HLM – Chapter 913 Unexpected

It just so happened that on New Year’s Day, he had acquired a Heart of the Court in Finland. If he built a sports hall, he could put it to use.

New Zealand’s climate and environment are among the best in the world, making it especially suitable for outdoor stadiums. Wang Bo had never built one before, mainly overlooking this need.

Particularly, New Zealand’s ultraviolet rays are relatively strong. At other times, this is a disadvantage—for example, during outdoor tourism, people dislike such intense UV exposure. But for sports, especially ball games, it’s actually beneficial. Moderate UV exposure can kill surface bacteria, making the body healthier.

Hearing this, the young people cheered.

Wang Bo immediately called Porter, asking him to oversee the construction of an outdoor basketball court and a rugby field.

Porter replied that his construction team didn’t handle such projects, but he had friends in that line of work and would contact them. They could build a stadium in the town as quickly as possible.

Today’s main focus, however, wasn’t the stadium but the waste sorting plan. As more people came over to drink and chat, Wang Bo gave them an introduction.

Actually, it was simple: mainly replacing the trash bins with new models and making garbage collection more convenient. Previously, Tetra Pak packaging in New Zealand was considered non-recyclable, but now it counted as recyclable.

Tetra Pak packaging refers to the common milk cartons, one- or two-liter, rectangular like a brick. Like in Europe and the U.S., New Zealanders love drinking milk, so Tetra Pak cartons were the most common household waste. Previously, they couldn’t be recycled, causing significant waste.

Under the new waste classification plan, plastic bags shouldn’t be thrown into recycling bins; containers holding food or cleaning liquids must be rinsed and emptied first. Containers larger than four liters must be stored separately, because New Zealand would use robots to sort waste, and such large items couldn’t fit into the machines.

As if chatting casually, this new waste sorting method was communicated to everyone. Of course, not everyone would remember it immediately—further promotion would be necessary. Wang Bo just used it as a topic to communicate with the townspeople.

Once the topic was opened, he invited the residents to evaluate the development of Sunset Town.

To his surprise, he received a flood of praise. New Zealanders are usually very critical; they rarely give positive feedback to the ruling party.

Seeing Wang Bo’s incredulous expression, a plump woman laughed: “Mayor, you’ve done very well. I’m one of the earliest residents here. From a barren land to this hidden paradise, I believe what you’ve accomplished is second only to God.”

Wang Bo’s heart swelled with joy, but he had to show humility: “I just believe that good people deserve a good town to live in.”

A man said: “You’ve done perfectly. Of course, the town’s development isn’t perfect yet, but which town in the world truly is?”

“Yes, especially with the schools that the mayor has focused on developing. If it weren’t for Sunset Town, my child wouldn’t be able to attend ACG School or receive noble-style education.”

“And the way the mayor promotes the town—I’ve noticed that every time he appears in public, he mentions the town. That’s really remarkable.”

One of the youths who had been playing basketball took a sip of beer: “Mayor, once the basketball court is built, come election time, unless God or Taylor Swift runs, I’ll definitely vote for you.”

Wang Bo laughed: “If God is willing to come, I would humbly hand over the mayor’s position to Him. Who is more suited to be mayor than God?”

Overall, the event was a great success, achieving its goal of bringing him closer to the townspeople.

Additionally, they gained other insights.

After entering the community, Wang Bo realized that a gap had formed between himself and the residents. The main reason was that the town’s population had grown rapidly, making it impossible for him to know every household as he had initially.

Moreover, he had a misconception in managing the town, applying the same approach as in China. In Chinese towns, how many residents even know who the mayor is? He believed that a mayor who could develop the town well was a good mayor.

New Zealand’s towns are different. Most towns have only a few hundred people, sometimes fewer than a hundred, like the current case of Tahiti Town. In such a setting, it’s very easy for a mayor and townspeople to be familiar with each other—they’re almost like neighbors.

Wang Bo, living in a high castle, was like an emperor looking down on his subjects rather than a neighborly friend to the townspeople.

“This impression must change. Otherwise, people won’t identify with you—they’ll see you as a boss, not one of their own,” Hani said earnestly.

“Isn’t that fine?” Kidd asked.

Hani sneered: “A boss is someone who pays wages. When you can pay wages, employees see a benefit and follow you. But when the company runs into problems, will they still stick with you?”

Wang Bo nodded in agreement. Tahiti Town was a prime example.

Once thriving because of Highway 8, it had now declined for the same reason. Mayor Robert had made a fortune with pirated CDs; the town was merely a tool for his earnings. As conditions worsened, the residents abandoned the town without hesitation.

As long as a town remains united, it will continue to develop. The real threat is division!

Soon, the town’s stadium project was put on the agenda.

Porter’s friend specialized in sports and infrastructure construction and provided a quote. Outdoor basketball courts were cheap: plastic courts with two hoops cost only ninety thousand.

Rugby fields were more difficult. A decent field could cost over ten million. For international-standard venues, the price would be in the hundreds of millions.

Wang Bo decided to first build ten basketball courts. Rugby fields were necessary but could come later. The Finnish Rovaniemi Christmas Park inspection team was on its way to Sunset Town—a huge, money-burning project.

For the first time, he felt a headache over money. He was so short of funds. Sometimes he even thought about exploiting a gold mine—by far the fastest way to make money—but fortunately, he remained rational, only thinking about it.

The money invested in international markets couldn’t be withdrawn yet. Bartier’s hedge fund team was still busy overseas. Wang Bo checked his account: the original 250 million had grown to 350 million!

Seeing this figure, he was stunned. How long had it been? Two months? Three months? At most a little over a quarter—how had he made so much money in such a short time?