Thoughts?

She had just spoken with Old Mao on the phone two days ago. After Du Zhaohui had sent someone to retrieve the drawings in America, construction had already begun in Pengcheng according to the plans—what did her thoughts matter now? What was there to sell?

“Mr. Dick, thank you very much for recognizing our work. I thought you were joking about buying the rights at the awards ceremony. Would it be possible for me to discuss this with my team members first?”

Xia Xiaolan had told Daisy and the others that the “Electronic Plaza” would be built, but they had always thought she was joking.

Now she couldn’t keep stalling—she needed to be clear about this, as Mr. Dick wanted to buy the design rights to the “Electronic Plaza,” and she worried about team conflicts.

“OK, I understand. You can discuss it first.”

Xia Xiaolan took Daisy and the other two to another classroom.

Once the door closed, the three exchanged glances.

Foster Architects wanted to buy their design.

God, so the C·W Architectural Design Competition prize money was just the beginning?

This work could bring them so many benefits…

Xia Xiaolan’s expression was serious. Daisy was too excited to notice, but Richard spotted something was wrong:

“Xia, you don’t want to sell the design rights to Foster Architects?”

Why would the firm want to buy the “Electronic Plaza” design rights? Did they happen to have a client who needed it? Or did Mr. Dick personally like it and wanted to make some modifications before using the work?

All these reasons were possible.

But if Xia Xiaolan didn’t want to sell, it wouldn’t happen.

After Richard’s observation, Daisy and Lyle also realized something was off.

“Xia, you don’t want to sell?”

“…Then let’s not sell.”

Lyle said slowly, surprisingly gaining support from both Daisy and Richard.

Xia Xiaolan was surprised, “You’re not even asking why, just agreeing not to sell because I said so?”

Ah!

Wasn’t this natural?

Even Professor McCarthy knew that Xia Xiaolan was the main designer of the “Electronic Plaza.” Without her, this work wouldn’t exist. Richard and the others understood they had merely assisted Xia Xiaolan in completing this work. Without them, she could have done it herself—it just would have taken more time.

Richard and the others were happy to have participated in such a project.

Whether submitting it as Professor McCarthy’s assignment or entering the C·W Architectural Design Competition, the process had given them so much—not just the professor’s recognition and prize money, but more importantly, their rapid professional growth.

To complete the “Electronic Plaza,” they had to learn many concepts beyond their sophomore curriculum, forcing them to study independently while relying on Xia Xiaolan’s guidance!

Regarding the “Electronic Plaza” project, naturally, only Xia Xiaolan could make the decisions!

Daisy also came to her senses, “If we don’t sell, we don’t sell! We’re just undergraduates who haven’t even graduated yet. Foster Architects probably wouldn’t offer much anyway. I’ve already spent so much time deciding how to spend my $12,500 share of the $50,000 prize money—not selling is fine, I don’t want to have to make new plans!”

What an obvious lie.

Who would complain about having too much money?

While there might be people in the world who have money but don’t spend it, they must be rare—Xia Xiaolan couldn’t have possibly met three at once!

She was quite touched that Daisy and the others hadn’t lost their heads at the mention of money, disregarding her wishes.

“Let me explain. I have a reason for not agreeing to sell the design rights to Mr. Dick. Remember what I told you? Someone did commission me to design an electronic plaza. I wasn’t sure if I had enough time and energy to complete it, which is why I turned it into a group project for discussion…”

Xia Xiaolan explained everything from the beginning.

Daisy and the others knew who the client was—it was Du Zhaohui, who had generously offered to treat them.

“Really?”

“That’s impossible!”

“Xia, you’re joking!”

Of course, she wasn’t joking.

This design was included as part of Du Zhaohui’s package, after all, Young Master Du had already paid 10 million Hong Kong dollars in fees.

Although top architectural firms worldwide typically charge a percentage of total construction costs, Xia Xiaolan wasn’t a top firm, and her design wouldn’t be worth that much anyway.

“I’m not joking. Everything I said is true. I just hadn’t expected Mr. Dick to be interested in our work. Now that we all agree not to sell to Foster—though we couldn’t sell it anyway since construction has already begun in Pengcheng! But I won’t let you lose out, I’ll pay you—”

Daisy screamed: “Pay what? We don’t need anything! Xia, you turned our work into an actual project—you said it’s already under construction? God, please don’t joke with me, I’m taking everything seriously.”

It was under construction.

Xia Xiaolan nodded, and Daisy ran out of the classroom.

“Daisy—”

Had Daisy been overwhelmed by the news?

Without looking back, Daisy shouted: “I have to tell Heidi this news, that bitch who mocked our simulation as daydreaming!”

It was already under construction!

What kind of dream could compare to this reality?

Even the $50,000 prize money wasn’t as important as this fact.

As for Foster wanting to buy the design rights?

Who cares!

Daisy was about to burst with pride. She, an undergraduate who had been so discouraged by Professor McCarthy’s criticism that she’d questioned whether she should study architecture at all, could now stand tall and tell Foster Architects’ partner:

“Sorry, you’re too late. Our work has already been sold.”

Just thinking about it was explosively satisfying!

Xia Xiaolan was dumbfounded.

These three idiots didn’t even want design fees.

They left her to handle the response to Mr. Dick by herself.

“We can sign an agreement stating that you have full authority over the ‘Electronic Plaza’ design rights. You can sell it or give it to whoever you want! Everything is OK!”

It took Xia Xiaolan less than 20 minutes to reach an agreement with her teammates.

Nineteen of those minutes were spent convincing them this was real.

When she told Mr. Dick their decision, he couldn’t understand:

“Xia, you haven’t even heard my offer?”

Xia Xiaolan smiled politely, “Mr. Dick, I assume it wouldn’t be too high, as we’re just undergraduates who haven’t graduated yet.”

Dick nodded, “Good that you understand. Although your work won the C·W Architectural Design Competition, you should know this was originally just a small competition for Cornell’s School of Architecture, without participation from real architects. The firm would need to modify your work after buying it—”

“Mr. Dick, this isn’t about money. Thank you for your interest. While the ‘Electronic Plaza’ has many areas needing improvement, we can’t sell it to you because construction has already begun in China.”

This reason was so powerful it left Dick stunned.

Dick didn’t believe it at all. Was this a joke? Who would build an undergraduate’s design?