Chapter 6: Grand Opening
Gu Xiaoshuang is a junior at Xihai University.
Unlike seniors who are about to graduate and are worried about job hunting, she still has one last summer vacation to enjoy.
All courses for the exam month have already finished. The higher-credit subjects have gradually been tested, and there are still two “easy” online exams left. Once those are done, she can go home for the holidays.
The bolder students have already packed their suitcases and left. Gu Xiaoshuang, being more cautious, was half-heartedly reviewing her “easy” courses while loosely planning how to reward herself, completely relaxed.
No classes, no exams, heading home soon—anyone who’s been through college knows just how blissful this state is. She even started eyeing a two-day, one-night group tour to a nearby city.
Although there wasn’t really anything special in the neighboring city, the point was the sense of ceremony in rewarding herself.
Xihai Province, despite having “sea” in its name, has nothing to do with the glamorous coastal metropolises people usually imagine. The city’s CBD is basically just one Wangfujing and one Wanda Plaza. Once you get there, you grab a milk tea, then stroll into a boutique snack shop just to browse without buying anything, spend an afternoon wandering around, and finally head home after stuffing yourself with all-you-can-eat barbecue or mall-prepared meals.
By her third year of university, these kinds of activities no longer felt exciting.
And just at that moment, she saw a post in her class group chat from a senior recommending everyone go to Hama Valley for hot springs.
Sulfur hot springs are good for the skin, the newly opened facilities are very clean, and it’s not far from the school, and so on…
This senior had always been very active in the group chat. Back when she was a freshman, he once helped her carry her luggage—and at the same time tried to sell her a laggy, slow campus SIM card—so his credibility wasn’t exactly high.
A few male students who knew him well immediately started joking in the group:
[Boss Bo is a supervisor somewhere again?]
[Don’t trick us into going into the mountains and butchering us like pigs.]
Liu Bo was not deterred. He sent a location pin and a short introduction to the resort—it was a newly developed natural hot spring, and the contractor was a senior female student from their university. Students could get a 20% discount with a student ID. To make it more convincing for those still skeptical, he even posted the university’s entrepreneurship proposal document in the group chat for everyone to see.
Afraid that his classmates still wouldn’t show interest, the “rich guy” sent a large red envelope in the group chat. The message inside the payment packet read: “I miss you at Hama Valley.” Thanks to money power, the chat immediately filled with notification chimes.
From the lower bunk, Li Qian suddenly called out, “Xiaoshuang, Xiaoshuang, did you see it? The 20% discount one.”
Gu Xiaoshuang poked her head down. “Is it real? It doesn’t feel like it’s not a scam?”
“It’s Xiang Yu, Senior Xiang. We were with Liu Bo during the scholarship review committee that time—you even looked through her application. She came from an orphanage, remember? She was approved for the highest tier.”
Without even looking up, Li Qian was already enthusiastically searching for travel guides to Hama Valley Hot Springs. “Liu Bo is there too. A counselor can’t be a scammer, right?”
“If you go, I’ll go.”
“The conditions look a bit rough though.” Li Qian stretched her phone upward toward the top bunk, too lazy to climb down.
“Look at this—those old promo photos looked like a public restroom. Not very clean.”
“Didn’t they say it’s been renovated? But there isn’t a single real-time photo?”
“None. It hasn’t officially opened yet. But listen, that’s actually the good part.” Li Qian chuckled.
“It’s like buffets or new gyms—right when they open, everything is brand new and top quality. Remember that 388-yuan seafood buffet? The first time we went, lobster and sea urchin were all you could eat. A couple of months later they started limiting portions and making you wait forever. You get what I mean, right?”
“Fair point.” Gu Xiaoshuang rolled over and sat up. “So if we’re going, we should go as early as possible!”
“Yeah. Right after opening, the water quality is probably guaranteed—unless they don’t plan to keep the place running.” Li Qian commented with practiced confidence.
“If we go early, we’ll get their very first soak. We won’t even have to sit in other people’s bathwater. And look, they don’t even have much publicity yet, so it won’t be crowded.”
“That’s starting to sound kind of gross…”
“This kind of thing, you just can’t not go early. Don’t you know? That century-old hot spring in Fukuoka, Japan, got exposed for only changing its water twice a year and had bacteria levels over 3,000 times the standard…”
Li Qian idly picked at her nails and added casually, “Anyway, we’re only going once. Once it gets busy later, we won’t go again. Just soak in the clean ‘new opening’ phase.”
“Alright then, we leave tomorrow. Should we call Xiao Li and A’Yue back too?”
“They’re on their periods. Let’s go first and test the waters for them.”
“Deal.”
——
The next day, the road to Hama Valley was not easy.
Hama Valley and the city were separated by the Cangjiang River. Although it was only across the river, the driver had to detour a long way just to find a bridge. Even though it was only about ten kilometers in a straight line from the new campus area of Xihai University, the trip still took nearly half an hour.
The two girls clutched their wallets a little painfully from the fare. But when they followed the navigation and got off on the Hama Valley side, they discovered there was actually a boat crossing—just that the thick fog over the river had hidden it from view.
At that moment, a clear, flute-like sound drifted across the water.
Then, from within the pale silhouette of the mountains, a bamboo raft slowly emerged.
A single bamboo raft, a single fishing net, a single cormorant, and a single lantern.
“This—this can’t be…” Li Qian stared in shock, grabbing Gu Xiaoshuang and shaking her hard. “This is the 20-yuan boat ride! Li River bamboo rafting!”
On the bamboo raft, a tall, upright figure of a “wanderer-like hero” leisurely rowed the oar.
He wasn’t very tall, but he wore a loose, elegant cyan robe. The wide brim of a bamboo hat covered most of his face. He turned slightly in a relaxed, stylish 45-degree pose—exactly the kind of entrance an actor who once played Erlang Shen had described as “very cool from a 45-degree angle.”
Behind him, he even carried a long sword.
Although his height was a little on the short side, his presence still carried itself well. The bamboo oar cut elegant arcs through the water.
Occasionally, strands of river wind brushed past, gently lifting the edges of his robe. The bamboo hat swayed slightly as the small boat drifted forward in a calm, unhurried manner before slowly coming to a stop at the shore.
The two girls stared in stunned silence at the performance—slightly rough, perhaps, but unexpectedly theatrical and entertaining.
The person on the boat lifted her bamboo hat.
It turned out to be a young girl.
“I saw your car pass by earlier, but you didn’t hear me calling,” the boat girl said with a grin. “Here for the hot springs?”
The two of them nodded in unison, still a bit dazed.
“Our hot springs aren’t just good—the supporting services are top-tier too.” Ji Kailang was as energetic as ever, gesturing enthusiastically with both hands as she explained.
“After you finish soaking, you can come back from this spot at 12 noon, 2 p.m., 5 p.m., and 7 p.m. There’ll be shuttle boats picking you up across the river to make it easy to get a ride back into the city. Of course, not this one—this is just a welcome ceremony.”
She picked up a ridiculously large red loudspeaker from beside her feet and shouted in a booming voice:
“Er Long!!!”
A ferry suddenly roared out of the river mist, its engine loud like a tractor. Life jackets and fire extinguishers were hung all over it.
It wasn’t very big, but it looked extremely safe.
People on the ferry waved from a distance toward the shore as a greeting.
After Ji Kailang finished her explanation, she rowed the bamboo raft away with a creaking motion to meet up with the ferry on the river.
The two girls, who had been chattering nonstop earlier, suddenly fell quiet on the way toward the hot springs.
“Qianqian.”
“Hmm?”
“You’re not wrong.” Gu Xiaoshuang said awkwardly. “New scenic spots might have all kinds of problems, but they definitely put in effort…”
“If you swap the boat girl for a handsome guy, you’d probably be drooling on the ground by now.” Li Qian said, rubbing her forehead. “We’ll just take the boat back after soaking. Honestly, even this little shabby place has pretty thoughtful service.”
“The scenery’s not bad either.”
The two of them gradually reached the entrance of Hama Valley and looked up at the towering mountains on both sides.
Layer upon layer of peaks rose sharply into the sky. Clouds drifted like soft gauze, wrapping around the mountains. The cliffs were covered in dense vegetation, deep green and lush, while occasional bare rock faces cut through the slopes with jagged creases, revealing a raw, untouched wilderness.
The most immediate change upon entering this area was the air.
It was thick with moisture—heavy, humid air that filled the lungs. Because of the unique geological structure of glacier-fed geothermal activity, there was also a strange warmth mixed in, carrying the faint mineral scent of rising hot spring steam.
Refreshing and soul-soothing—Gu Xiaoshuang thought of this overused phrase from elementary school essays.
When describing lotus flowers, it had a 100% appearance rate, but this was the first time she truly felt its meaning.
The deeper they walked, the heavier and damper the scent became, quietly seeping into their pores until even their limbs began to relax without them noticing.
Normally, would hot springs have such a strong smell? It was almost like a hot pot restaurant-level temptation.
The two unconsciously picked up their pace. Gu Xiaoshuang swallowed and finally couldn’t help asking,
“Do you smell the hot spring scent? It’s actually pretty nice.”
“I do. Maybe the air’s just better in the mountains.”
They didn’t even need navigation anymore—they just followed the scent and found their way.
The path was paved with blue stone slabs. It had rained the night before, yet the road wasn’t muddy at all. The stones absorbed water remarkably well; stepping on them didn’t even splash a single drop.
The hot spring entrance was built solidly and beautifully. Wooden structures combined with green-tiled roofs blended naturally into the mountain setting. Although one might instinctively associate wooden hot spring architecture with Japanese style, there was none of that cramped “paper-door” awkwardness here—the design was open, generous, and dignified.
At the entrance stood a massive, weathered stone engraved with the bold, flowing characters:
[Glacier Hot Spring]
On both sides of the archway were low shrubs, flowers, and pine trees. The artificial landscaping and natural environment merged seamlessly, carrying a subtle ancient charm.
Inside was a vast, luxurious lobby.
The building used a high-ceiling design, allowing air to circulate freely. Natural light poured in without obstruction. A large wooden chandelier hung from the ceiling, casting a soft, warm glow—clean, bright, and spacious.
On the right were bamboo lounge sofas for guests, topped with soft cushion mats. On the left was a long reception counter made of naturally textured wood and stone, maintaining a simple, elegant aesthetic.
The entire space gave off a feeling of openness and tranquility.
“This place… is actually pretty good.” Li Qian couldn’t help lowering her voice as she spoke to Xiaoshuang.
Gu Xiaoshuang suddenly felt a little uneasy. “Isn’t this going to be expensive?”
With ferry boats, stone paths, and this kind of grand architectural style—it clearly didn’t look cheap.
Since the hot spring was promoted by seniors from their own university, she had never considered the possibility that they might have accidentally walked into a high-end resort.
The promotional photos had looked like a public restroom, but the real place looked like carved beams and painted halls, almost like a celestial palace. Even if they had never seen the real thing before, they had at least seen pictures of luxury places like this.
Li Qian clearly hadn’t considered that possibility either. Her mouth twitched.
“Then we’ll just set a timer alarm and say we’ve got something to do and leave early.”
At this point, there was no point in turning back. They couldn’t just go back and make the boatman row them all the way back across the river.
The two of them exchanged a look, their hearts pounding slightly, and walked toward the front desk—
The person manning the reception was Xiang Yu, currently overwhelmed with work. She was busy coordinating with social media accounts for advertising placements.
Ji Kailang had just messaged her, saying that their promotion was seriously inadequate. The few “wild tourists” they had finally attracted didn’t even know there was a shuttle boat. They had taken a huge detour just to get here, and might not bother coming again next time.
They also needed to post a recruitment notice to hire a “handsome guy.” Ji Kailang couldn’t keep rowing the boat forever—they needed someone who could cosplay as a wandering hero.
No need to reach the level of that stunning “game-model beauty” they had seen after that mushroom incident, but at least 180 cm tall, well-proportioned, and visually appealing enough to attract visitors.
Just then, she looked up and saw two girls standing awkwardly at the entrance, hesitating and peeking inside.
“Hello… is this the price listed on the platform? Are there any extra charges?”
One of them—the slightly taller girl wearing glasses—held up her phone, showing a group-buy voucher that Xiang Yu herself had posted.
Public pool hot spring: 50 RMB per person, includes towel and slippers. Swimwear can be rented separately. Premium package: 100 RMB. Private room: 150 RMB. Skin care package: 200 RMB.
“Yes, that’s right,” Xiang Yu replied with a smile. “We also have pools with three temperature levels—low, medium, and high.”
“For now, only the indoor hot spring is open. The temperature difference between day and night in the valley is quite large, so the indoor area is more comfortable.”
In her personal opinion, the outdoor hot spring would actually be far more attractive.
She had previously inspected the naturally terraced outdoor hot spring in the mountains, where the subtropical forest advantages were on full display.
Right beside the pools were century-old trees with twisted, gnarled branches. The mountain scenery was lush and magnificent, and in the drifting mist of the hot spring, the whole place looked like a scene from a fairyland.
Unfortunately, the “newbie renovation package” didn’t cover that large an area. After the project was implemented, Xiang Yu had even run up the mountain excitedly to take a look at her “wild outdoor spring.”
It was still just as hot, just as murky as before. The boiling points bubbled with a gurgling sound, looking almost ominous.
To prevent any unsuspecting visitors from wandering up and accidentally jumping in, she had even made Liu Bo carry a pile of isolation tape up the mountain to cordon the area off.
The visitors, unaware of Xiang Yu’s inner thoughts, only felt relieved that the prices matched what they had seen on the platform.
The two girls relaxed immediately and began chattering excitedly about which pool to choose.