HLM -Chapter 1240 The Rainbow Buildings

Hearing the last kind of introduction, Wang Bo said, “There are even companies registered just to scam résumés? Isn’t that too stupid?”

Hani replied, “The five largest headhunting firms in New Zealand are all doing this. Almost every headhunting company started out from this kind of shell company—otherwise how would they get their first trove of talent data?”

Wang Bo said, “Doesn’t the government do anything about it? These shell companies should be shut down.”

Hani waved his hand. “That has nothing to do with us. Let me introduce another type of shell company.”

Some shell companies are founded by people who possess certain resources. They use a shell company to connect the companies on both sides of a deal, charging a fee but assuming no responsibility whatsoever.

This was exactly the kind of shell company he wanted to recommend Wang Bo set up. Registering a shell company in the tourism industry was a good idea. That way, Wang Bo could join TAANZ and promote Sunset Town in the name of a tourism company. Combined with TAANZ’s official publicity, it would be far more convincing—and he could make a bit of extra money on the side.

When the time came, he could pass incoming tourists on to other travel agencies, such as Chen Luoxian’s agency, in exchange for a small kickback.

The money wouldn’t be much—he didn’t really care about it—but it would be enough to keep the shell company running. In this way, he would essentially gain an extra shell company under his name without having to put in any real effort.

New Zealand’s business environment is among the most relaxed in the world. If countries were ranked globally by the number of companies per hundred people, New Zealand would definitely be near the top.

In this country, setting up a company is extremely easy. All it takes is less than 200 New Zealand dollars and a scanned copy of an ID. From anywhere with an internet connection, a few mouse clicks and keystrokes are enough to establish a new company.

However, there is a 24-hour “quiet period” during registration, to see whether anyone else tries to register the same company name at the same time. If no one does, the company can be officially established.

Such a convenient registration process, such low costs, and such relaxed requirements reduce the burden of doing business on one hand, but on the other hand, they also make it extremely easy to register shell companies.

Hani handled everything for him, and by the afternoon of the next day, Wang Bo had another tourism company to his name: Sunrise Never Sets Travel Agency.

He originally wanted to call it Sunset Travel Agency, but that name had already been snapped up—by a law firm.

Hani contacted the law firm, and the other side said it would cost one hundred thousand to buy the name. Wang Bo immediately decided to change it. Damn it, that kind of business practice was too disgusting—he wasn’t going to indulge them.

Even a shell company needs people to keep it running, but just two people were enough to handle maintenance and answer phone calls.

Naturally, the company was handed over to Juan to manage. He casually set up a tourism department and hired two experienced people to take charge.

In early May, the eldest son of the Southern Scotland Power Company family, Valls Wendy, came to visit, bringing with him a set of design drawings for an apartment complex to be built halfway up the mountain.

This was the work he had promised Wang Bo. For several months, while Williams spent his days raising dogs and riding horses at the beast arena, Wendy devoted himself entirely to designing the residential complex.

Wang Bo was deeply moved. The Wendy family possessed astonishing wealth, and his time was extremely valuable. Yet, because of a promise, he was willing to stay behind and design the project. That was no small thing.

The residential complex was designed in a flamboyant style. Wendy said, “Sunset Town is a young town, full of vitality and fun. The existing residential and villa areas are far too rigid—they don’t match the temperament of Sunset Town.”

He displayed a 3D model on his computer. From the foot of the mountain to halfway up, numerous small buildings were scattered in a well-layered arrangement.

The exterior walls of the buildings were painted in extremely vivid colors, with each building using a single color. These single colors intersected and blended, eventually forming a rainbow-like district of buildings.

Viewed as a whole, the colorful scene was strikingly beautiful. Wendy’s use of color was very bold—bright red, emerald green, deep blue, rich purple, beige, vivid orange, and more.

The many colors complemented one another with sharp contrasts and almost no repetition. At a glance, the dazzling houses looked like something straight out of an Andersen fairy tale, filled with an innocent, childlike charm.

Wang Bo was very satisfied. “This is truly beautiful, Wendy. You’re a genius.”

Wendy smiled modestly. “You flatter me, Wang. I drew inspiration from the Rainbow District in South Africa.”

In Cape Town, South Africa, there is a Malay community where the houses are painted in this way. This dates back to the era of apartheid, when all residential areas other than those for whites were not allowed to display house numbers.

Without house numbers, mailing things was obviously very inconvenient.

So some clever people came up with a solution: they painted their houses in different colors, so mail could simply be addressed to “the red house” or “the blue house.”

Wendy introduced the Rainbow District to him and said, “Actually, the traces of imitation in my design are a bit heavy, so I don’t recommend naming this residential area the Rainbow District.”

Wang Bo replied, “I’ve already thought of a name for it. How about calling it Southern Scotland Power?”

Wendy burst out laughing. “You really dare to do anything. Naming a residential area like that sounds awful. Aren’t you afraid the residents will curse you?”

Wang Bo said, “I’ve made up my mind. That’s what it’ll be called.”

He had to express his gratitude to Wendy. Giving money was out of the question—the man didn’t lack it, and offering money would only create distance.

But naming the residential area after a company controlled by Wendy’s family was much better. At the very least, it would let the family know that Wendy wasn’t just playing around in Sunset Town—he was, in his own way, seeking benefits for the family.

Wendy was very satisfied with this naming method and didn’t refuse. With that, the general framework of the residential area was set, and the next step was to begin construction.

Before construction started, Wang Bo hosted a banquet at the castle for Wendy, Potter—the boss of the Bishopal Hermit Architecture Group—and others.

While eating, Wendy said, “Wang, don’t you feel that living in such a huge castle is a bit empty? It’s not being used properly at all—everything is too primitive.”

That was true. The castle hadn’t been renovated; it was just a dark, imposing stone structure. Last year, Wang Bo had only managed to fix up the fountain and gardens, which made it look somewhat better.

Williams cut into his steak and laughed. “Wendy, you’re addicted to designing, aren’t you?”

Wendy replied, “You know it. Designing just the Southern Scotland Power residential area wouldn’t even take two hundred days. While looking for inspiration, I designed several other architectural areas as well—and the castle was one of them.”

Potter said to Wang Bo, “If you don’t mind the trouble, I’d suggest renovating the castle as well. To be honest, Wang, living in a castle like this is a bit of a waste.”