Ch 7: The World’s Number One Resort

The salty sea breeze blew across the deck as Tang Huai rinsed off and lay down to bask in the sun, feeling utterly content. After ten days of living like a wild man, it had been a long time since he’d felt this relaxed.

The cargo ship had now sailed out of Sora Island’s waters and was heading towards Hawaii. According to FD730, because the system wasn’t fully bound before, the waters surrounding Sora Island were always shrouded in mist, making it a blind spot for marine radar. Outsiders had no way of finding the exact location of the island. Sora Island had always been shrouded in mystery… But now that the system was fully bound, and as Tang Huai completed more tasks, the island would gradually appear more fully to the outside world.

Tang Huai remained indifferent to this information.

After lying on the deck for a while, Tang Huai decided to open his personal panel. If he remembered correctly, he had heard the task completion notification when the cargo ship arrived.

Ding! Congratulations to the host for completing the beginner’s task. You have been awarded 1000 island points and one spin of the Lucky Wheel.

Updating personal panel…

Unique Host: Tang Huai
Occupation: [Main] Island Owner of Sora Island. [Secondary] Owner of Great Tang Fruit Store.
Unlocked Area: Blue Sea Lake, 1/50
Current Task: None
Inventory: –
Island Points: 1700. Note: The Grand Island System is activated. Island points are equivalent to US dollars at a 1:1 ratio, but only applicable to profits generated from Sora Island.

…

The personal panel refreshed, updating the data. In addition to the two task rewards, the method for earning island points had also been revised.

To upgrade the island, various island cards would be needed, and these cards could only be purchased using island points. After reviewing the task details, Tang Huai now had a clearer understanding of how the Grand Island Owner system worked.

He then focused on the task reward: the Lucky Wheel. Although he had no idea what kind of prize he would get, the thought of a spin was exciting in itself.

Tang Huai activated the Lucky Wheel.

In an instant, a large 3D spinning wheel appeared before him. It looked just like the ones found in amusement parks, with a long pointer in the middle and evenly sized segments around the edge, each representing a reward. There were fifty slots in total.

Next to the wheel, there was a refresh option, allowing the rewards to be randomized again. Since there were no descriptions for the rewards, refreshing didn’t seem that important to Tang Huai.

His number of spins was listed as “1.”

After studying the 3D wheel, Tang Huai pressed the start button. Thirty seconds later, the wheel slowly came to a stop.

Ding! Congratulations to the host for acquiring a character card: [Boatman Ah Lang – Beginner Level].

The system notification rang out, and a small, palm-sized card appeared before Tang Huai. It was a character card, depicting an endless sea with a small boat calmly sailing on it. Standing on the boat was a rugged man wearing a hat—though the card was too small for Tang Huai to make out the man’s facial features. Beyond this, there was no additional information on the card.

At the bottom of the card were two options: [Use Now] and [Store in Inventory]. Since Tang Huai was currently aboard a cargo ship en route to Hawaii, it wasn’t the right time to use the card. With a hint of regret, he chose to [Store in Inventory].

After this, the inventory refreshed.

Inventory: [Boatman Ah Lang]

Tang Huai glanced at his personal panel for a bit longer before closing it.

…

“Tang, I talked to Captain Scully. A few Arab businessmen are quite interested in Sora Island,” Hank said as he approached, wearing floral shorts.

“Middle Easterners are all wealthy. With Sora Island’s size, it should fetch a good price,” Hank added, sitting down beside Tang Huai and handing him a can of beer.

On the way to Sora Island, Tang Huai had briefly mentioned to Hank that he was considering selling the island.

“After this near-death experience, I’ve changed my mind. I’m not planning to sell it anymore; I want to develop the island properly,” Tang Huai said with a hint of resignation as he cracked open his beer can. Now that the Grand Island system was bound to him, selling the island wasn’t even an option.

“Tang, I’m glad you’ve come to this realization! You survived a shipwreck and were miraculously washed ashore on Sora Island. It’s a sign, a gift from Mr. Tang to you. You should pass this island down for generations!” Hank, a devout Christian, gave Tang Huai a thumbs up, believing that surviving a 300-mile drift was nothing short of a miracle in maritime history.

Tang Huai smiled, clinking his beer with Hank’s. Sora Island was indeed a gift from Tang Wangchun, though the nature of this gift remained questionable. As their conversation expanded, they moved from discussing the Pacific Ocean to talking about Mexican culture, enjoying the chat.

The cargo ship sailed steadily at a constant pace, and by the third evening, it finally reached the Hawaiian port. Tang Huai disembarked, and after Hank helped him check into a hotel, they bid each other farewell.

Hank had been at sea for over 20 days, far beyond his original plan, and needed to return to Mexico City.

Hawaii, a romantic archipelago and vacation destination, was indeed beautiful. Tang Huai took a stroll around the hotel area but didn’t linger and soon returned to his room. Hawaii, while picturesque, seemed rather ordinary to him after spending ten days at Blue Sea Lake. More importantly, after the shipwreck and losing his money, Tang Huai was left without a penny.

Though Tang Wangchun had left him a million dollars, Tang Huai’s passport and visa were still at the Guerrero Hotel in Mexico City. He needed Hank to return and have them airmailed over before he could access his funds.

With only the $500 Hank had given him, Tang Huai was short on options.

However, one small thing brought Tang Huai some comfort the following evening. While out buying some essentials, he encountered an older Chinese couple in their sixties, dressed neatly and looking like they were part of a tour group. At the time, their guide wasn’t with them, and they were in the middle of buying coral souvenirs. A minor misunderstanding due to the language barrier had led to a bit of tension between the couple and the shopkeeper.

Thanks to the Universal Fluency skill, Tang Huai could now understand English and most common dialects. At first, when he heard the sailors talking on the cargo ship, it had been novel, but over time, all the foreign languages felt just as natural as Chinese.

Seeing his fellow countrymen in a bind, Tang Huai felt a sense of familiarity. After listening in for a bit, he understood the situation. The couple had mixed up the numbers “7” and “9.” The shopkeeper was selling seven coral necklaces for $200, but the couple thought it was nine necklaces for $200… and so the dispute had arisen.

It was a simple misunderstanding caused by the language barrier. Tang Huai stepped in and explained the situation. The couple felt embarrassed, and the shopkeeper, realizing they weren’t trying to cause trouble, cheerfully settled on selling eight necklaces for $200.

Both sides were happy with the outcome.

“Thank you! My wife and I didn’t have much education, and we crammed in some English for this trip. We didn’t expect to make such a silly mistake,” the elderly man said sheepishly as he packed the necklaces into their travel bag. The necklaces were gifts for their friends from the square dancing group.

“No worries,” Tang Huai replied casually. They started chatting, and through the conversation, Tang Huai learned that the couple’s names were Xiao Shengguo and Zhao Hongxia. They ran a clothing business in Guanghai. Now that they had some savings, their son had signed them up for a Hawaiian tour group.

Normally, they had a guide with them, but due to a delayed flight, the tour’s activities had ended early, and the guide had suggested they stay at the hotel. Feeling bored, the elderly couple had decided to wander around on their own. They didn’t expect to run into such a misunderstanding during their short outing.

Tang Huai smiled and kept the conversation light. The older they were, the more they liked to chat, and since Tang Huai had nothing else to do, he was more than happy to sit and shoot the breeze with them.

“Young man, there’s a translation gig—interested?” After chatting for a while, Xiao Aiguo gave Tang Huai a once-over and suddenly made the offer.

Tang Huai was a bit surprised. The “translation gig” that Xiao Aiguo mentioned was essentially accompanying the elderly couple around and translating when necessary, with the couple covering all the transportation and ticket costs. The pay was twenty dollars an hour.

Tang Huai was amused. He had joked before about becoming a translator after completing the Grand Island Owner tasks, and now the opportunity had arrived sooner than expected.

With nothing better to do, Tang Huai accepted the job as their temporary translator.

By the time he returned to the hotel that evening, Tang Huai had earned an extra 120 dollars—enough for a hearty meal.

Over the next three days, Tang Huai toured most of the nearby attractions and then holed up in the hotel, enjoying some rare downtime. On the third evening, his passport and visa finally arrived. During this time, Tang Huai had truly come to appreciate the importance of having legal identification. If it weren’t for Hank’s backing, he wouldn’t have even made it to Hawaii!

Once he had his passport and visa back, Tang Huai went to a local international bank. After going through a series of procedures, he was finally able to access the million dollars left by Tang Wangchun. In an instant, Tang Huai had officially become a millionaire.

However, with the system tasks constantly looming over him, the excitement of becoming a millionaire had dimmed considerably. Once everything was settled, Tang Huai booked a ticket back to China.

After all this time, he had been gone for almost a month.

By 10 p.m. China time, Tang Huai was back at his apartment in Zijin Residence. He turned on the lights, looking around at the familiar surroundings, and felt a strange sense of nostalgia, as if a lifetime had passed.

After some light tidying, Tang Huai fell into a deep sleep.

A peaceful night’s rest.

…

The next morning, Tang Huai dressed in casual, comfortable clothes and drove over to the Great Tang Fruit Shop. With no new system tasks yet, he had plenty of leisure time on his hands.

The store’s operating hours were from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., with a rotating lunch break. When Tang Huai arrived at Yuhai Garden around 11 a.m., he found Zhao Xingkai diligently sweeping outside. After parking, Tang Huai headed toward the store.

“Boss.” Zhao Xingkai had just finished taking out the trash when he saw Tang Huai. He froze for a moment. Tang Huai had mentioned going on a trip, and Zhao had expected him to return after a few days, not after more than a month.

Tang Huai’s sudden return had caught Zhao Xingkai off guard, leaving him unsure of how to react.

“Where’s Du Yueyue?” Tang Huai asked, not paying much attention to Zhao Xingkai’s surprise. After making a quick round inside the store, he frowned. Although Tang Huai had been away, Zhao Xingkai had been sending him the staff schedule via WeChat. Today wasn’t supposed to be Du Yueyue’s day off.

Zhao Xingkai looked at Tang Huai, hesitating as if he had something to say but didn’t know how.

Tang Huai didn’t press for answers. Instead, he sat down at the cashier’s counter and pulled up the store’s surveillance footage. In the year since Great Tang Fruit Shop had opened, this was the first time Tang Huai had ever needed to check the cameras.

Half an hour later, his frown deepened.

It turned out that in the month he had been away, Du Yueyue had started off working diligently, but after the first few days, she had begun arriving late and leaving early. Eventually, she would only show up briefly in the morning or evening and then disappear. In some cases, she didn’t even show up at all for an entire day.

Tang Huai thought to himself, Well, I didn’t hire an employee—I seem to have hired an ancestor.

☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️