Chapter 1586 - 1564: Holiday Village Trial Opening

On the eve before National Day, the Holiday Village’s sign was completed—a super-sized wooden plaque inscribed with "Green Meadow Wonderland Resort." Marcus Quinn hung it on the centennial trees along both sides of the road at the village entrance, officially marking the launch of the Holiday Village.

Behind Anfield Village, there’s a scenic area, and the temple on the mountain has long been a popular spot for incense offerings. However, it naturally cannot compare to several major Buddhist and Taoist holy sites, generating only a modest tourism income for Green County. Most visitors come here for hiking and pay a visit to the temple for incense on the side. Green County is a county town, with only a few scattered attractions, so tourism hasn’t been highly prioritized.

Tourists visiting here are either self-driving or part of group tours led by tourist buses. There are few independent travelers because the scenic area isn’t particularly famous. At the mountain’s foot, they’ve built only a vintage mountain gate, housing seven or eight rooms inside. With a ticket purchase, one enters the scenic area, directly leading up the mountain.

Tickets cost only 10 yuan, and retirees, military officers, and students enter free of charge. The scenic area doesn’t close since monks reside in the temple atop the mountain, and during early mornings before six and evenings after six, tickets aren’t required. Staff follow the county’s public buses during these hours, taking only half an hour, which is quite convenient, so no one lives here.

The tourist center is less than a thousand meters from the head of Anfield Village, and it only takes five minutes to walk there. The surroundings are picturesque, brimming with lush trees. Since villagers also enjoy hiking, the roads are already established—uniformly paved with green stone slabs. This was fortunate, as when the scenic area was initially enclosed, villagers blocked the entrance in protest. Kudos to the insightful village chief back then, whose actions ensured that no new roads would need to be built; all paths were left paved with green stone slabs.

The flowers, grass, and trees lining the roads were planned as part of the venture, with canopy-like growth—that’s how beautiful it is.

However, the village has dwindled over the years, leaving behind only a dozen or so households of elders and children. These people didn’t have the vision to develop tourism, so the Treasure Mountain sitting there remains unused.

Because Anfield Village is sparsely populated and poor, the county nearly forgot about this village, assuming there’d be no thoughts of development here.

Marcus Quinn, naturally intent on developing the Holiday Village and prospering alongside the villagers, thought of the scenic area. Thus, he not only crafted the Holiday Village sign but also numerous half-human-height guiding signs featuring "Green Meadow Wonderland Resort," with directional arrows following. These signs stretched all the way to the entrance of Green Mountain Scenic Area.

Besides creating the Holiday Village signs, there are also signs in the village, indicating directions to the villa zone, dining area, fishing zone, orchard sector, tea garden zone, and organic production area. They wanted to have a map made, but due to time constraints and the undeveloped state of the entire Holiday Village area, only a basic diagram was completed, albeit a useful one.

Everything is ready; only the east wind is missing. On the evening before National Day, Uncle Shui gathered the village’s sixteen households for a meeting. Anfield Village had been calm for decades; the old were old, the young were young. When had the able-bodied gathered so completely outside of the New Year holiday?

Everyone crowded into the Quinn Family’s estate, marveling at the grand courtyard, the vintage house, and jubilantly sat filling the yard. The Quinn Family’s estate was indeed large; the external courtyard was beautiful, while the inner courtyard’s beauty remained unknown. Although each household had recently painted their walls white, laid wooden flooring front and back, and meticulously maintained their yards—adorned with potted plants from Suton—none compared to the Quinn Family’s estate.

The ugly mandarins atop the hill had ripened, sweet to taste. Aunt Tan and Aunt Shui had prepared large bags of mandarins for each household, brightening smiles even further, especially among the children, who sat beside adults despite not understanding the proceedings.

Marcus Quinn was a man of few words; he typically did more, spoke less, and consulted Aunt Tan on decisions. Despite having plans and insights, all investments, planning, field cultivation, and layout design for the Holiday Village were his handiwork, yet he wouldn’t deliver grand speeches at meetings. Thus, he deferred most speaking duties to Uncle Shui, the village head.

Naturally, Uncle Shui began by praising the villagers for their help and support during Marcus’s construction of the Holiday Village, before announcing its entry into the trial operation phase.

"Today’s meeting is primarily to discuss a few matters. Tomorrow is National Day, and the Holiday Village will enter trial operations. Early tomorrow, we wish to hire some workers to sell fruits and snacks at the scenic area and simultaneously draw visitors to our Holiday Village. The number of visitors doesn’t matter much; initially, we only need to spread the Holiday Village’s reputation, so that people far and wide around the vicinity—those who come to the scenic area—know of a Holiday Village here where they can dine, relax, and stay," Uncle Shui said with a beaming smile.