HLM -Chapter 814 Haidilao

Wang Bo smiled and said the highway was excellent. After exchanging a few polite words, he shared his idea for the Lakeside White Tower Hotel.

Wesley patiently listened until the end, then said, “You want to build a landmark structure that serves multiple purposes—tourism, dining, and hospitality. A building that functions as a hotel, yet has the exterior of a tower.”

“Exactly,” Wang Bo nodded.

“No problem,” Wesley replied. “I’ll arrange for designers and engineers to visit the site and prepare some blueprints for your review. I hope we can work together again. Our cooperation on Highway 8 was very pleasant.”

Wang Bo thanked him, and Wesley added before hanging up, “Regardless of how the final design turns out, I hope we can collaborate this time. As for the construction cost, that can be negotiated. What’s important is that we work together.”

After the call, Wang Bo pondered Wesley’s words.

Porter had helped him a lot, and there was no reason to keep things from him, so he shared the conversation.

After hearing it, Porter shrugged. “He’s realized that Sunset Town is a goldmine for construction. He missed his chance before, and now he wants to use this opportunity to grab a piece of the pie. It’s like how Americans used the Pearl Harbor incident as an excuse to enter World War II for profit.”

“If that’s what he’s thinking,” Wang Bo replied, “then he’s mistaken. Don’t worry, buddy—you’re still my number one partner.”

Porter laughed heartily. “No, no, no—I’m not worried. Leighton Holdings is a big company, but they missed the best window to invest in Sunset Town.”

Indeed, Leighton Holdings had initially planned to partner deeply with Sunset Town, but after Wesley inspected the area, he believed the town would be difficult to develop and would require long-term investment.

When Highway 8 was being built, Sunset Town was nothing but barren land. Developing such wasteland into a thriving town usually took decades—ten years at the very least, thirty to fifty to see real growth.

But Wesley had miscalculated. The town’s development had been astonishingly fast, and Wang Bo’s investments were massive—he had already poured over a hundred million into construction projects.

That made Wesley regret his earlier decision deeply. He hadn’t found a way to reenter the game until Wang Bo reached out—an opportunity he was quick to seize.

Leighton’s team arrived swiftly. The next day, an eleven-member group of designers and engineers showed up—proof of how much Wesley valued this project.

Since they were already there, Wang Bo decided to make full use of them. “While you’re at it,” he said, “design me a large garden for the town—something on a grand scale, over ten hectares.”

That was a big undertaking too, but Porter’s company could handle it. Wang Bo just wanted the Leighton team to draw up a design for free.

By mid-October, the weather had turned warm, and the residents of Sunset Town had switched to shorts and T-shirts.

In the mornings, when Wang Bo drove to work, he would often see people out jogging—barefoot, wearing sunglasses and earphones, drenched in sweat.

This was completely different from China. New Zealanders loved walking barefoot.

When Wang Bo first came to Auckland, he’d noticed it everywhere—in towns, farms, city streets, alleys, even in front of houses. Aside from asphalt, cement, and colored tiles, the rest of the ground was covered in vegetation, flowers, trees, and grass.

Why New Zealanders liked to go barefoot so much remained an unsolved mystery.

It wasn’t just a casual preference either. They would jog barefoot, go to school barefoot, even shop barefoot—something unimaginable in most countries.

The general explanation was that New Zealanders loved to feel close to nature. Since feet are the part of the body that connects with the earth, walking barefoot brought them closer to it.

As Wang Bo drove, he mentioned this question aloud. Eva laughed and said, “No, it’s because barefoot people are braver. New Zealanders admire courage.”

That explanation puzzled Wang Bo. “Barefoot people are brave? What do you mean?”

Eva spread her hands. “Don’t you know? You’re the one who taught me this—barefoot people aren’t afraid of those wearing shoes.”

Wang Bo burst out laughing. She’d got him there.

When he arrived at the office, he noticed Atulu walking around barefoot. “Why do you like being barefoot so much?” Wang Bo asked.

“All New Zealanders do,” Atulu replied matter-of-factly.

“But why?”

“That’s part of Māori tradition,” he said. “The white folks and others learned it from us.”

“And why did your people start that tradition?” Wang Bo asked curiously.

Atulu gave him a look as if he were asking a silly question. “Because we didn’t know how to make leather shoes or rubber soles back then. We only had straw sandals, but those were hard to weave, so my ancestors decided to just go barefoot.”

“Later, they found that barefoot people were healthier, so the tradition stuck,” added Kidd. “Walking and living barefoot is better for your health!”

Just then, Elizabeth brought Wang Bo a cup of coffee. He thanked her, and she then handed another one to Conley.

Kidd trailed off mid-sentence, looking like he might cry.

Elizabeth glanced at him, sighed, and brought over another big cup of coffee, setting it in front of him.

Kidd immediately broke into a grin.

Conley took a sip of his own coffee and shook his head. “You two are just like children.”

Wang Bo chuckled as they chatted. After a while, Elizabeth poked her head in. “Boss, you have visitors—compatriots of yours. I think they’re planning to invest in the town.”

That caught Wang Bo’s attention. He stood up quickly. “Bring them to the reception room. I’ll fix my hair and be right there.”

When he entered the reception room, he saw a man and a woman sitting there drinking coffee. As soon as they spotted him, they stood up and extended their hands.

Wang Bo smiled warmly. “I’m Wang Bo. Welcome to Sunset Town.”

The man, polite and well-mannered, introduced himself. “My name is Hou Wenyuan, and this is my wife, He Hou Lijuan. We run a chain restaurant business in Wellington and have invested in a Haidilao hotpot restaurant.”

In today’s world, Chinese people can be found everywhere. And for Chinese abroad, aside from missing their families, the thing they miss most is home-cooked food.

“Food is the god of the people” — this belief has been part of Chinese culture since ancient times, and many immigrants carry it with them overseas.

Unlike the Americanized “Chinese cuisine” popular in the West, New Zealand’s Chinese restaurants mostly operate as franchise chains. Immigration to the U.S. began much earlier, and Chinese immigrants brought all kinds of street foods there decades ago.

New Zealand’s immigration boom, however, had only really picked up in the past ten years. By then, established Chinese food brands already existed. Compared to small, family-run restaurants, these chains had stronger financial backing and market penetration, making them much more sustainable in New Zealand.

In New Zealand’s major cities, Wang Bo had seen signs for many high-end Chinese restaurants from back home—Little Sheep, Xiao Fei Niu, South Beauty, and now Haidilao, the chain the Hou couple had invested in.

But until now, none of those big brands had come to Sunset Town.

This was the first.