Reborn in 2010, the AI ​​in my mind is too powerful.

A dozen minutes later, five old men gathered together in an old wooden house not far from the hotel.

They all attended the meeting just now because they are all members of the Lanai Planning Committee.

This house belongs to Mr. Matsuda, who is of Japanese descent and is 67 years old this year. His grandfather came from Hiroshima to grow pineapples.

The main lights weren't on in the room; only a table lamp illuminated a round table with several bottles of beer and a plate of sliced ​​papaya on it.

Mr. Matsuda sat in his old wicker chair, opened a bottle of beer, and took a sip.

What do you think?

Sitting opposite him was Old Zheng, who smiled and said, "Not bad, it feels better than serving people, and much better than growing pineapples."

Zheng Qianli, a Chinese descendant, is 63 years old this year. He is from Taishan, Guangdong. His ancestors were pineapple workers on the island in the 1940s.

"That's not what I'm asking you. I'm asking whether you think this young man is reliable."

Old Zheng peeled a peanut and popped it into his mouth: "I don't know if it's reliable or not, but it's definitely richer than the last one. The last one was in the tourism business, and after thirty years he hadn't made a name for himself. This one comes out and immediately says he wants to get into technology. I don't understand technology, but he says he'll renovate houses, and I do understand that."

On the other side of the table sat Tommy Santos, a Filipino of 55 years old. His mother was from Cebu and came to Cebu in the 1960s to marry a Filipino worker she worked with on pineapples.

"I saw the cameras. They installed two at the port last week. They're new, and obviously not cheap stuff. But what's the use? What kind of cases can happen on our island?"

Kahu, sitting in the corner, frowned and asked, "He pretended without saying a word. Could it be that he's going to use this to monitor us while we work?"

He is a native Hawaiian, 48 years old. He is one of the few people on the island who still retains his Hawaiian name.

Mr. Matsuda shook his head and said, "He's the island owner; if he wants to pretend, then he can."

The only white man, Bill Thompson, laughed and said, "Exactly, you think you can stop him?"

Kahu thought for a moment and said, "Fine, anyway, this island has never belonged to us."

Old Zheng laughed: "Kahu is right."

Thompson, sounding a bit excited, said, "Let me tell you something you don't know. You bunch of old fogies never even watch the news. Do you even know what level this guy is?!"

"You've told us you're the world's third richest person so many times, but what's the use? It's not our money."

Thompson curled his lip: "Look at you, look at you. You're all descendants of pineapple workers, except for my grandfather who was a plantation manager. You're so insensitive. Let me ask you, is the standard of living the same whether you're a dog in a poor family or a dog in the family of the world's third richest person?"

Everyone felt a little awkward being described as a dog, but they didn't say anything.

Only Kahu whispered, "My ancestors were fishermen, not pineapple growers."

Thompson chimed in, "This is way more impressive than Murdoch before. Murdoch only dabbled in agriculture, but Chen Yiran is in high technology! He practically crushed Google. Now our little island is practically his citizen, and there will be tons of benefits to come. By the way, you all know what Google is, right?"

Old Zheng rolled his eyes: "You can't underestimate us too much, we do know Google."

The five old men discussed it amongst themselves, but ultimately concluded that it was probably a good thing.

Tommy finished a bottle of beer and opened another: "Oh well, we can't stop good things from happening or bad things from happening anyway, let's just wait and see. But I think that Kobayashi from the Cultural Heritage Center and that woman from the cat shelter will cause trouble."

Old Zheng shook his head: "What can those two do sitting in the corner like little chicks?"

Mr. Matsuda said with a hint of disdain, "What a load of rubbish! If it weren't for those cultural projects they were working on, these people would still be post office employees. They inexplicably became project managers for two projects and even settled here. They don't know anything; they don't even know what it means to work for someone else."

Old Zheng sneered, "They're not like us. Xiao Lin's grandfather isn't a pineapple grower; he's a civil servant in Honolulu. And that cat-owning woman, needless to say, used to work at the Maui County Animal Management Bureau. They're on this island to work; what do they know?"

"That's right. Three generations of my family have lived on this island. Whether we grow pineapples or fish, we rely on our own hands to work for our employers and earn a living."

They live off government funding. When the government said it was about cultural preservation, they came. When the government said it was about animal protection, they came. Now that the new island owner says tourism is off, they panic.

Kahu then spoke up: "It's no use them panicking. The county government can't control this island. That cultural center is ridiculous. They even hire someone from outside the island to promote our culture. Isn't it just to make her a penny?"

Mr. Matsuda nodded: "Kahu is right. The county government is nothing. The island owner has always been the one who calls the shots. It was like that under Duer, and it was like that under Murdoch. Now that there's a new island owner, it's still the same."

Tommy took another sip of beer: "What about Kobayashi and that woman? The new island owner didn't say they were going to be fired."

"If they don't fire them, they can stay. It's not like they're going to make a difference if they don't fire them. But if they think they can cause trouble with the county government, they're dreaming. There are 3,000 people on this island, and 2,800 of them are like us. We are the descendants of the pineapple farmers, the descendants of fishermen. What good is the government? It still depends on the island owner."

Thompson got excited again: "And just think about it, if they actually build some high-tech stuff on the island, what a status symbol that will be! Which other island in all of Hawaii has something like that? Does Maui have it? Does Oahu have it? Only Lanai has it."

Old Zheng slammed his hand on the table: "Thompson, can you shut up for once? They haven't even started building it yet, and you're already praising them."

---------------------------------

Upon hearing this, Chen Yiran closed the page, leaving the man-eating flower to continue recording the conversation in the background.

This island is indeed a good fit for him. A century of path dependence has made most of the people on the island far more useful than ordinary employees.

It's not that they're truly loyal to you, but they're actually loyal to the position of island lord. After all, the island lord, who controls water, electricity, gas, and transportation, is basically a local emperor, except for the ability to kill or set fires. This directly affects their standard of living, and with a little manipulation, you can make their lives uncomfortable.

Chen Yiran tapped twice and then began to read the conversation between the two oblivious administrators.

It has to be said that this kind of sneaky surveillance of others can really stimulate dopamine levels.

Chen Yiran felt like a secret agent.

And the surveillance was indeed effective; after listening to their conversation, it seemed the two administrators were really up to something.