“The gates of the Upper East Side? They are only open to the wealthy. Wake up and stop dreaming! And don’t forget to wipe the drool from your mouth.”

How could an architect open the doors to the Upper East Side? Would designing mansions for finance and investment banking tycoons count as opening those doors? Dream on!

Even people worth tens of millions of dollars find it difficult to befriend true billionaires. To break through the Upper East Side’s gates, you need dollars – lots of them.

Matthew raised his hand to wipe away nonexistent drool from his mouth.

The driver took Xia Xiaolan and Matthew to Park Avenue. The half-hidden white building was truly a beautiful house.

Matthew lowered his voice, “Can you smell it? Every tile here exudes the scent of money.”

Xia Xiaolan rolled her eyes, “I thought you only loved architecture, but it turns out you’re just as obsessed with dollars.”

“I love architecture and want to be the most famous architect, become a partner in an architectural firm, and then I can move into a place like the Upper East Side. There’s no contradiction there!”

“It’s good to have dreams. If you ever manage to live in the Upper East Side, I’ll design your interior for free!”

Matthew responded confidently, “Just wait, that day will come.”

Wait, something wasn’t right. By the time he could afford the Upper East Side, he’d surely be a famous architect. Would he still need Xia Xiaolan to design his house interior then? Wouldn’t that mean Xia Xiaolan was more famous than him? Bah, this woman never missed a chance to take advantage.

His momentary submission didn’t mean he’d lose to Xia Xiaolan forever!

As Xia Xiaolan and Matthew continued their banter, they walked up the clean stone path, climbed the steps, and rang the Wilsons’ doorbell.

“Please come in! Oh, it must be Xia,” Mrs. Wilson’s voice called from inside.

The door opened from within, but instead of Mrs. Wilson, it was Harold.

Was Harold what Mrs. Wilson meant by “worth the visit”?

Harold had been avoiding Old Ivan earlier, yet here he was, suddenly a guest at Old Ivan’s house.

Xia Xiaolan was completely confused, unable to understand the relationships between these people in the Wilson household.

“Come in, Cynthia has been waiting for you.”

Harold wasn’t going to explain anything on the spot.

“Hello, it’s been a while, Mr. Harold!”

Xia Xiaolan greeted him formally in front of Matthew, whose eyes burned with curiosity.

Too formal, all fake.

Matthew also greeted the important client.

Harold moved away from the doorway, annoyed to see that Xia Xiaolan had brought along a tagalong.

It turned out Mrs. Wilson was arranging flowers with someone else.

Fresh white roses and pink peonies covered the table, with lilacs cut in disarray. A delicate Asian girl, like a flower bud about to bloom, was carefully observing Mrs. Wilson’s movements. After a while, she threw up her hands in defeat:

“Cynthia, I really can’t learn this! I’ll never be as elegant as you!”

The young girl had fair skin and glossy black hair, wearing a white lace dress. She looked adorably sweet, clearly raised in wealth.

“No, you must learn. Your mother sent you to New York, and I have to be responsible for her,” Cynthia put down her scissors. “Tina, come here, this is Xia from China, a very capable female architect.”

So the young girl was called Tina.

Xia Xiaolan instantly understood that Mrs. Wilson hadn’t invited her to arrange something with Harold but to introduce her to this Asian girl named Tina.

“Mrs. Wilson, you’re exaggerating. I’m not even a real architect yet, just an intern at GMP. Hello Tina, I’m Xia Xiaolan.”

Tina looked curious, “Are you from China? My parents are Chinese too, but they immigrated to America and had me here.”

Tina’s Chinese was surprisingly good, showing her Chinese immigrant family background.

Of course, since others couldn’t understand Chinese, Xia Xiaolan and Tina continued their conversation in English out of respect for Mrs. Wilson and the others.

Mrs. Wilson clapped her hands, “Xia, did you bring the theater renovation designs? Why don’t we take them out and look at them together?”

Mrs. Wilson winked at Xia Xiaolan.

Xia Xiaolan had come to deliver the designs anyway, though she hadn’t expected Harold and Tina to be present.

Old Ivan wasn’t there.

Tina sat obediently next to Mrs. Wilson, occasionally stealing glances at Harold. She thought her actions were subtle, but Xia Xiaolan caught them.

Xia Xiaolan noticed but didn’t mention it, instead presenting the designs to everyone.

“Wow, how beautiful!”

Tina’s face took on a dreamy expression, “Is this the theater’s interior? Cynthia, I think this looks like a castle from a fairy tale!”

Mrs. Wilson was also surprised, not expecting Xia Xiaolan to present such a style.

“Xia, isn’t this a bit too dreamy? This design would be more suitable for girls Tina’s age. Tina just turned 18 this January. Her parents sent her to New York for school and transferred an Upper East Side property to her name… Tina doesn’t quite like the original decoration style and has been looking for a designer who suits her taste.”

Mrs. Wilson explained the situation in a few sentences.

Xia Xiaolan suddenly understood why Mrs. Wilson said the visit would be worthwhile – she wanted to introduce her to a potential client.

Matthew felt like crying.

What kind of luck was this?

Before even finishing the theater renovation commission, Xia Xiaolan might already have a new business.

Why even continue studying when she could just work officially at GMP?

Xia Xiaolan wasn’t particularly concerned about getting additional business. Compared to simple renovations, she was more interested in large projects like the Wilson Hotel. However, she still appreciated Mrs. Wilson’s goodwill:

“Mrs. Wilson, as you said, such a dreamy design suits someone of Miss Tina’s age. This past week, I’ve watched many musicals on Broadway and visited dozens of theaters. While watching the operas, I also hired people to distribute surveys to Broadway visitors, asking if they would go to theaters, especially focusing on young consumers…”

Matthew looked horrified.

He hadn’t even known about the surveys.

An architect conducting surveys before developing conceptual designs?

Xia Xiaolan was leaving no room for competition!

Mrs. Wilson hadn’t expected this either:

“You conducted surveys for the theater? What were your results?”

“We distributed 5,000 surveys in total, with 4,704 valid responses. If you’d like to see the surveys yourself, I can send them to you later. I can tell you the results now – over 60% of young people, specifically those aged 18-25, neither like nor dislike musicals, but they indicated that if the theater was cool and unique enough, they would be willing to spend money on tickets and try to appreciate musical theater.”