From Wage Slave to Tycoon

Chapter 159: Chapter 127: Ice and Snow World

"Sir, Boss Yu is downstairs!"

After what happened last night, Boss Yu was now adopting a particularly humble attitude.

Even though Su Chen had said they were just friends, it couldn’t stop Boss Yu’s enthusiasm.

Before leaving last night, he had made a point of exchanging phone numbers with Chen Fei. He’d claimed it was for convenience, but in reality, he was afraid that calling Su Chen directly would disturb his rest, just like yesterday morning.

Su Chen glanced at the time. It was exactly ten in the morning. The corners of his mouth lifted into a slight smile. ’This Boss Yu is quite interesting!’

Just like the day before, Boss Yu had parked his Rolls-Royce at the hotel entrance. The only difference was that he wasn’t being as much of a show-off as yesterday.

Seeing Su Chen and Chen Fei come out of the hotel, he quickly opened the rear passenger door...

When Su Chen saw this, the smile on his face faded a little.

"Boss Yu, if you keep acting like this, I’m afraid we can’t even be friends."

To be honest, Su Chen had a pretty good impression of Boss Yu and was happy to make a friend of him.

But this servile behavior was twisting the nature of their friendship.

Hearing this, Boss Yu’s hand froze. Seeing the cold expression on Su Chen’s face, he realized his actions made him look like a total sycophant.

Having figured it out, Boss Yu gave a chagrined, wry smile. "Brother Su, sorry to make a fool of myself in front of you."

Su Chen knew why he had suddenly changed his tune. Seeing that he understood, Su Chen reached out, patted his arm, and then opened the front passenger door and got in.

"Let’s go. Didn’t we agree to visit the Ice and Snow World today?"

"Coming!" Boss Yu seemed to snap back to his old self and quickly walked back to the driver’s seat.

The Ice and Snow World was located on Sun Island, an island in the middle of the Songhua River. From his presidential suite, Su Chen could vaguely see the Ice and Snow World in the distance, though not very clearly.

It wasn’t far; they arrived at their destination in less than a five-minute drive.

The moment he stepped out of the car, Su Chen was stunned by the sight before him.

A transparent ice wall, built entirely from massive blocks of ice, enclosed the entire Ice and Snow World, starting from the visitor center. It was like a majestic Great Wall, and perched on top were cute little snowmen wearing red hats and scarves, like steadfast soldiers welcoming every tourist.

The tickets were a hundred yuan each, so it cost three hundred for the three of them.

Su Chen hadn’t expected the tickets to be so expensive, but after a bit of inquiry, he understood why.

It turned out the Ice and Snow World tickets were priced based on two time slots. From 9:30 AM to 1:30 PM, a ticket cost one hundred yuan. After 1:30 PM, the price jumped to three hundred yuan!

After passing through three layers of heavy, insulated door curtains, Su Chen was once again stunned by the sight before him.

Unlike the ice wall he’d seen earlier, which was impressive only for its sheer size, what he saw now was not just massive in scale but also featured a variety of meticulously carved ice sculptures.

"The Ice and Snow World is most famous for these ice sculptures. They’re all made by the people of our Ice City, carved chisel by chisel by old masters of the craft. There’s a different theme every year, so the sculptures are always different. So far, they’ve held sixteen annual ice sculpture festivals!"

Hearing that the theme was different every year, Su Chen asked curiously, "What’s this year’s theme?"

"A Snowbound Paradise, A World of Icy Splendor!"

The main point of "Grand View" was the sheer size. All the ice sculptures adhered to this standard. The dozens of ice attractions throughout the park were enormous, from a crystal-like castle and a speeding train to a pagoda over twenty meters tall.

These wondrous ice sculptures were the source of Su Chen’s amazement.

In the distance, the ice-and-snow Ferris wheel reached for the heavens, resembling a blooming white lotus that no visitor could ignore.

Soon, Su Chen noticed a problem: the park was surprisingly empty. He could only see a few dozen people at a glance.

"What’s going on? Why does this Ice and Snow World feel so deserted?"

A wry smile appeared on Boss Yu’s face. "Brother Su, aside from the first few days after the opening when it’s packed, there are hardly any visitors for the rest of the time."

Su Chen was quickly reminded of how he’d asked Wang Shasha the same thing when he first landed in Ice City. Furthermore, when he visited the Daowai and Daoli districts yesterday, he had also noticed that most of the tourists were from northern China; southerners were pitifully few and far between.

It was like the cultural difference between the north and south; you’ll never know how huge a single dish is in the Northeast until you come and see for yourself.

The Ice and Snow World in Ice City was truly spectacular and beautiful, but not enough people knew about it. There was no suitable platform to show this beautiful scenery to people from all over the country.

Su Chen thought of Byte, and the idea he had discussed with Zhang Yiming before—a platform where people could enjoy beautiful scenery shared by others from anywhere. He wondered how much progress Zhang Yiming had made.

"Brother Su, what are you thinking about? Come on, I’ll take you to the grand slide! It’s a special ice slide built this year, a full five hundred and twenty-one meters long—you could say it’s the longest in the world. With a drop of nearly thirty meters, it’s a wicked thrill to ride!" A look of eager anticipation appeared on Boss Yu’s face.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Su Chen’s interest was piqued. He quickly called Chen Fei to follow Boss Yu’s lead as they headed straight for the super slide.

Soon, the three of them arrived at the super slide. Fortunately, there weren’t many people, only about twenty or so.

No extra ticket was needed; all the rides inside, including the Ice-and-Snow Ferris Wheel Su Chen had seen earlier, were free.

The super slide had a full eight lanes, so Su Chen and his group didn’t have to wait long for their turn.

"Lean back, butt against the back, and brace your feet against the front frame!"

"Hold on tight to the rope!"

Su Chen started to feel a little nervous. He could hear the screams from the other lanes, and they were utterly blood-curdling.

"Ready, set, go!"

Before Su Chen could even process it, he was pushed into the slide.

It was fine at first. The ride wasn’t very fast, and the uneven ice surface slowed the sled down. But soon, Su Chen realized something was off.

After a few wide turns, a long, straight downhill slope gradually appeared before him. At the same time, the screams from the other lanes grew louder, which must have meant they had already reached the long slope.

As his speed picked up, Su Chen couldn’t help but let out a few yells...

"AHH~ AHH~ This is awesome!"

"This is just too awesome!"

"This is so fucking exciting!"

In that moment, Su Chen felt his adrenaline surge, and he shouted with excitement.

Happy times are always fleeting. Soon, the sled reached the end.

He got off the sled, pulled it out of the lane by its rope, and started dragging it back toward the queue.

"Mr. Su, where are you going?" Chen Fei and Boss Yu asked in unison.

With an excited look on his face, Su Chen said, "I’m going again! You guys in?"

The two looked at each other and nodded emphatically. "We’re in!"

At that moment, the three of them were like carefree children, laughing as they ran back to the slide’s entrance.

They said they’d only go one more time, but one time turned into another, and another, until they were all too tired to continue.

As for how many times they went down, the three of them had long since lost count.

The Ice and Snow World also provided a dedicated rest area for tourists. The three of them sat on chairs, happily enjoying authentic Northeastern grilled sausages in one hand and an ’82 vintage iced Big White Pear soda in the other.

Su Chen had just been the butt of a joke when he went to buy drinks.

The shop owner had asked him if he wanted a room-temperature one or a chilled one...

Without even thinking, Su Chen asked for room-temperature. The owner pointed outside at a Big White Pear soda that was frozen solid. "That’s room-temperature."

Seeing the frozen block of soda, Su Chen didn’t know how to argue. You could call it room-temperature, but it was a block of ice. You could say it wasn’t, but in weather that was ten-plus degrees below zero, this *was* room temperature.

In the end, Su Chen grabbed three chilled Big White Pear sodas and quickly left the shop under the owner’s strange gaze.

After resting for half an hour, the trio recovered from their "fast and furious" experience and began to appreciate the park’s ice sculptures.

They had seemed spectacular from a distance, but up close, the ice sculptures were even more breathtaking.

These sculptures, some several stories high, had been carved chisel by chisel by master artists. The animal-shaped sculptures, in particular, were incredibly lifelike and vivid.

"More people should get to see these sculptures," Su Chen said, his hand resting on the ice.

"That day will come, I believe it!" Boss Yu’s voice wasn’t loud, but to Su Chen’s ears, it was thunderous...

Ice City, the Eldest Son of the Republic. It has never disappointed, it is merely resting for now. Sooner or later, the day will come when it shocks the world.

After viewing the sculptures, the three passed by a skating rink and an ice hockey rink and gave it a brief try. But it was no use... Su Chen couldn’t skate, and he lost interest after falling twice.

"The Ice-and-Snow Ferris Wheel!" Standing beneath it and looking up, Su Chen realized just how tall the Ferris wheel truly was.

It wasn’t that he had never seen one before, just that he had never stopped to look at one so carefully.

"Brother Su, hurry! There’s an empty cabin!" Boss Yu shouted from the entrance to the ride.

"Coming~"

Su Chen tore his gaze away and hurried over.

There was no line, and the staff directed the three of them straight into a cabin.

"Sigh, to think my first time on a Ferris wheel would be with two other guys. What a miscalculation!"

This left Boss Yu and Chen Fei at a loss for words. They could only turn to stare out the window, pretending to admire the scenery.

Su Chen pouted and also turned his gaze outside.

As the Ferris wheel slowly ascended, the entire Ice and Snow World came into view below.