HLM – Chapter 56 A Grand Development Plan

Old Wang nodded in admiration. “Impressive. Then can you deduce my phone number too?”

Eva’s proud expression froze. She blinked and asked, “How am I supposed to deduce that?”

Wang Bo took out his brand-new phone. “Actually, no deduction needed. Just give me your number and I’ll call you. That way, you’ll know mine.”

Eva smiled again. “Ah, I see now. So your real intention is to get my number? Not exactly subtle, huh?”

“But that’s not it,” Old Wang teased the beautiful teacher a little. He grinned, “I’m not after your phone number. I actually want your Skype and WA accounts.”

Skype is a globally popular free voice communication app, Microsoft’s flagship on mobile—essentially the evolution of the once-popular MSN. Among New Zealand’s youth, Skype and WA (WhatsApp Messenger) are both widely used.

Eva gave him both accounts. As Wang Bo started downloading the apps, he glanced up occasionally and noticed Eva watching him with a sweet smile.

“What are you smiling about?” he asked.

Eva didn’t answer directly. She shrugged and said, “You’ll find out soon.”

What came next was two police cars roaring up, led by Robert—the same officer who had previously driven Wang Bo back to the manor. Clearly, the local precinct took violent robbery cases seriously.

Robert got out of the car and asked what had happened. Wang Bo explained briefly, then sighed, “Buddy, is New Zealand’s public security just this bad, or is it only Omarama that’s the problem? I’ve only been here half a month, and I’ve already been attacked more times than I can count on one hand.”

Robert handed him a cup of coffee, winking. “Hero saves the beauty, eh? Shouldn’t you be thanking those thugs for giving you the chance?”

Eva stood next to Wang Bo like a dainty little bird, which led Robert to assume that she had been the one rescued. So Wang Bo rolled his eyes. First, Robert had completely misunderstood the situation, and second—do New Zealand cops really solve crimes with coffee in hand?

A policeman removed the sunglasses from one of the thugs, took a closer look, then called out, “Rob, come take a look—these seem like the three runaway traffickers.”

Robert nodded. “Got it.” He took statements from Wang Bo and Eva on the spot and then let them leave. Wang Bo, however, would need to come by the station again after the traffickers were moved out of the ICU for a follow-up.

As Eva was about to drive off, Robert stopped her CRV. “What’s going on with your trunk? That’s a traffic violation.”

In New Zealand, police double as traffic officers. Wang Bo explained that his motorcycle’s spark plug was faulty. Robert, being a good guy, helped fix it. As soon as Wang turned the key—vroom—the motorcycle roared to life.

“No need to thank me,” Robert waved smugly.

Wang Bo replied gratefully, “No, really. You’ve been a huge help. I owe you a meal.”

Eva blinked her lovely eyes. “In that case, I probably don’t need to drive you anymore, right? See you then?”

Watching the CRV disappear into the distance, Old Wang turned a death glare toward Robert and gritted his teeth. “Robert, get over here—I need to properly thank you! Really properly!”

Robert just chuckled. “Haha, no thanks needed! Long live China–New Zealand friendship!”

Back at the manor, Wang Bo stepped into the courtyard. Hearing his footsteps, Zhuang Ding immediately ran out, slamming into his leg like a cannonball and bouncing off. Then it rubbed its fluffy head against his pants.

Wang Bo scooped the pup up and gave it a few kisses. Right away, the parrot, Commander, came crashing in with wings flapping, yelling, “Ah! Commander is good! Ah! Commander is good!”

Wang quickly raised his shoulder to let the bird perch and tied a colorful ribbon around its neck. Pleased with the decoration, the parrot flew off excitedly, squawking joyfully.

Then Wang Bo took out a dog chew toy and tossed it. Zhuang Ding dashed after it, brought it back, and looked up with tail wagging, waiting for praise.

Wang chuckled, knelt down, and stuffed the chew toy into its mouth. “Well done. This one’s for you. Go ahead and enjoy it.”

Clearly, someone had previously trained the dog to retrieve things. Now that the pup was livelier, some of its old training had resurfaced.

With its favorite scent on the toy, the pup ran to the shade, pinned the toy with its paws, and began gnawing away happily.

That evening, alone at home, Wang Bo heated two burgers and paired them with a bottle of rich black beer—dinner settled. He pulled out his phone and opened Skype to add Eva—but it required verification, and that meant entering a phone number.

Recalling Eva’s mysterious smile, he quickly tried WhatsApp—but that too asked for the last four digits of her number.

“Damn it! Should’ve just asked for her number straight up!” Wang Bo was exasperated. Though he couldn’t add Eva, he did manage to add Julia—she had given him her business card.

He checked Julia’s recent updates and laughed. She was taking a flight to Auckland that night to attend the Vodafone annual gala. Bowen’s efforts were going to be a waste.

After some fun, Wang Bo finally got serious. He began researching public administration courses and management books. But New Zealand had strict copyright laws, and most valuable resources required payment.

Helpless, he turned to studying the development histories of other small towns, especially Queenstown—the world-famous tourist destination. If Sunset Town could become the next Queenstown, his name would be remembered forever.

“As the saying goes, ‘Use bronze as a mirror to tidy your attire; use others as a mirror to discern gains and losses; use history as a mirror to understand rise and fall’… Wait, what the hell? Queenstown’s not even a town, it’s a city?” Old Wang was shocked. His dream of playing the ‘widow revives dead town’ role was crushed—he had lost his study benchmark.

Looking at the map, Sunset Town sat in a rather unique location. It backed onto the Southern Alps and was flanked by lakes. To the west was Lake Hawea; to the east were Lake Ohau and Mount Ohau. To the south lay two small towns: Louis Town to the southeast and Wanderer Town to the southwest.

Bowen had previously mentioned that Wanderer Town was a Māori settlement—he himself had come from there.

Southeast of Sunset Town was Omarama, directly adjacent. Southwest was Cromwell, separated by Wanderer Town and the small town of Lindis Valley.

Among them, both Louis Town and Wanderer Town were underdeveloped. Louis Town suffered from population loss, now barely holding 400–500 residents. Wanderer Town had more people—but most were Māori.

Māori in New Zealand had a status somewhat akin to African Americans in the U.S.—there were elites, yes, but more often they represented chaos, poverty, and backwardness.

In short, there were no outstanding towns around Sunset Town. But this was the starting point of the Southern Alps, boasting majestic mountains and beautiful lakes—Sunset Town had enormous potential.