Chapter 135: Decoration is a bottomless pit

"Menghan, do you want to go with us?" Li Feng asked.

"Me? I won't go..." Lin Menghan's face darkened and she refused, "I have something else to do. My dad has been busy with business these days, so I'll help him take care of it."

As she spoke, she began to pack her things.

Zhao Xinyue took a look, walked over, took her arm, and said coquettishly: "Sister Menghan, let's go together, let's go together. After all, you are a homeowner and are familiar with decoration. Just give me a hand and make some decisions..."

The voice was so sweet that it gave Li Feng goosebumps all over his body.

Lin Menghan looked back at her, and seeing the sincerity in her eyes, her heart softened and she replied, "Okay, let's go together. I also need to buy some household items."

Li Feng drove the car with two people on board and sped all the way. Soon they arrived at the famous Donghuan Building Materials Market on the East Second Ring Road. This building materials market covers an area of ​​hundreds of acres and is divided into several large areas. Each large area has several venues.

Area A is the building materials area, which mainly sells cement, sand, putty powder, gypsum board, plywood, finger-jointed boards and other building materials. Trucks and forklifts come in and out from time to time, and it is very busy.

Area B is the tile and sanitary ware area, which mainly sells various types of floor tiles, skirting boards, wall panels, washbasins, mop pools, toilets, floor drains, faucets, showers, etc. There are also many people coming and going, making people overwhelmed.

Area C mainly sells various doors and windows, security doors, diamond mesh, various latex paints, environmentally friendly paints, water-based paints, ceilings...

Area D sells all kinds of furniture, including sofas, beds, footstools, dining tables and chairs, chests of drawers, computer desks, study tables, bookshelves, bookcases, wardrobes, tatami mats, curtains...

Area E mainly sells various lighting fixtures, sockets, pipes, wires...

There were so many brands and building materials that it was overwhelming and caught Li Feng and Zhao Xinyue off guard.

"Well, house renovations are divided into hard furnishings and soft furnishings," Lin Menghan explained. "Hard furnishings mainly include plumbing and electrical changes, waterproofing, floor tiling or wooden flooring, wall tiling, skirting, whitewashing or wallpapering the walls, ceiling installation, door frames and doors, cabinets, sinks, toilets, floor drains..."

"Soft furnishings are furniture, sofas, bookshelves, wardrobes, dining tables and chairs, lighting, kitchenware, etc., which are purchased after hard furnishings..."

Lin Menghan said a lot, which made Li Feng and Zhao Xinyue a little confused. They had not expected that there were so many details involved in a simple decoration.

Today, I made the right choice by bringing Lin Menghan here.

Seeing the two of them looking confused, Lin Menghan knew they hadn't figured out a plan yet, so she said, "Let's go to District F. There are many large renovation companies there. Let's talk to them and have them make a simple renovation list and give us a quote..."

"How much will the renovation cost?" Li Feng turned the steering wheel and the car slowly drove towards Area F.

"There is no fixed amount for decoration. It's hard to say how much it will cost. It depends on your decoration needs. Different decoration styles will cost different amounts of money." Lin Menghan said.

"I want to change the style," Zhao Xinyue said with a frown. "The house is all red now. It's too heavy and makes people feel uncomfortable. I want to change to a modern style. It will be brighter and I'll feel better."

"We're here. Let's go in and have a designer take a look," Lin Menghan said, pointing to the entrance of Area F. "It's a simple design, free. Let's chat and if we find a home decoration company that suits us, we can make a deal."

Li Feng brought the two girls into Area F, visited several decoration companies, and finally arrived at the door of Jindong Decoration Company. This company claims to be a one-stop decoration company with affordable prices, which makes people feel at ease and worry-free.

"Sister, what style do you like? I have a lot of design drawings here, you can take a look." Designer Miao Jing walked over, glanced at the two women, and finally stopped in front of Zhao Xinyue, handing her a thick design album.

"Let me take a look," Zhao Xinyue took the album and looked at it. The more she looked, the brighter her eyes became. She muttered, "Oh, it's so beautiful. Li Feng, let's not design a modern style. Let's change to this American style."

“American style?”

Li Feng looked over and saw that the design style was simple yet grand, grand yet simple, which was quite good.

Designer Miao Jing, standing nearby, also commented, "The current mainstream urban decoration styles are either American or Chinese. Generally speaking, young people prefer American styles, as they are simple and elegant and more economical than Chinese-style decoration."

"Then let's choose this style. Please quote a price. This is our floor plan. The current style is Chinese." Li Feng said, handing over a floor plan and several photos.

Li Feng downloaded the floor plan from his computer and printed it out. It had the house's layout, structure, dimensions and other data marked on it, making it clear at a glance. The photos were taken by himself a few days ago.

Miao Jing took the floor plan and photos, and a hint of joy flashed in the corner of her eyes, but she didn't expect that the customer would be so straightforward and asked for a quote right after deciding on the style.

Moreover, this is a large house of 140 square meters. Generally speaking, people who can afford such a large house are not short of money. As long as they pay a little attention to the operation, they can make tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars from this business!

Her heart sank. She glanced at Li Feng, Zhao Xinyue, and Lin Menghan, pondered her words, and said:

"Renovation is divided into hard decoration and soft decoration. Our company advocates one-stop service and integrated decoration. Once the decoration is completed, you can move in with your luggage."

"Well, let me give you a quote. Let's talk about the basic renovation first, including the plumbing and electrical changes. We'll have a technician come to your house to measure later. If you need anything, just let me know. I suggest using Jincheng cables to ensure quality and quantity, and Weixing pipes, which I guarantee will last you 50 years... And since you're going with American-style renovations, I suggest you replace the floor tiles. Should we use Guangdong tiles, Shandong tiles, or Hebei Gaoyi tiles?"

"Also, should we use wall panels or latex paint? Should we use Nippon, Sankeshu, or Dulux? And for the suspended ceiling, should we use gypsum board..."

"And what about the craftsman we hired? Should we hire someone from the south or the north to lay the tiles? And what about the curtains? Should we use blackout curtains or add a layer of gauze curtains? And what about the wardrobe?"

"also……"

Miao Jing took out a quotation sheet and quoted the price while thinking. Li Feng and Zhao Xinyue thought and selected at the same time. After more than an hour, the quotation was basically out. After calculation, it turned out to be 200,000 yuan!

This scared Zhao Xinyue!

"So many?" She looked at Miao Jing and then at Li Feng.

Miao Jing said calmly, "If the budget isn't enough, we can reduce it a bit. For example, we can avoid warping the floor and sticking tiles on it, or we can avoid putting up wallboard. But the effect will be a little worse."

"Menghan, please take a look at the quotation." Li Feng handed the quotation to Lin Menghan.

Lin Menghan took it, looked at it carefully, and advised, "Renovation is a bottomless pit. You can throw 100,000 yuan in it and not even make a splash. My 70-square-meter house cost 100,000 yuan to renovate. If you really want to renovate your 140-square-meter house to look like the renderings, I think you'll have to spend at least 500,000 yuan, and that might not even be enough."

"This, no way?!" Zhao Xinyue couldn't help but widen her eyes.

500,000 yuan. This house only cost 1.05 million yuan when it was bought. This renovation will cost nearly half of the money, and it’s still not enough!

This is simply incredible!

500,000 yuan can buy a small house.

500,000 yuan, you can’t earn that much money even if you work for your whole life!

This decoration is really a bottomless pit!

"With so much money, I, I won't pretend anymore." Zhao Xinyue stood up and was about to leave.

Miao Jing saw her surprise and was afraid that she would leave, so she hurriedly explained, "Sister, if we don't want to decorate it this way, we can change the plan. The money is in our hands, so we can spend it however we want and decorate it however we want. If we have more money, we can decorate more, and if we have less, we can decorate less."

Li Feng opened his phone and checked his account. There was over 120,000 yuan in it. This was all the dividends he had just received from Kweichow Moutai and Gree Air Conditioning. Considering that he still had to pay off his mortgage, he said, "Menghan, can you help me look at the renovation list and keep the price within 100,000 yuan?"

"Yeah." Lin Menghan understood and sat next to Miao Jing and began to discuss how to decorate.

"The doors and windows won't need replacing for now, and neither will the ceiling. The kitchen and sink won't need replacing..." Lin Menghan checked each item one by one. "I'll hire a southern craftsman; we can't skimp on the labor. I won't need to renovate the plumbing and electrical systems; I'll just apply a simple coat of brand-name latex paint. I'll skip the wainscoting and wallpaper... I still need to replace the floor tiles to make the room look brighter, so I'll use Shandong tiles..."

As Lin Menghan spoke, she held a pen and crossed out an item, cutting off the expenses. Miao Jing looked at the pen, as if she saw a knife, cutting her heart fiercely.

Cut one price, and one item is missing. Cut another price, and the price drops even more. Cut another price, and another item of profit is lost...

Her heart was literally bleeding.

After a while, the project that had just been quoted at 200,000 yuan was suddenly reduced to 50,000 yuan by Lin Menghan.

At this time, Lin Menghan raised her head, looked at Miao Jing and said, "Can you make it cheaper? You are a one-stop shopping company, with large purchase volumes and low prices. We won't go around to other companies and will leave it all to you. If you give us a realistic price, we will order it from you. If it's too expensive, we..."

Still cheap?

Miao Jing looked at the quotation. The only remaining items were the cost of removing the floor, laying floor tiles, laying skirting boards, painting latex paint, and purchasing floor tiles, cement, sand, skirting boards, etc.

These are all very demanding projects, and the cost cannot be reduced any further.

If it’s any cheaper, it’s either a discount or a huge price cut.

This sister is too ruthless when it comes to cutting projects and bargaining.

She smiled bitterly and said, "Sister, how can this be cheap? You know the market, business is not good these days. Otherwise, how about I give you a full house cleaning?"

Lin Menghan shook her head and said, "We need to clean the whole house, test the water and electricity, and clean the floor heating. And when renovating, we need to avoid using defective materials."

Miao Jing silently calculated the cost in her mind and replied, "Okay, then, let's sign the contract later and pay the down payment first..."

Miao Jing reorganized a decoration agreement and adjusted the price. Li Feng and the other two looked at it again, made sure there were no mistakes, signed it, and paid the down payment.

The two parties agreed that the construction team would enter the site one week later and the project would be completed within three months.

"Menghan, thanks to you for coming, you helped me save 50,000 in the renovation budget. Let's go to the home furnishing area and have a look," Li Feng glanced at Lin Menghan, his eyes full of admiration.

Lin Menghan caught his gaze and lowered her head slightly, but she was delighted in her heart. She continued, "The bulk of the renovation actually goes into the soft furnishings. I wonder if the 50,000 yuan we saved will be enough."

"It's not enough, but it has to be enough," Li Feng said with a smile. "There's only this much money in the card now. I can't take out any more. I'll do what I can with the money I have. If you want to renovate the house, we can do it properly when we make a lot of money later."

When Lin Menghan heard him say "we", her heart warmed and her eyes showed joy.

Zhao Xinyue thought of the previous quote of 300,000 yuan, and her anger died down. She said, "I think a simple renovation is fine. Let's keep the hard decoration simple, and we can fill in the soft furnishings later. The final effect may not be worse than what is drawn in the design."

Before they knew it, they had arrived at Area G, the flower area. Various famous flowers were vying for beauty, attracting many people. Li Feng's eyes lit up as he spotted a large rectangular wooden flowerpot. He said, "Menghan, Xinyue, look, how about we buy a large flowerpot and put it on the observation deck to grow vegetables?"

"What to plant?" Lin Menghan asked.

"How about growing leeks? They are edible and easy to grow. You can plant one crop and eat them for several years." An idea suddenly popped into Zhao Xinyue's mind.

"Great! Trading stocks and growing leeks are both delicious and beautiful!" Li Feng praised.