Speaking of which…

While luck may play a role in hierarchical promotions, ability matters more. Although Andrew Kissinger now prioritizes the firm’s profits, before becoming a partner, he too climbed up step by step. His skill at understanding client psychology surpasses Hans Hoffman’s.

Hoffman had a sudden realization after Kissinger’s explanation. During their design process, they only focused on helping the Wilson Hotel escape the impact of the shooting incident by making the Washington Hotel completely different from the New York Wilson Hotel. They hadn’t considered whether the sharp, eye-catching style might make guests feel uneasy. Xia Xiaolan’s modifications were beneficial, making the design softer.

“But she’s just an intern.” Could she be that skilled? Could it be that Harold Wilson only shared certain modification feedback meant for GMP with Xia Xiaolan, leading to changes that aligned with Harold’s vision?

Hoffman remained doubtful, while Kissinger remained noncommittal: “One project isn’t enough to prove whether she has real ability. The Wilson Hotel bid is coming up in a few days, and she’ll continue her internship at GMP afterward – there will be plenty of opportunities to test her true capabilities! For now, let her join the Wilson Hotel project. Her modification direction is correct, and we should focus on securing this project before discussing other matters!”

This was the best choice. Nobody knew about this conversation between Hoffman and Kissinger, but after leaving Kissinger’s office, Hoffman announced Xia Xiaolan’s official addition to the design team.

…

Over the phone, Xia Xiaolan’s voice carried unmistakable pride. Zhou Cheng chuckled: “So your boss not only didn’t scold you but grudgingly allowed you to join the team?”

This was exactly the kind of thing his wife would do – no surprise there.

Xia Xiaolan massaged her wrist, “I was taking a gamble. If I was right, I’d earn their respect. If wrong, GMP would think I was being presumptuous, and I’d be benched for the rest of my internship. Looks like my gamble paid off!”

When modifying Hoffman’s team’s proposal, Xia Xiaolan didn’t think of herself as an intern. Nor as an architect. Instead, she stepped away from the architect’s perspective and imagined herself as a hotel operator in Harold Wilson’s position, considering what kind of design proposal she would want.

Harold wasn’t short on money. Of course, this didn’t mean the firm could quote unreasonable prices and make Harold spend more. The firm’s goal was to satisfy the client’s design requirements while minimizing costs.

Putting herself in the hotel owner’s position, Xia Xiaolan knew she would care about both new investments and existing properties. Would they only focus on building the Washington hotel and ignore the Wilson Hotel in Queens, New York?

No, that wouldn’t work.

Xia Xiaolan had an advantage over others – she had personally experienced the Wilson Hotel shooting incident! Honestly, with so many hotels in New York, after nearly being hit by a stray bullet, she would instinctively avoid the Wilson Hotel in Queens when staying in New York.

What about other guests? Even those who hadn’t experienced it directly would likely be wary because of the news coverage.

Xia Xiaolan considered this mindset, hoping to make the Washington Wilson Hotel softer, bringing it closer to guests rather than maintaining sharp edges.

Zhou Cheng listened to her analysis with interest. Understanding architecture wasn’t the only important factor – this went beyond architectural knowledge. His wife always thought things through thoroughly and never fought unprepared battles. With proper preparation, she could achieve breakthroughs naturally, rather than demanding fair treatment from GMP without being ready… Now that she had presented undeniable facts, GMP had no choice but to acknowledge her abilities.

“So you’ve officially joined the team now, and Matthew, who interned with you, has become your assistant?”

Matthew must be very angry about that.

“Yes, I’ll be extremely busy in the coming days. Ye Xiaoqiong hasn’t contacted me again, and I’m not sure what she’s thinking.”

Hearing Xia Xiaolan’s concern, Zhou Cheng softened his voice: “Let’s stick to our plan. First, let’s handle what we can. We can’t control whether others cooperate or not. I’m about to leave for Fujian Province to meet with Master Qiu. You focus on this project, and leave the rest to me!”

Ye Xiaoqiong might need time to process everything. Or she might never come around. Zhou Cheng completely understood this reaction! Honestly, if Zhou Yi weren’t his cousin, why would he care about her self-destructive behavior? From Ye Xiaoqiong’s perspective, she would naturally hate not only Yuan Han but also Zhou Yi – this was a normal human reaction. Zhou Cheng couldn’t be a saint himself, nor could he force others to always be rational!

They could only do their best, show sincerity, and see how Ye Xiaoqiong would choose. If she wouldn’t cooperate, Zhou Cheng wouldn’t force it. There were always multiple solutions to any problem – they could just try another approach.

“Alright, that’s good. When Ye Xiaoqiong contacts me again, I’ll let you know! Be careful when meeting Master Qiu – who knows what kind of background he has.”

The antique business was often mixed up with tomb raiding and smuggling, and anyone in that business couldn’t be simple.

After hanging up, Daisy rushed over from the side: “Oh my god! You’re officially joining GMP’s project team, Xia! I knew only you could do it!”

Daisy was still doing odd jobs at Foster, so naturally, she was envious.

Xia Xiaolan shook her head with a smile: “It’s not just me – Matthew is also part of the team, and Ning Xue has been involved with project design at P&W for a while now. Daisy, your opportunity will come soon too!”

Daisy was confident about this. Among Foster’s four interns, she and Ryle were particularly united, successfully countering Heidi’s provocations multiple times. Thanks to Heidi’s inadvertent help, the internship supervisor started noticing Daisy and Ryle.

Foster’s partner Dick still remembered Daisy and had joked with her, asking about how the Electronic Plaza was coming along.

“Has Mr. Dick given you any trouble?”

After the C·W competition, Dick had wanted to buy the design rights to “Electronic Plaza” but was refused. He didn’t believe the Electronic Plaza was already under construction, probably thinking Xia Xiaolan and her team were playing hard to get.

Now that Daisy was interning at Foster, Dick brought up the old matter jokingly, clearly with a good deal of teasing. Of course, perhaps he was also partly serious, wanting to see if the intern would panic when their lie was exposed.

Xia Xiaolan was still somewhat worried, but Daisy was quite relaxed about it: “Mr. Dick is too busy to dwell on such small matters. I think it’s precisely because we didn’t sell ‘Electronic Plaza’ to him that he remembers me and Ryle so distinctly!”

Xia Xiaolan couldn’t help but laugh, “You’re right!”

He was a junior partner at Foster, after all. Trying to buy work from undergraduate architecture students and being refused before even naming a price – anyone could imagine how frustrated Dick must have been. Thinking about it this way, Xia Xiaolan realized she had somewhat achieved a boss-like status – she was now someone who had repeatedly turned down both Foster and P&W!