It was the most acceptable minimalistic design he had ever seen, and it included so much storage space as well. If Pei Qian chose this design, the consequences would be dire.
Liang Qingfan, “…”
His first design has been rejected so quickly. Liang Qingfan could not help but feel discouraged. Still, he quickly regained his composure.
“Alright. The storage spaces are well hidden, but it still conflicts with the concept of minimalism to a certain extent. It could make the apartment feel cheap. Boss Pei, it’s understandable that you don’t like this design.
“Please look at the others, then.”
Pei Qian swiped to the next rendering.
This one still looked minimalistic, but the theme colors were bolder-gray and green. Although it was simple, it looked luxurious and high-quality. The chosen furniture and decorations were more muted, calmer, and bigger; making it similar to suites in many high-end hotels.
Liang Qingfan explained, “This design, the Ultimate Extravagant Gray, exudes a subtle extravagance. This renovation style no longer targets younger yuppies, but an older groupmiddle-aged, successful businessmen.” Pei Qian, “Pass.”
With a single look, Pei Qian could tell that middle-aged businessmen would fancy the apartments. He could easily get into trouble.
Liang Qingfan, “…”
Another one of his designs got rejected, and Liang Qingfan was slightly more hurt now. To him, Sloth Apartments was meant to be exquisitely designed. There were only two types of target customers: white-collared workers who wanted to enjoy high standards of living and businessmen who were visiting Jingzhou for business purposes.
Yet, Boss Pei had rejected both of Liang Qingfan’s designs for those groups.
What kind of style did Boss Pei like, then?
Liang Qingfan was confused, but he did not ask any questions. That was because he had other plans as well. Boss Pei would probably find one that he fancied.
Pei Qian swiped to the next rendering.
This one used black and white as the theme colors and looked comparatively fresh. Pei Qian could feel the intense artistic vibes through the image, and it almost felt as if high-end designers would fancy the style.
While it was minimalistic, it also looked Zen and optimal for triggering one’s creative juices.
Pei Qian thought that Ruan Guangjian would fancy an apartment like that.
Liang Qingfan had not even begun introducing the design when Pei Qian swiped to the next image.
“Pass.”
This style looked less practical than the first one but more attractive to white-collared workers and yuppies. It could be seen as the better version of the first design.
Still no!
Liang Qingfan opened his mouth as if to say something but quickly swallowed his words again. He personally liked that design the most because it looked the classiest. Yet, Boss Pei had rejected it without a single word. This time, Liang Qingfan was even more hurt.
At the same time, he became very confused and puzzled.
Exactly what style did Boss Pei like?
All of those were pretty good minimalistic designs. Even if Boss Pei wasn’t satisfied, he could have picked a few details for Liang Qingfan to improve on. Why was he passing on all of them immediately?
Liang Qingfan could not find it in him to introduce any more designs. Most designs he had submitted had already been rejected by Boss Pei. Thus, he decided to wait until all of them were rejected before he asked Boss Pei more about his expectations.
However, after swiping the images once more, Pei Qian paused at the last rendering.
In the extremely wide and empty space, only one huge television hung on the wall. There was also a television cabinet that stood about as tall as one layer of drawers and a long, dark-colored sofa.
On top of that, there were two pure black chairs and one small, pure black table by the full-length windows. The entire place looked like an open exhibition hall. Apart from the two small cabinets in the corner, there was no more storage space.
After some consideration, Pei Qian pointed at the cabinet, the small table, and the pure black chairs. “This is not bad, but all of these have to
go.”
The television cabinet was going to store the game machine and game discs while the sofa was going to be used for gaming. Of course, they had to stay. The other storage spaces and chairs were not needed!
To most people, the more storage spaces, the better. That was because most people could not curb their desires nor stop themselves from buying, buying, and buying.
As they bought more and more items, their houses would become increasingly cluttered.
Once they collected too much rubbish, no matter where they stored it, the apartment would look messy. Thus, they needed storage spaces to accommodate all of their things and make the house look neat and tidy. However, what Pei Qian wanted to do was dissuade the white-collared workers and yuppies from buying the apartments. He wanted to tell them to stay away!
Of course, that alone wasn’t enough. Pei Qian knew that he had to add an additional term in the contract for Sloth Apartments: tenants would be prohibited from purchasing their own furniture.
That way, the apartments would not be practical at all. Even if they looked nice, their high price and lack of practicality would be sufficient to dissuade most tenants from renting the place!
At that moment, Liang Qingfan was at a loss for words. This had been his first design for the apartment, but Liang Qingfan himself had quickly rejected it.
That was because he had thought that minimalism did not necessarily mean leaving the four walls bare.
At first, when he had tried to conceptualize minimalism, he had approached the apartment from a purely artistic point of view. This rendering’s theme colors and furnishing had been direct results of that approach.
Yet, the design’s biggest problem was the lack of practicality. Although Liang Qingfan had added small cabinets, a small table, and some chairs; the apartment would still be impractical and difficult to live in.
However, Boss Pei thought well of the design. In fact, he wanted Liang Qingfan to get rid of the cabinets, the table, and the chairs altogether!
That way, there would not be any storage space in the apartment, except for the wardrobe in the bedrooms and the kitchen cabinets. The four walls would really be bare.
Liang Qingfan looked uncertainly at Boss Pei. Boss Pei looked back at him with extreme confidence.
“Work according to this design. The budget remains the same. You can exceed it, but you cannot spend less.”
Pei Qian handed the tablet computer back to Liang Qingfan.
Seeing Liang Qingfan’s confused expression, Pei Qian felt all the more sure that he had decided correctly!
Pei Qian had no need for storage space at all. He only had a couple of clothes, which he could put in his wardrobe. As for his other random belongings, he could throw away as much as possible. There was no need to move them to his new apartment at all.
Although the apartment would look very bare and empty, all Pei Qian needed was to game. He would be satisfied.
In fact, it would be best if everyone else found the apartment impractical!
As Liang Qingfan looked at the last rendering, the cogs in his mind turned quickly to guess the reasons behind Boss Pei’s decision.
Does Boss Pei just want the apartment to look beautiful? Is that why he wants it to look this minimalistic? Yes, from an artistic point of view, the space would look uniquely beautiful without all the cabinets and additional furniture.
Ah, it was the design that I did when I was feeling the most inspired after all. Of course it’s the most beautiful.
If Boss Pei’s own home was designed in this manner, I would not find it strange at all. Instead, I would admire Boss Pei’s taste.
However, these apartments are meant to be rented out…
Would anyone want to rent the apartments if they only look artistic and beautif
ul but are not practical at all?
What’s more, I can only exceed the budget, but not spend less. If the apartment is going to look this minimalistic, I won’t have to buy much furniture. It’ll be difficult to spend all the money… I guess I have to look at the big international brands.
Many thoughts filled Liang Qingfan’s mind in a short while. However, after looking at Boss Pei’s determined expression, he decided to bury all of his questions at the bottom of his heart.
“Alright, Boss Pei. I’ll renovate the apartments based on this design!”
Chapter 488 - Keeper of the Encourager cum Commander of the Secret Service
April 16th, Saturday…
Tang Yishu swiped her card to open the door and entered Tengda’s office with a few books tucked under her armpit. Most of her salary might be used to subsidize her family, but her own financial situation was much better than before.
Tang Yishu still used neither cosmetics nor skincare products probably because of her living habits. However, being young was her greatest capital. She exuded a youthful radiance after having more nutrition.
Tang Yishu put the books on her desk and began her keeper duties to clean the Encourager’s poop and have its food bowl full.
“Glabella, you should eat less. Both Disaster-Free and you should go on a diet. Aiya, Glabella, leave some for your younger sister Fei Huang; eat your own canned food!”
Tang Yishu grabbed the back of the black cat’s neck reluctantly, its head aiming at the other cat’s food bowl. However, Glabella ignored it and went to squeeze with the orange cat next to it after taking two bites.
There were three encouragers in the office
now.
Cat number 1 was the black Glabella with white claws. Its name had the meaning ‘blackened forehead[1]’.
The other two were also stray cats adopted from the pet hospitals, a white cat and an orange cat. The white cat, cat number 2, was round and fat which made it very loveable. Many people felt that it looked like a cat of fortune.
Pei Qian named it “Disaster-Free” seemed like an auspicious meaning on the surface, but in reality, it was part of a full sentence ‘losing wealth to remain disaster-free’. He hoped that it would lose wealth, not attract wealth.
This orange cat, cat number 3, was given the same name as Fei Huang Workspace. On the surface, it seemed to mean to be as light and agile as the swallow. However, it had the meaning of becoming aged and withering quickly. The three cats finished their canned food in no time.
Tang Yishu threw out the trash, then carefully groomed and trimmed the nails of the three cats, and finally patted them until they fell asleep while basking in the sunshine. Her tasks were considered to be completed in this way.
She came to her workstation and started to study. She could self-study in the library and the self-study room in school, but it was still somewhat noisy. She preferred to study in the company during weekends.
It was very empty and quiet. There were also coffee and snacks available.
Suddenly, the office door was pushed open.
Tang Yishu was momentarily stunned and instantly remembered that she had a Special Task: that was to record everyone who came back to the office to work overtime and report to Pei Qian!
However, no one worked overtime recently so that task disappeared from Tang Yishu’s mind.
It seemed as though someone came to work overtime again. Tang Yishu quickly turned her head to see who it was. She recognized everyone on this level after working together during this period. She would not be caught unaware again.
However, she turned around only to find Pei Qian standing there. Ah, nevermind then.
Tang Yishu stood up. “Senior, why are you
here?”
Pei Qian quickly scanned the office and nodded with satisfaction seeing that no one came to work overtime secretly.
“I just happened to pass by,” Pei Qian replied casually. Pei Qian purposely came to make a surprise inspection today.
He had not received secret tips from Tang Yishu about people coming back secretly to work overtime. Pei Qian was curious to know if it was true that everyone stopped working overtime or if Tang Yishu learned how to lie.
Now, it seemed as though everyone really stopped working overtime.
It seemed reasonable. First, there was the no-overtime competition, and then there was the cornerstone award. Pei Qian worked so hard to prevent everyone from working overtime; he must have some results, right? The empty office on a weekend was the best result of Boss Pei’s hard work. It seemed like there would be rewards as long as he worked hard!
“Come with me to the guest room,” Pei Qian said to Tang Yishu.
Pei Qian had been thinking about the establishment of the ‘Tengda Secret Service’ for two whole days. The reason for the demands was because Pei Qian realized that there were too many industries at present and he really could not manage it.
The most important thing was that he did not obtain timely updates!
The founders of many huge companies were much busier than Pei Qian, but they had appointed many senior executives to be in charge of various affairs. The executives would ask for instructions on important issues while dealing with the minor ones themselves.
These business empires could still operate efficiently and with order using such mode.
Pei Qian was also adopting this model recently. However, the largest problem was that Pei Qian’s goal was totally opposite of the other company bosses! The attitude of the bosses of the other companies was that senior executives should develop their own departments well. Report major problems that could not be solved as soon as possible and give commendations if the business were to develop well.
While Boss Pei’s requirement was for these executives to not be able to develop their own departments and report signs of business development as soon as possible, he would also give commendation when major problems which could not be solved happened.
This requirement was totally reversed for the bosses of the other companies.
The bosses of the other companies needed to understand the company’s current problems. They would request for all of the departments to report such issues at any time.
What Pei Qian needed to understand was the company’s current profitability. There was no need to report this matter in the eyes of most department heads.
Especially since Pei Qian had long left the impression of ‘disliking employees asking for credit’, this problem was even more serious.
Therefore, Pei Qian felt that he must set up an information collection department to better control the information of each department to find the problem as soon as possible.
The members of this department would be known as Management Trainees.
The management trainees were originally a concept from foreign companies to cultivate the company’s future leaders for special projects. It could be regarded as a talent reserve plan for cultivating mid-high level managers. Management Trainees usually intern in different departments of the company to understand the operations of the entire company. They would then be posted based on their expertise.
Generally speaking, the selection of management trainees was strict. They were usually highly competent to be heads of departments or branches. Of course, that was being used too frequently nowadays. Any company would hire a few management trainees. They end up becoming ‘firefighters’, moving to wherever needed help.
Putting these aside, the Management Trainee system was very much in line with Pei Qian’s current needs.
These people would be placed in different departments of the company through the Management Trainee. Boss Pei would be able to know everything as long as he ensured that he controlled the Management Trainees.
Moreover, Pei Qian rather liked the post ‘Management Trainee’.
Management Trainee, Manage Loss Trainee[2].
It would be great if these people could be brought here to manage losses!
However, Pei Qi
an had hard time thinking about how to select these Management Trainees and who should be the person-in-charge.
Assistant Xin was very capable; her actions were clean and slick. She never probed into the reasons and seemed to be a good candidate.
However, the problem was that she was a little too capable. Most other departments were also very familiar with her.
Pei Qian set up this department purely to be his eyes. Getting Assistant Xin involved would be an overkill. Moreover, Pei Qian had a lot of work for Assistant Xin to do.
Moreover, the department heads knew Assistant Xin. They might be subconsciously defensive and not conceal enough.
Pei Qian pondered over and still felt that Little Tang was the most suitable.
On the one hand, she was the Keeper of the Encouragers on the surface. She looked completely harmless. Her gentle, soft, and cute nature was a natural protective color for herself. No one would be too wary of her.
On the other hand, Little Tang was simple-minded. She would do her best to carry out whatever she promised. She had been providing Pei Qian with the overtime list previously and had done very well.
The only problem would be the halo effect that occurred from time to time. It would cause many hidden bugs to surface, but everyone seemed to be rather used to it.
Who would think that the little girl who cleaned the cats’ poop day in and out was actually the commander of the secret service in the dark?
Yes, very suitable indeed!
Of course, it was not enough to have just one person. He had to have plenty of management trainees as well.
If it was other companies, Management Trainees would have been recruits of outstanding fresh graduates from school or selection prominent employees. However, the management trainees that Pei Qian wanted must not be from existing prominent employees.
Who knew what kind of trouble these employees would make if they were to travel freely around the various departments?!
Boss Pei would have more knives in his back in the unlikely event that some of them become well-rounded.
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