“Teacher, you’ve worked the hardest!”

“Engineer Wang has worked hard too.”

“And also Ge Jian…”

“And Mr. Ying as well.”

“We’re also fortunate to have Senior Brother Zhou’s help!”

Xia Xiaolan didn’t need to thank every construction worker individually, but she couldn’t miss thanking any of the key contributors who had put in significant effort.

The weather in Pengcheng wasn’t particularly cold in December.

She was speaking in Qihang’s new office. When Liu Yong decorated the show units, he also set up the sales office. The first floor was the sales department, while the second floor was divided into office spaces. Xia Xiaolan was probably the only one with a private office, though she knew she wouldn’t use this room often, so it doubled as a “meeting room.”

Qihang had previously borrowed Yuanhui’s office space, but now they finally had their workplace, though it wasn’t very large – the company didn’t have many formal employees anyway.

On the office desk sat the sand table model of the “Golden Sand Pool.”

Although only the street-facing row of buildings was finished, the model of the entire property development had been completed early.

“The land area is 23.2 mu, which is 15,452 square meters. The actual total construction area is 12,330 square meters, comprising six building units. The first unit is what we’ve already built. Because the first floor has high ceilings for shops, the first unit only has five floors available for sale. Qihang is also using one 90-square-meter apartment as an office, so that’s one less unit available for sale…”

Everyone present listened as Xia Xiaolan read from her documents.

Today’s meeting was about property sales, pricing, and selling strategy – everyone was waiting to hear the boss’s plan.

Naturally, Mao Guosheng wasn’t qualified to attend this meeting.

Mao Kangshan’s expression wasn’t good. No matter how he calculated it, building the houses so sparsely would result in a loss.

The total construction area was only 12,330 square meters. When selling apartments nowadays, they sold based on actual internal area. After deducting the stairwells and wall space from the six units, the real internal area was 12,100 square meters. Even if they sold it at 1,000 yuan per square meter, they would only make 12 million yuan!

What kind of money was that?

It would barely cover the construction costs.

The land cost alone was 3 million.

Added together, it was exactly the amount of the bank loan.

Were they working for the bank’s benefit?

No, they couldn’t even recover the cost of the land. For Xia Xiaolan to repay the bank loan with interest, she would need to personally cover more than 4 million yuan!

Mao Kangshan worried for her, not knowing where she would find that money.

Ying Jinchuan, being the laid-back boss he was, broke the silence: “Director Xia, no matter how we calculate this, selling the houses won’t be enough to repay the bank loan.”

Everyone else looked at Ying Jinchuan.

Boss, you’re bold – you’re the only one who dares to speak the truth!

Xia Xiaolan looked surprised: “Why wouldn’t it be enough? I was just about to point out an error in the data. Each unit has four large duplex apartments, and you haven’t counted the seventh floor. That’s 220 square meters per unit uncounted, which means 1,320 square meters for six units. Doesn’t the seventh floor of the six-to-seven duplex count?”

“Isn’t the seventh floor being given away for free?”

“The terrace is free, not the internal area.”

Who would give away internal living space? Xia Xiaolan was a conscientious developer, not a charity.

Wang Houlin’s face reddened, “Director Xia, then I miscalculated the actual internal area.”

An additional 1,320 square meters – how much money was that?

Mao Kangshan quickly did the mental math. This would bring in an extra million yuan or so.

But it still wasn’t enough to repay the bank loan!

“Even if the actual saleable area increases from 12,100 to 13,420 square meters, you’ll recover the construction costs, but you’re still at a loss for the land price…”

Among those present, no one was more concerned than Mao Kangshan.

Ge Jian had blind faith in Xia Xiaolan.

The others were employed by Xia Xiaolan – if Qihang failed, they would just find new jobs. Their livelihoods weren’t tied to Xia Xiaolan.

However, Mao Kangshan’s relationship with Xia Xiaolan was different. While other people’s apprentices were like “half-sons,” Xia Xiaolan meant more to Mao Kangshan than a whole son – how could he not worry?

Xia Xiaolan wasn’t intentionally teasing her teacher; she just found it strange: “When you say selling all this area would barely cover the construction costs and still lose on the land price, are you calculating at 1,000 yuan per square meter?”

“1,000 yuan per square meter is already high. Those welfare housing units are only selling for just over 300 yuan per square meter. Yours is expensive because you built too few houses, driving up the costs – Xiaolan, right now we need to focus on breaking even!”

Xia Xiaolan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry:

“Teacher, do you know that after I cleared up Golden Sand Pool, someone offered me 15 million yuan for this plot? If I had sold it then, I would have made 12 million! I know I won’t make 12 million developing it myself, but I surely won’t lose money!”

Everyone in the office fell silent.

Nobody could accept turning down a 12 million profit only to end up losing several million instead.

Golden Sand Pool’s units certainly wouldn’t sell for just 1,000 yuan per square meter, but they didn’t know Director Xia’s target price. At 1,200 yuan per square meter, Golden Sand Pool would break even – but 1,200 yuan was already very expensive. It would take Wang Houlin two months’ salary to buy a single square meter.

Xia Xiaolan shook her head, “I’m thinking 1,999 yuan per square meter. A 70-square-meter small unit would be 139,930 yuan – let’s round it to 140,000. For full cash payments, we can offer a 10% discount, making it 1,800 yuan per square meter. Those needing bank mortgages won’t get the discount.”

Mao Kangshan nearly spat out his tea:

“1,999 yuan per square meter – that’s just one yuan shy of 2,000! Xiaolan, how many people can afford such high housing prices!”

“Why wouldn’t they be able to afford it? Two years ago, the Hong Kong-developed ‘East Lake Beautiful Garden’ sold for over 2,000 Hong Kong dollars per square meter, which was about 1,000 yuan at the exchange rate then. The units were snatched up immediately because they were less than half the price of Hong Kong properties. Teacher, go look at East Lake Beautiful Garden’s units, then look at our environment – they’re not even in the same league!”

What did Golden Sand Pool lack compared to East Lake Beautiful Garden?

Xia Xiaolan had personally visited East Lake Beautiful Garden. The community environment wasn’t anything special – its main selling point was the Pengcheng household registration it offered.

Golden Sand Pool could offer the same registration benefits!

When others built houses, construction costs were just over 100 yuan per square meter. She had spent over 10 million to build 13,420 square meters – where did the money go?

It went into building quality and the European-style landscaping of the community!

The costs nearly matched East Lake Beautiful Garden’s selling price, not even counting the land cost. The more Xia Xiaolan calculated, the more she felt she was undercharging.

“I misspoke – 1,999 yuan per square meter is for the special units. We’ll price the units differently based on location and floor. For instance, first-floor units come with ground-floor gardens and underground parking garages – is 1,999 yuan per square meter reasonable? I think adding 400 yuan would be more appropriate. Then there are the second and third floors, which are prime levels…”

As she continued speaking, the office remained completely silent.

Such bold thinking!

Would anyone buy houses priced above 2,000 yuan per square meter?!

Director Xia, shouldn’t pricing be based on market conditions rather than arbitrary decisions…