Chapter 516 Return to the country and contribute your own strength
The construction team stopped working, and the client sent a payment reminder. Even Lin Xiao was worried for her: "Why don't we talk to the client and make the atrium smaller? We can't just keep wasting time."
Han Lingcui squatted beside a pile of sand at the construction site and sketched a plan: "Look, after the foundation is moved back, there's room to dig a sunken courtyard here."
"We turned the inspection wells of the Qing Dynasty pipeline network into a landscape, where children can watch rainwater flow into the wells through the cracks in the old bricks. It's more interesting than just a simple staircase."
She revised the drawings overnight and divided the shrunken handcraft workshop into two.
Half of it was moved to the glass house in the sunken courtyard, and the other half remained on the second floor, connected by a spiral staircase.
The bakery's chimney was changed into a "Z" shape, running along the old wall, and a layer of wooden grille was wrapped around the outside of the chimney, which will be covered with green ivy in summer.
When she handed the new plan to Party A, the other party looked at the design of "old pipeline network + new courtyard" in the drawing and couldn't help but say.
"You're not changing the plan, you're turning a problem into a highlight."
Who would have thought that a typhoon would come so suddenly?
That night, Typhoon Lynx passed through and the temporary shed at the construction site was blown down.
The newly poured concrete beams on the second floor became damp from rain.
When Han Lingcui received the call, she was telling Xunxun a bedtime story. After hanging up the phone, she ran to the construction site.
The rain was so heavy that the umbrella couldn't hold up at all. Her clothes were completely soaked, and the red marks on her wrists were sore from the rain.
The foreman shouted in the rain.
"Engineer Han, don't come over here! The formwork on the beam might collapse!"
But she rushed over through the accumulated water and looked up at the crumbling template.
"Start the water pump and drain the water out of the beam first! Then find some steel pipes to support the support points of the formwork!"
She stood in the rain and directed the work for three hours until the template finally stabilized at dawn.
The workers handed her hot water. She held the cup, her fingers shaking so much that she couldn't even unscrew the lid.
Now, she is really a little scared.
If the formwork really collapses, not only will six months of hard work be ruined, but people may also be injured.
But it was this typhoon that allowed everyone to see her design clearly.
When we checked after the rain stopped, we found that the old brick wall that had been repaired had no water seepage at all.
The drainage outlet of the sunken courtyard is designed according to the slope of the Qing Dynasty pipeline network, so the accumulated water drains faster than the road next to it.
The foreman patted her shoulder and said, "Engineer Han, I used to think you were too stubborn, but now I'm convinced. Your design really fits in with the old neighborhood."
On the day the project was completed, Academician Chen personally presented her with the award.
"'Shiguangji' is not an isolated building. It integrates the memories of the old neighborhood and the lives of its residents into its concrete and steel structure. This is the 'organic renewal' we seek."
There was thunderous applause from the audience. She saw the flower shop owner holding a bouquet of sunflowers and Lin Xiao holding freshly baked croissants.
Chen Hanxing held Xunxun in his arms, and Xuanyuan Ge made an "awesome" gesture in the crowd.
Suddenly, someone patted her on the shoulder. It was the vice president of the local design institute who had questioned her before.
"Engineer Han, I was narrow-minded before. Your design made me realize that architecture is not just about drawings, but also about the human heart."
Before long, "Shiguangji" became a popular check-in spot for internet celebrities, but more of the visitors were old residents.
Later, she received an invitation to design a branch of the National Library and was hired as a visiting lecturer at the School of Architecture.
…
Five years later.
When Han Lingcui pushed her suitcase out of Terminal 3 of Beijing Capital Airport, the afternoon sun was shining through the glass dome, weaving tiny spots of light on the ground.
She wore a sharply tailored off-white suit and a silk shirt with a small brass sunflower brooch pinned to the collar.
That was a semi-finished product made by Xunxun out of clay when "Shiguangji" opened five years ago. Later, she asked a craftsman to make it into jewelry.
There was half a bunch of dried lavender hanging on the handle of the suitcase, which was given to her by an old neighbor when she was a resident designer in Florence, Italy.
The phone vibrated in his pocket, and the words "Chen Hanxing" popped up on the screen.
The voice on the other end had a familiar urgency.
"Lingcui, have you landed?"
Han Lingcui laughed, "You're really timely. I just left the airport."
Shen Hanxing breathed a sigh of relief, "Jianghu help."
Han Lingcui was stunned for a moment, then he found out after investigating.
Chen Hanxing's Chuxin Company, regarding the commercial complex design project in "Old City Root", the client suddenly overturned the previous plan this morning, saying that they wanted to preserve the small Republican-era post office building on the corner of the street.
As a result, all the previous drafts of the design department were scrapped.
Han Lingcui pushed the box towards the parking lot without stopping.
"Do you have the structural drawings of the post office building? Send me a copy and I'll be there right away."
"You just returned home, why don't you take a break first?" Chen Hanxing's voice softened. "Xunxun is still waiting for you at the company. She's been talking about you all morning."
"Let's solve the problem first."
Han Lingcui hung up the phone and slid his fingertips quickly across the phone screen.
In the drawings sent by Chen Hanxing, the small building of the Republic of China Post Office looked like an abrupt puzzle piece, stuck in the main entrance route of the new plan.
Party A wanted to preserve the original appearance of the building while ensuring the traffic flow of commercial personnel. The design department's previous plan was to move the small building back three meters, but foundation surveys showed that there were old brick kiln ruins underneath, which could not be moved.
Forty minutes later, Han Lingcui walked into the office building of "Chuxin Design".
The girl at the front desk was stunned when she looked up. It took her a few seconds to react and she quickly stood up.
There was a low pressure in the design department's office. Several designers sat around the long table sighing, and the drawings were covered with red marks of revisions.
Han Lingcui walked over without saying a word. He bent down to pick up the tape measure on the table and pointed to the position of the load-bearing wall of the post office building on the drawing.
"The non-load-bearing wall on the west side of the small building was demolished to build a built-in glass display cabinet to connect the main entrance with the shops inside."
"The display cabinets display old items from the old post office, including postmarks and green-leather mailbox models, which not only preserve the main body of the building but also serve as guide signs."
She drew an arc with her fingertips along the line of movement.
"The steps at the main entrance were then transformed into a gentle slope, with bluestone slabs used to create a street map from the Republican era, echoing the texture of the building's brick walls."
"The 'historical sense' that the client wanted wasn't to treat the old building as a specimen, but to allow it to 'talk' to the new space."
The office was silent for a few seconds, then someone whispered.
"In this way, people can bypass the load-bearing walls and naturally notice the small building..." Another designer immediately picked up a pen and started sketching on the drawing.
"You're still the best."
Shen Hanxing came over with a cup of hot coffee. Her belly was already noticeably bulging. She leaned against the table, looking at Han Lingcui with eyes full of emotion.
"Five years ago at the 'Shiguangji' construction site, you had to argue with the foreman about whether to demolish the old brick wall. Now, a single sentence can turn a dead end around."
She paused, her voice lowered. "Remember that vice president of the design institute back then? He asked someone to contact me a while ago, hoping to recruit you to their company as the design director. The salary offered was three times your current salary."
Han Lingcui took the coffee, felt the warmth of the cup wall with his fingertips, and smiled.
"It's not that I'm great, it's just that I've seen too many cases of 'the old and the new coexisting' during my five years abroad."
"Well said."
A clear and somewhat shy voice came.
Han Lingcui turned around and saw a little boy in a blue school uniform standing at the door, carrying a schoolbag and holding a sketchbook in his hand.
It was Xunxun, a ten-year-old whose growth had reached the level of Han Lingcui's chin. Her hair was neatly cut, and her cheeks still had a little baby fat.
But his eyes were no longer as glued to her as they were when they were children. Instead, he lowered his head a little embarrassedly, picking at the corners of the sketchbook with his fingers.
"Xunxun."
Han Lingcui put down her coffee and walked toward him. The child looked up, his eyes brightening, then quickly looked away. He whispered "Mom" and handed her the sketchbook.
"I drew... the sunflowers from 'Collection of Lights'."
In the sketchbook, the sunflowers in the atrium were blooming golden, and there was a bird painted on the glass ceiling, with "Chen Qianxun, Class 1, Grade 4" written crookedly next to it.
Han Lingcui squatted down and gently brushed the lines on the drawing paper with his fingertips.
"That's a great painting." She looked up at him. "Does school teach painting?"
Xunxun nodded and started talking more and more, from watercolors in art class, to her deskmate in the class, and then to the baby in Shen Hanxing's belly. After a while, she took her hand and wanted to take her to see her small desk in the company.
The office door was pushed open again, and Xuanyuan Ge was standing at the door, holding a bunch of white lisianthus in his hand, with water droplets on the petals.
He was calmer than he was five years ago, with short hair and wearing a dark windbreaker, but the sharpness in his eyes was still the same as when he said "Awesome" at the opening ceremony of "Shiguangji".
"I heard you were back," he walked towards Han Lingcui, handed her the flowers, his voice lower than usual.
"Congratulations on winning the International Emerging Architect Award."
Shen Hanxing laughed beside him.
"Boss Xuanyuan has been like a 'iron tree that never blooms' for the past five years. He's refused to accept the olive branches offered by countless ladies, but today he's taken the initiative to send flowers."
Xuanyuan Ge’s fingertips grasped the flower stem, and without responding to Shen Hanxing’s words, his eyes fell on Han Lingcui.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
