HLM – Chapter 889 The Full Set of Activities

“Because I remember, there was a girl who sent a Christmas card every year. She wanted to find parents who loved her and stayed by her side, wanted relatives who would take care of her, and an Eden where she could live happily,” said Santa Claus.

Eva was surprised, then quickly turned to Wang Bo and asked, “My God, what he said is completely correct. Did you just have this girl help contact Santa Claus, check the computer records of past Christmas cards, and find this?”

Wang Bo pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. Having a clever wife wasn’t always a blessing.

Indeed, when Eva filled out her Christmas card earlier, he had asked a volunteer girl whether the previous records were preserved. The girl said that all card information had been entered into a computer system and could be traced back to the 1980s.

Eva had sent Christmas cards in the 1990s, so all the information she left at the time could be found. Wang Bo asked the girl to help contact a Santa Claus to fulfill Eva’s past Christmas wish, in exchange for his willingness to fund part of the operating costs of the Christmas Village.

The entire Santa Claus Village, though a famous tourist attraction, was actually filled with commercialism—every service came with a fee, a reminder that fairy tales were, after all, fairy tales.

Wang Bo checked the news and found that even so, the Santa Claus Village was facing a financial crisis.

Over the years, economic turmoil in Europe and Russia had greatly reduced the number of tourists coming here, and these regions were the village’s main source of visitors, making the village’s situation difficult and even pushing it toward potential bankruptcy.

Thus, the village began actively seeking commercial partners, hoping to continue the fairy tale of Santa Claus. After all, for the city of Rovaniemi, the Santa Claus fairy tale was an important source of income.

Seeing this, Wang Bo realized that running the Santa Claus Village required enormous funding, and anyone willing to donate would certainly be welcomed.

Everything was proceeding according to his plan—he just didn’t expect Eva to figure it out at first glance.

Eva knew him too well; from his movements, she immediately realized her guess was correct.

Still, she was moved. She grasped Wang Bo’s wrist, gazing into his eyes with affection, and whispered, “The best decision I’ve ever made in my life might have been leaving the Northern Hemisphere for the Southern Hemisphere, going to New Zealand… and then meeting you.”

Santa Claus handed Eva a small brocade box and said, “Please don’t open it early, girl. Open it when you get engaged; inside is a small gift from us.”

Eva smiled, “But I guess it’s a very big surprise.”

Santa Claus chuckled, stroking his beard. Dale reached up and touched it too, then exclaimed, “This beard is real!”

Wang Bo: “…”

The topic was interrupted by Dale, and the rest of the time was spent chatting with Santa Claus. Originally, this elderly man only spoke Finnish and Swedish, but after working in the village, he began learning other languages to communicate with visitors from around the world.

Now he was not only fluent in English and Russian but could also converse in simple Chinese, French, Japanese, and more—though his accent wasn’t perfect.

The old man was very kind. Nearly ninety years old, he had experienced the Winter War and World War II and had developed his own life philosophy and wisdom.

Wang Bo sat by the fireplace, sipping rich hot coffee, watching Eva chat with Santa Claus while Dale asked all sorts of innocent questions, feeling that this trip was truly worthwhile.

After finishing the conversation with Santa Claus, they took photos together, and the visit to the Christmas Village came to an end.

By now, it was midday. Returning to the city, the grand Christmas parade was about to begin, and along the seaside avenue, the Christmas market had already opened.

The Christmas market was the city’s annual Christmas event. It had existed for centuries, initially serving as a regular market for trading goods, similar to China’s New Year markets.

In the past half-century, with the establishment of Santa Claus’s home, it transformed into a market full of Christmas spirit.

As Wang Bo walked past, he saw Christmas bells, trees, flowers, plush toys, antlers, ornaments, all packaged as Christmas gift sets ready for purchase.

Along the seaside avenue, over a hundred stalls were operating, selling handicrafts, textiles, woven goods, candles, ceramics, clothing, accessories, and canned foods for decorating the Christmas table.

Dale was fascinated by the items but only out of curiosity, not intending to buy anything.

Her previous Christmases had been in summer, with gifts related to that season and New Zealand customs. Now seeing authentic Nordic-style Christmas gifts, she was naturally curious.

Wang Bo wanted to buy her something, but she waved her hand and said sensibly, “Dale doesn’t want anything, teacher. I’m a big kid now, no more toys—better to save the money.”

After wandering through the market for a while, the Christmas parade began, and the three of them joined in.

Earlier, while shopping, Wang Bo had bought colored paints and Christmas-themed outfits, which they now used. They painted their faces, changed clothes, and joined the parade, blending in with the locals.

Dale and Eva wore reindeer headbands, furry antlers atop their heads, laughing as they walked. Wang Bo dressed as Santa Claus.

His costume came with an advantage: the city government had prepared many small gifts for Santas to hand out—simply saying “Merry Christmas” was enough to give a gift.

Christmas in Rovaniemi was exceptionally grand, a major festival with numerous activities: sled races, Christmas parties, puppet theaters, rides, multimedia performances telling Santa Claus stories, and countless Santas on the streets.

The only drawback was the short daylight. Wang Bo felt they had barely covered half the parade route before the sun began to set.

Fortunately, Christmas nights in Rovaniemi were sleepless nights, illuminated everywhere with brilliant lights, with fireworks displayed in the squares.

Wang Bo wanted to participate more actively, but eating and drinking alone felt dull. After browsing the festival activity menu online, he found the sled races to be particularly suitable for them.

Originally, these races were reindeer sled races. But training reindeer was difficult, and too few people participated, so the competition was expanded to dog sled races.

Wang Bo had brought Zhuang Ding and the queen, initially just to let Dale ride a pumpkin sled. Now, they could take part and even gain some extra benefits.

Dog sled races in Northern Europe had strict rules, such as the number of dogs pulling the sled. In Finland, at least five dogs were required; otherwise, the pressure on the dogs would be too great.

In some Chinese ice cities, following foreign examples, organizers only used one or two dogs per sled, purely for profit, without regard for the dogs’ well-being.