HLM – Chapter 1023 A Māori Wedding

The railing dropped, but it wasn’t the lightning-fast start that Wang Bo had expected!

Tuhao Jin accelerated quickly, but then it stabilized, carrying Wang Bo forward at a steady pace.

When it reached the curve, it sped up a little, then continued at that speed until the end.

After one lap, Wang Bo asked curiously, “Hey, why didn’t the Tuhao Jin run as fast as before?”

Before, whenever this horse was released, it would rush forward like a cannonball.

Malone laughed, “That’s because it thinks your posture and state aren’t suitable for running at full speed. It’s adjusting its speed to match yours.”

Only then did Wang Bo realize that the earlier ride hadn’t been especially fast, but it had been extremely comfortable. He could fully feel the thrill of controlling a good horse.

This was very different from before. Previously, the Tuhao Jin ran fast, but riding it was uncomfortable. Every time a run ended, he had to stretch his legs to recover.

Wang Bo’s riding skills weren’t great, so Malone took over. As the railing dropped again, the expected lightning-fast start finally appeared.

“Clippity-clop, clippity-clop…”

The crisp, urgent sound of hooves rang out. Tuhao Jin galloped fiercely, its powerful body cutting through the wind. For the first half of the course, it accelerated continuously, and in the latter half, Wang Bo felt his eyes could barely keep up with it.

On the horse’s back, Malone seemed like a kite in flight. He wasn’t sitting on the saddle but maintaining balance through the strength of his legs, his lean body bent sharply like a taut bow.

Tuhao Jin was the arrow being shot!

This metaphor wasn’t exaggerated. Before, it was just a block of fine iron; now it had been forged into a sharp arrow.

Fine iron can still kill, but it isn’t visually striking and lacks true lethality.

On the track, even though the Tuhao Jin’s legs were short, its gallop was a spectacle. Unlike a purebred horse, its beauty wasn’t graceful and elegant, but explosive and powerful.

Back in the town, Wang Bo didn’t put it back in the stable but let it run freely in the arena.

He let Malone continue training it; this was a final push before an important test. With the arena’s advantages, the Tuhao Jin could keep improving.

It wasn’t just the Tuhao Jin training here. Two litters of Alaskan Malamutes were also undergoing special training.

The two police dogs from Aukland had just been sent back, and Wang Bo had brought in two litters of Alaskans. He had Gerald continue their training. By the end of the year, he planned to bring them to the U.S. for the sled dog competition.

Tony Jackson, the dog-training expert Wang Bo knew in Finland, was already on his way to Sunset Town. With New Zealand’s winter approaching, it was perfect for sled dog training.

May passed, and June arrived.

Far away in China, Wang Bo’s classmates and friends were switching to summer clothes; their photos showed short sleeves and shorts, while he wore wool sweaters, sometimes even a thin down jacket in the mornings.

The coldest three months of the year in New Zealand had begun.

At the start of June, an important event took place in Sunset Town: Motak was getting married.

Motak was Wang Bo’s new subordinate and the farm’s general manager.

Age-wise, he was marrying a bit late at thirty-five. In any country, that would be considered a relatively late marriage.

But Motak didn’t care. He and his fiancée had been together for over ten years and hadn’t been in a rush to marry. It was only last year, under pressure from both families, that they decided to tie the knot.

After a decade-long relationship, the parents wanted marriage. In China, they could have married immediately.

But Māori customs were different. They had a trial marriage tradition, where the couple lived together according to marital standards for a period—usually a year.

In other words, young Māori couples could naturally enjoy a year of legal cohabitation before officially marrying.

Chinese weddings often go all out, but Māori weddings had their own flavor—they loved feasts and celebrations!

Wang Bo suspected that Motak came to work for him partly so he could legitimately use Sunset Ranch’s meats for the wedding feast.

As a wedding gift, Wang Bo gave the couple a pair of beautiful but inexpensive Chinese porcelain vases and also sponsored the meat for the banquet.

Motak’s wedding was held in Sunset Town, as he intended to spend the rest of his life there.

His wife, Aipa, was a smiling Māori girl. She had run a flower shop in Aukland, selling fresh flowers and handicrafts, so Motak’s move to Sunset Town to manage the farm was convenient for her business.

However, Aipa wasn’t entirely happy—good business meant more work, and she didn’t want to be busy.

On June 2nd, the wedding day, Wang Bo attended as an important guest. The ceremony was held at the Otago Botanical Garden.

The garden, located northeast of Aukland in Twizel, covered nearly a thousand acres and housed a vast collection of plants from Oceania—over ten thousand species. It was reputedly the “Nirvana for South Island gardeners.”

Despite the grand title, Wang Bo knew it was basically a well-maintained natural forest. Hani had told him these names were just marketing to attract tourists.

The garden was a bit far from Sunset Town, so Wang Bo took a helicopter with Motak’s cousin, Big Motak.

On the flight, Big Motak laughed, “Aipa’s going to be happy today.”

Wang Bo said, “Yes, it’s her big day. She should be happy.”

Big Motak shook his head. “No, she’s happy because she doesn’t have to manage the flower shop today—and not for the next month either.”

Wang Bo asked, “What do you mean? If she doesn’t manage the shop, doesn’t she lose money?”

Big Motak chuckled, “She opened it just to keep herself occupied. She didn’t want to be like most Māori, lying in the sun after eating, with no drive or sense of life.

“Running the shop isn’t for profit. My cousin can make plenty of money—your salary for him is enough, plus government benefits. She could live comfortably without it.”

Wang Bo nodded. “So she doesn’t want to run the shop anymore? She can just close it.”

Big Motak said, “That might work in Aukland, but in Sunset Town, many people buy flowers and crafts from her shop. She feels she can’t just stop, or it would affect the town’s image.”

This was a New Zealand trait: once someone integrates into a community or town, they develop strong local pride and care deeply about their hometown’s reputation.