35: Yan Baiwei

After leaving the restaurant, Chen Qiu drove the Audi Horch to pick up Luo Yu.

This girl had been bombarding him on WeChat just now.

"Brother, are you going to meet Senior Yan later?"

"Take me with you!"

"I want to go too!"

Chen Qiu hadn't wanted to bring her, but the girl had argued righteously, "I'm going to learn!"

"That's Senior Yan Baiwei!"

"I want to learn from Senior's design experience up close! It'll be good for finding a job later!"

Since she'd put it that way, Chen Qiu had no choice but to bring her along.

The two arrived at Binjiang No. 1. They hadn't been there long when the elevator "dinged."

The doors opened, and a tall figure walked over.

Luo Yu straightened up instantly, her eyes lighting up.

The newcomer was very tall, estimated to be over 1.7 meters.

She wore a sharply tailored white cashmere coat over a simple black turtleneck sweater.

Below, she wore matching straight-leg trousers and a pair of flat loafers.

Her long hair cascaded like a waterfall, draped casually behind her shoulders.

Her face was almost devoid of makeup, her skin fair, and her features delicate.

Her eyes, in particular, were clear and calm.

Standing there, she radiated a cold, aloof aura that warned strangers to keep their distance, like a snow lotus on a high mountain.

"Class Monitor!"

Chen Qiu smiled when he saw her face.

Compared to high school, Yan Baiwei hadn't changed at all.

She had only shed her youthful awkwardness, replaced by a mature, cold aura.

Back then, Yan Baiwei was both an academic star and a wealthy young lady.

She was undeniably the recognized goddess and class beauty of their class, and even the entire grade!

"Chen Qiu."

"Long time no see!"

Yan Baiwei looked at Chen Qiu before her.

A hint of nostalgia flashed in her eyes.

Compared to the sunny boy from their high school days, Chen Qiu had visibly matured a great deal!

But what surprised Yan Baiwei was that she didn't see the weariness of someone ground down by society in Chen Qiu, nor the greasy slickness of those who had achieved success!

Beside them, Luo Yu watched as the two locked eyes.

One was her cousin who had suddenly struck it rich.

The other was the legendary, aloof genius senior.

The two were high school classmates.

A reunion after a long separation.

In Luo Yu's mind, she immediately imagined classic tropes from idol dramas.

Her eyes narrowed with excitement.

"These two..."

"Have a story!"

Unfortunately, the two reunited individuals didn't show Luo Yu much emotion.

Yan Baiwei quickly withdrew her gaze and entered work mode.

"Let's begin."

She took out her laptop.

"I've designed several of these flat-floor apartments at Binjiang No. 1 before."

"You can take a look at my previous cases first."

She didn't sit down, just stood there.

Chen Qiu leaned in.

Seeing this, Luo Yu immediately extinguished her gossip, switching to "study mode."

She hurriedly leaned in too, crouching to the side, listening intently.

"This is from Building 3; the owner liked New Chinese style, had a sufficient budget, and used a lot of solid wood."

"This is from Building 5; the owner liked French light luxury and had high requirements for lines and lighting."

It had to be said.

Yan Baiwei was able to become a locally well-known designer not just because of her looks.

Her professional skills were quite solid.

For every case image, she could accurately explain the design concept and the attention to materials.

Chen Qiu's requirements were rather vague and casual.

"A bit comfortable, a bit simple."

"Don't make it too complicated."

After listening, Yan Baiwei's delicate brows furrowed slightly.

"That's too vague."

"Do you like watching movies? Do you need a projector or a TV?"

"Do many friends visit? Do you need to change to an open kitchen and bar counter?"

"How often do you cook at home?"

Under her guidance, Chen Qiu's vague ideas slowly became clearer.

"Minimalist style, I guess."

"But the materials should be good, comfortable to live in."

"That's about it..."

Yan Baiwei pulled up a rough rendering on her computer.

"This is a preliminary concept."

"By the way, what is your budget for the soft furnishings of this unit?"

She looked up at Chen Qiu.

Upon hearing this, Chen Qiu asked in return, "If I want a better effect, what kind of budget is needed?"

Yan Baiwei thought for a moment.

"This unit is 220 square meters; if you want the soft furnishings to have quality—carpets, curtains, sofas... all good quality stuff."

She gave an approximate figure.

"About 500,000."

"500,000?!"

Luo Yu, listening from the side, immediately opened her mouth slightly in shock.

500,000 just for soft furnishings?!

For many small 100-square-meter apartments, the total for hard and soft furnishings combined would only be 300,000.

"Let's set the budget to 800,000!"

Chen Qiu said calmly.

"If I'm living in it myself, I'd rather have it furnished as well as possible."

He looked at Yan Baiwei.

"I'll trouble you with purchasing all the soft furnishings and furniture!"

As soon as these words were out, Yan Baiwei's beautiful eyes flickered slightly.

She glanced at Chen Qiu.

There was a moment of hesitation in her gaze.

But with almost no further delay, she nodded directly.

"Okay."

Beside them, suspicion rose again in Luo Yu's eyes.

Something was wrong!

As a student in the major, she knew very well.

Generally speaking, it was a major taboo for a designer to take money from an owner to buy furniture for them!

After all, it was too easy for kickbacks and price differences to become unclear.

Moreover, if quality issues arose with the furniture later, would the owner go to the manufacturer or the designer?

It would be very easy to get into an endless argument!

Under normal circumstances, even if the owner offered extra money, a designer would rather just provide a list and let the owner buy it themselves; they would never operate like this.

Yet Yan Baiwei had actually agreed just like that?

"These two..."

"Could there really have been something going on between them before?"

In Luo Yu's heart, the fire of gossip burned fiercely once again.

Immediately after, they went to the villa at Boyue Mansion.

The Audi Horch stopped at the gate of the villa's small courtyard.

Yan Baiwei got out of the car.

She looked at the four-hundred-plus-square-meter detached villa before her.

It was a purely unfinished house, with even the walls still gray.

She walked into the empty, rough-cast room.

She carefully examined the structure, took out a tape measure, and simply measured a few key dimensions.

She walked out, her expression still calm.

"This unit requires both hard and soft furnishings, and needs to be completely re-planned."

"I need to have workers come over to re-measure."

"After I go back, I'll produce the design drawings."

Chen Qiu had no objections.

He took the villa keys out of his pocket and handed them to her.

"Alright, I'll leave it to you."

Yan Baiwei took the keys.

"As for the renovation costs..."

"After I finish the design drawings, I'll give you a detailed list," Yan Baiwei said.

Chen Qiu nodded.

"No problem."

The two's conversation was very swift; while the efficiency was high, it felt very strange to Luo Yu, who was watching from the side.

"Normally, you guys are old classmates, right? Shouldn't you exchange some pleasantries and reminisce about the past?"

Sitting in the car, Chen Qiu helplessly glanced at her after hearing Luo Yu's words.

"You've been watching too many short dramas!"

He had been deskmates with Yan Baiwei for a year back then, and he knew this class monitor's personality all too well!

Her aloofness wasn't just a facade!

Indifferent, strictly professional, an idealist... these were also labels attached to her!

Chen Qiu still remembered that when he skipped evening self-study to go online, his relationship with Yan Baiwei was already quite good at the time; he had expected her to cover for him, but he hadn't expected that this woman would ruthlessly report him!

It was precisely because of this that the young Chen Qiu, who had actually had a good impression of Yan Baiwei and had almost wanted to start his first puppy love, suffered a heavy blow.

He hadn't trusted women for the rest of high school!

However, it was precisely because he understood Yan Baiwei's character and conduct so well that he dared to say he would hand the money directly to her to purchase the furniture!

Yan Baiwei returned to the company.

"How did it go, Weiwei?" Her mother asked with concern as she approached.

"It's a done deal!"

"Hard furnishings for a 400-square-meter villa at Boyue Mansion, and soft furnishings for a large flat-floor unit at Binjiang No. 1!"

Yan Baiwei revealed a very faint smile.

Her mother was also somewhat happy.

But immediately, she sighed with worry.

"Just relying on you to pick up some renovation jobs, I don't know when these days will ever end."

Yan Baiwei looked at her mother's face, which had aged significantly, and pressed her red lips together.

"Mom, I'm going to go do the designs!"

After returning to her own office, she immediately entered work mode.

First, she refined the soft furnishing design for the Binjiang No. 1 apartment, then contacted workers to go to Boyue Mansion to take measurements.

At this moment, the company door was pushed open violently, and her father, Yan Li, sat down looking travel-worn, cursing with an indignant expression.

"That son of a b*tch surnamed He, I don't know how he climbed up to that person surnamed Li, but he's actually squeezing me out over there!"

"Damn it, ten years ago, what was he even worth!"

Yan Baiwei's mother, Tao Xia, poured a glass of water for Yan Li and asked with slight worry.

"Can't we get even one of the projects at the Cultural Industry Park?"

Yan Li was silent for a moment; he rubbed his face with his hands and muttered.

"Let's think of another way..."

"Sigh..."

In the office, Yan Baiwei clearly heard her parents' conversation, and a touch of heaviness flashed in her beautiful eyes.

The projects her family had taken on over the years either required them to front most of the capital with the final payments being hard to collect, or the developers had abandoned the projects and run away!

They had done many projects, but they hadn't actually made any money; instead, they had lost all the money they had earned in previous years!

They owed money to material suppliers and money to workers!

Previously, her father, Yan Li, had taken out a significant loan from the bank, which could only barely settle the workers' wages!

Now, the loan was due, and the material suppliers were coming to collect debts, but they had absolutely no money to repay them!

It could be said that the fully-funded Cultural Industry Park was their only lifeline at the moment.

If they could get this coveted project, they could quickly recover funds and catch their breath!

But things did not go as wished...

Thinking of this, Yan Baiwei's mood grew heavy, and she quickened her pace in drawing the design plans.

The only thing she could do to help her family was to do some designs and earn a little money, even if it was just a drop in the bucket.