HLM -Chapter 1414 Adult Daycare Center

Elizabeth contacted several wedding planning companies. As soon as they heard the budget of ten million New Zealand dollars, they were thrilled. Over the next two weeks, they would prepare a rough design proposal and then come to Sunset Town to bid.

The bidding from Liancheng Group had already concluded. With Wang Bo’s connections, Leyton Company and the Pastoralist Architecture Company jointly secured this major contract.

Potter even teased Wang Bo: “I really regret meeting you. Now I have zero free time and all I do is make money. Sigh… I’m earning way too much following you.”

For cities and towns, greater fame brings more benefits.

Sunset Town’s scenery and reputation were already well-known in New Zealand, so some opportunities naturally fell into its lap—such as the construction of a national adult daycare center.

New Zealand has two types of adult daycare: social daycare and medical daycare. Both are designed to provide adults with a place during the day to be cared for and interact with others, keeping them active and motivated. The only difference is that the medical type has healthcare personnel present.

These centers primarily serve the elderly, especially those needing to improve their social skills. Daycare centers offer a variety of activities to encourage interaction.

The construction of national adult daycare centers in New Zealand aims to give elderly and disabled adults a good living environment, while also freeing family members who would otherwise need to stay home to care for them.

Simply put, these daycare centers are essentially nursing homes. New Zealand plans to unify these centers to centralize resources and provide standardized care.

Providing care also means creating employment opportunities and generating significant consumption. So when the New Zealand government proposed building unified adult daycare areas, many cities began competing.

Adult daycare is supported by an entire industry chain—it’s not just a building where you drop off the elderly. In addition to accommodation, it provides activities such as nutritious lunches, haircuts, bathing, and other services. These services require external agencies, generating business opportunities.

Activities also include exercise, bowling, handicrafts, chess and card games, pet visits, shopping trips, and bingo. These activities further generate economic opportunities. For local governments, this means increased tax revenue and GDP growth.

Wang Bo had never actively competed to host an adult daycare center, but luck fell into his hands: the government ultimately decided to locate the centers in Sunset Town.

Daycare centers require a beautiful environment, a sufficiently active population to maintain vitality, and preferably some fame, since this is a government welfare initiative that the New Zealand government wants widely publicized.

Although it is a welfare service, adult daycare charges fees, supplemented by government subsidies. According to Wang Bo, most of the funding for this project comes from the provincial government. Adults using the daycare only need to pay a symbolic fee—about 20 NZD per person per day.

In other words, for six hundred NZD a month, one can enjoy nutritious meals, daily bathing, company for activities, and beautiful scenery every day.

When Hani saw the construction plan, he exclaimed: “Shit, I really regret not being born twenty years earlier. Otherwise, I could be enjoying this myself!”

Atulu chuckled: “You mean the nurses touching your old man bits?”

“Fuck you, you bastard… but thinking about it, it’s kind of exciting. I wouldn’t mind them touching me.” The old inspector laughed along.

Wang Bo rolled his eyes. “So you’re living with Vanessa?”

Hani’s expression stiffened. “You investigating me?”

Wang Bo was caught off guard and snapped, “Seriously? You don’t need investigating. I noticed you’ve been… more flirtatious lately. If you weren’t living with Mrs. Vanessa, how would you be having your second spring?”

Hani smiled awkwardly. “Really? I’ll have to watch myself then.”

Adult daycare is still a relatively new concept in New Zealand. But with the baby boom generation entering retirement, demand for these services will continue to grow.

New Zealand emphasizes human rights and quality of life. Elderly people living alone or with family need social interaction, and the adult daycare center planned for Sunset Town is designed to fulfill this need.

According to the plan, the daycare center can accommodate 500 seniors and employ 250 nurses and service personnel.

Wang Bo guessed that the government chose Sunset Town partly to get free land from him. But he was willing to provide the land, knowing the center would greatly benefit Sunset Town.

The most direct benefit is healthcare. To care for these seniors, the government would need to upgrade Sunset Town’s community hospital to a major city-level central hospital.

Secondly, the center would continuously attract families to move to Sunset Town. Even if family members use the daycare, proximity makes family life more convenient.

Besides attracting families, Wang Bo hoped to draw wealthy elderly individuals who live alone. In China, filial piety is a major virtue, and family is highly valued. But in New Zealand, many are single by choice, divorced, or childless, and often quite wealthy. Wang Bo reasoned that if the center attracted them and impressed them, they might invest more in Sunset Town.

He agreed to allocate 80 hectares of land for this massive daycare center. The New Zealand central government and parliament began investing, and construction was scheduled to start in spring.

Once the plan was announced, Sunset Town’s population began to rise. The town already had 15,000 residents, and Hani estimated that after the daycare center was built, surpassing 20,000 people would not be a problem.

Queenstown was also very interested. When the plan was released, Mayor Monroe personally called Wang Bo.

“Hi, Mayor Wang. How have you been?”

Wang Bo guessed why and replied, “Mayor, it’s great to hear from you. I’ve been well. How about you?”

That was exactly what Monroe wanted to hear. He replied with a bitter smile, “To be honest, Wang, life has been tough. Queenstown’s population is declining. You know, for a city, population is fundamental.”

Wang Bo understood, but he also needed population inflow for his town.