HLM – Chapter 180 Move to My Town

This ceremony wasn’t just about awarding medals to Zhuang Ding; Princess Eugenie had a far more important task—representing the royal family in offering condolences to disaster victims and expressing the monarchy’s concern for New Zealand.

Though New Zealand had gained independence, it was still nominally under British jurisdiction. Now that disaster had struck, the royal family—as rulers—naturally had to make a statement.

The auditorium was packed, mainly with representatives from various disaster-stricken regions. Wang Bo was one of them—his Sunset Town had also been affected by the earthquake.

But the highlight of the ceremony was the award presentation. When Governor Pick, acting as host, announced the commendation of the dog that had rescued over a hundred people during the disaster, the applause from the audience was thunderous. The Maori representatives from Wanderers Town even whistled wildly.

Wang Bo, as the owner, was supposed to go onstage, but he wanted Zhuang Ding to have the spotlight. So, he signaled for the dog to go up and accept the award in his place.

Following the command, Zhuang Ding walked up with steady, confident steps, eyes focused ahead, mouth shut, and head held high—he looked extremely proud.

Wang Bo smiled as he watched the stage. A figure came up behind him and praised, “This dog is truly a miracle. I’ve never seen one so amazing. Look at its expression—so confident and dignified. So this is what a Mastiff looks like.”

Without turning around, Wang Bo could tell from the voice it was Hugo. He responded modestly, saying the dog was just naturally smart.

At that moment, Princess Eugenie placed a dark bronze circular medal around Zhuang Ding’s neck. The ribbon was designed in the pattern of the Union Jack, looking quite splendid.

As he received the medal, Zhuang Ding began to miss Wang Bo a little. He turned his head and licked at his lips repeatedly in Wang Bo’s direction, his little tail wagging happily.

The ceremony didn’t end with the medal presentation. There had to be staged photos, and all the photographers had rushed up front.

Wang Bo waved at Zhuang Ding, signaling him not to look back. The dog reluctantly turned back to face Princess Eugenie as the camera flashes went off—and some even aimed at Wang Bo.

Wang Bo immediately straightened up, striking the best pose he could—he might be in tomorrow’s paper, after all.

Once the ceremony was over, Zhuang Ding sprinted back to him, lowered his head, bit the medal, and placed it in Wang Bo’s hand, looking up at him with hopeful eyes.

Wang Bo knew the dog was asking for praise. He squatted down and patted its head. “Well done. You did great today. You’re the best dog ever.”

Zhuang Ding grinned from ear to ear, his doggy face full of joy.

Hugo looked at the dog and grinned too, practically drooling with admiration.

After the award presentation, Princess Eugenie, on behalf of her grandmother Queen Elizabeth, comforted the victims and expressed sorrow and prayers for the deceased.

Finally, Hugo took the stage alongside her and announced a royal and public donation from the UK—15 million New Zealand dollars, a sizable amount.

Aside from the medal, Wang Bo gained another good thing: Sunset Town would receive a share of the donations—1.5 million NZD, including public contributions from New Zealand citizens.

Holding the cheque, Wang Bo couldn’t stop grinning. It was like catching a rabbit while gathering grass—an unexpected delight.

Seeing the cheque in his hands, Dale’s big eyes sparkled. She ran over with little steps, clutching his sleeve and chirping, “Uncle Wang, Uncle Wang…”

“Call me brother!” Wang Bo’s face changed immediately.

“Brother Wang, Brother Wang, you’re so rich!” Dale quickly corrected herself, her little voice sweet like it had sugar in it.

“Of course, your brother is rich! I’ll buy you some candy later, okay?”

“No,” Dale said, pouting. “Can you build us a house instead? Ours was destroyed in the earthquake.”

Her pink, chubby face was filled with sorrow. Her little brows were tightly furrowed, looking pitiful.

Hearing this, Eva also frowned and hurried over to pull her back. “Dale, don’t be unreasonable. That money belongs to the town, not Wang’s. Don’t make things difficult for others, understand?”

Wang Bo looked at her in surprise. “Your house was destroyed by the earthquake?”

He had followed the news from Auckland and saw that the damage wasn’t too serious—just some structural cracks in places, nothing completely destroyed.

Eva gave a casual smile and said, “No, don’t listen to Dale. A little repair is all we need.”

“Dale’s room is gone!” the little girl protested defiantly.

Wang Bo stared at Eva, who shrugged and said, “It wasn’t destroyed, just severely damaged. You know, prefab houses don’t have the best quake resistance over time.”

He did know that, but hadn’t realized Eva’s home was a prefab structure.

As he looked into it more, he discovered the truth wasn’t as simple as the news had said. Many buildings had been compromised. Eva’s special education school had even shut down because of cracks in the walls. According to New Zealand’s building regulations, it would have to be rebuilt.

Wang Bo turned to Eva and asked, “Tell me, girl—what’s your plan? For the school and for your home? How do you plan to start over?”

Eva smiled gently. “Let’s talk about that some other day. Today’s Zhuang Ding’s big day—he’s the star, isn’t he?”

Zhuang Ding, sitting between them with his head tilted upward, had a dumbfounded doggy expression: Why is nobody paying attention to me anymore?

Wang Bo insisted, “Your life and work are more important. My God, Eva, I have to hand it to you. Are your nerves made of steel? If I were you, I’d be stressed to death.”

That’s the kind of girl she was—he admired her. If his house and workplace had both been destroyed by an earthquake, he certainly wouldn’t be smiling right now.

But Eva? Since their reunion, she hadn’t shown a single negative emotion. Even when he called her for help, she came running with Dale immediately. Wang Bo knew—she needed help more than he did.

After hearing him out, Eva looked out the window, the wind light and clouds thin. She said calmly, “What’s there to be anxious about? If you’ve ever truly experienced despair, you’ll realize—we’re still in paradise. Maybe on the edge of it, sure—but still far from rock bottom.”

As she said the last line, her gaze deepened, her expression tinged with sorrow. Then she hugged her arms tightly, as if suddenly feeling the chill of winter.

Wang Bo noticed her shiver instinctively, and without thinking, he took off his coat and draped it over her shoulders.

Eva looked at him in surprise. He realized what he’d done and grew a little embarrassed, quickly changing the subject: “Hey, would you be interested in moving to Sunset Town? Your home, your school—of course, my little town’s still pretty underdeveloped, maybe not up to your standards.”

This was his attempt at a strategic retreat. From what he knew of Eva, she was tough and independent—but softhearted. Showing vulnerability would move her more than boasting strength.