Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

May 30th, Monday…

Liang Qingfan brought the blueprint for the Golden Maze to Thriller Hostel.

Over the week, he had been working as hard as he could. However, instead of feeling tortured, he felt pure excitement.

Architects could spend very little or a lot of time on blueprints. Some real estate companies even stipulate in their contracts that architects must produce drawings overnight upon receiving the budget and design requirements, to achieve higher turnover.

That was a more extreme example, and it was neither reasonable nor humane. Still, it was enough to show how miserable an architect's life was.

To Liang Qingfan, the Golden Maze was not the project with the tightest timeline and the most torturous schedule that he had ever received. Instead, it was the one that excited him the most.

There were three main reasons for this: he was being paid more than enough, his client was not micro-managing or breathing down his neck to make changes, and there was a lot of room for creativity in the interesting task.

Any architect would be filled with inspiration and passion if he was free to design the mall any way he wanted, and he had the authority to ask for more funds if he wanted.

When he arrived at Thriller Hostel's office, Chen Kangtuo and Shi Zherui were already waiting there.

"Sorry for making you wait so long. Let me explain the plan for the Golden Maze. I didn't have time to perfect some details so I will need you to work on it later, Teacher Shi."

Shi Zherui nodded quickly. "Yes, of course."

Liang Qingfan started explaining his own design using the blueprint.

"After conducting field surveys, I realized that this old factory is relatively empty, and it has strong plasticity. However, if we want to turn it into a maze as Boss Pei requested, the surface area seems lacking.

"After all, the shops have to be big enough to store their products. What's more, to ensure that the shops are hidden, the surface area of the maze has to be big enough as well.

"So, at once, I thought about making use of the fact that the factory is so tall. We will stagger the levels of the Golden Maze and utilize the height of the shopping mall. The shops would also be staggered, forming a three-dimensional maze.

"At the same time, this staggered-level approach allows us to segment areas for rest and viewing. Visitors could rest in the resting area and see two or three shops from afar. That would drive them to look for shops they had not found earlier after resting. After all, they would already have seen how a few of the shops look like. It might trigger their desire to see more.

"Of course, seeing them and finding them are two completely different things.

"There would be exits in all resting and viewing areas. Under normal circumstances, those exits would be hidden. They would look no different from other paths in the maze. However, in emergency situations, signs would light up so that visitors can move quickly and exit the mall.

"As for the construction period… we will have to purchase steel in large quantities. However, we won't be forking out the money so we can ignore the cost.

"As for the style, I have a simple rendering here. Boss Pei requested for a resplendent effect, but I think it won't be easy to cover the entire mall in pure gold. It would tire visitors' eyes, and the mall would look incredibly tacky. People might take one look at it and think about nouveau riche who wear huge, golden chains. It'll fall far short of the style we're going for.

"I'm thinking that the entire maze would look fundamentally the same. To ensure the unity of the style, we can think about using luxurious and high-end materials, as well as specific types of lighting. That would create a sense of luxury but avoid tackiness.

"On top of that, the details of various areas where the shops are located can be done differently. For example, figurines and merchandise could be sold at shops that appeal to younger people. Red which symbolizes life, vitality, and boundlessness… and orange which symbolizes buoyancy and wealth… can be the theme colors.

"High-quality products and souvenirs could be sold at shops that appeal to more mature people. Blue, which symbolizes rationality and peace, could be the theme color.

"Couples' headwear and themed costumes could be sold in cozier shops, and the embellishments could be in burgundy.

"Shops selling interesting gadgets can be in purple, which gives a sense of mystery. At the same time, we need to note that purple and gold are relatively rich colors that might cause spatial imbalance. That means we might have to use colors like white to balance things out here and there.

"All of these shops must have a passage for employees, which would be closed to all other visitors. That would make it easier for goods to be transported. Moreover, it would save employees the trouble of having to walk through the entire maze each time they go to work.

"We can also have random vendors in special areas around the maze, who would sell interesting little gadgets.

"That way, customers can use their general surroundings to look for a certain shop or region. They could also be assured that they're on the right path.

"After all, Boss Pei only asked us to create a maze to give visitors an interesting shopping experience and not to dissuade them from buying anything. We would have to give visitors appropriate hints along the way to encourage exploration and mystery but prevent them from losing motivation just because the shops are too hard to find.

"That's the general idea. Do either of you has any opinions?"

After briefly explaining the design, Liang Qingfan looked up at the two other men.

At the same time, Chen Kangtuo and Shi Zherui answered, "No! It's great!"

Liang Qingfan immediately looked embarrassed. "If either of you have other thoughts, please tell me. It's normal for clients to request for the design to be edited. Don't feel embarrassed."

Chen Kangtuo shook his head. "No, I just think the design is perfect! I like everything, including the fact that visitors can see other shops from the resting area and that different shopping regions would have different color themes.

"We'll fulfill Boss Pei's requirements and ensure the mall's functionality and practicality as much as possible. Exploration, entertainment, and shopping would all be perfectly balanced in that mall.

"Boss Pei has been telling us to leave the professional things to the professionals and not to instruct insiders as outsiders. Just as Boss Pei completely trusts Big Boss Ruan, we have complete trust in your design!"

Liang Qingfan could not help but grin. It looked like Tengda's employees had inherited Boss Pei's spirit. Working with clients like that saved him a lot of trouble.

He turned to look at Shi Zherui. "Teacher Shi, you will be in charge of the construction. If you find anything inappropriate, please raise it as soon as possible so that I can make the necessary modifications."

Shi Zherui shook his head. "I have nothing! One look at the blueprint, and I can tell that you are both knowledgeable and professional, Teacher Liang. You have thought about this from every angle, and your imagination is admirable! If it were left to me, I would not have achieved something like this.

"Of course, I don't want to admit that you can do the work better than I can, but that's the fact! It's a good thing that Boss Pei invited you here from Shanghai. Otherwise, the maze would turn out badly, and I would take the blame, wouldn't I?"

Liang Qingfan laughed. "Teacher Shi, what are you saying? You just have too much on your hands because you have to take charge of Thriller Hostel at the same time. If you could design the maze without any distractions, you would have met Boss Pei's expectations perfectly."

Both men praised each other's skills. Everyone was happy with the design.

"Alright. I'll hand this plan to Boss Li so that construction can begin as soon as possible."

Liang Qingfan yawned. "Alright, please do what you have to, then. I haven't slept much over the last few days so I'm going back to catch up on sleep. If you run into any problems, feel free to contact me at any time."

…

More than an hour later, Li Shi arrived at Chen Kangtuo's office.

"Boss Li, this is our plan for the shopping mall."

Chen Kangtuo and Shi Zherui handed Liang Qingfan's plan to Boss Li for a look.

They knew that Boss Li was not a professional in this industry. Thus, Shi Zherui did not go into too much detail as he explained the blueprint to him. Instead, Shi Zherui focused on the design's ideas, concepts, and various functions.

When Li Shi first saw the extremely complicated blueprint and the resplendent rendering, he was stunned.

How much would it cost to make such a complicated shopping mall as resplendent as a luxury shop?

Is Boss Pei taking me for a fool?

However, after hearing Chen Kangtuo's and Shi Zherui's explanations, Li Shi's suspicions dissipated into thin air. In its place was pure joy.

He had thought that the plan was just a way to make them waste money, but hearing about the entire plan made Li Shi realize something: it would cost a lot, but it would be very effective!

Not only would they have a shopping mall, but they would also have another amusement project in Thriller Hostel. This unique solution would loosen the reins on customers to draw them in. They would be caught between leaving and wanting more, and talking or staying silent…

All in all, it would be entertaining enough to encourage tourists to shop there!

The most important thing was that Boss Pei had given a lot of thought to this plan. In fact, he had put in a lot of work into it, too!

Boss Pei must have been the one who had thought of turning the shopping mall into a maze, right? It was such an intelligent and complicated plan, with both class and style. He must have spent a lot of money to get a professional designer to design the place, right?

All of those showed that this project was important to Boss Pei! If this was so important to Boss Pei, could the project fail?!

Here came the crux of the matter: why was this project so important to Boss Pei?

Li Shi knew that it was obviously because he had figured Boss Pei out.

Before this, he had guessed that Boss Pei was an extremely calm person when it came to business. The amount of work that he let others do and the amount of profits that he shared depended purely on his own cold, hard interests.

If Li Shi had not willingly given up the shopping mall, agreed to bear the costs of renovation, and offered a share of the profits; Boss Pei would not have worked as hard to come up with the plan.

Yet, since Li Shi had offered a share of the profits to Boss Pei and tied all of their interests closer together, Boss Pei used his brain cells to come up with this outstanding design.

Look how beautifully this was done!

At the end of the day, this partnership is only possible because I have thought about and figured out Boss Pei's character accurately.

Shouldn't I reward myself?

When Chen Kangtuo finished explaining the design, he said, "Boss Li, if you have any opinions or suggestions to offer—"

Li Shi raised his hand. "No, I don't!

"Since Boss Pei was the one who came up with this plan, there shouldn't be a problem!

"I'll make arrangements for work to start as soon as possible!"