Ch 43: The World’s Number One Resort

“Dizziness is unbearable, I’ll go take some seasickness pills.” After some conversation, a middle-aged man with a slightly round face, around his fifties, spoke again. His name was Meng Wei, a medical professor at Guanghai University.

Since the legal battle between Xiao Shengguo and Aierjian began, the effectiveness of the Ice Spirit Fish became a nationwide topic of debate. Aierjian had been operating in China for nearly a decade, and even people who hadn’t purchased their products had heard of the brand. It had significant recognition among the general public.

Ice Spirit Fish was Aierjian’s newly launched star product. In just six months, they sold 370,000 of these fish, affecting a wide range of consumers. Xiao Shengguo couldn’t handle the public relations, and Aierjian was left scrambling to prepare legal defense documents. Meanwhile, stores across the country were reported by concerned citizens.

The Quality Supervision Bureau, the Industry and Commerce Bureau, and the Health Administration all conducted inspections daily. As a result, Aierjian’s performance plummeted. After tests, it was found that 90% of Aierjian’s products were non-compliant, and the only qualified items were basic supplements like calcium and vitamin C. As for the Ice Spirit Fish, it was an exotic species banned in China. Aierjian had given it a beautiful name purely for profit.

Under the dual pressures of public opinion and government crackdowns, Aierjian’s upper management fled abroad, with plans to be extradited back within a month. The empire of health products collapsed as the stores were either rented out or put up for sale. All of this started with a dispute over a single fish.

For a while, the Aierjian scandal was the hottest news, and after winning the lawsuit, Xiao Shengguo and Zhao Hongxia became new internet celebrities in Donghu City. In today’s entertainment-driven society, they rose to fame quickly, but also faded just as fast. After more than a week of recuperation, they returned to their normal lives.

With her daughter-in-law now safe and the lawsuit won, Zhao Hongxia was able to move on and resumed her dancing at the community square. To her surprise, Chen Fenglian had withdrawn from the dance team. Chen had recruited many clients for Aierjian while in the dance group, and after the scandal broke, she was too ashamed to stay—nor could she. Every day, many people chased her, demanding refunds.

Rumors suggested that Chen Fenglian had been causing a scene at her sister-in-law’s house three times a day, and the two families were now completely estranged.

Zhao Hongxia chatted with her dance friends about it, but she didn’t feel much about the gossip. After her daughter-in-law’s hospitalization incident, she had blacklisted Chen Fenglian from her life.

While Zhao Hongxia’s life returned to normal, the Blue Lake Fish gained fame in the research circles of Donghu. The beneficial properties of the Blue Lake Fish were found to be nearly a hundred times that of ordinary fish, though their limited quantity made precise research difficult. After much deliberation, a group formed this expedition to Sora Island. Most of the members were professors from Guanghai University and researchers with an interest in biology. The expedition wasn’t entirely official; it was partly fueled by personal curiosity.

“Let’s head back to the cabins and rest. We’ll reach the island the morning after tomorrow.” The leader of the expedition, Li Qianshan, spoke to the group after Meng Wei left to take his seasickness medicine. They chatted for a while, but eventually, Li waved them off. The vast ocean surrounding them had lost its initial novelty after days at sea.

Everyone returned to their cabins, and the next two days passed peacefully on the Pacific Ocean.

…

“There’s a cruise ship up ahead. Maybe we can greet them? There could be potential tourists interested in Sora Island!” On the third morning, Tang Huai and Alang were lounging on the deck, enjoying the breeze, when Alang spotted a large cruise ship in the distance through his binoculars. He excitedly turned to Tang Huai.

“That’s the Polly. It sails from Australia to Mexico. If we try to explain our intentions, they might put the ship on high alert,” Tang Huai said with a smile, taking the binoculars from Alang and glancing at the ship. During his time selling at the Zocalo Plaza, Tang had learned about the Polly. It was a 150,000-ton cruise ship owned by the Rose Valley Happy Gorge resort.

Rose Valley Happy Gorge was a vacation destination in Australia. Spanning 20 square kilometers, it offered everything from leisure and sightseeing to shopping and fine dining—whatever one could imagine in a resort.

In recent years, Rose Valley had gained international recognition, receiving more than 300,000 visitors daily, with overwhelmingly positive reviews from tourists.

The Great Tang Overseas Resort and Rose Valley Happy Gorge have overlapping features. If they went over now to attract customers, it would clearly look like poaching business from a competitor.

“It’s their loss,” Alang said after watching for a while through the binoculars, a hint of frustration flashing across his face. He felt as though countless experience points had just slipped away from him.

“There will be more and more tourists,” Tang Huai reassured Alang, patting him on the shoulder. With Alang’s enthusiasm, Tang Huai made up his mind: if the island’s funds became plentiful, he would definitely buy a 150,000-ton, or better yet, a 200,000-ton cruise ship for Alang to captain.

“Want a drink?” Alang, feeling irritated, offered Tang Huai a bottle of beer.

It was Russian kvass, a drink Alang greatly enjoyed.

“No thanks,” Tang Huai politely declined with a smile.

After spending the past two days together, Alang’s loyalty score had risen to 56, albeit at a snail’s pace.

Tang Huai had been monitoring it for two days and decided to let it go; loyalty would develop as it would.

Alang drank happily. His love for alcohol was well known, and he had converted an entire room on the first deck into a storage cellar filled with fine wines from around the world. Every day, as he admired his collection, Alang felt like he was in paradise. However, these indulgences had cost him a lot of money. The $100,000 that Tang Huai had initially lent him had dwindled to a mere $1,000 in just over a month. He needed to make money.

Thinking about this, Alang took a large, frustrated gulp of his drink. Tang Huai, leaning on the railing, gazed in the direction of Sora Island. They were about 20 nautical miles away, with an estimated arrival time of under an hour.

…

An hour later, the Great Tang No.1 entered the vicinity of Sora Island. Tang Huai prepared to head back to the cabin to grab his luggage, but then noticed a gray-brown ship anchored in the distance. Several safety ropes were hanging from it, and it was clear that people had already disembarked via rubber dinghies and made their way to the island.

“There are people on the island,” Tang Huai’s expression darkened immediately, remembering Li Suhao and the others from the last time. Sora Island was not officially open to visitors yet, and Tang Huai didn’t appreciate uninvited guests trespassing.

The Great Tang No.1 pulled into the shore, dropped anchor, and lowered the gangway. Tang Huai disembarked.

“Woof—”

“We’re just here for a tour, don’t start barking—”

“Growl!”

“Hey, someone’s coming over!”

…

Tang Huai expected to find a scene similar to the last time, where the feed had been completely destroyed. However, to his surprise, he found about twenty well-dressed Chinese tourists standing nervously by the shore.

Opposite them, Da Huang was crouched, barking at them, while nearly a hundred disguised laborers continued their work, as diligently as ever.

The tourists looked at the laborers, then back at Da Huang, almost on the verge of tears. Perhaps due to the language barrier, they were receiving no response from the workers!

“Woof!” The group was caught in a dilemma, unsure whether to stay or leave, when suddenly Da Huang relaxed its stance and, with a loud bark, charged toward them.

“Oh my—” The group jumped in fright. Da Huang, weighing about 100 pounds, looked quite imposing and formidable.

They were terrified, thinking the dog was about to attack. But Da Huang simply sprinted past them, continuing to run forward.

“Da Huang,” a clear, pleasant male voice called out from the shore. The group turned around to see a slim, handsome young man, probably around 20 years old, standing there.

Behind the young man stood a large ship with the words “Great Tang No. 1” inscribed on it. The group had been so tense earlier that they hadn’t even noticed the arrival of the ship.

“You did great!” The group hadn’t yet recovered from the shock when they saw the young man patting the yellow dog’s furry head affectionately. The dog wagged its tail, jumping excitedly around the young man’s legs, seemingly overjoyed.

Neither the young man nor the dog paid much attention to the group.

“Ahem, hello Mr. Tang. I’m Li Qianshan. I saw a live stream about Sora Island a while ago and was really impressed by the scenery at Blue Sea Lake. Since I had some free time, I decided to come with a few friends for a visit,” Li Qianshan awkwardly coughed and introduced himself.

The Blue Sea Fish research team had some personal motives for being here, and since they didn’t know much about the background of the Great Tang Resort, they instinctively disguised themselves as regular tourists to avoid unnecessary trouble.

“Hmm, Great Tang Resort is currently under construction and not open for business,” Tang Huai said, still petting Da Huang. The dog happily ran off to join the workers, and Tang Huai stood up, eyeing Li Qianshan and the others before giving them a straightforward response.

“Not open for business?” Li Qianshan was momentarily taken aback by Tang Huai’s natural tone, only realizing a few seconds later that the resort was indeed closed to guests.

He glanced around and saw the busy construction happening at the port, so the claim made sense.

“What about Blue Sea Lake? As long as there’s a lake and a place to stay, that’s enough. Don’t worry, we’ll pay whatever the costs are,” a slightly chubby man chimed in before Li Qianshan could respond.

The man was Professor Meng Wei from Guanghai University.

Meng Wei had been on the ship for over half a month and felt seasick just looking at the ocean. There was no way he wanted to board another boat.

“How about $20,000 upfront for a two-day stay?” Meng Wei pulled out two stacks of bills from his wallet. He didn’t mean to come off as arrogant; being a researcher, he was used to being pampered by his wife and students. However, to others, his tone sounded somewhat off.

“Old Meng,” Li Qianshan shot Meng Wei a look, clearly frustrated with his lack of tact.

“What’s wrong?” Meng Wei asked, clueless. He didn’t think he’d said anything wrong.

The words weren’t wrong, but the tone was. They weren’t here to cause trouble, so there was no need to offend their host right away.

“It’s not about the money,” Tang Huai said with an amused smile, quoting a well-known phrase in China.

“Then what is it?” Meng Wei was confused.

Tang Huai didn’t answer right away.

“Mr. Tang, we are part of a private Blue Sea Fish research team…” Li Qianshan, realizing they wouldn’t be able to enter under the guise of tourists, pulled out his business card. Their attempt to maintain a facade lasted less than ten minutes before they were forced to reveal the truth.

Five minutes later, Tang Huai had a clear understanding of the situation. He had been preoccupied with hosting Tolke and his students, so he hadn’t kept up with the recent legal case involving Ice Spirit Fish. To his surprise, in just half a month, the massive health supplement empire Aierjian had collapsed.

The downfall of Aierjian was an unexpected twist.

“Follow me,” Tang Huai said after some thought, leading the way.

The Blue Sea Fish had already been brought into the public eye. And who knew, in the future, there might be Red Feather Chickens or Green-Tailed Ducks—odd species like that. Tang Huai realized that keeping everything hidden wasn’t going to work anymore. His goal now was to figure out how to turn this research expedition into something beneficial for Sora Island.

As Tang Huai led the way, Li Qianshan and Meng Wei quickly followed. They had watched videos and done some research beforehand, knowing that to reach Blue Sea Lake, they would need to cross two mountain peaks…

“Mr. Tang, is Sora Island under construction?” Li Qianshan asked curiously as they passed by the laborers. Seeing all the cranes, bricks, and construction materials, he couldn’t help but wonder. The scale of the project seemed significant.

“We’re building a tourist town,” Tang Huai responded succinctly.

“That’s quite the undertaking,” Li Qianshan smiled in agreement. While they were here for the Blue Sea Fish, they were only mildly surprised by the construction and didn’t have much interest in the tourist town.

The group headed towards the Blue Sea Forest. After more than half a month of construction, the first mountain peak was now partially cleared, and a road was being prepared at the base, so vehicles could soon drive directly to Blue Sea Lake.

The members of the research team, all in their forties and fifties, likely weren’t in the best physical shape due to their comfortable lifestyles. What took the Ace High students an average of three hours to hike, took them over four hours.

“Sigh, these old bones of mine haven’t walked this far in ages… So this is the Blue Sea Forest? It’s just like in the videos.” Four hours later, they arrived at the entrance to the Blue Sea Forest. Li Qianshan rubbed his sore legs and looked up, his eyes filled with delight.

Thanks to the earlier social media buzz, Jiang Yaoyao’s Blue Sea Lake video had become one of the top 10 on Lazy Fish Live. Jiang Yaoyao had gained a small following, becoming one of the platform’s rising stars.

Li Qianshan had done plenty of research on the way and knew that the Blue Sea Forest was known for its stunning scenery. However, the real thing turned out to be even more mesmerizing than in the videos.

“Is this a hedge? Judging by its condition, it must be over fifty years old. Maybe we can collect some samples on the way back.”

“The air here is so fresh, haha, perfect for retirement.”

“Are we almost at Blue Sea Lake? I’m getting excited.”

…

At first, the group maintained some academic reserve, but the moment they stepped into the Blue Sea Forest, they felt an overwhelming sense of relaxation, a kind of refreshing comfort that was entirely new.

Here, there was no work, no research—only nature in its purest form.

As they continued walking, they passed by a statue of Tang Wangchun, took a turn, and suddenly, the view before them opened up.

The warm sun, the blue lake, the lush green trees… The scene before them was breathtaking.

But then…

“Is this a specialty of Blue Sea Lake?” the group asked, taking a few steps forward and exchanging puzzled glances.

Before them, near the edge of the lake, was a row of green vines, laden with plump, round tomatoes. Due to the lack of trellises, the tomatoes were growing horizontally, sprawled across the ground…

Next to the tomatoes stood a soft, fluffy white sheep. It raised its head in confusion, its large eyes staring innocently at the group… And hanging from its left horn was a thin, red silk ribbon.

The scene was as picturesque as a painting, with the sheep serving as the whimsical sprite within the canvas.

☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️