HLM – Chapter 124 The Mysterious Heart

A total of five construction companies were invited, all of which were quite well-known in South Island. Naturally, their service fees were among the highest.

Wang Bo was willing to accept the high prices—as long as the construction company could build a qualified water and electricity system for the entire town. After all, this wasn’t about wiring a building or plumbing a house. He was building an entire town.

Moreover, Wang Bo had lofty ambitions for Sunset Town: he envisioned it as a world-class town. After all, he had a massive cheat—the “Heart of the Lord.”

Porter invited the sales managers of the five companies, and Wang Bo prepared a room in one of the buildings for the meeting.

A representative from a company called Southern Island Pipeline & Construction arrived at the small building and chuckled. “Mayor, this is the most unique government office I’ve ever seen.”

Another representative laughed as well. “But a building-block house is great, isn’t it? My daughter loves this kind of design. Though I could only afford her a tiny version.”

Porter stepped forward and lightly thumped this man on the chest. “Come on, Saka, your daughter’s only five years old.”

The last construction company to arrive was surprisingly represented by a Chinese man—around the same age as Wang Bo, tall and well-built. He wore a casual suit that fit him perfectly, highlighting his striking presence.

Porter quietly introduced him, “His name is Tan Yinhong, also Chinese, like you. I’ve heard his family has strong connections and considerable influence, but I don’t know the details.”

Tan Yinhong was the stereotypical tall, rich, and handsome type—he drove a Porsche, wore a Rolex, and carried himself with confidence and courtesy. Oddly enough, he held a SpongeBob SquarePants plush toy in his hands the whole time, though no one knew why.

Wang Bo shook hands and exchanged introductions with him. Tan Yinhong looked around and said, “Mayor Wang, your town is absolutely beautiful. Even just a quick glance as I passed through was enough to win me over. Honestly, I’d love to work with you on building a brand-new town. It sounds incredibly fulfilling!”

Wang Bo laughed heartily and said he looked forward to cooperating too.

The meeting began with the five companies presenting their designs for the town’s water and electricity systems. Although Wang Bo wasn’t an expert, Hani had invited a friend—an expert from the Auckland municipal construction department—who kept explaining things to him.

Tan Yinhong, representing Tangren Hydropower Engineering Co., Ltd., was the first to present. With confidence and eloquence, he used slides to showcase their design. On top of that, he introduced a simple sewage system solution.

Naturally, a sewage system was essential for the town. But it didn’t need to be a complex underground labyrinth like those found in cities. Like many small towns in New Zealand, each residential building could have its own septic well. With just two sewage trucks, the town’s daily wastewater could be easily handled.

Wang Bo had originally wanted to construct a full-fledged underground sewer system—but that would cost too much, take at least six months, and require over ten million NZD.

Tan Yinhong’s proposal featured individual septic wells for each household, but with a key advantage: these could be connected by parallel pipelines during the water system installation phase.

At the end of the pipe system, a powerful pump would be installed to transport the sewage from all the wells into one large septic tank, making it much easier to manage.

The other four companies didn’t offer anything similar—they simply presented standard water and power system designs.

Once all the presentations were complete, it was time to review the bids. Each proposal had the bid attached, and Wang Bo had already gone over the pricing and had a good sense of the offers.

Still, he couldn’t make a decision on the spot. He needed at least a day to “discuss” things with his team. Even if there wasn’t much to discuss, he had to pretend to go through the motions—otherwise, it would look too hasty.

The meeting lasted nearly all day. In the afternoon, Wang Bo invited everyone to stay for dinner. After all, business deals required some goodwill and networking too.

The dinner was held at the castle. Bowen had slaughtered a Simmental calf and a fat sheep, and a few chickens, ducks, and wild rabbits were caught from the pasture. Besides drinks, almost nothing required money.

Upon entering the castle, the group once again exclaimed in awe. After gaining the emerald green “Heart of the Lord,” the ancient castle had taken on an entirely new aura: majestic, timeless, understated yet luxuriously refined.

The two Xuan Cranes, who disliked crowds, flew off as soon as they saw the visitors. They left behind two eggs in the heart of their nest—apparently trusting the environment enough to do so.

Little Hani teased the cranes flying away: “I’m gonna eat your eggs!”

He was always the one cleaning up after the cranes, and honestly, he was getting tired of it.

As usual, Kobe handled dinner. Wang Bo enjoyed cooking too, and since fellow Chinese Tan Yinhong was present, he personally made two dishes: steamed fish with rice flour and braised pork ribs in sauce.

Although it was technically a banquet, it was conducted in a party-style setting.

Kobe was actually excellent at preparing full Western-style meals—with starters, drinks, soup, entrees, and desserts—but Wang Bo didn’t have the patience for such long affairs.

The surprise hit of the evening was the fried chicken nuggets. Kobe used free-range chickens from the pasture—the meat was tender and juicy, and with the enhancement from the Heart of the Castle, the flavor was divine.

Plate after plate of steaks was served. Everyone added their preferred sauces, and once again, there were waves of praise—after all, these were steaks from Simmental calves raised by the Heart of the Ranch!

Everyone ate to their limit. Wang Bo noticed that almost everyone had secretly loosened their belts—clearly, they had eaten to bursting.

Accommodation was arranged in Auckland City, since Sunset Town didn’t have a functioning inn yet (it hadn’t officially opened).

After dinner, Wang Bo called Hani and Charlie together, pulled out the bids from the five companies, and began the final selection process.

The lowest bid came from Southern Island Pipeline—NZD 5 million, exactly as Hani had predicted would be the floor price.

Wang Bo, however, favored Tangren Hydropower. The tall, rich, and handsome Tan Yinhong had submitted a bid of NZD 5.2 million—the second-lowest—but with the added integrated septic system, the overall value was better.

With hardly any discussion, Tangren emerged as the winner. They were clearly the most suitable choice.

Once the result was announced, Tan Yinhong signed the contract with Wang Bo and returned to Dunedin, where his company was based, to dispatch the engineering team right away.

Tangren worked efficiently. Two days later, the first phase of the construction team arrived.

At this point, the Lord’s Lucky Spin could be used again. Wang Bo clicked on it, and the pointer began to spin. When it finally stopped—

For the first time ever, it landed on the slot labeled: Mysterious Heart…