HLM -Chapter 771 Renovating the Castle

Wang Bo had worried that Colson might not be able to tell Asian faces apart—but this guy’s eyesight was truly terrible. The man in front of them, apart from having darker skin, bore no resemblance at all to the person in the photo.

Colson, however, looked quite serious as he took out the photo and showed it to the officer beside him. “Officer, look! Isn’t this exactly the same person?!”

The officer didn’t even bother looking again and replied weakly, “Go have lunch, sir. The difference is too big. Do you have face blindness or something?”

Wang Bo and Chen Luoxian waved goodbye and left, not explaining what they were up to. Colson, however, was indignant and shouted, “It’s obviously him! You’re all Asians—you’re covering for a criminal!”

Chen Luoxian was bewildered. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing.” Wang Bo gave an awkward smile and started pushing Colson toward the door.

Colson refused to move, yelling even louder, which caused chaos in the restaurant. Outside, Conley and the officer thought a fight had broken out and jumped in through the window to make a surprise move—only to make the situation even messier.

They had intended to arrest a criminal but ended up detaining the person who made the report instead. Colson was on the verge of a breakdown, and Wang Bo was completely exasperated.

Once Conley and the others realized it was all a misunderstanding, he held Colson down and said, “Sir, you’ve got the wrong person…”

“I don’t have face blindness! I didn’t mistake anyone!” Colson roared.

Conley sighed. “Right, this isn’t face blindness—it’s the cross-race effect.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“The cross-race effect,” Conley explained professionally, “means that as humans grow up, we mostly interact with people of our own race. Accurately distinguishing familiar faces helps social communication and survival—it’s an evolutionary advantage. So, the human brain naturally adapts, narrowing its perceptual range. Over time, this makes it harder for us to distinguish faces of other ethnic groups.”

Wang Bo asked the man next to him, “Did you understand that?”

“Kind of,” said Atulu.

“Which means you didn’t,” Wang Bo muttered.

Conley spread his hands. “Simply put, people have a hard time recognizing faces from other ethnic groups. For example, Chief—you have trouble telling apart white people, Maori, or Pacific Islanders. And for Colson, he can’t tell whether someone’s Singaporean or Malaysian, or whether they’re of Chinese or Japanese descent.”

“Then that’s still face blindness,” Wang Bo said.

Conley chuckled. “No, Chief, not the same thing. Face blindness isn’t just limited perception—it’s a cognitive impairment. Someone with face blindness can’t even recognize their own family.”

“The cross-race effect isn’t a defect—it’s just limited familiarity. Even if you try to overcome it, it’s hard to eliminate completely. But the more you interact with people of different races, the easier it becomes to recognize them. So while it can’t be cured, it can be improved. Face blindness, on the other hand, can’t be helped.”

Wang Bo thought Conley’s explanation was basically useless—but it did sound impressive.

Surprisingly, it worked. Colson stopped struggling and gradually calmed down.

Conley patted him on the shoulder. “Mr. Tucker-Bourne, you need to broaden your horizons and make more friends from other ethnicities. Hopefully, next time, you won’t make such a blunder again.”

The restaurant slowly returned to order. Since Wang Bo had caused such a stir, he felt embarrassed to just leave, so he decided to stay for lunch.

He waved at the owner and shouted, “Hey, boss! One bottle of beer or a jug of soda per person—on me!”

“Woohoo! Cool guy!”

“I like you, man!”

“What even happened?—never mind, free drinks!”

Aside from that mix-up, the town was peaceful. The promotional campaigns were gaining traction, and more tourists were visiting.

But Wang Bo still had plenty to do. First, there was the advertising project—he planned to shoot a promotional short film to boost Sunset Town’s fame.

Next was the castle renovation plan—a major task.

Sunset Castle was one of only two castles in New Zealand. Its last two owners had fallen on hard times and couldn’t afford maintenance, so it badly needed repairs.

However, thanks to the “Heart of the Castle,” Sunset Castle had been quietly maintaining itself. It now looked majestic and ancient, full of dignified charm.

Unfortunately, Wang Bo had tinkered with it and placed a “Heart of Clouds and Mist” outside. While it made the castle appear shrouded in mysterious fog, it also brought excessive moisture.

The “Heart of the Castle” protected the structure itself from dampness—but humans weren’t so lucky. After his morning runs, Wang Bo would feel drenched, his clothes soaked enough to wring out.

Having grown up by the sea, he knew how harmful constant humidity could be, especially to the joints—it could cause rheumatism.

So he started looking for ways to fix the problem.

Back home, the traditional remedy was sleeping on a heated brick bed (a kang). In cold weather, heating the kang helped draw out the body’s dampness.

But that wouldn’t work in a castle full of beds—he couldn’t just tear them out and build brick stoves. The next best thing: install air conditioning, running 24-hour dehumidification!

Eva thought it was a great idea. “You’re not planning to open the castle for tourism anyway, so what’s the harm in adding more modern equipment?”

Wang Bo agreed. “Better get it done before summer comes. Once humidity peaks, staying here will feel like sitting in a sauna.”

Installing air conditioning in a castle wasn’t like putting wall units in an apartment—it required a full central system.

Porter said, “Leave it to me. I’ve got a friend in that business. We’re planning to install central AC in our villa too.”

“What brand do you usually use?” Wang Bo asked.

“York,” Porter replied. “It’s one of the largest HVAC and refrigeration manufacturers in the world, with over a century of history. I always recommend it to clients.”

“Listen to the pros,” Wang Bo nodded. “York it is.”

Connections always made things easier. That very afternoon, a dealer from York Air Conditioning in Auckland came to the castle.

After touring the building, he said, “I recommend installing an ice-storage central air conditioning system. It uses ice as the cooling source. Compared to conventional systems, it includes an ice storage unit, which helps avoid high-demand electricity periods and saves 10–30% in annual operating costs.”