Chapter 51
The other party's messages were still flashing, asking Shi Xing to confirm whether he could go to the site to oversee the construction. The meaning was clear: although the other party approved of Shi Xing's design style, whether the design could be implemented was the most crucial factor for them.
If Shi Xing cannot be present to guide the construction, then from a practical standpoint, they will have to choose the work of another designer.
"Knock knock knock," Yoda knocked on the door and peeked in, looking at Shi Xing: "Was I polite enough this time?"
Shi Xing casually closed the chat window and said with a smile, "You're definitely much more polite now, a big improvement."
Yoda went inside and took Shixing's hand: "Come with me."
Shi Xing got up with Yoda's help, and the two walked to the parking lot. Shi Xing asked, "Where do you want to go?"
Yoda shook his head: "I'm not going anywhere. I'm here to show you my personal skills."
Yoda walked over to Shi Xing's car, then backed up and got into a mini electric vehicle. After fastening his seatbelt, he waved to Shi Xing: "Please watch carefully!"
After saying that, he sat up straight. He started moving forward, smoothly paralleled the car, then circled around the car, and then reversed into the parking space, successfully parking the car back in its original position.
After finishing the whole process, Yoda rolled down the car window and asked Shi Xing triumphantly, "How's my skill now?"
Shi Xing clapped and nodded, watching Yoda cook the chopped chili fish head with the ferocity of a great white shark, and praised him: "Smooth throughout, very impressive."
Yoda jumped out of the car and ran to Shi Xing's side, saying, "Now you can rest assured. Don't worry about it raining when I'm on set, or that I'll come back too late. Even if something happens, there are so many people in the firm, we'll help each other out."
Seeing Shi Xing finally nod, Yoda breathed a sigh of relief and secretly wiped the sweat from his palms. He was relieved that his demonstration in front of Shi Xing had been perfect this time.
Although Yoda retrieved the notes he had taken during his driving lessons and reviewed them, regaining his former feel for the car, he still couldn't park perfectly. But that's okay, since the car is small, it's not only perfect for people who park crookedly, but also convenient for navigating streets and alleys to check the situation.
I secretly practiced in the firm's parking lot many times to ensure success this time. I definitely couldn't park as well in another place, but there was no need to tell Shi Xing about that.
Yoda watched Shi Xing walk in and asked him, "Are you almost done with the preparations?" After finalizing the project to renovate the abandoned factory, Shi Xing wrapped up his current tasks. After all, the other project involved a much larger workload, making it difficult to manage both at the same time.
Shi Xing nodded: "That's about it. But I have a friend who wants to renovate and asked you to design it. He's the former owner of the landscaping company."
Upon hearing that it was an acquaintance, Yoda said, "This order wasn't created for me by you, was it, so that I could immerse myself in work and forget the sadness of your departure?"
Shi Xing smiled and shook his head: "I'd say it's barely acceptable, is that alright?"
"Of course, I love my job the most, and I'll take any job that comes my way."
Since they had some free time, Shi Xing and Yoda decided to visit each other.
Upon meeting, Shi Xing and Qu Xingye chatted familiarly. Yoda looked around the house and found the layout to be quite good with no major flaws.
After Shi Xing and the other man had finished speaking, Qu Xingye walked over to Yoda and earnestly explained his family's needs.
“My wife loves reading, so we need a sunny study.”
“We also have children, so we need a children’s room.”
"The master bedroom needs to be quiet. Also, we need to place a lot of green plants in the house, so it needs better ventilation and sunlight. But we can't give all the best-lit spots to the plants. My wife likes to sunbathe, so we need to leave a relaxing balcony."
Yoda followed them around, taking notes and nodding as he went. Once he had observed enough, Yoda asked, "Do you have the style you're looking for?"
Qu Xingye scratched his head: "I haven't asked that yet."
Yoda nodded and stood aside to wait.
"Hmm?" Qu Xingye looked at Yoda, puzzled.
"Hmm?" Yoda looked at the other person, puzzled.
"Oh, I wasn't asking now, she's sleeping." Qu Xingye realized and explained, a little embarrassed, "After getting pregnant, I didn't sleep well at night, so I need to catch up on sleep during the day."
Yoda expressed his understanding, saying that it was fine to learn about it for now.
Suddenly having a new project in hand made me feel at ease again, even though I was a little disappointed because of Shi Xing's departure.
Zhou Liu is such a worry; every time he earns a little money, he raises the budget. Yoda revised the first draft over and over again, and finally couldn't help but say to Zhou Liu, "Why don't you just double the budget? I think you're doing pretty well in this industry; it's not as unstable as you're worried about."
Zhou Liu said, "No, this way I'll have a goal and that will motivate me. Please, please, this is very important to me."
"Alright then." Yoda couldn't resist the other's request and resigned himself to his fate: "Although I'll suffer, I'll continue to change for your happiness. After all, the three of us are friends."
Zhou Liu, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, suddenly became agitated: "What do you mean 'the three of us'? We're just ordinary friends."
Yoda smugly said, "Huh? Did I say who it was?"
Zhou Liu immediately calmed down and retorted, "Well, I didn't say who it was."
Yoda didn't speak, but his expression said it all. Zhou Liu hesitated for a moment, but couldn't help asking, "Am I that obvious?"
Yoda said, "It's no different from telling her in person. Why are you hiding it? This is a good thing. If you like her, just say it openly and tell Zhou Ying everything you've planned." Yoda knew that although the two of them weren't together yet, after so many years of companionship, if they didn't have feelings for each other, how could they both only have each other by their side?
Zhou Liu confessed, "I plan to wait until Zhou Ying graduates before I formally confess my feelings to her. In our hometown, even dating is a very serious matter, so I need to choose a good time. Right now, she is focused on her studies, and I don't want to disturb her."
Yoda said, "Are you so confident that they'll agree to your request? Don't be a fool if they run away later."
Zhou Liu chuckled sheepishly, "How could that be? Some things don't need to be said; everyone already knows. I just wanted to make this more ceremonial."
Yoda, having just witnessed a dog-food scene, still had to design a new house for Zhou Liu. However, Zhou Liu's project wasn't in a rush to start; he wanted to get Qu Xingye's project going first. He planned to ventilate the house for six months after it was finished to remove the formaldehyde.
Although the renovation project by the firm will include formaldehyde removal, this is a house for a family with a young child, so naturally the homeowner would prefer the longer the ventilation time to be safe.
On his second visit, his needs were more specific. Qu Xingye smiled and said, "My wife said she wanted the style of this home to be closer to nature, with plants as the theme. Of course, it also needs to be convenient for taking care of the children." As he spoke, his smile deepened. Considering his career, it was clear that this request was specifically made for him by his wife.
Although he mentioned that Yoda also designs according to the client's needs, it was clear that his wife's consideration for him touched him even more. Yes, that's just the couple's way of being affectionate; I completely understand.
However, despite all that talk, every communication so far has been handled between Yoda and Qu Xingye. Judging from Qu Xingye's demeanor, he values his wife's feelings and wants the renovation to meet her needs.
Therefore, Yoda still needs to speak with the other party. After all, relaying information can sometimes lose some of the truth, and face-to-face interaction allows Yoda to more keenly perceive the inner needs of each customer. "Could you meet with your wife to ascertain her needs and thoughts?"
Qu Xingye smiled good-naturedly: "Sorry, she's still sleeping. Let me ask her."
Yoda paused in taking notes. The other person was asleep as soon as they mentioned meeting. If it weren't for the warmth in Qu Xingye's eyes every time he mentioned his wife, which didn't seem fake, Yoda would have really doubted whether the other person actually had a wife.
Yoda smiled and shook his head, then suddenly stopped. Could it be that it really wasn't true, and that he was just imagining things? Probably not.
Yoda looked at Shixing's office, which had been locked after Shixing went on a business trip. If Shixing were still there, Yoda could just barge in and complain about this, but since he wasn't there, Yoda didn't want to bother him.
After all, he must be very busy over there. Yoda felt a little discouraged, but his gloom lasted less than a minute before he quickly perked up and got back to work.
"Ding-dong." Yoda, who was just about to take out Qu Xingye's floor plan to study it, quickly picked up his phone. Sure enough, it was Shi Xing. He opened it, and the other person's face appeared on the screen.
Shi Xing stood in an open space, with several buildings behind him, but none of them caught his eye than a very long covered bridge. Yoda couldn't help but ask as soon as he saw it, "What's that?"
Shi Xing turned around and looked behind him: "That's the coal transport trestle." Seeing that Yoda was interested, he picked up his phone and described the buildings around him: "That's the coal preparation plant, with many pipes inside used for screening coal. There's a coal storage yard over there, and that open space over there used to be for loading trucks."
There were many more, but they were too far away and blurry to see clearly. Yoda, who had originally thought there was only one factory, was now realizing the complexity of this project for the first time, and her tone carried a hint of worry: "It's so complicated, won't it be very hard work?"
Before Shi Xing could even speak, he heard Yoda ask and explained, "No, although there are many buildings on the ground, the initial scope of the redesign is not large. We'll start by renovating the part closest to the commercial area, and if the results are good, we'll continue investing. Besides, there are successful design cases both domestically and internationally that we can refer to."
Yoda believed that Shi Xing's calmness stemmed from confidence and a sense of ease. She spoke to Shi Xing about Qu Xingye: "It's so strange. I haven't seen his wife yet, but every time I talk to him, he keeps talking about her and his children. Have you seen them?"
Shi Xing shook his head slightly, his gaze fixed on Yoda. The smile on his lips never faded. "I haven't seen him either, but he said his wife wanted you to design it."
"Huh?" Yoda was puzzled, but since there really was such a person, he felt relieved. "At least it shows that I'm dealing with a real need. Otherwise, one would start to feel a little guilty doing this."
Looking at the time, it felt like so much had passed even though they hadn't said much. Yoda looked at the dark circles under Shi Xing's eyes and felt a little worried. He had finally managed to rest and recover a bit recently, but he didn't know how many more nights he would have to stay up this time.
Thinking that Shi Xing must be working overtime every day to get back as soon as possible, Youda suddenly felt that the time they spent chatting was a waste, and it would be better for Shi Xing to use it to rest. Before she could finish thinking this, she said directly, "You should go and rest. I'm fine and will wait for you to come back."
Shi Xing showed no intention of hanging up the video call. After pausing for a few seconds, he said, "Yoda." Then he stopped again.
"Um?"
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