Ch 35: The World’s Number One Resort

“’No Climbing Over the Bridge Railing…’” On the crystal bridge, Tang Huai was setting up a “Notice” sign. Safety was a top priority, and the railings of the crystal bridge were about 1.6 meters high. If visitors weren’t careful, accidents could easily happen. Tang Huai decided to put up a few warning signs for now and, once more visitors came, he would hire an AI to manage it.

“Mr. Tang?” As Tang Huai finished hanging the sign, a surprised voice came from behind. He turned to see Li Suhao and his group standing in a neat line at the entrance to “Snow Village,” giving off a vibe similar to a famous ‘F6’ scene.

“You’ve arrived,” Tang Huai said as he walked over. His steps were calm and steady, but to the group, it looked like he was walking on air, giving off the aura of a martial arts master from a wuxia novel.

“Mr. Tang, is this really snow? A giant snowfield?” Li Suhao asked, still in disbelief. He had touched the ground earlier, and it felt cold. The snow was just like the snow in the northeast of China. His worldview was shaken—how could there be snow mountains in the middle of the Pacific Ocean?

It didn’t make any sense.

“Welcome to Snow Village,” Tang Huai said, pointing to the “Snow Village” sign as if he were a temporary tour guide. He had expected them to come tomorrow, not this early.

The group stepped forward and observed the bridge closely. The surface wasn’t made of ice but a crystal-like material, somewhat resembling the glass walkways in China. Li Suhao stepped on it twice; beneath the bridge was a vast ice lake, which made for a breathtaking sight.

Li Suhao stepped back and turned around. At that moment, Zhao Kuan was standing alone by his bicycle, looking rather forlorn.

“Why don’t you come over?” Li Suhao frowned, annoyed that someone was hanging back again.

“I’m staying here. I’ll wait for you guys…” Zhao Kuan clung to his bike, nearly in tears. Just looking at the crystal bridge made him dizzy, and there was no way he was going any further. Plus, the idea of an icy, snow-covered world suddenly appearing in the middle of a hot summer made him feel like he was in a spooky ghost story from Strange Tales—it was downright eerie.

“Spineless,” Li Suhao muttered, but the interruption helped the group snap out of their earlier daze.

“Mr. Tang, what’s going on here? This doesn’t seem normal,” Li Suhao asked, eyeing Tang Huai with a complicated expression. Tang Huai was dressed in a black jacket and light jeans—nothing out of the ordinary. If Tang Huai had been wearing something more traditional or exotic like before, Li Suhao might have been even more suspicious, wondering if Tang Huai was some kind of mythical creature straight out of modern folklore.

“This is Snow Village. The ice and snow weather here is simulated by a company called ‘FillTech,’ which specializes in environmental simulation technology. Great Tang Overseas Resort has shares in the company,” Tang Huai explained calmly.

The system had provided him with three optimal simulation plans, and according to the system’s logic, FillTech was a cutting-edge company specializing in environmental simulations, holding over 3,000 patents and well-known among high-end global corporations. With such a reputable background, Tang Huai could attribute all of Snow Village’s wonders to FillTech without worry.

“FillTech?” Li Suhao was skeptical. Perhaps it was because he had lived in China for so long, but he had never heard of such a company. If only his phone wasn’t broken, he could have searched for it online…

After a brief pause, the group finally accepted that Tang Huai wasn’t some mythical fox spirit and that the scene before them was real. It was a technological marvel, which was at least less fantastical than a supernatural explanation.

“Would you like a tour?” Tang Huai asked, gesturing to a rack of large down jackets. He had unloaded a lot of supplies from the containers earlier, including more than fifty down jackets as well as snow boots, gloves, and other cold-weather gear.

“Will the bridge collapse halfway across?” Li Suhao asked hesitantly, glancing at the bridge ahead. He enjoyed thrills and had walked on many glass bridges in China, as well as long skywalks and cliffside rock climbs.

Although the vertical height of the crystal bridge was only about 20 meters, it was so transparent that there was no visual barrier at all, making it even more intense than the skywalks he had experienced before. Despite his usual daring attitude, Li Suhao was feeling uncertain about this one.

“This bridge uses the latest ice bridge technology, with a load capacity of over a hundred tons,” Tang Huai briefly explained. At the entrance of the crystal bridge, there were some small inscriptions of “FillTech Technology Company,” but you had to look closely to notice them.

The snowy landscape ahead was so awe-inspiring that the group was itching to give it a try.

“Let’s go,” Li Suhao exchanged a glance with Sun Lei, and they both encouraged each other. Looking at the crystal bridge in front of them, they felt a mix of fear and excitement. If they made it across… it would be such an exhilarating experience!

It was the group’s first time here, and crossing the bridge was voluntary. Anyone who didn’t want to go could stay behind. Tang Huai expected the two girls to stay behind, but to his surprise, aside from Zhao Kuan, both Lulu and Xinxin eagerly stepped onto the bridge. In fact, they seemed more excited than Li Suhao and Kyle.

Tang Huai walked in front while the five others cautiously followed behind, feeling both nervous and thrilled.

“Mr. Tang, does your phone have a charge? Could you help me take a few pictures later?” Lulu quickened her pace to walk alongside Tang Huai, shyly asking in a soft voice.

“Take pictures?” Tang Huai was surprised.

“My phone’s dead. After you take them, could you DM me on Weibo?”

Lulu tried to keep her eyes forward. The crystal bridge, the ice lake, the snowy mountains… What was this scene? It was the perfect place to show off! If she could take a picture in the middle of the crystal bridge and casually caption it: “Real shot, no Photoshop,” her online presence would skyrocket.

Lulu had both beauty and figure, and with careful curation, she had gained over 100,000 followers on Weibo. She was already imagining the flood of “666s” in the comments when she posted the photos. Just the thought of it made her giddy.

If it weren’t for the motivation of getting those photos, Lulu probably wouldn’t have dared to step onto the bridge.

“Me too!” Xinxin quickly added after hearing Lulu. They both had the same idea.

“Of course,” Tang Huai agreed, as he still had 95% battery left and didn’t mind taking a few photos.

“Ah, help!” Just as the two girls were daydreaming about what poses to strike, Sun Lei’s right foot slipped, and he landed flat on the ground. Beneath him was the seemingly bottomless ice lake. At the moment he fell, Sun Lei felt like he was going to plunge into the abyss…

Both Li Suhao and Kyle were holding onto the railing as they walked. Sun Lei’s scream was like a thunderclap, almost causing them to fall as well.

“Focus on walking, stop freaking out,” Li Suhao said, still a bit shaken, and then complained. They had only covered about 60 meters of the 300-meter bridge, with over 200 meters still ahead…

After saying that, Li Suhao took a couple more steps forward, but Sun Lei wasn’t moving.

“Come on, keep walking,” Li Suhao turned around, wondering why Sun Lei was freezing up.

“My legs are like jelly…” Sun Lei admitted sheepishly. He had been fine earlier, but after slipping and seeing the view below, he realized he couldn’t take another step. In fact, the long stretch ahead was too terrifying for him to continue.

The group: …

And just like that, after Zhao Kuan, Sun Lei also gave up halfway. Zhao Kuan had it a bit easier, but Sun Lei was stuck at the 60-meter mark, unsure whether to move forward or back. After resting a bit, Sun Lei had no choice but to close his eyes and awkwardly shuffle his way back… What a mess.

As Sun Lei slowly inched his way back, Tang Huai and the others finally reached the center of the crystal bridge. Tang Huai took out his phone and snapped some pictures for the two girls—three quick shots—then prepared to put his phone away.

“Wait.” Just as Tang Huai was about to close his phone, Li Suhao awkwardly stepped into Lulu’s previous spot and struck what he thought was a cool pose.

Tang Huai: …

Showing off knows no gender, apparently. After taking Li Suhao’s photos, Tang Huai also took a couple of shots for Kyle. The group was very pleased with Tang Huai’s photography skills. After the mid-bridge photo session, the remaining part of the journey didn’t seem quite as daunting.

Ten minutes later, the group finished walking the remaining hundred or so meters.

“It’s really a vast sea of snowy mountains… How big is this place? It feels much more expansive than Blue Sea Forest,” Li Suhao said in amazement as he stepped onto the snow. In front of him were endless snow-covered mountains, looking just like something out of a movie. The absence of vegetation made the snowy landscape seem even more open than Blue Sea Forest.

“Blue Sea Scenic Area covers twelve square kilometers, while Snowy Wonderland is fifteen square kilometers,” Tang Huai replied with precise figures.

“This is incredible…” Li Suhao, being from the south, had only seen this much snow once before when he traveled to Northeast China.

Wearing special snow boots, he stepped forward, sinking into the thick snow, which crunched underfoot and rose past his calves.

Li Suhao pulled his leg out and stepped in another direction.

Crunch, crunch—

The sound of the snow was crisp, like tearing A4 paper, and Li Suhao loved it. Seeing the endless expanse of snow before him, he felt an overwhelming urge to leave footprints all over it.

“Thud!” Just as Li Suhao was about to step in another direction, a snowball hit him.

“Sorry…” Lulu apologized quickly, her face full of worry. She had been throwing snowballs with Xinxin, and since Li Suhao had established such an air of authority throughout the journey, Lulu feared he might get angry for being accidentally hit.

“Hmph.”

“Plop—”

Li Suhao snorted, and Lulu thought he was about to lose his temper. Instead, he crouched down, grabbed a snowball, and gently tossed it at her feet. Lulu was confused for a moment, then realized Li Suhao was playing along.

“Plop—” At that moment, Curry scooped up a handful of snow and joined in the fun. Seeing that Li Suhao wasn’t angry, Lulu fully embraced the snowball fight, crouching down to form snowballs for her counterattack.

And so, it became Lulu and Xinxin versus Li Suhao and Curry, the four of them caught up in a lively snowball fight.

The snow in Snow Village was pristine and clean. As they stood on the wide snowy expanse, it felt as though the whole world had shrunk down to just the snow-covered land around them.

The four of them were having a blast, and Tang Huai took out his phone and snapped a few photos. From the looks of it, these shots could easily be used as promotional material for Snow Village. Tang Huai took a few steps back and captured some long shots featuring only their silhouettes. Dressed in army-green down jackets, the four figures stood out like colorful brushstrokes against the snow.

“Haha, sorry about that!” Just as Tang Huai was putting his phone away, a snowball hit him from behind. He turned to see Li Suhao laughing uncontrollably. His entire body, from head to toe, was covered in snow, though it wasn’t clear what was so funny.

Unbothered, Tang Huai picked up a snowball and threw it back. Now, Lulu and Xinxin’s team had gained another member.

As the sun set, everyone was having a blast.

……

“What are they doing?” On the other side of the crystal bridge, Sun Lei finally made his way back. He glanced over at Li Suhao and the others, who were tangled in what looked like a chaotic, fun snowball fight.

“I don’t know,” Zhao Kuan responded, a bit forlorn. He wanted to join in too, but… he glanced down at the crystal bridge below him. Nope, still dizzy!

The group played for two straight hours, and by the time they returned to Blue Sea Forest, it was already 9 PM. They didn’t venture deep into the snow mountains, just stayed around the crystal bridge, and even in such a small area, they felt completely fulfilled.

After becoming adults, it had been a long time since they’d enjoyed such carefree fun playing in the snow.

“Mr. Tang, I’ll buy ten more fish,” Li Suhao said as they returned to the Blue Sea Treehouse. After changing into bathrobes, they headed straight for Blue Sea Lake, where the tender and juicy Blue Sea Fish had been on their minds all day.

“You can catch them yourselves,” Tang Huai waved them off. After spending a few days together, he realized that these people weren’t short on money and weren’t the type to skimp on a few fish.

Tang Huai changed into his clothes and headed towards the coast—he still had to feed the sheep. Although Li Suhao had fed them once during the day, the evening shift was still Tang Huai’s responsibility.

Feeding time was three hours later than usual, but the sheep were being well taken care of, each one looking plump and healthy. The slight delay wouldn’t hurt them.

After feeding them, Tang Huai opened up the information panel for the sheep.

Name: Sora Downy Sheep
Status: Growth phase
Growth progress: 62%
Task requirement: Ensure their robust growth, 19/30.
Health status: 92 points

The flock was in excellent health.

Tang Huai also checked the stats for the chicks and Da Huang. One scored 89, the other 95. The chicks’ score was a bit lower, but still well above average.

With a sigh of relief, Tang Huai finished feeding the animals and returned to the Blue Sea Treehouse. After a simple wash, he had a peaceful night’s sleep.

……

“Good morning, Mr. Tang.”

“Morning, Mr. Tang…”

“I want fish! I’m reserving two!”

The next morning, Tang Huai started his day with the usual tasks. After watering the fields, he waded into the lake to catch some fish. Meanwhile, Li Suhao, Sun Lei, and the others started waking up one after another. When they spotted Tang Huai, they greeted him cheerfully.

After the time they spent together in Snow Village the day before, their relationship had improved. And after breakfast, without needing any prodding from Tang Huai, Li Suhao and the others willingly headed to the coast. After all, feeding the sheep wasn’t too bad—why not treat it like a fun rural experience?

☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️