Ch 34: The World’s Number One Resort

“How do we feed this feed? Just pour it on the ground?”

“No idea. Should we move it first? The blue bags are for the sheep, and the yellow ones are for the chickens…”

“Forget it, let’s just feed the sheep first.”

…

Two hours later, the group arrived at the containers. The five of them stared at the piles of feed bags, feeling a bit lost. None of them had ever dealt with lambs before, let alone herded or fed them.

“Xinxin, how did your grandfather feed them?” Zhao Kuan nudged Xinxin, as she was the one with the most experience among them.

“He would just herd them to the mountains…and usually feed them freshly cut grass.” Xinxin hesitated, as it had been over ten years, and she barely remembered the details.

“There are instructions on the bag… let’s just follow them.” After checking the feed instructions, Kyle made the final decision, and they all started carrying the feed bags to the sheep. Li Suhao looked at his slightly sore hands and missed his old life.

After moving the feed, Lulu had an idea and headed toward the Greedy Wolf. There were two robes in the treehouse, so she and Xinxin cut the hems and tied them with belts. Though it wasn’t very practical, it was much better than just wrapping themselves in towels.

Lulu entered the cabin, where Sun Lei was absentmindedly fiddling with a Rubik’s cube. The cube belonged to Zhao Kuan and was the only real entertainment on the boat.

“Come back with us.” Lulu tugged at Sun Lei’s quilt, speaking in a slightly playful tone. Since Li Suhao and Sun Lei were having a disagreement, Zhao Kuan and Xinxin stayed neutral, and Kyle was an outsider. Lulu was the only one who could patch things up.

“I’m not going back.” Sun Lei didn’t even look up. Through a small window, he could see Li Suhao and the others happily feeding the sheep. Clearly, the group didn’t need him.

“Don’t be mad…” Lulu continued to coax him, but Sun Lei stubbornly refused to return, and in the end, she left disappointed.

“How did it go?” Xinxin asked curiously when Lulu rejoined the group. She knew Lulu had gone to try and persuade Sun Lei. While Sun Lei was a bit stubborn, it wasn’t good for the group to be divided.

“He’s not coming back.” Lulu shook her head.

“Forget him.”

Li Suhao, who was busy feeding the sheep, snorted when he heard the conversation. Sun Lei’s bad attitude was the result of being spoiled. The group dropped the subject and continued with their work.

There were eighty sheep, and none of them had any experience, leading to plenty of chaos. To make things worse, the sheep started pooping all around them!

By the shore, there was a large trash bin. Tang Huai had specifically instructed them to dispose of the sheep’s droppings there. The bin had some sort of advanced decomposition system, but the group wasn’t interested in how it worked—they were more concerned about how to handle the sheep poop.

Da Huang yawned lazily nearby, ensuring no one slacked off. After a chaotic morning, they finally finished feeding the sheep, but then came the task of herding them around and breaking up occasional fights between the chickens.

In short, they were exhausted. After two days of this, the five of them were spent, both physically and mentally, from herding and feeding the sheep.

…

“Mr. Tang, what kind of fish are you grilling?” On the third morning, the group dragged themselves out of the treehouses as usual. The weather was clear, and Tang Huai was sitting by the lake, grilling fish. Li Suhao stretched and curiously walked over.

After two days of herding sheep, perhaps due to the fresh air of the Blue Sea Forest, the five of them felt physically tired but mentally refreshed. As they talked among themselves, they all realized they felt clearer and more energized—completely different from their city life.

Over the past two days, the group had been living off bread and crackers, while Tang Huai was feasting on fish from Blue Sea Lake. At first, the group didn’t mind, but after watching him eat fish multiple times, they couldn’t help but be tempted.

“Blue Sea fish, boneless and soft, a specialty of Blue Sea Lake. Want to try one?” Tang Huai took a bite of the crispy fish skin, casually promoting it as he sprinkled cumin over it. The skin had a slight char, just the way he liked it.

Then, he started devouring the fish.

“Let’s have one…” Li Suhao hesitated but eventually gave in, gritting his teeth. Tang Huai’s food just looked too tempting!

“Grilled fish?” Tang Huai was surprised. He thought Li Suhao would ask and then leave like before, but he didn’t expect him to actually be interested. It was a thousand-dollar fish. Tang Huai had caught two earlier, so once Li Suhao confirmed his purchase, Tang Huai cleaned the second fish and placed it on the grill to roast.

As the fish roasted on the grill, Li Suhao looked at the fish and then at the bread in his hand. He was so tempted that he finally bought the fish. The group had spent hours at the shore the day before and only managed to find a couple of shells—no fish. Fishing required skill, and watching Tang Huai handle the fish made it even more enticing. The group decided to buy one to share.

As they waited, the other four gathered around, sitting in a circle. A thousand dollars for a fish, equivalent to more than six thousand yuan—it left them with mixed feelings as they watched the fish roasting on the grill.

Fifteen minutes later, the Blue Sea fish was done, placed on a small tray. Each of the five grabbed a pair of chopsticks.

“Let’s eat.” Li Suhao glanced around and was the first to take a bite. The others followed, each grabbing a small piece. Five people sharing a three-pound fish—it was quite a funny sight.

“Just one bite of this is a few hundred bucks,” Zhao Kuan joked as he picked some meat from the fish tail, trying to lighten the mood.

Li Suhao glanced at him but didn’t respond.

Given their wealth, they had eaten meals costing tens of thousands of dollars, but those were in luxurious settings, with fine dining and ambiance. Spending this much on a simple grilled fish felt absurd.

“Let’s just eat,” Zhao Kuan said, sensing the awkwardness. After that, they all focused on eating.

“Wow, is this really grilled fish? It’s so tender.”

“Forty days at sea, and this is the first warm meal—what a blessing.”

“Oh my god, my taste buds are dancing. So delicious!”

…

Maybe they were just too hungry, but from the first bite, they all thought the same thing: it was delicious.

The fish was fresh, tender, and full of flavor. It was so good! The fish was only three pounds, minus the bones, so two bites later, it was gone. The group looked at each other, slightly bewildered.

“Uh, Mr. Tang, could you grill six more?” Li Suhao cleared his throat, still not satisfied. His appetite had only just been whetted. At first, he had hesitated to buy the fish, thinking he was being ripped off. But now, after tasting it, the fish was worth every penny.

After he made the request, Li Suhao looked at Tang Huai expectantly.

It was an opportunity for more island points, and Tang Huai was happy to oblige.

Tang Huai quickly went back into the water and caught six more fish. Half an hour later, all six were perfectly grilled. Each person got one, and they ate with great satisfaction. As they enjoyed their meal, Li Suhao discreetly pulled out a disposable bag from the treehouse and packed away an extra fish. The others noticed but said nothing.

After eating their fill, the group once again headed back toward the coast. With their previous experience, the trek felt much easier this time.

Three hours later, they reached their destination and began moving feed and herding the sheep. The sheep were now familiar with them and lazily glanced their way before slowly moving toward the feed.

Once the sheep started eating, the group breathed a sigh of relief. Feeding sheep took a lot of patience.

As the sheep ate, Li Suhao took a moment to gather himself, then grabbed the fish and headed toward the small boat. He spent an hour on the boat. He went in with just a fish, but when he came out, there were two people.

Li Suhao brought Sun Lei back with him.

“Woof!” Down at the foot of the mountain, Da Huang had been sunbathing, but as soon as he spotted Sun Lei, he jumped up, baring his teeth and arching his back.

“Why does this dog still hold a grudge?” Sun Lei was startled and, noticing everyone’s eyes on him, muttered awkwardly.

Sun Lei hadn’t had a comfortable time the past two days. The boat was damp, and things like the TV and tablet had been damaged. His days were filled with nothing but playing with a Rubik’s cube. He had wanted to reconcile with the group, but his pride kept getting in the way. Now that Li Suhao had given him a way out, he was quick to accept it. After all, their disagreement wasn’t that serious.

“Woof!” Da Huang, sensing Sun Lei’s nervousness, gave a satisfied growl. He definitely remembered this lanky young man.

Fearing that Da Huang might pounce on him, Sun Lei tried to keep as much distance as possible.

“Alright, no need to feed the sheep this afternoon. Let’s ride the bikes to check out that valley,” Li Suhao said, dusting off his hands once they were almost done with the feeding.

While eating fish earlier, he had chatted with Tang Huai. During their conversation, Tang Huai had mentioned bicycles and the winding road. This island, mostly consisting of yellow soil valleys, seemed quite out of place with the presence of bicycles and roads.

“At the end of the road, there’s a magical world like something out of a painting…”

That was Tang Huai’s mysterious response, clearly aiming to pique their curiosity.

Li Suhao, to his own surprise, found himself intrigued by Tang Huai’s cryptic words. After discussing it with Kyle and the others, they decided to explore this so-called “world in a painting.”

The group was curious about what awaited them at the end of the road—could it really be something extraordinary?

The entire road was 50 kilometers long, and Kyle estimated that between climbing and cycling, it would take them over five hours. Since they wouldn’t be able to return in time to feed the sheep, they decided to make up for it on their last day.

After resting a bit, they set off for the climb. The road’s entrance was on the southern side of Blue Sea Forest. Once they reached the forest, they walked around the edge to find the entrance. There, a large signboard stood tall, displaying the words “Blue Sea-Snow Village Road” in bold characters.

Beside the sign, nineteen bicycles were lined up.

“Blue Sea-Snow Village? What a strange name. Should we head over now?” Zhao Kuan muttered under his breath as he glanced at the sign. He figured it was just a random name and didn’t think much of it.

“Is everyone up for the ride?” Li Suhao asked as he picked out a bike. These bicycles were high-performance racing bikes, and their quality was top-notch.

“No problem.”

“I think I can make it.”

The group responded one by one as they selected their bikes.

Li Suhao’s group loved adventure and fun. Activities like cycling and parkour were their daily routine. Zhao Kuan and Sun Lei were no exception, and Lulu and Xinxin had spent plenty of time in the gym to impress the two rich boys. After having rested well recently, cycling 50 kilometers was no challenge for any of them.

“Let’s go.” Once everyone was warmed up, Li Suhao gave the signal, and they all took off down the road together.

The Blue Sea Highway, a newly constructed road, was a deep gray with clearly marked lane indicators and road signs.

It was now 2 p.m., and with the breeze blowing, the whole road belonged to them. The group had the entire highway to themselves.

As Li Suhao cycled freely, the surrounding cliffs sped by, making it feel as though the entire world was theirs. The freedom of this ride was exhilarating!

They set off at 2 p.m., and by the time they reached the final stretch of the winding mountain road, it was nearing 5 p.m.

“Snow Village? Once we get past this mountain, we’ll be there? Haha, what a name… there can’t really be snow, right?” Zhao Kuan laughed as he looked at the sign halfway up the mountain.

The sign was two meters long and three meters tall, with the words “Snow Village” prominently displayed. Along with the “Blue Sea-Snow Village” Highway, Zhao Kuan found the name amusing, guessing that it was just a larger version of the Blue Sea Forest.

“Let’s take a minute to rest, and then we’ll push through to the end,” Li Suhao said, twisting open a bottle of mineral water. It was store-bought from the treehouse, but to him, it wasn’t as refreshing as the water from Blue Sea Lake.

“There’s something mysterious about this place. Maybe we’ll find a hundred-meter-tall castle and rescue a princess from a dragon,” Lulu joked, indulging her love of fairy tales.

“Let’s hope it’s a kind dragon.”

“A dragon can’t be kind!”

The others chimed in, discussing Lulu’s fanciful scenario, and the group was soon filled with laughter.

“Alright, let’s go.” After resting, Li Suhao led the way, followed by Zhao Kuan and Kyle. All they had to do was conquer the last stretch of mountain road, and they would reach their destination.

…

“It really is like something out of a painting… this makes no sense,” three minutes later, they parked their bikes in a row and stared in disbelief at the scene before them.

Just ten meters ahead was a world of ice and snow. The entire landscape was blanketed in pure white snow—snowy mountains, a transparent bridge, and a lake… It was a world completely opposite to the one they were standing in now.

Turning around, they could still see the endless yellow cliffs of the canyon behind them. But the sight before them was, as Tang Huai had described, like stepping into a pristine painting.

“There’s someone on the bridge!” Before the group could fully process what they were seeing, Sun Lei pointed toward the transparent bridge, shouting in surprise. Due to the angle, they had initially thought the bridge was made of ice.

Now, in the middle of the transparent bridge, they saw a figure crouched down. The figure was wearing a black coat, and with the clear bridge beneath, it appeared as though they were suspended in mid-air.

“My legs are shaking,” Zhao Kuan said, feeling a wave of anxiety. He was afraid of heights and the scene before him was triggering his fear.

☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️