Chapter 45 Money isn't everything, but you can't do without it.

On Friday, Mu Xin went to the Butler County Courthouse.

The courthouse was an old, greyish-white building located next to the central square in Hamilton.

The masonry on the building's exterior walls had weathered somewhat, and the stone steps at the entrance had been worn smooth and shiny by countless people.

When Mu Xin walked in, the Speaker of the County Council and the County Engineer were already waiting in the lobby.

The Speaker was named Speaker Margaret White, in her fifties, with short hair, wearing gold-rimmed glasses and a dark green blazer, looking like a stern high school principal.

The County Engineer was named Dave Collins, in his early forties, sporting a beer belly, wearing a grease-stained work shirt, holding a roll of blueprints, with a slightly uneasy expression.

"Mr. Mu, nice to meet you." Speaker Margaret extended her hand. Her grip was firm, as if testing Mu Xin's sincerity.

Mu Xin shook her hand and smiled. "Speaker White, Engineer Collins, thank you for taking the time to see me."

"Senator Klein called us." Speaker Margaret's voice was crisp and efficient, devoid of unnecessary pleasantries.

"He said your project is very important and asked us to cooperate fully. But I need to hear for myself what exactly you are planning to do on my turf."

Mu Xin handed the proposal to Speaker Margaret and gave another simplified version to Dave Collins.

Then he began to speak. In less than ten minutes, he covered the project's scale, investment, employment, tax contributions, and construction timeline requirements.

Speaker Margaret flipped through the proposal, her brows furrowed, her lips pressed into a thin line.

Dave Collins was also looking at it, but his expression was much more relaxed than Speaker Margaret's. He understood the numbers on those architectural drawings and knew what they meant.

"Mr. Mu, your project is indeed impressive." Speaker Margaret closed the proposal, took off her glasses, and looked straight at Mu Xin.

"But you have also seen the conditions in our county—old roads, drainage systems, sewage treatment plants..."

"If your hotel is built and these infrastructure facilities can't keep up, tourists will be disappointed when they arrive."

Mu Xin smiled; he had been waiting for this.

"Speaker White, I intended to discuss this with you." He took a third document from Jessica's hand and pushed it in front of Speaker Margaret.

"In addition to the hotel project itself, I also plan to donate a batch of public infrastructure to Butler County."

"Specifically, this includes renovating three miles of damaged roads in the county, upgrading the drainage system around the hotel, expanding parts of the county's sewage treatment plant, and building a new community activity center in Hamilton."

"The total budget is twelve million dollars."

Speaker Margaret's glasses almost slid off her nose, and Dave Collins suddenly looked up, his grip on the blueprints almost faltering.

"Twelve million?" Speaker Margaret's voice wavered slightly.

"Twelve million," Mu Xin repeated. "This money does not need to come from the county, nor does it need to be repaid."

"It is purely a personal donation from me to Butler County. There is only one condition: all approvals surrounding the hotel must be completed within thirty days."

Speaker Margaret took a deep breath and turned to look at Dave Collins. Collins nodded slightly at her, signaling that the project was acceptable and the terms were negotiable.

"Mr. Mu, I have received your sincerity." Speaker Margaret put her glasses back on, her voice much softer than before.

"Thirty days is a bit tight, but as long as the infrastructure donation you promised is in place, I can coordinate with all departments to prioritize your approvals."

"Twenty-eight days." Mu Xin held up a finger. "Speaker White, I have less than a year."

"Twenty-eight days, no more."

Speaker Margaret was silent for a few seconds, then extended her hand.

"Deal."

When Mu Xin walked out of the courthouse, it was almost dark.

Jessica followed behind him, holding the stack of signed letters of intent and memorandums, panting with exhaustion.

"Mr. Mu," Jessica's voice carried a weary excitement, "how much money did you spend in total?"

"I don't know." Mu Xin opened the car door and sat in the driver's seat. "Victoria, do you have a count?"

Victoria, sitting in the passenger seat, shook her head, her light grey eyes filled with helplessness:

"On Senator Klein's side, a $500,000 donation. On Advisor Harris's side, although there was no direct spending, you promised to campaign for the Governor, which also has a price."

"On Butler County's side, a $12 million infrastructure donation. For Preble County, we still have to negotiate next week, which is expected to be no less than $8 million."

"Adding it all up, it's about $25 million."

"$25 million," Jessica repeated the number. "Just to compress the approval time from six months to one month?"

"It's not just a one-month approval time." Mu Xin started the car, and the engine of the G63 4x4² let out a low roar.

"It's a one-month project start-up time. The faster the approval, the faster the construction starts, and the faster construction starts, the sooner it's completed."

"No matter how you calculate it, this deal is not a loss."

Jessica and Victoria looked at each other and said nothing more.

They knew that what Mu Xin said was the truth, and they also knew that he must have his reasons for doing this.

They just wanted to know what that reason really was.

Over the next few days, Mu Xin was like a wind-up machine, operating at high speed.

On Monday, he went to Preble County and negotiated an $8 million infrastructure donation with the County Council, in exchange for a twenty-eight-day approval commitment.

On Tuesday, he went to Columbus and met with the head of the State Office of Budget and Management, submitting the project's financial feasibility report and proof of funds.

On Wednesday, he went to Cincinnati and met with officials from the Ohio Department of Commerce, submitting the hotel company's registration documents and business plan.

On Thursday, he went to Hamilton and met with the Butler County Planning Commission and the environmental department to coordinate the environmental impact assessment for the hotel construction.

On Friday, he returned to Oxford Town and held a small celebration party on the third floor of the Morris Building.

It was called a celebration, but it was really just a few boxes of pizza and some bottles of cola placed on the table, with a few people sitting around, eating and chatting.

"Mr. Mu, do you know what you've done this week?" Jessica took a bite of pizza, tomato sauce on the corner of her mouth, but she didn't care anymore.

"You've met with the heads of all the key departments in southwestern Ohio, negotiated all the terms, and obtained all the commitments."

"For a typical commercial project, just going through the process in one department takes several months."

"Because we paid enough money." Mu Xin took a sip of cola, leaned back in his chair, his expression calm.

"In America, money isn't everything, but you can't do anything without money."

"The ODNR didn't have the budget to build a new hotel, so we built it for them. The county's infrastructure was dilapidated, so we paid to renovate it."

"The Governor wants to run for re-election, so we gave him political achievements."

"Everyone wants something different."

"What you need to do is find out what they want, and then tell them, 'I can give it to you.'"

"This is America." Jessica put down the pizza, wiped the corner of her mouth, and looked at Mu Xin with a complex gaze. "A country where you can solve all problems with money."

"No." Mu Xin shook his head, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly. "It's a country where you can solve ninety percent of problems with money."

"The remaining ten percent requires even more money."