Chapter 28
Yoda and Liu Si are quite familiar with each other now. Whenever Yoda comes to the firm, if Shi Xing is busy, Liu Si will hang out with Yoda. Although Liu Si is both a receptionist and a part-time assistant, Shi Xing rarely assigns her any work, so she has quite a lot of free time.
Liu Si happily showed Yoda several of her recently made yarn dolls.
Each one is beautiful and very interestingly designed. "Did you make all of these yourself?"
Liu Si was a little shy, but smiled sweetly: "At first, I saw someone post a tutorial video online, so I bought the materials and followed along. Later, I realized I had a favorite color, so I changed it."
"However, I'm still at a very basic level right now, and I can only follow other people's tutorials. I've only just started learning the most basic weaving techniques. Once I've mastered them, I'll be able to design my own."
After speaking, she felt a little shy, worried that her ideas might be a bit far-fetched and impractical. Yoda carefully examined Liu Si's work and nodded seriously: "It's definitely possible. Your color choices are all particularly beautiful. If you can design the shapes you want yourself, they will definitely be very popular. You could probably become a master craftsman in the future."
"Really? You like it?" The assistant's eyes sparkled as she looked at Yoda.
Yoda nodded, quite certain. The assistant smiled shyly, "Sister Yoda, what color do you like? I'll make one for you."
When it was Yoda's turn, he said apologetically, "This must take a lot of time."
Assistant: "I'll do it little by little in my spare time each day, and it'll be finished eventually. I'll make one that you like and give it to you anyway."
"Okay, then I like the same color as this one. As for the style..." The two huddled together to discuss when suddenly a figure stood in front of them, speaking in an unfriendly tone.
It turned out to be Li Chong, the designer from the firm. He stood in front of the two of them, glancing openly at Yoda beside him. He didn't recognize Yoda and she didn't seem like a customer, so he paid her no attention. His gaze then fixed on Liu Si: "The guests I brought have all finished their water. Why didn't you go in and refill their bottles?"
Liu Si initially wanted to say that this wasn't her job. With so many designers at the firm having clients every day, it would be overwhelming if she had to handle everyone. Besides, since Shi Xing no longer needed an assistant, Liu Si's main job was still reception at the front desk.
Occasionally, when other designers need help, Liu Si is kind and helpful, so she will actively help them, but this is not within her initial job scope.
Liu Si knew this wasn't the time to argue, and she didn't want to get into trouble with others. When she first started working, her father had told her that there was no need to compete in life; if you encountered unreasonable people, just live your own life well.
Liu Si stood up: "I'll go right away."
Seeing the other party's obedient attitude, Li Chong snorted softly, his nostrils flaring slightly. "Next time, remember to be more alert. Come in every fifteen minutes to see what I need. Where does business come from without customers? And you expect to get paid if you don't have business?"
The other person's tone was really unpleasant. Liu Si had already helped, yet they were still lecturing her relentlessly. Before Yoda could even stand up to confront this person, a boy next to him spoke up: "It's not like you own the firm. Whether they pay salaries or not is none of your business."
Li Chong turned his head and looked at Wang Mian, who was much taller than him, and couldn't help but take a few steps back. "You!"
Wang Mian walked to Liu Si's side and continued her tirade: "You bring so many people here every day, wasting water and electricity. With this attitude, you expect people to help you. Let's not even talk about how many deals you've signed. What does it matter to others if you don't get a commission?"
Li Chong wanted to retort, but Wang Mian didn't give him the chance: "Even if you sign the contract, what does it have to do with us? In this firm, whoever handles the contract gets paid proportionally. Don't try to fool us with your theories. Everyone here has business, except you. This person is the receptionist, not your assistant."
"You...you...you." Seeing the other person's incoherent anger, Wang Mian arrogantly approached. "What? Waiting for me to get you some water?"
Having gained nothing, Li Chong could only leave dejectedly.
The assistant and Yoda watched Wang Mian, who was breathing nonstop, with great admiration. Being tall meant having a larger lung capacity. "You're really good at talking!"
Wang Mian was very confident: "Of course! If I weren't worried about the two of us arguing, my fighting power could definitely double. You know, I've won countless deals with just my words. Even that auntie who almost fell through last time became my customer and introduced other acquaintances to me for design work."
Looking down at Liu Si, he said, "Next time he orders you around, just say I need to talk to you. Don't help him without saying a word. You won't get a kind word from that kind of person even if you help him."
Liu Si smiled and nodded, "Oh."
Wang Mian looked at Yoda, and of course he knew who the other person was. He immediately asked familiarly, "President Shi said you were interning at a decoration company. Big companies should be very well-organized, right? You just need to focus on drawing, unlike us who have to do sales ourselves."
That's true; the renovation company Yoda works for is quite large. The company has a dedicated sales department, and after a contract is signed, the project is assigned to one of the company's designers. They also have a dedicated construction team; the whole process is a well-established, streamlined operation.
Wang Mian said enviously, "That's wonderful."
Yoda: "However, large companies have long internship periods, and even after the internship, you still have to work as an assistant for a long time before you can become a designer and start taking on independent projects. Firms are more flexible. There are advantages to each."
Wang Mian thought about it and realized that he could learn faster from designers at the firm.
He wasn't complaining, but the atmosphere at the firm had changed. Many people felt design wasn't important; closing deals was the most important thing. Compared to before, when everyone was diligently designing in the office, learning from each other, now many people are either making marketing calls or out looking for clients. It's so busy that there's never a moment of peace and quiet in the firm.
Putting everything else aside, although Li Chong's designs weren't great, he did manage to get some orders by constantly receiving clients. He managed to sell in large quantities at low prices by doing some repetitive designs, and he did quite well.
Although Wang Mian didn't lack orders while working with Shi Xing, Shi Xing's philosophy was to avoid doing repetitive projects and prioritize projects they hadn't done before. This meant that each project required a lot of time for careful preparation. He got a headache from drawing so much that he could only relax by taking walks and arguing with people.
Wang Mian sighed: "It would be nice to stick to one style all the time, at least it wouldn't be so troublesome."
Liu Si asked curiously, "Isn't it said that this is bad for a person's development?"
Wang Mian patiently explained, "In the long run, there is no development, but what can we do? When we can't even afford to eat, we can only try to make a living first."
Yoda found Wang Mian's explanation very familiar; this practical reasoning was so similar to Zhou Liu's ideas. If they knew each other, they would surely be on the same page.
When Shi Xing had some free time, Yoda left the chat, leaving only Liu Si and Wang Mian to continue their conversation.
Yoda came this time wanting to refer to current design drafts. The designer currently mentoring Yoda will have him try designing projects and then show them to him. As a beginner, it's always good to have readily available guides.
Although Shixing's firm wasn't as large as a renovation company, its design scope was broader than that of large corporations with clearly defined divisions of labor; they had a little bit of everything. Making money wasn't shameful. Moreover, the money earned could be spent on himself, and the design drafts he left behind could be used for his own learning. In Yoda's eyes, Shixing was now gleaming with gold from head to toe.
Shi Xing took out the renovation plans he thought were valuable for reference and placed them all on the table.
Yoda picked up each document and examined them carefully. These original drawings best showcased the designer's experience and ability; compared to the various fancy renderings online, those with original data were much easier to reference. Although theoretically all the data was from textbooks, practical experience in handling the details of the renovation was still essential.
With Shi Xing's help, Yoda spent his time after get off work each day designing little by little according to his own ideas, and finally managed to finish the renderings and submit them before the deadline set by Designer Wang.
"Hmm, not bad, very meticulous." Designer Wang looked at the renderings Yoda had given him. Every design element had been marked with specific data, and even the hidden works like plumbing and electrical wiring had been adjusted according to the functional areas. For a novice, this level of awareness was quite impressive. Basically, with these design drawings, he could begin the renovation.
However, he pointed to the dimensions of the furniture.
“We don’t need this data. I have a similar one here. Just use this one.” He said, handing Yoda a design drawing of his own.
Yoda nodded, took it, and immediately noticed the difference between the two. He hesitated, "These pieces of furniture aren't the standard size?"
Designer Wang slowly took a sip of water: "Yes, this is a model home, so we need to consider how it will look when people actually visit. If the furniture is smaller, the house will appear larger."
Yoda was puzzled: "But this would reduce the practicality. Moreover, the matching soft furnishings cannot be in standard sizes. If homebuyers buy a house and decorate it based on the effect of the show flat, it will be difficult to achieve the desired result."
The other person glanced at Yoda, realizing she genuinely didn't understand the logic and wasn't trying to argue. Her annoyance lessened slightly, but her tone remained somewhat harsh: "This isn't your business. Just do as I say."
Yoda wanted to stick to his design, but the other party didn't care. Yoda had no choice but to leave, after all, he was the designer of the project, not himself.
Yoda looked at the different furniture dimensions on the two design drawings and couldn't help but sigh. Even though it was just a bed that was a little short and a wardrobe that was a bit too low, even if they actually used those dimensions, it would look pretty much the same on-site, but he still couldn't shake the feeling that it wasn't right.
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