“What unexpected timing.”

Su Jing stood at the border of Pengcheng, surveying the area.

Construction was happening everywhere – for an architecture student, this meant gold mines at every corner.

“President Xia instructed us to take good care of everyone. She’ll be back from Hong Kong soon,” said the female clerk from Qihang Real Estate who came to receive Su Jing and others. They were all students from Huaqing University and President Xia’s roommates, so the reception was certainly going to be warm and thorough.

Su Jing and her group had arrived two days later than Ji Jiangyuan, missing Xia Xiaolan. Ji Jiangyuan flew to Yangcheng, while Su Jing and others, being poor students, could only take the train south. Even if they had departed on the same day, they would have been slower.

Xia Xiaolan had just convinced Ji Jiangyuan to help when she immediately whisked him off to Hong Kong. She wanted to introduce him to Qihang Capital and have him handle some recruitment of staff members. They would probably be delayed in Hong Kong for several days before returning to Pengcheng.

“It doesn’t matter if Xiaolan is here or not, we’ll work just the same. Did she leave any instructions?” Yang Yonghong was familiar with the routine.

The Qihang receptionist smiled, “Miss Yang Yonghong, President Xia mentioned the Luohu Tiancheng construction site. Would you like to go there?”

This was surprisingly different from helping at ‘Yuanhui’ as usual. However, Yang Yonghong studied civil engineering, and ‘Luohu Tiancheng’ was still under construction, with units already sold. Given Yang Yonghong’s impatience with paperwork, she truly preferred being on-site.

Yang Yonghong immediately agreed.

This time, only Yang Yonghong, Su Jing, Zhou Limin, Lu Yan, and Chen Yiyi came from Room 307. The other two roommates weren’t as close to Xia Xiaolan and felt awkward asking for her help, so they didn’t come.

While Yang Yonghong was assigned to the Luohu Tiancheng construction site, Su Jing eagerly asked, “What about me?”

“You must be Su Jing. President Xia heard you like interior design and wants you to help at President Liu’s Yuanhui Decoration. How does that sound?”

That was perfect – Su Jing was very satisfied.

The female receptionist was well-prepared and immediately introduced Gong Yang: “This is Chief Designer Gong Yang from Yuanhui Decoration. Su Jing, you’ll intern under Designer Gong.”

Gong Yang extended his hand to Su Jing, appearing quite confident. And Gong Yang had every reason to be confident. Being a fine arts student from Shangda University who once had to take small jobs like designing clothing store posters was now in the past. After working at Yuanhui for so long, Gong Yang hadn’t become wealthy, but he had certainly escaped poverty.

As Yuanhui’s Chief Designer, only once had Gong Yang’s design been completely rejected – for the golf club project. At all other times, he could speak eloquently in front of clients.

His career success had given this rural university graduate tremendous confidence.

Liu Yong treated his capable deputy well. Even though ‘Yuanhui’ had hired other interior designers besides Gong Yang, his position, like Li Dongliang’s, remained unshakeable. During this time, Gong Yang built a new house in his hometown, supported his younger siblings’ education and living expenses, and even bought a house in Pengcheng… Gong Yang worked hard, proving that his decision to reject the state-assigned job was correct. Why shouldn’t he be confident?

Shangda might not compare to Huaqing University.

Previously, he might have felt inferior standing before Huaqing students.

Now, even architecture students from Huaqing had to “intern” under his guidance.

Regarding architectural expertise, Gong Yang hadn’t studied it systematically, only learning about structural modifications through work experience. Though he continued self-study, he was far from matching Xia Xiaolan’s formal training.

However, before these architecture students with little practical experience, Gong Yang was full of confidence.

Moreover, in interior decoration design, he had entered the field early under Xia Xiaolan’s influence and was absolutely among China’s young elite. Mentoring Su Jing wasn’t pressure at all!

As Yuanhui’s Chief Designer, meeting clients required maintaining a certain prestige. Now that money wasn’t an issue, Gong Yang naturally presented himself elegantly.

When he shook hands with Su Jing, the usually boisterous girl blushed slightly.

The remaining three – Zhou Limin, Lu Yan, and Chen Yiyi – were all assigned to the Qihang office. These three were determined to pursue careers in architecture, even though Zhou Limin didn’t want to join a design institute, and Lu Yan and Chen Yiyi planned to study abroad – they had never mentioned leaving the architectural field.

The office was a place for rapid growth. Xia Xiaolan had also worked odd jobs at the GMP office. Just as Xia Xiaolan could endure hardship, these three could as well.

Zhou Limin particularly wanted to go to Shangdu – Xia Xiaolan’s museum design had been published in “Domus,” and Zhou Limin wanted to be involved with that project.

However, with Xia Xiaolan absent, she didn’t raise this request with the reception staff.

The museum was now jointly supervised by Kong Yongquan from the Qihang office and Xia Xiaolan, alternating responsibility. When Xia Xiaolan had time, she would be on-site in Shangdu; when she didn’t, Kong Yongquan would take over.

To convince Kong Yongquan to take her along, Zhou Limin first needed to demonstrate her capabilities, proving she could help rather than hinder!

Zhou Limin had an advantage – her uncle Zhou Maotong was Kong Yongquan’s fellow disciple.

Nobody in Room 307 knew about this connection, and Zhou Limin was too proud to flaunt it.

Before coming to Pengcheng, she had even emphasized to Uncle Zhou Maotong not to give her special treatment – what if she wasn’t actually suited for architecture? If people constantly praised her because of her uncle’s connections, she might develop a false sense of her abilities!

Although Xia Xiaolan wasn’t present, her Room 307 roommates were all satisfied with her arrangements for them.

They didn’t waste any time, immediately immersing themselves in their internships – time is money, and they hadn’t come to Pengcheng for tourism – well, sightseeing could happen on rest days.

When the female clerk offered to arrange hotel accommodations, all five declined.

What intern would stay in a hotel? They weren’t here to be pampered!

Finally, all five temporarily moved into Qihang’s employee dormitory. Yang Yonghong felt the bed and remarked:

“Xiaolan’s company has grown much larger since my last visit, and employee benefits are getting better and better. Look at these dormitory conditions – they’re even better than our university dorms.”

Yang Yonghong thought, how did Little Six become so impressive?

As the room leader, she couldn’t let Little Six down.

She was looking forward to the Luohu Tiancheng construction site, where she would have the chance to meet Old Mao.

Old Mao might be fierce with his words,

But he knew so much!

Upon arriving in Pengcheng, all five from Room 307 were very satisfied, beginning their internships while eagerly awaiting Xia Xiaolan’s return from Hong Kong.

…

In July, ‘Qihang Capital’ was successfully registered in Hong Kong. Xia Xiaolan’s first move in Hong Kong was to purchase an entire floor of office space in a Central district building for ‘Qihang Capital’.

Hong Kong property wouldn’t lose value – it was a good asset. Why not buy it?

With such a high-profile move, Xia Ziyun and Du Zhaoqi couldn’t help but notice!