Chapter 342: Shifting Sands in Mingsha City

“Mingsha City? They even call it that?”

At these words,

Ren Long was taken aback.

Ever since Mingsha City was renamed, new structures have risen one after the other. In the Wuxia Zone, there’s a place called Mingsha Fudi, and over in the Xianxia Zone, areas like Nanzhao Ancient City serve as guesthouse and shopping districts. It made him think that the city’s urban planning was driven purely by individual projects.

“Of course, the central area of Mingsha City is paramount! If we built something akin to Qixia Town right at its heart, not only would our leaders disagree, but even the tourists wouldn’t stand for it!”

Fang Hou nodded in agreement.

“Wait a minute, Mr. Fang. Are you suggesting that at the center of Mingsha City we build the most…”

There was a brief pause as Ren Long’s eyes widened in realization.

He hadn’t fully processed it until that moment. The idea of a building that could outclass even a place like Mingsha Fudi had actually been featured in a TV drama! In nearly every other audiovisual company, such scenes would be relegated entirely to green screens.

After all, only green screens paired with top-notch special effects can create that kind of visual spectacle.

“If we’re serious about shooting this series, we simply must build it!”

Fang Hou replied offhandedly.

“But it…”

Ren Long confirmed in a tone that betrayed his sudden apprehension, gulping audibly.

“Don’t worry about the drama’s backdrop. We just need our leaders’ approval. Once they’re on board, everything will fall into place visually. Of course, if we go ahead with this project, the investment and time required will be considerable.”

“Of course!”

Ren Long nodded absentmindedly.

“Tomorrow I’ll go back to Mingsha City and show our leaders the concept. Once they’ve seen it, we’ll finalize everything. You know, Mingsha City still has plans for an Entertainment City and a Technology Expo as well.”

Glancing at his watch, Ren Long stuffed the folder into his briefcase.

“Tomorrow? Mr. Fang, the sandstorm still hasn’t passed, you know…”

“It’s fine! It won’t affect us!”

Tides rise and fall.

Before long, the next day arrived. The sandstorm still dominated the headlines on major websites, to the point that even the Technology Department’s announcement barely garnered any attention.

But not for everyone—in Yan City at the Bai Fu Technology Headquarters Building…

Chairman Li Yan rubbed his eyes repeatedly upon reading the news. Only after verifying that everything was in order did he let out a long, relieved sigh.

“Excellent! Just brilliant—the expo is now scheduled for early July, over two months ahead of plan! Let’s see how Mingsha City tries to steal the spotlight now.”

He muttered to himself.

Li Yan’s long-forgotten smile returned.

Ever since the Technology Expo was handed over to Mingsha City, a heavy burden had weighed on his heart.

The products to be showcased were strategic for his company; they had to be a blockbuster hit and capture the public’s attention. But Mingsha City was a wild card, and recent explosive entertainment projects had only sapped his confidence further.

Just when things seemed grim, an earth-shattering piece of good news arrived.

Ding dong. Lost in thought as he was about to admire the official document, Li Yan’s phone suddenly rang.

He picked it up and immediately answered.

The call was from Ma Wenchun at Long Kingdom Wenteng Technology.

“Mr. Li, have you seen the news?”

Before Li Yan could reply, Ma Wenchun’s excited voice burst through the line.

“Heard it!”

“It’s as if the heavens have opened up! With this, Mingsha City’s plans for an exhibition hall are completely shelved. And as for their display booths, there’s no need to worry—they won’t be able to steal the limelight at the expo.”

Ma Wenchun’s mood mirrored Li Yan’s exactly.

“Right? Still, it’s odd—why the sudden schedule change?”

“I had someone look into it. It’s because of the sandstorm! Meteorological experts issued a report predicting another one in September, so the authorities moved the date up to July.”

“September too?”

Li Yan paused.

“But that’s no longer our concern. Even if Mingsha City ends up being swallowed by shifting sands, it won’t affect us.”

Ma Wenchun added.

“True, but it’s still a shame! Had we known, we shouldn’t have involved Mark Corporation. Now we’ve got an extra competitor for no reason.”

Hearing this, Li Yan couldn’t help but feel a twinge of regret.

Originally, he had brought Mark Corporation on board so they could all experience Mingsha City’s might together. Now, with Mingsha City suddenly faltering, Long Kingdom Technology is left facing an international giant like Mark head-on.

“Nobody could have predicted this! Frankly, I’d rather face Mark Corporation than deal with Mingsha City.”

Ma Wenchun gave a rueful chuckle.

“Exactly.”

“Then I’ll head to Yan City tomorrow so we can discuss how to cope with Mark Corporation!”

“Agreed!”

Meanwhile, in Mingsha City, as time passed the sandstorm gradually weakened, showing signs of dwindling to mere dust. Yet, because the city lies in the desert, the sandstorm’s intensity remained far higher than elsewhere. Looking out, visibility was still less than ten meters! Standing atop the walls of Wudi City, one couldn’t even see Langya Mountain or landmarks like Lutai and Zhaixing Pavilion. Consequently, Mingsha City lay eerily silent, with all staff remaining indoors.

As for Mingsha Fudi and Wuzhuang Temple, no one knew what was happening over there.

At that moment, in Wudi City at the Ancient Building Courtyard, Xu Hao’s words left Zhu Qiang and Luo Peng stunned.

“What? The Technology Expo is being moved up by two months? Early July?”

Neither of them had expected that a sudden need to take shelter from the sandstorm would coincide with such explosive news.

“Yeah! So we need to adjust our current plans accordingly.”

Xu Hao nodded.

“Brother Hao, why now? With this sudden change, not to mention our exhibition hall isn’t even built and the display projects aren’t ready.”

Coming back to reality, Zhu Qiang couldn’t help but complain.

It was all just too sudden.

Mingsha City had always prided itself on not showing weakness, but this time, things were truly uncertain.

“Director Li mentioned that some meteorological experts issued a dust storm forecast. Fearing that come September Mingsha City might face a storm of similar scale again, they decided to move the expo up to early July.”

Xu Hao took a deep breath and approached the sand table.

To be honest, his initial reaction when Director Li called was the same as Zhu Qiang and Luo Peng’s.

Although Director Li had said that the authorities no longer required grand exhibition halls or elaborate display booths, once he came to his senses, he thought there might still be a chance to salvage something.

The underground section of the Technology Expo hall was nearly done. Missing the expo now would be a real shame!

“Brother Hao, then what do we do?”

Zhu Qiang and Luo Peng joined him at the sand table.

“Here’s the plan: Let’s put the Entertainment City No. 3 and No. 4 projects on hold. We’ll funnel all our manpower and resources into building the expo hall. As for the display booths, we can work out the details between ourselves, since many components from the tech hall can be repurposed.”

Glancing over the building models on the sand table, Xu Hao continued,

“Will it be ready in time? With June nearly upon us, we’ve got barely a month if we count strictly.”

Zhu Qiang massaged his temples.

After the sandstorm, Mingsha City still had a slew of tasks. The planned Subway Line 2 was about to start construction, there was the issue of extending the river into the Xianxia Zone, as well as relocating the high-speed rail station, resettlement, and managing admissions for the Mingsha Academy’s college entrance exams, among other projects.

“Let’s give it a try! If it works, our expo hall could turn into a new hotspot once the event is over, saving us a lot of costs.”

Xu Hao turned around and sank into his office chair. “If it doesn’t work, we’ll host the exhibition in Nanquing City, which hasn’t even officially opened yet.”

“Brother Hao’s right! Besides, delaying Entertainment City Nos. 3 and 4 won’t affect the bigger picture—and Dino Park’s fees are due in a month or two anyway.”

Wenyan

Luo Peng clenched his fists and glanced at Zhu Qiang.

“Then let’s give it a shot! Worst case, we won’t sleep for the next month!”

After a long moment, Zhu Qiang gritted his teeth.

“Alright. Later, Qiangzi will arrange an online video meeting with Mingsha City’s top brass to lay out our upcoming tasks in detail. All overtime will be paid at holiday rates. We’re going all out for the next month!”

Xu Hao switched on his computer and began pounding away at the keyboard.

At the same time, he didn’t forget to retrieve two ancient, yellowed books from his desk drawer and handed them over to Zhu Qiang and Luo Peng.

The covers of these two books bore ancient seal inscriptions reading “Munu Liuma Mu Yang.”

“Regarding the display booths, take a look at these two books. They were stumbled upon at Biyou Palace and might spark some inspiration.”

“Found at Biyou Palace?”

Luo Peng’s expression shifted as he immediately accepted the ancient texts.

Just then, in Yan City within the Second Ring, in an office of a certain department, a top leader frowned at the documents in hand and said,

“The Technology Expo is being moved up by two months? Just because of a sandstorm?”

“Leader, it’s mainly because the sandstorm’s intensity was off the charts. According to the head of the Ancient Architecture Institute, when the storm hit, phone lines were completely down. Even now, no one knows the full extent of the damage in Mingsha City.”

Across the desk, the Deputy Leader let out a small sigh.

“Alas! The losses in Mingsha City must be significant. And this sudden schedule change has caught everyone off guard—it’s like adding insult to injury.”

The top leader slowly leaned back in his chair.

They were directly overseers at the Ancient Architecture Institute, which operates on the same level as the Technology Department. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have moved the expo date up over an expert’s forecast.

“Leader, I’ve already informed our counterparts at the Ancient Architecture Institute: We’ll deliver the best possible Technology Expo. Our top priority now is to recover from the sandstorm’s damage—we can’t let our hard-earned reputation as a legacy ancient city be tarnished by this disaster!”

The Deputy Leader added.

End of discussion.