Ch 154: The World’s Number One Resort

Tang Huai clicked on the ‘Visitor Satisfaction’ details.

Visitor Satisfaction: A real-time monitoring of the island visitors’ moods, with a full score of 100 and a passing rate of 60.

So, it meant that the pass rate of visitor satisfaction couldn’t be lower than 80%.

After understanding the basic requirements, Tang Huai felt relieved. With the current scale of Great Tang Resort’s scenic areas, achieving an 80% satisfaction rate—or even 90%—was entirely within reach.

He then turned his attention back to the first two notifications. Now that the island was upgrading, following the previous pattern, the upgrade should take about three days. Additionally, the system had rewarded him with a scenic card: [Underwater Ancient City].

[Underwater Ancient City]: A mysterious city existing beneath the blue sea. This is an advanced card and can only be used in designated areas.

Tang Huai flipped over the [Underwater Ancient City] card. The card was palm-sized, and aside from a patch of deep, dark ocean on the front, there were no other descriptions or instructions.

The [Underwater Ancient City] was meant to be used in a specific area.

After flipping the card, Tang Huai opened the island’s sand table model. Currently, the entire model was shrouded in mist, with areas like Blue Sea Lake and Sky Forest marked in different colors. The other unopened areas were marked in a deep gray. Due to the ongoing upgrade, the model was now even more transparent and detailed than before.

Tang Huai zoomed in on the sand table. Aside from the fifty scenic areas, the region below the island was highlighted in bright blue. This blue area centered around Sora Island, covering its entire scope.

After observing for a moment, Tang Huai placed the [Underwater Ancient City] card onto the blue area.

“Ding! The designated area has successfully merged. Would you like to use it?” As soon as the card was placed, a pleasant notification sound rang out.

Tang Huai took the card back. It seemed to be a new area unlocked after the system’s update or perhaps a perk from this island upgrade.

After pondering for a moment, he decided to wait until the system upgrade was complete before making any decisions.

Tang Huai did some aerobic exercises and then headed towards Sora Town.

Since the flights to Great Tang had opened, the number of visitors to Sora Island had been steadily increasing. Now, with the promotion from the Global Conference, the daily flow of visitors had approached 200,000. Tang Huai had built ten hotels beforehand, providing sufficient accommodation for the tourists.

Great Tang Resort’s capacity was 300,000 visitors. To prepare for the upcoming Global Conference, further infrastructure development was needed.

Tang Huai walked around the town and began drafting a development plan for Great Tang Resort.

There were still three months until the Global Conference, and everything would proceed gradually.

…

“It’s all owned by Tang Huai?”

While Tang Huai was meticulously planning, at Great Tang Airport, a middle-aged woman in her forties dragged her suitcase off the plane and asked curiously. She wore a bright red sun jacket, had short, dyed blonde hair, and had typical Chinese features.

Two Chinese men accompanied her. One of them, also in his forties, had greasy hair and darting eyes, clearly the scheming type. The other, a man in his twenties, was skinny. Judging by their appearance, they seemed to be a family of three.

“They said so on TV. Tang Huai really kept it under wraps,” the young man replied, sounding somewhat amazed. The three were plainly dressed, looking somewhat out of place compared to the other stylish and vibrant tourists.

The middle-aged man was Du Zhiguo, Tang Huai’s maternal uncle. The woman was Zhao Caixia, Tang Huai’s aunt. The young man was Du Yongzhao, Tang Huai’s cousin, and also the older brother of Du Yueyue.

Due to the counterfeit Great Tang fruit scandal, Du Yueyue was sentenced to three years in prison. During that time, Du Zhiguo had tried to pull strings and send gifts to no avail.

When Du Yueyue’s counterfeiting first came to light, Du Zhiguo accepted a media interview where he criticized Tang Huai for being disloyal and ungrateful. The incident was briefly a hot topic in Shengze, but since Du Yueyue had indeed broken the law, public attention quickly faded.

Du Zhiguo made a scene on the local TV station until the police intervened. He then quieted down, but his resentment toward Tang Huai grew deeper. After all, they were family. Sure, Du Yueyue broke the law, but she was young and naive. Couldn’t Tang Huai have just taken responsibility for her?

Instead, not only did he refuse to take the blame, but he also blocked Du Zhiguo’s phone number.

Infuriating.

Because of this, Du Zhiguo and Zhao Caixia had even gone to wait outside Tang Huai’s residence a few times. However, Tang Huai rarely returned to Shengze, and after two days, they were chased away by the neighborhood security, who considered them suspicious characters.

Du Zhiguo felt bottled-up anger with nowhere to vent. Besides advising Du Yueyue to reform herself, there was nothing else he could do.

He had planned to cut ties with Tang Huai. Unexpectedly, after just half a year, Great Tang Resort was all over the news. The TV reported that Great Tang Resort belonged to Tang Huai! According to estimates, Tang Huai was now worth several billion yuan.

This was like a poor boy suddenly turning into a phoenix!

Tang Huai had now become a legendary figure in Shengze. Many tourists visited the Tang family ancestral home daily to bask in its auspicious aura. The Tang family had dwindled to just Tang Huai’s lineage, but because of their distant relationship, villagers from all around would praise Du Zhiguo whenever they saw him, saying the Tang family’s ancestral feng shui was truly exceptional.

Du Zhiguo felt conflicted. His focus was always on the billions. Forget billions; he hadn’t even seen millions.

While Du Zhiguo was feeling depressed, his son, Du Yongzhao, returned from out of town. Unlike Du Yueyue, Du Yongzhao was smart. He managed to get into a third-tier college through the national college entrance exam and now worked as a manager at a trading company, earning over 7,000 yuan a month. He was the pride of the family.

Du Yongzhao’s thoughts were simple: Tang Huai was their only close relative, a bond that couldn’t just be severed. What happened with Du Yueyue was all a misunderstanding. As family, they should clear the air.

Du Zhiguo thought about it all night and eventually agreed with Du Yongzhao’s viewpoint. In fact, he had been struggling with his thoughts for the past half month…

Du Zhiguo tried calling Tang Huai with different phone numbers. On the other end was an automated message saying the number was no longer in service… Tang Huai had changed his number.

Du Zhiguo wanted to give up, but Du Yongzhao continued to persuade him. Finally, Du Zhiguo took out the 150,000 yuan down payment, converted it into U.S. dollars, and the family of three embarked on their trip to Great Tang.

They didn’t book through a travel agency, believing that travel agencies were all scams.

The three didn’t know any English, so they wandered around the airport for a while until a staff member directed them outside. Outside the airport, they were greeted by lush mountains and clear waters, a unique sense of tranquility.

“Is the airport also owned by Tang Huai?” Zhao Caixia took a deep breath of Great Tang’s air. The airport was luxurious and high-end; the interior decorations alone must have cost a fortune.

“Probably,” Du Yongzhao replied uncertainly. His impression of Great Tang was limited to online reviews; he wasn’t too sure about the real-life details.

“Where do we go now?” Du Zhiguo waved his hand dismissively. It was his first time going abroad, and he was intimidated by the surroundings. However, knowing that all this belonged to Tang Huai gave him a false sense of ownership, making him act a bit more confidently.

“Let’s take a taxi,” Du Yongzhao said, surveying the area and pointing toward the yellow-green taxis nearby. The colorful taxis were a unique feature of Great Tang.

The three approached.

“You need a Sora Pass Card for fare payment,” the driver said in fluent Chinese, using a Sora translation device. He was quite experienced and explained as soon as he heard their question.

“What’s a Sora Pass Pass Card?” The three were bewildered.

The driver pointed forward. On the southern side of the airport was a massive ticketing window. The airport highway had a card-checking point ahead, and tourists had to obtain a Sora Pass Card to enter the scenic area. Sure, tourists could skip paying, but food, accommodation, and transportation on Sora Island all required the card, so evading payment and then making up for it later would only cause trouble.

The three had no choice but to get out of the taxi and get the cards.

The Great Tang Airport was crowded with tourists, but the ticketing windows were well-organized and offered various options, including self-service machines. It was just like using a Chinese ID card to collect train tickets. The three followed the instructions, and half an hour later, they returned to the taxi stand.

“600 yuan per day. We haven’t even done anything yet, and 1,800 yuan is already gone.” Du Zhiguo looked at the Sora Pass Card in his hand, feeling a deep sting. They had exchanged $25,000 for the trip, unsure if it would be enough.

He made up his mind that he would definitely have Tang Huai reimburse this money.

Du Zhiguo carefully put away the Sora Pass Card and hailed a taxi once more.

Half an hour later, the three arrived at the Great Tang office building. Du Zhiguo had been filled with countless thoughts on the way, but seeing the scenery along the way left his mind feeling overwhelmed.

The clean and orderly central avenue, colorful fairytale villas, tourists of different ethnicities… this was just a glimpse of the wealth worth billions.

“Should we go in?” The three stood on the opposite side of the road from the office building, feeling a bit excited.

The building in front was grand and majestic, even more impressive than the government building in Shengze. Tang Huai was inside right now…

“Let’s go in,” Zhao Caixia said. Du Zhiguo waved his hand. He was just here to see his nephew, after all, a perfectly reasonable thing to do.

“Sorry, no unauthorized personnel are allowed inside.” Du Zhiguo mustered up his courage and approached, only to be stopped by two African bodyguards, both over 190 cm tall, as soon as he crossed the road.

“Uh, I’m Tang Huai’s uncle. Could you let him know I’m here?” Du Zhiguo immediately lost his nerve.

“Manager Tang is out at the moment and isn’t here.”

“When will he be back?”

“Not sure.”

The brief exchange left Du Zhiguo feeling deflated. He glanced inside; the Sora office building was solemn and stately, with only the gardener trimming flowers, giving it an overall clean and tidy appearance.

“I’m really his uncle… Can I go in and wait?” Du Zhiguo tried to gather his courage again.

“No,” the bodyguard replied bluntly.

Du Zhiguo felt choked up and had no choice but to retreat to the other side of the road. The three of them found a shady spot to sit down. Time passed from 9 o’clock to 10 o’clock, and then to 12 o’clock…

“Gurgle—”

“Let’s eat something and find a hotel,” Du Zhiguo sighed. By 2 p.m., Tang Huai still hadn’t shown up. Looking up at the sun, Du Zhiguo felt helpless. Standing around here wasn’t getting them anywhere.

With that, the three left. Although they hadn’t accomplished anything, it only strengthened their resolve to contact Tang Huai.

In the face of a billion-dollar fortune, the matter with Du Yueyue seemed trivial…

…

While the three were searching for a hotel on the island, Tang Huai was underwater in the southern sea, about 300 miles off the coast of Sora Island, having a great time.

He truly wasn’t on Sora Island.

Today was their bi-monthly feeding day. Underwater, Yu You had already switched to his fish-tail form. Since he hadn’t cut his hair, it now flowed past his waist. Despite his long hair, his appearance was masculine, giving him an ethereal and artistic vibe against the backdrop of the deep blue sea.

Tang Huai and Yu You had spent the whole morning playing underwater.

Though it was called “playing,” it mainly involved swimming around. Thanks to the Transparent Shark and Yu You’s unique abilities, they had no natural enemies underwater.

Yu You swam ahead toward a large reef in front of them. He circled around the rock before moving past it, causing the water to ripple behind him.

Watching Yu You, Tang Huai suddenly found himself looking forward to the [Underwater Ancient City].

Once the [Underwater Ancient City] was built, perhaps Yu You could appear near Sora Island?

“Ding! Advanced island upgrade complete. Wishing the host success with the mission.”

As Tang Huai was lost in thought, a system notification sounded.

Tang Huai was stunned. The upgrade was finished?

“Boom—”

Before Tang Huai could react, a massive “boom” resonated from the ocean depths. Countless fish seemed startled before they swam off in an orderly fashion.

Tang Huai noticed that the fish were swimming in the direction of Sora Island.

☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️