535 Stick to Four Bare Walls!

Boss Pei's praise had come out of nowhere. Liang Qingfan was shocked.

Two minutes later, he regained his composure. He looked slightly embarrassed as he said, "But Boss Pei, this is not just about the design—it's about the cost as well!

"Take this apartment for example. It costs five hundred thousand yuan. Full renovations and modifications would cost at least three hundred thousand yuan. That's almost as much as the house itself! It wouldn't be worth it.

"On top of that, you're buying two buildings. That's thirty-two apartments in total. If the renovation of each apartment cost three hundred thousand yuan, it would add up to close to ten million yuan in total…

"There were seventy-seven apartments in the previous residential-commercial building as well. If the renovation of each of those apartments cost 120 thousand yuan or so, it would add up to another ten million yuan.

"Including the cost of making those apartments look more luxurious, renovation of all these new buildings alone would cost twenty million yuan…"

Pei Qian fell silent.

Liang Qingfan heaved a long sigh. It was just as well. Pei Qian had not done his calculations before this. He was only deciding to buy those buildings because they were cheap. He had not considered the cost of renovation.

Renovation of the building in the Dawn of Prosperous City cost a lot as well, but the apartments were huge! What's more, they were exquisitely renovated. That meant they could attract ballers to rent the apartments.

On the other hand, these apartments were so run down that no one wanted to buy them or live in them. Spending three hundred thousand yuan just to renovate each of them would be too foolish!

It was not utterly useless, but the price-quality ratio would be extremely low.

However, after a few seconds, Pei Qian asked, "Twenty million yuan… could we increase it? Would it be difficult to spend another ten million yuan?"

Buying the buildings would spend almost all the revenue earned from the sale of Tomorrow is Beautiful's tickets. However, Aili Island was still going to split their profits with Tengda!

After winning an award last month, Tomorrow is Beautiful's views on Aili Island were ballooning. Under the contract for shared profits, Tengda Corporation was to receive a huge sum of money each month. Pei Qian could only wish to spend as much money as possible on renovations. After all, there were very low risks involved in pouring money into renovations.

Liang Qingfan blinked and then realized that he had misunderstood Boss Pei. What did he mean? Boss Pei had not thought that twenty million was too much, but too little?

Liang Qingfan frowned as the cogs in his brain turned at full speed.

"Boss Pei, I understand now.

"Do you want to renovate the apartments exquisitely and luxuriously to give these ordinary houses a luxurious character? Is your aim to rent these apartments at high prices to tenants who would not be sensitive to price?

"The previous apartments were huge and expensive, leaving us with very little choice of tenants other than ballers. However, these new apartments are much smaller, and the buildings are cheap. Are you planning to make them look grand to attract ordinary petit-bourgeois and give them a chance to experience the high life…?"

Pei Qian: "Let's not add a single cent to twenty million yuan."

Liang Qingfan's reminder suddenly made Pei Qian realize that there would be dire consequences to his actions.

The System had an upper limit for Sloth Apartments' rent. Although it would take the extent of renovations into consideration, the prices would still be based on the location, area, and average price of apartments with such configuration.

The apartment that Pei Qian was living in could be pegged at such a high price because of its large surface area.

However, the new buildings were all small-sized. The apartments in the residential-commercial building were less than forty square meters while the apartments here were less than seventy.

What's more, the former was a residential-commercial building and the latter was in a bad location. No matter how nicely they were renovated, the System would not allow Pei Qian to charge too high a rent.

He guessed that each apartment would cost about two to four thousand yuan.

If Pei Qian made the apartments look luxurious by spending large sums of money on branded sofas, gigantic televisions, branded furniture, and the like… and if Liang Qingfan designed the apartments well…

They would be able to dissuade particularly poor tenants, but they would also attract all the yuppies!

Those pretentious, cultural youngsters would see that the apartment was small, oddly-shaped, and had poor lighting; they would not be able to buy their own furniture, and they would face a lot more problems; and monthly rent would cost a thousand yuan more than other houses. However, the apartments looked grand!

Just one sofa would cost ten to twenty thousand yuan. For an additional one thousand yuan each month, those yuppies would be able to live a luxurious life. Of course, they would fight one another to stay in the Sloth Apartments.

After regaining his composure, Pei Qian understood that these apartments could not be as extravagantly designed and furnished as the previous ones. After all, the previous ones were huge, and few ballers in Jingzhou would be able to afford them. However, the smaller the apartment, the less sensitive tenants would be toward premiums.

Furthermore, these apartments were extremely small; limiting tenants to entire tenancies would be much less effective in dissuading people from renting.

"Let's work according to the standard that you set earlier—twenty million yuan. Spend three hundred thousand yuan on renovating each apartment here and 150 thousand yuan on renovating each apartment in the residential-commercial building. That's it, then." Pei Qian emphasized once more.

Liang Qingfan: "…"

Wasn't Liang Qingfan supposed to understand Boss Pei's intentions better? Today was only his first attempt, and yet he was already failing so badly?

Indeed, this was a technical job that required much more practice.

Liang Qingfan had thought that he already understood Boss Pei's way of thinking. However, just as he voiced out his thoughts, Boss Pei ruthlessly slapped him across the face.

He could not help but feel disappointed.

Yet, as Pei Qian looked into Liang Qingfan's eyes, the former could not help but grow in appreciation.

Good. I like brothers like those who are not good at hiding their words and who say things as they are!

The other employees try to figure me out behind my back and then don't tell me when they think they've figured me out. You work at understanding me right in front of me and then tell me exactly what you understood.

You're teachable because you correct me before I have a chance to take a possible misstep!

Pei Qian cleared his throat. "Mr. Liang, I asked you to be the person-in-charge of Sloth Apartments earlier. Have you considered it?

"Of course, more accurately put, you would be a partner. You would enjoy the treatment of Tengda Corporation's higher management, and you'll be awarded a bonus each month based on your project's initial investment and rating on TPDb."

Liang Qingfan was moved.

A month ago, Pei Qian had already expressed his interest in recruiting Liang Qingfan. At the time, Liang Qingfan avoided giving Boss Pei a reply, in an attempt to act aloof.

During that one month, Liang Qingfan had processed a lot more information on Tengda and had made up his mind.

Of course, he would work for Tengda Corporation. The treatment was too good to turn down!

As the person-in-charge, he would get generous bonuses based on his project's reputation and initial investment. Compared to his previous workspace, his income would be significantly higher.

What's more, he would get to work with a leader like Boss Pei. That would greatly boost his career prospects!

Liang Qingfan almost agreed immediately, but he hesitated and said, "Boss Pei, can I make a tiny request?"

Pei Qian was surprised.

Hey, this brat can withstand the temptation of Tengda Corporation's benefits and attempt to haggle with me?

Not bad. I like young men like you, who would raise prices for me. It'll save me the energy of having to think of reasons to increase your pay.

Come on, extort me as much as you can!

Pei Qian nodded. "Of course, you can. Speak your mind!"

Liang Qingfan cleared his throat. "Boss Pei, I noticed that you have set up many physical shops, such as Fish-Catching Internet Cafe, Fish-Catching Take-Out, and Deposit Fitness, and that you're rapidly expanding.

"Of course, I can't run from being in charge of Sloth Apartments' renovations.

"However, I also noticed how ordinary the style of your other shops is. If you plan to renovate those physical shops in the future… can you hand those projects to me as well?

"I'm asking for no other reason than that I think the current style of the shops does not match up to Tengda's class."

Pei Qian could not help but feel disappointed.

That was it?! Aren't you going to take the opportunity to ask for a raise?

However, on further thought, that was not a bad suggestion either.

Pei Qian nodded. "Of course! I'll leave them all to you! How about this? Once you're done with the Sloth Apartments, start looking for the best-performing shop; you can renovate that one!"

In the past, before Fish-Catching Internet Cafe became popular, Pei Qian would have turned down Liang Qingfan's request at once.

Redo the renovations? I'm doing perfectly well, incurring losses; why would I redo the renovations?

However, things were different now.

Fish-Catching Internet Cafe was extremely popular, and it was always fully-booked. Redoing the renovations would have a limited effect on its popularity and profits. Furthermore, Pei Qian could spend money on the renovations, and the shops would not be able to operate by then.

How much would that cost him in total? It would be so worth it!

Thus, Pei Qian emphasized that Liang Qingfan should only choose shops that were generating a lot of profit. Shops that were incurring losses, such as Deposit Fitness, should not be touched at all.

Liang Qingfan nodded. "Alright, Boss Pei! Thank you for your trust in me!"

Although he did not understand why Boss Pei wanted him to start from the most successful shops, Liang Qingfan did not ask too many questions. The fact that Boss Pei was leaving him with such an important task showed how much he trusted him.

"Alright, Boss Pei. I'll work on a few renderings based on the new apartments. Once you've picked your favorite, I will look for a construction team to start work!" Liang Qingfan was filled with renewed motivation.

The residential-commercial building was slightly easier because the hard renovations were nearly done, and soft renovations would take a much shorter time.

On the other hand, the buildings in Binhu District were more troublesome. Two buildings needed hard renovation, and Liang Qingfan would have to hire huge construction teams. The timeline was very tight.

Of course, the good thing was that all the apartments had the same configuration. Thus, he only needed to come up with one set of plans.

"New renderings? No, no, no. There's no need for that anymore. Stick to the same style as before," said Pei Qian. "Minimalism."

After some consideration, Pei Qian added, "Don't bother adding the smart furniture and huge television. Total up the cost of all the renovations. The most important thing would be to stick to the same general style!"

Each television cost 240 thousand yuan, and they were limited edition. Not anyone could buy them. What's more, Pei Qian was worried that putting such an expensive television in such a small apartment would attract huge groups of people who would only want to rent the apartment for the sake of the television. What would he do, then?

After all, rent for the smaller apartments would be much lower than that for the huge apartments in Dawn of Prosperous City.

He had to stick to creating four bare walls so that ordinary people would be dissuaded from renting the apartments. At the same time, he had to avoid luxurious decorations so as not to attract pretentious, cultured youths or yuppies.

Liang Qingfan was stunned. "These apartments are to be minimalist as well?

"Boss Pei, all of the new apartments are small. Making these small apartments minimalist would greatly discount the overall effect. What's more, storage space is extremely important for small apartments. If you get rid of all of them, these apartments would be unlivable."

Pei Qian was elated.

Greatly discount the overall effect? The apartments would be unlivable?

That's awesome!

That's exactly what I want!

Even a professional architect thinks it would be impossible. How can I possibly earn any money from this?

I absolutely can't!

Pei Qian smiled. "Don't worry. That's the style of the Sloth Apartments. Since they're of the same brand, they must be of the same style, right?"