Chapter 31: Paradise

Gu Lang’s god-tier maneuver made Su Shiyi tear up on the spot. She called him from the exhibition hall, and the phone rang for more than half a minute. Most likely, his secretary saw the caller ID, asked for Gu Lang’s permission, and then handed him the phone.

Once the call connected, Gu Lang’s voice was as indifferent as ever. “What is it?”

Su Shiyi, who had been building up her emotions, suddenly choked up. Instead, it was the sound of her sniffling that made Gu Lang’s tone soften a little.

“What’s there to cry about? Your mental resilience is really lacking.”

All the words Su Shiyi had prepared were thrown into disarray. She didn’t know what to say anymore and just dragged out the word Daddy.

Before and after transmigrating into this book, Su Shiyi had no real bond with her biological father. She could act like she didn’t care, but to say she had no regrets at all would be a lie.

Before arriving at the Gu family’s home in the imperial capital, she had no expectations of Gu Lang as a stepfather. As long as he acted like she didn’t exist, that would have been enough. She truly never expected that familial affection wasn’t limited to blood ties. She and Gu Lang were neither related nor connected by fate, yet he genuinely cared for her.

Gu Lang seemed to chuckle, though maybe he didn’t. He wasn’t experienced in comforting children, so he simply responded with a calm “Mm.”

“I won’t be returning to Ohio for the next three months. If you want to stay there and play with the tigers, go ahead. If you want to come back, that’s fine too. Up to you.”

Su Shiyi, still caught up in her emotions, blurted out, “I want to stay with Daddy.”

“No. I don’t have time to babysit. Don’t bother me.”

Su Shiyi: ……

Her deep father-daughter affection had just welled up, only to be ruthlessly shattered by Gu Lang!

Normally, she could shower him with endless praise, but right now, when her feelings were the most sincere, all she could do was choke up and call him Daddy again. Gu Lang, surprisingly patient, didn’t hang up on her. He just let her sit there, carefully choosing and rearranging her words in her head.

Just as Su Shiyi finally prepared to say something, she heard a string of gibberish from the other end—some foreign language she couldn’t understand. It was Gu Lang speaking, but the sound was distant and unclear, like he had put the call on speakerphone and walked away.

She immediately guessed it—Gu Lang had probably set her phone aside and started a new conversation on his own. TAT

She mourned for their deeply moving yet ridiculously fragile father-daughter bond for a moment. Then, once Gu Lang finished his foreign language conversation, she finally got the chance to say, “Thank you.”

And also, “You’re the best dad in the world.”

“Of course I am,” Gu Lang said, his tone completely flat. “But you’re still a bit short of being the best daughter in the world. I don’t have time to listen to your nonsense. Write me a gratitude letter of at least 10,000 words tonight and let me see your filial piety. That’s it, hanging up.”

Beep, beep—

Still immersed in her emotions, Su Shiyi: ???

Come on, be human. Even Lujiang authors can’t write 10,000 words in a day—how much filler would she have to add to reach that quota?!

Complaining aside, Su Shiyi still had to seriously write the thank-you letter for Gu Lang. She refused all suggestions for ghostwriting and wrote a heartfelt, flowing… three thousand words. She was a bit frustrated as she realized she was still far from the required word count, but she had already reached her limit. What was she going to do?

Under the guidance of an expert, she added many irrelevant digressions and transitions, desperately inserting filler words, changing declarative sentences into rhetorical questions, and stretching a simple statement into ten sentences. She also interspersed unnecessary exclamations, finally succeeding in expanding her three thousand words into ten thousand.

Hmm, these were the same tricks she used in high school to fill word count when she couldn’t think of anything to write for the weekly journal. Even something as simple as going downstairs to buy a pancake could be expanded into an 800-word essay, and she’d even manage to elevate it a little at the end.

After pouring her energy into this flattering piece, Su Shiyi felt that she had far exceeded her mental capacity for the day. She lay on her bed like a salted fish, while her three little cats came over one by one asking for cuddles. She half-heartedly petted each of their heads, letting them distribute their territory on her body and snuggle up.

Her toys were temporarily placed on the third floor, probably waiting to be shipped back with her when she returned to the country. Those Barbie dolls and building blocks might seem childish for elementary school students, but they were just right for a 21-year-old college student like her!

Su Shiyi quietly enjoyed a brief moment of relaxation after her hard work. After a while, when the boredom began to set in, Kevin’s work report arrived in her inbox right on time, popping up as a notification on her tablet.

Ah, adorable Kevin, all-capable Kevin, who always manages to make the most appropriate choices according to his needs.

The email mainly covered three things. The first was the progress of signing female trainees for Sunflower Entertainment, which was quite promising. Besides Shen Yuwei, who Su Shiyi personally selected and confirmed to sign, there were three other candidates.

Shen Yuwei had a sweet style, and the other three had different styles: androgynous, elegant sister, and gentle. Each girl had her own beauty, and Su Shiyi was very excited, saying they could sign all of them, the more beautiful sisters, the better.

Although the gender ratio of ten to four was still a bit skewed, she decided to take it slow. She still hoped to discover truly talented and willing new artists.

The second matter didn’t require any decisions from Su Shiyi, it was just for her to be informed. Her million-follower fan benefit Weibo lottery had been drawn, and the 300 lucky winners had already been selected. Cash and physical rewards were being distributed in an orderly manner, and the private event at the amusement park in Shanghai was scheduled for next Saturday. The staff was checking the identities of the winners and their friends one by one.

There were definitely some people who resold their tickets, but Su Shiyi and Kevin both pretended not to know about it. It was essentially the fans turning their rewards into cash, and however much they could sell it for was their business.

Su Shiyi remembered that she had set the date for Saturday herself. It coincided with a summer weekend, and booking the venue was more expensive than usual, but since it was a welfare event, spending 50 million or an additional 50 million didn’t make much of a difference.

She briefly considered whether she should rush back to attend the event but decided not to think about it for now and would decide next Thursday. A rich woman’s schedule was always full of uncertainty, and who knew which country Father Gu Lang might be in, calling her to “escort him.”

The last matter was the one that required her to think. The copyright cooperation list that Kevin had negotiated was almost finalized. Su Shiyi opened the document and scrolled down, and it felt like there was no end to it.

According to Kevin’s additional explanation, only a small part of the list required him to negotiate personally. For the majority, the cooperating parties were from the Gu family, and for those, as soon as Su Shiyi’s side showed interest, they immediately offered extremely favorable terms, even saying they were ready to throw in extra support…

It couldn’t be helped. With her level of influence, only hot IPs had enough leverage to be a bit selective, but in the end, it all came down to money. For the lesser-known ones, they were eager for exposure, and what was this if not free advertising?

The list was too long, and Su Shiyi definitely wouldn’t have time to go through it all. She used the search function, and when she found the IPs she liked, she smiled with satisfaction.

Perfect, she would use the partners from this long list for the comic convention. She’d set up a huge backdrop wall to fit them all in, and it would definitely become a popular photo spot. She would leave a small space for the logo of Gu family’s big brands…

As a planner, the instinct was too strong to ignore.

Besides the backdrop, Su Shiyi didn’t plan to skimp on the regular comic convention merchandise either. Gachapons, figurines, keychains, pillows, scarves, pendants, standees, postcards—she’d arrange it all, leaving Kevin to take care of the preparations. As for the prices, she just wanted them to break even with costs. She wasn’t aiming to make a profit from it.

The comic convention quickly slipped from her mind. With so many IP authorizations, Su Shiyi could finally freely build her Billion Island!

On the “My Little Island” app, those rows of riverside villas were still under construction, and Su Shiyi could still see the floating renderings. The first thing she wanted to build on the island was an amusement park, so she decided to start with that project.

For the entrance gate construction, she would choose one of the system’s proposed designs. She had too many IPs to include, and no one design would be appropriate on its own.

The park definitely needed hotels for visitors, and one might not be enough, so Su Shiyi first set up themed hotels for three O birds and Naruto characters. As soon as visitors entered, they’d be greeted by the characters, and the rooms would have co-branded items. The wake-up call in the morning would be in the characters’ voices, and the breakfast and brunch would be in full original style, pulling the “IP experience” to its extreme for the lodging section.

Once inside the amusement park, there had to be a transition area, and she decided to base it on Bikini Beach. First, she’d set up colorful sculptures of animation characters. Besides the main characters, there were plenty of ocean creatures that could appear, making it perfect for a group display.

The pineapple house from SpongeBob, the Resurrection Island statue house from Zhen’s Pavilion, Patrick’s rock house, Sandy’s dome treehouse, Mr. Krabs and Pearl’s anchor house, Krusty Krab restaurant, and the Sea King restaurant would all be included. These buildings had to be big, and the interiors had to be authentic. She even planned to open them for tourists to visit.

The Krusty Krab can sell Krabby Patties, but as for Sea Overlord Restaurant… considering the hygiene standards in the animation, it’s probably best left for display only.

Crossing Bikini Beach, there should be a three-way intersection here. The middle path leads to the Ferris wheel, which will become the landmark of Billion Island. Su Shiyi checked—currently, the tallest Ferris wheel is 260 meters, so she’ll casually break the record and set a small goal of 280 meters.

The Ferris wheel’s theme must feature her favorite superheroes. Kevin actually managed to secure a few licenses from Disney, though the commercial price skyrocketed several times. But as long as Su Shiyi is happy, that’s all that matters.

When she first saw the price list for these IP licenses, she couldn’t even count how many digits there were. Su Shiyi called Gu Lang again, and after some buildup, she shyly mentioned that she had spent a lot of money.

Gu Lang immediately transferred ten times the amount, letting her truly understand what “a lot of money” meant.

Back to business, the recommended number of observation glass cabins for the Ferris wheel, according to the game system, is 54. Su Shiyi had to be selective and carefully assign each cabin with personal bias. How could the popular characters from the two major Western comic companies fit into such a limited space? The villains would have to sit this one out—there just weren’t enough spots.

The exterior of the observation cabins would be painted in the signature colors of the superheroes, and each cabin would have a spacious 35-square-meter interior. Standard features include eight massage chairs, so visitors can relax while enjoying the aerial view. Fan groups could even customize the cabins for events, turning them into private party rooms.

Inside the cabins, there would be wax figures for tourists to take pictures with, along with an AI voice assistant. Since the licensing was already expensive, spending a little more on voice acting wouldn’t hurt. Visitors could interact with the AI to unlock all the character lines or participate in a challenge mode—scoring full marks in a superhero trivia quiz would earn them a stamp for that cabin.

If any visitor managed to collect all 54 cabin stamps, they could redeem a full set of premium character figurines, limited to the first 100 people. Su Shiyi could already picture the long lines forming for the Ferris wheel.

If there’s anything in this world that could ignite people’s competitive spirit, it’s a collection system, rankings, and limited editions—all checked! She really was a genius game planner!

The left path leads to thrill rides like roller coasters, giant pendulums, drop towers, and pirate ships. The IP collaboration for the pirate ship was obvious, but as for the other attractions, Su Shiyi left it to Kevin to pick the most suitable ones from their long list of partners.

Oh, she almost forgot bumper cars! What theme should they have?

Come on, what else could it be? Transformers, of course! Hmm… in that case, she could sneak in the Batmobile as an Easter egg too.

Oh, right! There needs to be a restaurant here. No need to hesitate—it has to be The Prince of Tennis. In addition to restaurant décor and food presentation that match the original work, the waitstaff could cosplay as characters. Plus, adding some holographic projections would be great—imagine a tennis ball suddenly flying toward a visitor’s plate or the back of their head while they’re eating.

As for how realistic the effect should be, Su Shiyi wanted it to be just shy of an actual ball hitting them—the excitement had to be on point.

She didn’t even bother looking at the technology budget anymore—numbers were just numbers!

The right path would be the children’s zone. A carousel is a must in any amusement park, and it obviously had to be themed after My Little Pony! As for the spinning teacups, she decided to make it a mix of domestic animation characters.

^[1]Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf (喜羊羊与灰太狼) – A long-running animated series about a clever goat (Pleasant Goat) and a wolf (Big Big Wolf) who constantly tries to catch the goats but … Continue readingPleasant Goat, ^[2]Boonie Bears (熊出没) – Also known as “Bear Brothers,” this series follows two bear brothers, Briar and Bramble, as they try to stop a logger, Vick, from cutting down trees in their … Continue readingBear Brothers, ^[3]GG Bond (猪猪侠) – A superhero pig who goes on various adventures, often mixing action, comedy, and futuristic elements.GG Bond… There were plenty of cute animals to fill the main lineup, and the number of teacups should be just right.

A children’s zone wouldn’t be complete without a themed restaurant. Su Shiyi settled on two themes: Cardcaptor Sakura and The Little Soldiers. Following the concept of the previous themed restaurant, the décor and dishes would reflect their respective series. But Su Shiyi took it a step further with a unique twist.

The Cardcaptor-themed restaurant would have a blind box-style ordering system. The 52 Clow Cards would each correspond to a different dish, with the menu changing daily. Diners could only guess what they’d get each day. The dishes would have hints based on Clow Card attributes—Fire Card dishes would be stir-fried or grilled, Sweet Card would obviously be desserts, and Water Card would likely be soup-based.

But the actual dish names and ingredients? Those would remain a mystery—it was all about the surprise factor. Of course, if anyone wasn’t up for this kind of randomness, they could head next door to The Little Soldiers restaurant for a regular menu. These two had to be placed side by side—otherwise, imagine a visitor traveling all the way to the restaurant, only to pull a dish they didn’t like. That’d be annoying.

Sure, some people would knowingly take the gamble and still complain when they didn’t like their dish, but Su Shiyi didn’t care. If they didn’t like it, they didn’t have to come—this was her amusement park, and she made the rules!

With the standard amusement park attractions covered, Su Shiyi was ready to add something extra. She had secured licensing for the Detective Conan franchise, so a VR experience center was a must.

Thanks to the original author’s portrayal of the Gu family as ridiculously powerful, this world’s technology had advanced in absurd ways—so much so that the Gu Group was leading the research in VR technology. Their latest VR pod prototypes had already reached over 80% realism.

That level wasn’t quite on par with the immersive virtual worlds of “The Fourth Calamity,” but it definitely crushed anything else on the market. Su Shiyi planned to get dozens of them, letting visitors interact with Conan characters in an immersive experience where they could solve cases with different endings based on their choices.

Wait a second… If they could do this much, then otome games were totally an option too, right? This anime had plenty of popular characters.

New idea unlocked! ✔

With VR on the table, AR was a must too. Su Shiyi planned to set aside a large area where visitors would need special AR glasses exclusive to the park in order to enter.

In this area, digital eggs are scattered everywhere. Visitors can scan them to access information about baby-stage Digimon and decide whether to bind with one for incubation.

Once the Digimon hatches, visitors must take it around to complete tasks and level up. The choice of tasks and their completion rates will influence the Digimon’s evolution path. The default Holy Plan is the initial item, while Evolution Badges must be found within the scene.

When the Digimon reaches the Rookie stage, visitors can gain experience by challenging Dark Digimon or battling other visitors’ Digimon. At this point, Su Shiyi’s obsessive planning tendencies kicked in again—she added experience rankings, power rankings, and Digimon battle victory rankings…

Because Su Shiyi loved every single Digimon and couldn’t bear to part with any of them, she set it up so visitors could bind with multiple Digimon. In theory, there was no limit—as long as they could handle it.

Since one person could have multiple Digimon, there was, of course, an evil Pokédex-like feature… The sheer number of Digimon species, combined with various evolution paths, made Su Shiyi feel like her liver was trembling from overwork.

Wait a minute—she was an investor! She could directly have a full Pokédex account! The grinding was for other visitors, what did it have to do with her?

Then, a thought struck her. She searched through the IP collaboration list, and when she saw the results, she was ecstatic.

Kevin, you’re amazing!

This kind of AR interactive zone needed two locations. She immediately picked a prime spot to build Hogwarts!

The magical world had its own rules, and Su Shiyi was devious. To ensure an immersive experience, she decided to limit the number of participants. After all, owls wouldn’t send admission letters to everyone.

Only those who received an acceptance letter from an owl-shaped drone would get a ticket to Hogwarts and be allowed to enter the AR zone with special glasses. The school would also provide wizard robes in all sizes, which visitors could take home as souvenirs.

Of course, magic was inherently random. Visitors who didn’t get in on a given day wouldn’t accumulate any guaranteed chances—hehe. The system might be flooded with resentment, but hey, it was all for the best admission experience!

After all, if too many people crowded the area, the Sorting Hat line would stretch forever, and the professors wouldn’t be able to manage all the students. If the magic classes became too chaotic to hear the instructor, that would be a disaster.

When Su Shiyi designed this rule, she hadn’t anticipated that her Billion Island would be overwhelmed by eager visitors. As more fans flocked in, the chance of receiving an acceptance letter dropped lower and lower, and the collective frustration grew deeper.

Damn it! Being a Muggle in real life was bad enough—why wouldn’t they even let them enroll in a theme park?!

With both VR and AR available, this was something her original world couldn’t achieve. Su Shiyi was getting cocky—completely inflated with ambition.

Jokingly, she suggested an idea to Kevin, something she thought was utterly impossible. But Kevin told her, “Nothing is impossible. This can be done.”

Wait—she was talking about recreating dinosaurs from Jurassic Park! You can actually do that?!

At this point, she had to thank the original author for showering the Gu family with every possible advantage. The world’s logic had been twisted to ensure that “Gu family’s wealth is at the pinnacle of humanity,” giving them near-limitless access to cutting-edge technology and maximum profit potential.

So, replicating the scientific breakthroughs of Jurassic Park’s InGen? The Gu family could actually do it.

Su Shiyi: …

If she said she was just asking casually, would anyone believe her?

#MarySueCanActuallyPushTechnologicalAdvancements

#ThisIsBeyondJustBeingRich

#NothingInThisWorldCanSurpriseHerAnymore

But it wasn’t just about fulfilling her dream—the genetics lab was genuinely interested in the project. Funding was never an issue for them, so they unanimously agreed to give it a try.

Still, Su Shiyi repeatedly emphasized the need for absolute safety. The designated land would remain vacant until the research reached a truly stable phase before commercialization.

Even though she was excited about T-Rexes, Pterosaurs, and Triceratops, she valued her life more. Safety first. If anything like the movies happened, she wouldn’t be able to take responsibility.

Well, all the major projects were nearly in place—especially with futuristic dinosaurs—this theme park was bound to be spectacular. The only question was when it would finally be completed.

Feeling exhausted after all the planning, Su Shiyi decided to save her progress and continue another time.