each with a trunk diameter of over thirty centimeters.

Simply put, there was no other way to achieve this effect besides throwing money at it.

The rows of maple trees formed a natural arcade on both sides of the gravel path, and upon reaching the end, the view suddenly opened up.

An independent building was embedded between the rocks and the maple forest by the lake.

It was almost invisible when viewed from the direction of the main hotel building; the designer had utilized the natural undulations of the terrain and the two rows of mature red maples to completely conceal the front of the house.

But looking out from the house, the entire southeast corner of Acton Lake was in full view.

"According to the plan, the villa guest room area has a total of six independent vacation villas, each with a floor area ranging from three hundred to five hundred square meters, equipped with an independent swimming pool, garden, and private parking area."

"This is the largest one, with a floor area of over thirty-two hundred square meters—" Jessica gave a brief introduction, fearing Mu Xin had forgotten.

"This one is not for public use," Mu Xin interrupted her.

Jessica stopped and tilted her head to look at him.

"I'm living in this one myself," Mu Xin chuckled.

Jessica was stunned for a moment, then opened the folder in her hand to confirm the planning number for this villa.

"A floor area of over thirty-two hundred square meters, including the main building and two auxiliary wings. The basement level contains a wine cellar, a media room, and various entertainment facilities. The first floor has a living room, dining room, and open kitchen. The second floor has a master suite and two guest bedrooms."

"Outside, there is an infinity pool. The edge of the pool faces the lake directly, creating a visual effect where the water seems to flow directly from the pool into the lake. You're going to live in thirty-two hundred square meters by yourself?"

"Didn't you always think I didn't know how to spend money?" Mu Xin looked into Jessica's eyes and smiled.

"It's not that I thought you couldn't spend it," Jessica closed the folder. "It's that I thought you didn't know how."

"Then you can help me design it." Mu Xin put his hands in his pockets and continued to walk forward.

"There's no need to find an outside team for the interior design; you do it yourself."

"All materials, all brands, all details—like Salvatori stone, Brabu furniture, THG faucets, and Gaggenau and bulthaup kitchens—as long as you think it's appropriate, don't ask me about the budget."

Jessica stood still. Mu Xin had already walked several meters away, turned his head, and looked back. "What's wrong?"

"Do you know how much a single piece of Salvatori marble wall panel costs?" Jessica crossed her arms.

"I have a rough idea."

"Do you know how long you have to wait for a custom bulthaup kitchen, from design to installation?"

"Six months, minimum."

"And you're still telling me not to worry about the budget?"

"Jessica," Mu Xin turned to look at her. "In Oxford Town, I have a power company, a Water Plant, a hotel, a theme park, and I have you."

"Yet I don't even have my own house. You said I didn't know how to spend money; it's just that I didn't have a place to spend it before, but now I do."

Jessica looked at him for a while, then lowered her head and started typing on her phone.

"What are you taking notes on?"

"Your walk-in closet," Jessica said without looking up. "The one in the master suite is too small. If we're sparing no expense as you said, the walk-in closet needs to be at least three hundred square meters."

"Separate zones for men and women, with an independent shoe and hat display area in the middle. Constant temperature and humidity, with the lighting color temperature set to 3800K so it won't affect your judgment of clothing colors."

"And the wine cellar... It doesn't matter if you drink or not, but a thirty-two hundred square meter house without a wine cellar that can hold at least three thousand bottles wouldn't make sense."

"The soundproofing in the media room needs to be of recording studio quality. When you can't sleep at night, you can watch movies in there, and even with the volume turned up to the max, it won't disturb anyone."

"Let me interrupt for a second—I think you'll have to test the soundproofing with me to see if your voice can be heard from outside," Mu Xin teased.

Jessica's face instantly turned red, but she pretended not to hear him and continued with her topic.

"The living room floor and bathrooms will all use Salvatori stone—the effect will be superb!"

"The kitchen island will use a solid, quarried slab of Calacatta Gold marble, with no seams."

"How do you even know all this?" Mu Xin was a bit curious about how Jessica knew so much.

Jessica looked up and said with a smile, "Mr. Mu, several of my previous clients were architects and interior designers."

"I know a thing or two about that Salvatori you mentioned, as well as the other brands."

"Then this project is yours." Mu Xin gave Jessica a thumbs up.

"I didn't say I was taking it," Jessica put her phone away.

"The mistress of the house has to take on her responsibilities, otherwise Victoria could do it too!" Mu Xin laughed loudly.

Jessica looked at Mu Xin; the expression on her face showed she was trying hard to keep a straight face.

"Separate zones for men and women in the closet," Mu Xin said as he walked back. "The men's zone is mine, and you can put your things in the women's zone."

Jessica blinked. She didn't look back at Mu Xin, but instead turned her gaze toward the fine ripples stirred up by the wind on the lake surface.

"Let's go," she said. "Let's go take a look at the pool."