Beyond the general layout, Li Xiang shared many of his own ideas, covering every detail: which trees and flowers to plant, where to place the gazebos and lawns, and where to build small bridges, streams, and fountains.

The three young women on the team were quite attractive—it had to be said that Sichuan and Chongqing were known for their beautiful women. They diligently took notes in their small notebooks and snapped photos with their cameras. Occasionally, they would also offer some opinions of their own.

Li Xiang was open to good suggestions and readily accepted their feedback. After all, two heads are better than one, and these people were professionals in the construction field.

The rest of the team communicated with Li Xiang while surveying the land and recording data.

"And here, a winding path, lined on both sides with peach and cherry blossom trees, leading to the back of the mountain..."

Li Xiang led the group, explaining as they walked. When they reached the edge of the back mountain, he made a gesture with his hand and said, "Here, build a set of stone steps. Ten meters up, dig a cave. The entrance shouldn’t be large, only about three meters in diameter, but the inside will be a whole different world—a sci-fi style mountain-belly Shelter will be built there. Is a project of this difficulty feasible for you?"

"Yes, yes, no problem, but... I have a question," one of the technicians said hesitantly.

"Go ahead," Li Xiang prompted.

"Uh, for a tourist spot like this, will people really come? With such a large investment, won’t you lose money?"

"Haha, you don’t need to worry about that. Just tell me if it can be done or not."

The manager shot the technician a glare and quickly interjected, "It can be done, it can be done! Actually, we’re very interested in this style of architecture. We’ll draft a proposal for President Li to review."

"Alright. Let me give you the specific requirements. The interior space will be divided into twelve areas: a large living room, three bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms, a gaming area, a fitness area, a reading room, a storage room, a kitchen, a power room, an armory, a main control room..."

"Let me give you more details on the size, design style, waterproofing, and anti-seepage measures for each area..."

Li Xiang spoke eloquently, leaving the team members dumbfounded as they listened.

In reality, some crucial support areas were still missing, such as public restrooms, a vegetable cultivation area, a livestock farming area, an aquaculture area, a biogas digester, an interface for wind power equipment, an energy storage area, a deep-water well, a pharmacy, a medical room, a radar station, automated turrets, a nuclear power plant, and so on.

After all, this was just a "show model" for tourists to visit and experience, not a real Shelter.

A real Shelter would have mostly dormitory-style bedrooms, and instead of a small storage room, it would have massive, categorized warehouses. The power systems and support facilities would also be far more robust than what was planned here.

If one had to call this a Shelter, it could only be a standalone residence for Li Xiang and his partner to live in later.

A network of many such underground Shelters linked together would form an Underground City.

"In addition, all these areas must be equipped with underfloor heating, air conditioning, and a fresh air ventilation system. The exit must be concealed and waterproof, and the passageway should have a heavy-duty security mesh partition installed. The escape tunnel should extend to the other side of the mountain."

The reason for adding underfloor heating was that during the severe cold of winter, and the dark, frigid eternal night, it would be more effective than air conditioning.

"Then, a bit farther out, we need to build a new perimeter wall and put up wire fencing, mainly to keep out wild boars in the winter."

The rapeseed flowers Li Xiang had planted before were growing quite well. He estimated that this construction would destroy a good number of them, but a large portion could probably be saved.

Li Xiang was quite fond of rapeseed flowers and planned to plant more this autumn and winter.

Vast fields of them. He felt that many tourists would probably like them too, taking photos to post online from within the fields of rapeseed flowers.

How could a pastoral landscape be complete without a sea of brilliant, golden rapeseed flowers?

Li Xiang explained a great many things. Just the on-site survey and explanation of requirements took nearly four hours, not finishing until almost one in the afternoon.

However, the construction company was quite pleased. The more detailed the requirements, the easier it was for them to create a proposal.

The worst kind of client was one with no ideas who was also extremely picky.

Li Xiang’s budget for his own house was 800,000 for the shell and basic fixtures. It would be a two-story building in a Chinese courtyard style. He had found a very beautiful design plan online, but of course, it would need to be adjusted based on the specific proposal and quote from the construction company.

The plan certainly wouldn’t be finalized in one go; it would require multiple discussions, revisions, and refinements later on.

As for a basement, Li Xiang didn’t plan on building one, as there would be a super flood in a little over four years. The three small root cellars in the kitchen would be sufficient for now.

The budget for the "Holy Realm Garden," including renovations, was eight million, which covered the first phase: the mountain-belly Shelter attraction on the mountainside.

There would be a second and third phase later, capable of accommodating several thousand people when the great flood arrived. It would serve as a tourist attraction in normal times and a place of refuge for everyone during a crisis.

But the later phases would probably not be as well-renovated as the first, focusing instead on practicality.

In fact, with so many mountains nearby, even if a flood came, the people in the surrounding area would have no shortage of places to escape to. It was just that none would be as comfortable as his Shelter.

Living in a temporary tent on a mountain, everything damp, battered by gales and torrential rain, with lightning and thunder, a lack of medicine, and difficulty getting even a mouthful of hot soup—how could that possibly compare to the comfort of a fully furnished mountain-belly base?

Of course, Li Xiang didn’t reveal his total budget. He certainly couldn’t tell them that. He had to wait for their proposal and quote before getting into detailed negotiations.

On the way back, the technician got an earful.

"Xiaolu, was it our place to ask those questions earlier?"

Xiaolu quickly replied, "I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t have asked. I just couldn’t help myself. Manager, do you really think this project can make money?"

"What does it making money or not have to do with you? Our job is to do our work well and keep the client happy. Talk less, do more, understand? Don’t you dare stir up trouble for me again!"

"I know, I know!" Xiaolu felt aggrieved. ’I was just trying to be helpful and see things from the client’s perspective.’ He really didn’t think this project had a future.