Chapter 471 - 305: Woodland Garden Style

Chapter 471: Chapter 305: Woodland Garden Style

"There’s a water source, but it’s quite far from here. You have to go over this mountain to the other side to find a small stream. I haven’t been to any other places, so I’m not sure about the situation elsewhere."

"After all, I’m trying to create a wilderness survival experience. It would certainly be safer if I scouted out the entire terrain myself, but that would ruin much of the experience. For example, if I knew where resources were but didn’t tell the visitors, they’d inevitably get upset. Not everyone wants to starve, after all. Many people just want to experience camping in the wild."

"That’s true," Wang Jun agreed with a nod. He studied the map for a moment. "In that case, there are two options."

"First, whether it’s for your manor, the farmland, or the fish ponds for aquaculture, a water source is a mandatory requirement. That means the site selection has to be near a water source."

"Two choices. Either I survey the vicinity first, pick a suitable location, and then draw up the design plans for the different zones, or we build here according to your existing project plan. But if we do that, we might need to dig several wells."

"You know, digging wells requires professional equipment. Driving it all the way out here and back again is another extra expense. You might not be short on cash, but based on your plans—developing such a large area, building a private manor, plus renovations and all that—it’s going to be a real stretch without at least ten million. It’s best to save where you can, right?"

"You have a point."

Lin Chen knew that trying to develop such a huge area with just two million-plus was a drop in the bucket.

Forget everything else, just building the manor and renovating it would be a stretch, not to mention he’d already used half his money to buy the land.

On the surface, he seemed extravagant, buying land and hiring a construction team to build roads. In reality, only he knew that his savings wouldn’t last much longer.

His original plan was actually quite simple: get the blueprints done, build the road, and then get the restaurant up and running first.

The restaurant’s decor didn’t need to be high-end. In fact, it needed to be close to nature to create that wilderness-cuisine atmosphere. He might not even need much renovation at all, just using the surrounding plants, flowers, and trees to create a natural-style restaurant.

That way, he could use the unique style, combined with his existing fanbase and the novelty of the wilderness survival experience, to attract an initial wave of customers. After earning a bit of money, he could then slowly develop new areas.

But Wang Jun’s words made him realize a detail he had completely overlooked.

The water source.

His original plan included the future development of a farm, an orchard, and fish ponds, but it completely ignored the location of the water source.

Even the construction plans those foreigners had given him didn’t mention it.

’Damn it, these foreigners are so unreliable!’

He suddenly imagined how infuriating it would be if he hadn’t asked a Great Xia construction company to take a look. He pictured those foreigners spending a year or two on the blueprints, only to discover that the most crucial element—the water source—was missing.

"Alright, then I’ll have to trouble General Manager Wang to draw up a new plan. I’m going to go tell those lazy bums to get lost."

"Hold on, not so fast."

Wang Jun stopped him. "Although I’d love to land this big project from you, Mr. Lin, we still have to be ethical in this business. There are many Chinese-owned construction companies in Victoria, and even more in Vancouver. You should invite a few more to come take a look at the site."

"Every construction company has its own design style and area of expertise. Having multiple companies involved at the same time not only creates competition but also helps refine the design plan. It’s beneficial for the client, and for us as well."

’Inviting competitors is also good for you?’

A flicker of doubt crossed Lin Chen’s eyes. He didn’t really understand this field, but he had to admit that Wang Jun’s suggestion was indeed to his advantage.

"That won’t be necessary. Though we’ve just met, I trust your character, General Manager Wang. Besides, Pengfei introduced you, so I should give him some face, too."

Lin Chen shook his head and continued, "This project of mine might not be huge for you, but it’s at least up to an average standard. Plus, Erica and I both have a steady and growing fanbase, and Andre will be joining later on. To put it bluntly, you could consider this a blue-chip stock."

"If you do a good job for us, with the increase in customer traffic, you’ll be earning some glory for our motherland on one hand, and garnering praise from guests on the other. It’s free advertising for your company."

"When visitors come for the experience and discover how good the infrastructure is here, some of that traffic is bound to come your way. You could call it a virtuous cycle."

"And given what you just said, General Manager Wang, I feel that shopping around for other offers would be disrespectful to you. It would also be a waste of time. Every day of delay adds unnecessary expenses for me."

Wang Jun gave him a surprised look but didn’t say anything more. He smiled and extended his hand.

"That wasn’t my intention, but since you’re showing me so much respect, Mr. Lin—whether it’s for the nation’s honor or our company’s reputation—I’ll make sure to get this job done right for you."

"A pleasure doing business with you," Lin Chen said, shaking his hand.

"A pleasure."

After that, Lin Chen drove him back to the entrance. While Wang Jun went to his own car to get his equipment, Lin Chen sent the two slacking foreign workers on their way.

Not only had they made little progress on the project, but he also had to pay a contract termination fee for nothing, and even had to settle the workers’ wages.

Fortunately, he had been cautious and hadn’t let them take on the entire project. He had only asked them to build a road first to test the waters, so the termination fee wasn’t too high.

When Wang Jun took out the surveying equipment he had brought in his car, Lin Chen couldn’t help but feel that ’when it comes to infrastructure, you really need to rely on our own countrymen’.

The equipment he brought wasn’t large, and its functions were straightforward: one for detecting the subterranean soil structure and the other for finding water sources.

Normally, you wouldn’t carry these devices around; they’re only useful in places like the wild suburbs. He had probably anticipated this scenario the moment he hung up the phone and started preparing to come over.

Within a few short minutes, Wang Jun’s laptop screen was filled with dense lines of data and information.

He briefly explained to Lin Chen what each piece of data meant, marked the data on the map, and spent some time sketching and drawing. In less than half an hour, a new design blueprint was already taking shape.

"The results are in. The underground river resources nearby are very rich, and many are quite close to the surface. This little hill might look like it has no water on the surface, but it’s all hidden underground."

"With this kind of geological structure, you can develop orchards and farmland directly on the surface without even having to worry about irrigation. If you want to build fish ponds, it’ll be easy to run a pipe to fill them with water. Plus, you’ll definitely need water for your manor and the restaurant, so we’d have to drill a well sooner or later anyway."

"Simply put, the amount of work is much less than I imagined. Since we’ve confirmed we need to drill, I think we should maximize efficiency. Drilling just one would be a waste. Why not drill several? We could even build one of those ancient Great Xia waterwheels and incorporate it into a garden-style design."

"A waterwheel? Great idea!"

Lin Chen’s eyes lit up, and he immediately clapped his hands in approval.

He hadn’t decided on a style for the manor yet, only that he wanted to incorporate as many Great Xia elements as possible.

With Wang Jun’s reminder, an image of a Jiangnan water-town garden-style manor surfaced in his mind.

Even the restaurant could lean in this direction; it would be a perfect match for the naturalistic style.

Imagine these foreigners, who have only ever dined in restaurants of reinforced concrete, suddenly walking into a natural-style restaurant decorated like a forest, filled with elements of Daxia Culture. Add floor-to-ceiling windows and an outdoor dining area, with rockeries, a waterwheel, a small bridge over a flowing stream, and some goldfish swimming about.

Just thinking about it, he felt his concept would be a huge hit.

Ever since bubble tea entered the North American market, it had kicked off a craze for Great Xia’s food culture.

Combined with the subsequent incidents involving TikTok and Xiaohongshu, many foreigners had come to understand the real Great Xia, and their curiosity about Daxia Culture had reached a new peak.

It could be said that winning the wilderness survival show twice in a row actually appealed to a very small audience. If it hadn’t been for all the surrounding hype, his fanbase probably wouldn’t have grown so quickly.

After he explained his concept to Wang Jun, Wang Jun’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Brilliant, Lin! You’re a genius! I was just thinking that since we’re drilling wells anyway, we might as well build a waterwheel to make it easier to irrigate the fields and fill the fish ponds. But you, you went straight to a garden-style design!"

"To be honest, I’ve taken on a lot of jobs since coming abroad, but yours is the first one that has me this excited and eager before the blueprints are even finished!"

"Don’t you worry. I’ll have my people contact experts in garden design back home as soon as I get back. I guarantee I’ll deliver a result you’ll be satisfied with. If this job is done well, not only will my company’s reputation skyrocket, but my year-end bonus will definitely double!"

If he were buying land to build a house in the city suburbs, this concept would definitely not work. To ensure the area’s aesthetic appeal, community committees have requirements for the appearance and structure of houses, resulting in cookie-cutter homes.

But for someone like Lin Chen, who had bought land directly in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by deep forests and mountains and connected by only a single highway, he could build whatever he wanted, however he wanted.

After settling things there and seeing Wang Jun off, Lin Chen didn’t stick around. He immediately returned to his rented house, picking up some groceries along the way to make a nice meal for Erica. Then, they edited the footage they had shot together.

While they worked, he told her about the land development, showed her some videos of garden-style architecture, and then about the natural-style restaurant.

Upon seeing the antique and exotic architectural style on the screen, Erica’s eyes lit up, and she jumped up and down on the spot with excitement.

"Oh my god, Lin, you’re an absolute genius!"

"Oh no, you Da Xia People are all geniuses! How on earth do you manage to come up with such a mind-blowing idea from just a few casual sentences in a couple of hours?"

"I guarantee, speaking from a North American and European perspective, this style will absolutely attract hordes of curious tourists to come and experience it!"