When Xia Xiaolan shared her thoughts with Liu Yong, he found them too outrageous.

“Would Manager Huo agree to this?”

In Liu Yong’s mind, Huo Chenzhou would have to be crazy to choose the expensive option when there were cheaper alternatives available. His year-plus experience had taught him that all clients’ first requirement was “saving money,” followed by “looking good.” They hoped to achieve both, which was why Liu Yong now gave slightly higher quotes, knowing clients would negotiate!

Only when working with familiar clients would they accept prices without negotiation.

“I’ve shown the contract to Director Wu, and he said getting an 80 million loan wouldn’t be a problem at all.”

The 4 million yuan bet was already substantial.

Liu Yong was quite satisfied with the signed contract, so he naturally hesitated when Xia Xiaolan proposed a new idea.

“Look, according to Huo Chenzhou’s payment terms, once the proposal is approved, we’ll receive 500,000 upfront, then another 500,000 when construction begins. This means we’ll have 1 million at the start. This million can cover quite a lot of building materials. With Director Wu’s 800,000 loan and what I can gather, we’ll have 1.6 million from the bank. Should we just let it sit idle? Before we even use up this 1.6 million, Dongfeng Holdings will provide the third payment… Uncle, our loan could leverage an even larger project.”

Since securing her basic needs, Xia Xiaolan had become less desperate, allowing her to study peacefully at Huaqing.

But when the opportunity knocked, she didn’t mind maximizing the benefits!

Why shouldn’t she make money when she could?

Seeing Liu Yong’s hesitation, Xia Xiaolan tried a different approach. “16 million might seem like a lot to ordinary people like us. But for a five-star hotel, it’s not exactly luxurious… We shouldn’t forget about being frugal, but is that what the Special Economic Zone wants? I suspect the Hong Kong shareholders’ rejection of Old Ning’s original decoration plan might be more than just opposing Dongfeng Holdings.”

Power struggles were certainly the main reason.

But if Hong Kong Meihua wanted management rights, why were the China Merchants Bureau and HSBC getting involved?

All three Hong Kong shareholders opposed it – perhaps they’d united against Dongfeng Holdings! But was there another possibility – that they genuinely disliked Old Ning’s decoration plan?

It wasn’t that the design was poor – from Xia Xiaolan’s perspective, it was quite cohesive.

But she had to admit honestly that while it looked good, its luxury standard only met mainland criteria.

Perhaps they’d misunderstood the requirements – maybe the Hong Kongers weren’t looking to save money but rather wanted the landmark building’s influence. They wanted people who stayed at the Nanhai Hotel to never forget it, making it the leader among similarly positioned hotels in China!

“You think that’s the case?”

“Why don’t we test it? We can still modify the original plan. I’ll talk to Huo Chenzhou and create a 30 million budget proposal! We’ll show both proposals to the Hong Kong shareholders and let them choose. Uncle, while Dongfeng Holdings wants control, the Hong Kong company hasn’t given up. Remember what the security team said about Hong Kong designers surveying the site… We might face strong competition against Yuanhui soon.”

To succeed, they needed to be strong themselves. Xia Xiaolan couldn’t count on Tang Hongen to compromise his principles to help them. Yuanhui’s proposal couldn’t be lost to the Hong Kong design companies – that was the prerequisite.

With a 30 million budget proposal, a quarter would be 7.5 million. Calculating at a 15% profit margin, that meant around 1.1 million in profit. With the total budget doubled, naturally, what she and her uncle could earn would double too.

Between them raising 1.6 million, following Huo Chenzhou’s payment terms, Xia Xiaolan believed they could sustain the project.

When Xia Xiaolan suggested trying, Liu Yong finally agreed.

This was her biggest investment opportunity since her rebirth, and she wouldn’t easily give it up. She left Gong Yang at Ning Yanfan’s studio to continue drawing and went to find Huo Chenzhou herself.

…

“Manager Huo, Miss Xia from Yuanhui would like to see you.”

“Oh? Show her in!”

Only two days had passed – was Xia Xiaolan here to complain already?

If Xia Xiaolan said now that she couldn’t complete the proposal, Huo Chenzhou wouldn’t soften his stance. Once the contract was signed, there was no room for regret. Dongfeng Holdings needed Tang Hongen’s support.

Of course, if Xia Xiaolan came seeking help, Huo Chenzhou would decide whether to assist based on her attitude.

Huo Chenzhou heard Xia Xiaolan’s footsteps and saw her figure appear at his office door.

“Miss Xia, I thought you’d be working day and night at this point. What would you like to drink? Coca-Cola?”

Coca-Cola had actually appeared in Shanghai as early as 1927, leaving the Chinese market after the founding of the People’s Republic, then returning in 1979 after Reform and Opening Up, establishing joint-venture bottling enterprises in Beijing, Nanjing, and other cities.

In 1985, drinking Coca-Cola seemed more fashionable than drinking Arctic Ocean soda.

Xia Xiaolan never drank carbonated beverages, not because she feared gaining weight, but because they made her hiccup – which was disadvantageous during negotiations. When both parties were crossing swords, suddenly hiccuping would ruin her momentum!

For the same reason, she also avoided foods with strong flavors like chives and garlic – these were lessons learned from her previous life’s bitter experiences.

One didn’t need to be beautiful, but at least needed to maintain a clean and fresh appearance without offending others to have a chance at successful sales.

“Thank you, Manager Huo. Plain water will be fine.”

Now, Xia Xiaolan once again treated Huo Chenzhou as her sales target. She needed to convince him to double the Nanhai Hotel’s decoration budget from around 16 million directly.

By mid-May, Beijing had already turned warm, and young, healthy people like Huo Chenzhou had switched to short sleeves. The office temperature was perfect, but after Xia Xiaolan sat across from him, Huo Chenzhou suddenly felt a chill on his neck… An animal’s instinctive sense of danger made Manager Huo feel as if he’d become prey.

“Miss Xia, if you need any help, we can communicate more. Is there a problem with the proposal? Don’t worry, I can contact people to help resolve it.”

Huo Chenzhou showed full sincerity.

Xia Xiaolan took a sip of water.

“Manager Huo, you’ve misunderstood. I suddenly realized I could help you with something. You’ve been so supportive of Yuanhui, I shouldn’t keep this to myself, so I came to tell you directly.”

Tell what?

Did Mayor Tang have a message that needed Xia Xiaolan to relay?

If that was the case, Huo Chenzhou would be quite interested.

“Please go ahead, Miss Xia.”

“I have some concerns about the original contract and would like to sign a new one with you, if possible?”

Huo Chenzhou narrowed his eyes, “Miss Xia, Yuanhui’s scale is what it is. Taking on a quarter of the budget is already quite challenging for you. Don’t be too greedy!”

Xia Xiaolan shook her head, “It’s still a quarter, but the total budget would increase to 30 million-“

“Impossible!”

30 million – Huo Chenzhou wanted to ask, did he look stupid to her?!