Chapter 65: New Horizons in the Desert

Brother Hao, I’ll put together a design plan for the vendor area tomorrow—let’s aim to finish both the vendor area and the guesthouses at Oasis 2 at the same time!

Zhu Qiang, upon hearing Xu Hao’s approval, hurriedly said.

Although Mingsha Tourism’s main office isn’t located in the desert, they’ve already hired nearly thirty staff members, including specialists for area planning, customer service, guesthouse liaisons, and more.

“Alright! Once all the wood, blue bricks, and green tiles have been delivered, I’ll head over to Oasis 2 for assembly.”

Mentioning Oasis 2, Xu Hao paused to think before speaking.

The guesthouses at Oasis 2 are complete replicas of those here; even the wood currently being processed at the front of Hongsha Gang Village is being made according to the original numbering.

“Alright, Brother Hao! Just know that once Oasis 2 and the vendor area are completed, we might need to do a live stream to promote them.”

“Of course.”

Xu Hao nodded.

To both his fans and the general public, he now functions much like a live sales host. He often works on historic building projects to boost guesthouse traffic, while the guesthouses and the Shadou area’s management have always been handled by Mingsha Tourism.

Otherwise, tourists wouldn’t directly approach Zhu Qiang when claiming a grass lattice.

“By the way, there’s one more thing we need to prepare in advance.”

“Go ahead, Brother Hao.”

“With more and more tourists and onlookers coming every day, we need to think long-term about sewage and waste management. Relying solely on portable toilets and biogas tanks just won’t keep up.”

“Brother Hao, our company has already started planning on this, and a concrete solution will be ready soon.”

“That’s great!”

In just four days—as the sun rose and set—the outside world witnessed an overwhelming number of events. A scandal involving a top celebrity and leading host emerged with three incidents: two adulteries and a tax evasion, rattling both the entertainment and live streaming worlds.

Yet, none of this seemed to affect Xu Hao in the desert.

During these four days, he was so busy that he completely lost touch with the outside world. By day, he sketched plans for Tengwang Pavilion and set up guesthouses at Oasis 2; by night, he returned to drafting intricate mortise-and-tenon designs.

In short, apart from sleep, he barely had a moment to rest.

10:00 AM.

At Oasis 1, in front of the Desert Pavilion, Xu Hao, unusually, paused his Tengwang Pavilion sketches to start his live stream.

It wasn’t that he needed a break—Oasis 2 had officially opened for visitors and needed some promotion.

“Brother Hao, you finally went live!”

“What have you been doing these past few days? Other hosts would post at least a short video even if they’re not live, but you just vanished.”

Good grief. The moment Xu Hao went live, thousands of fans swarmed in, and comments began pouring in one after another.

Most viewers were complaining about why Xu Hao hadn’t streamed in days.

Ever since his previous broadcasts, fans have been eager to see if Xu Hao can pull off more jaw-dropping feats—especially his promised historic building project, which has firmly captured their attention.

“Hello, everyone!”

As usual, Xu Hao greeted his live audience before gradually addressing their questions.

“I’ve been busy preparing for the historic building project these past few days, so I haven’t streamed.”

After speaking, Xu Hao turned the camera toward the Shadou area.

At that moment, the original site of the fenced courtyard had been leveled into roughly seven to eight thousand square meters, and the surrounding as well as the rear part of the desert were now being stabilized in a new way.

Notably, the raised area connecting to the guesthouse at the small lake has been built with blue bricks, complete with several newly constructed stone steps.

These stone steps connect directly to the blue brick pathway around the guesthouse, leading up to the plateau.

“Tsk tsk, is this the foundation for the historic building project?”

Some viewers were momentarily stunned by the scene in the broadcast.

It must be said,

every live stream of Xu Hao unveils new growth and change in Shadou.

“Mm!”

Xu Hao nodded.

Honestly, a tremendous amount of effort went into preparing this foundation—not only did they rent a pile hammer on short notice, but they also employed over thirty bricklayers.

Nearly all the funds from claiming the grass lattices and recent guesthouse revenue were poured into this project.

“Not bad! Not bad at all! Even the foundation by itself is far bigger than what Zhang Chi’s got—truly something to look forward to!”

“Exactly!”

“Brother Hao sure knows how to make a grand move.”

“Zhang Chi was all boastful in yesterday’s live stream, claiming he’d build over a thousand square meters of historic complex, but it now seems rather unimpressive in comparison.”

“Hehe, I’ll have a go at roasting him later.”

“But Brother Hao, you need to speed things up. Although our foundation is massive, our pace of construction mustn’t lag behind—Zhang Chi’s crew has already started work.”

“Exactly; we don’t want Zhang Chi complaining that his project is more meaningful or challenging just because he finished it first.”

After surveying the foundation, when the camera swung back to Xu Hao, the live stream had already drawn twenty thousand viewers, with the chat filling with all sorts of comments.

“Rest assured, friends. Once everything is ready on my end, the construction of the historic complex will start immediately. For those who love watching the building process, feel free to come to Mingsha County—

it should be just as impressive as the other side!”

Xu Hao smiled and said.

In the past, he wouldn’t have tolerated viewers piling on, but now Tianchen Culture and that Zhang Chi have been picking fights. How could he ignore repeated provocations? “Brother Hao, we want to come over and stand in front of the Desert Pavilion to watch the desert sunset and sunrise, but Mingsha Tourism doesn’t offer enough guesthouses—there’s just no way to book a room.”

“Exactly. It really infuriates me when I see tourists posting stunning photos taken at the Desert Pavilion.”

“I spent the whole day calling to book a room and not a single call went through—can you believe it?”

“Same here.”

After Xu Hao invited them to come take a look, plenty of viewers immediately began complaining in the live chat.

“Rest assured, friends. Mingsha Tourism has built a new guesthouse complex on another oasis, featuring one hundred rooms and even a dedicated vendor area. Your travel experience will be even better once you visit.”

Xu Hao casually slipped in an advertisement.

With the addition of these hundred guesthouses, not only has the tourist capacity of the area greatly increased, but so has the revenue.

At a rate of 800 per room, a full day at Oasis 2 brings in roughly 80,000—without even counting other tourist expenses.

“New guesthouses have been added?”

The viewers were taken aback and immediately asked.

Of course. Even as some viewers voiced their doubts, savvy fans had already dialed Mingsha Tourism’s customer service number.

“Okay, I’ll take you on a tour right now.”

Without further ado, Xu Hao grabbed the live stream gimbal and headed along the newly laid boardwalk from the Desert Pavilion toward Oasis 2.

It was 11:30 AM, just in time for office workers to clock in for lunch.

However, at that very moment, Liu Qing, the Operations Manager of Tianchen Culture, hurried into Yang Yuan’s office.

“CEO Yang, trouble! Xu Hao has gone live!”

He cut straight to the chase, ignoring all formalities.

“Trouble? What bizarre mishap is happening over there now?”

Yang Yuan, who had been busy with paperwork, felt a jolt of apprehension as he noticed Liu Qing’s expression and heard those words.