HLM -Chapter 1354 Māori Jade

Wang Bo was waiting for news from the International Boxing Federation, but before that arrived, another piece of news came in.

Previously, he had placed four “Hearts of the Spirit Spring” at the foot of the mountain. The original plan was to create a river, but later he realized that was too wasteful, so he changed it into an artificial water collection point.

While he was on vacation in Iceland, Bowen had contacted Porter’s engineering team to dig wells and install water pumps.

The “Hearts of the Spirit Spring” relied on natural springs to gush water. But the location at the foot of the mountain was surrounded by rocks, making it difficult to mine. They couldn’t just dig a spring hole and let a machine pump the water.

After some consideration, Bowen discussed with Wang Bo and came up with a plan: build a collection pool, then install a water pump above it.

This had a sustainability advantage: the machine would only operate when the water in the pool reached a certain level. In other words, if the spring ran low, pumping would stop automatically, giving the spring a chance to recover.

After more than ten days of surveys and design, the water collection point was finally ready.

Wang Bo wanted it to look good, and Bowen completed the task, designing the water point in a sci-fi style, using plenty of light metal and tempered glass—it looked stunning.

Then construction began. Early in January, just as digging started, the workers unearthed Māori jade!

Upon discovering the jade, someone immediately informed the boss, Porter, and Wang Bo soon got the news. He drove over to check the situation.

Māori jade is a specialty of New Zealand and a famous tourist souvenir. These jade stones are either deep green or light green and are mostly found along the West Coast of the South Island.

Since ancient times, jade has held significant importance in Māori culture. The amount of jade one owned symbolized wealth.

Moreover, Māori tribes or individuals with large amounts of jade were considered to have higher prestige and authority. Over generations, Māori jade carvings were carefully preserved, with some exquisite pieces passed down through multiple generations.

Atulu’s grandmother, Otutu, was in charge of safeguarding the tribe’s jade carvings. In their eyes, these jades already possessed life and power.

However, compared to Burmese jade or Hetian jade, Māori jade isn’t highly valuable and commands a relatively low international price. It is cherished mainly due to tradition and cultural significance.

For Wang Bo, finding jade wasn’t entirely good news, because it meant the Spirit Spring project might have to be paused. Another complication was that the mining rights for this jade weren’t his.

Because Māori jade isn’t very valuable but is highly prized by the Māori, in the 1990s, as part of an agreement between the New Zealand government and the Māori, the government returned ownership of the entire jade-producing region to the Māori tribes.

In other words, only local Māori are allowed to enter and extract jade from regions containing jade deposits.

Although the land of Sunset Town belonged to Wang Bo privately, the mountain itself was a different matter—the whole mountain was one entity, and it wasn’t owned by him.

With Atulu, Wang Bo headed to the water collection point. Some workers were resting, while Porter squatted beside the site examining something.

The construction site covered roughly a thousand square meters. They were building the collection pool and now needed to dig into the mountain base to lay foundations.

Less than a meter down, the jade appeared, mixed with stones, in colors of light green, deep green, and even pale purple—very beautiful.

Atulu picked up a piece, scratched it lightly with his fingernail, inspected it carefully, then nodded. “Boss, this is Māori jade. There should be a Māori jade mining area here.”

Old Wang felt exasperated. “So we can’t continue building the water point?”

Atulu shrugged. “You could, but it would be too wasteful. This is a jade mining area.”

Porter said to Wang Bo, “Wang, your land is way too rich! The gold mine isn’t even fully mined yet, and now there’s a jade mine here too?”

Of course, this jade mine was far less valuable than the gold mine. In fact, except for the Māori, no commercial company would bother mining it.

Māori jade is treasured by the Māori; in their hands, even an ordinary stone can become precious.

The most common use of Māori jade is to carve art pieces, such as pendants. During traditional Māori gatherings, people would wear multiple jade pendants tied with string around their necks. These symbolize wealth, peace, good fortune, and also power, wealth, and status.

Wang Bo shook his head helplessly. “Well, thank God. I never expected so many mineral resources here.”

This time he was genuinely surprised. He hadn’t used any “Heart of the Mineral” techniques—he was completely caught off guard when the news came. It was the first time Sunset Town had given him a surprise.

Wang Bo had no interest in this type of mineral, but Atulu did, as did all Māori.

He said to Porter: “Have your guys scout the surrounding area. Find a place suitable for a collection pool that doesn’t have mineral deposits.”

Then he said to Atulu: “Tell your people, these stones belong to you. Carve them to your heart’s content and sell them to tourists to earn money.”

The Māori man was overjoyed. “Boss, I’m so moved. You’re truly a great person—I love you!”

“Don’t price them too high when selling. Make them affordable for most tourists.”

“I know, Boss. We won’t sell them too expensively,” Atulu said happily.

Seeing him happy, Wang Bo couldn’t help but smile too.

From the Māori perspective, discovering the jade deposit was beneficial. It freed their productivity. These folks usually laze around and aren’t great at earning money—they just live off welfare.

Wang Bo hated that, but now the Māori could carve jade to combine interest with income. Sunset Town could save a portion of welfare funds.

Moreover, with this to keep them busy, the Māori would be less likely to spend time drinking and causing trouble. Thinking of this, Wang Bo felt even happier.

News of the jade deposit at the mountain foot, and Wang Bo giving it entirely to the Māori tribe, quickly spread. The Māori in town were thrilled, and that evening some came to the mountain foot to start working, carrying stones home on their backs.

The next morning, Atulu arrived carrying his grandmother.

Seeing the elderly Otutu, Wang Bo hurried to greet her. “Grandma Otutu, what brings you here?”

Compared to when they first met during the earthquake, Otutu had not aged; her wrinkles had barely increased, and her hair was darker and shinier, almost rejuvenated.

Her voice remained strong. “Thanks to the great god for sending Chief Wang to lead this land. Your presence is as majestic as the hero Maui…”

Then she began speaking in Māori. Wang Bo didn’t understand much, but it was clearly praise directed at him.

He not only couldn’t understand it but also felt slightly out of place. Still, he had to cooperate—she was obviously here to thank him.