Ji Qinglan

The young woman knocked and entered the office.

Xiao Bei followed her in as well. The entire Thatched Cottage was a world unto itself.

Modern minimalist decor blended with the charm of a Jiangnan water town.

The moment one entered, one felt refreshed and at peace.

"President Ji, this Mr. Xiao would like you to handle his design!"

The young woman spoke to someone seated behind two computer monitors.

Xiao Bei looked over at the sound of her voice. He could not see the person's face for the moment, as it was blocked by the monitors, but he knew the person behind them should be a woman.

Sure enough, as soon as the young woman finished speaking—

A crisp voice came from behind the monitors. "All right, you can leave first!"

"Understood, President Ji."

With that, the young woman left alone. At that moment, the person behind the monitors stood up.

The instant Xiao Bei saw the woman, he was stunned.

In his previous life, Xiao Bei had seen plenty of beautiful women, but none of them could compare to her.

Most importantly, the woman before him was very young, seeming to be only in her early twenties.

Yet her presence was incredibly powerful.

She had long, light-blonde hair with soft waves, clear and bright eyes, delicately arched brows, and long lashes that trembled slightly. Her flawless fair skin carried a faint rosy glow, while her thin lips were as tender and alluring as rose petals.

Within those bright eyes, Xiao Bei saw tranquility—but they were also incredibly captivating.

Her facial contours in particular made her seem like heaven's favored child.

She wore a low-cut, fitted black dress, layered with a slightly sheer white summer shirt.

Around her neck was a Van Cleef & Arpels vintage butterfly pendant necklace resting along her collarbones.

Xiao Bei felt that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. If Liu Qingyan was pure and innocent, and Qin Mengxue was the mature, commanding type, then this woman was elegant and intellectual.

"Hello, Mr. Xiao. I am Ji Qinglan, the chief designer and founder of Qinglan Design!"

Ji Qinglan politely walked up to Xiao Bei, extended a hand, and smiled faintly, radiating confidence.

"Hello, President Ji. I'm Xiao Bei!"

Xiao Bei extended his hand and shook Ji Qinglan's. He did not clasp her entire hand, only two-thirds of her palm—a perfectly appropriate gesture of etiquette.

While Xiao Bei had been assessing Ji Qinglan, Ji Qinglan had also been assessing him.

Her first impression of Xiao Bei was that he was handsome, young, and confident. His temperament was extremely similar to her own.

After their handshake, Ji Qinglan smiled inwardly. He should be the young master of some prominent family, but why have I never seen him in Hangzhou?

After the polite handshake, Ji Qinglan smiled. "President Xiao, let's move to the courtyard."

"A guest follows the host's lead!" Xiao Bei replied with an easy smile.

The two then went to the tea table in the courtyard and sat down.

"What are you planning to renovate, President Xiao?" Ji Qinglan asked as she brewed tea.

"An office building." Sitting across from Ji Qinglan, Xiao Bei calmly met her gaze.

Hearing this, Ji Qinglan looked at Xiao Bei and asked as she poured the tea, "President Xiao, you are quite accomplished at such a young age. Did you bring the plans?"

"Here are the plans. You can take a look."

Ji Qinglan handed Xiao Bei his tea on a saucer. After she set the saucer down, Xiao Bei passed the floor plan to her.

After taking the floor plan, Ji Qinglan said to Xiao Bei, "President Xiao, please enjoy it first. It's premium Longjing tea."

"All right."

With that, Ji Qinglan opened the document envelope and took out the floor plan.

When she saw that it was a two-thousand-square-meter office in Europe and America Financial Plaza, she was somewhat surprised.

It was not that she had never handled a project like this before. She had even designed offices larger and better than this one.

What surprised her was that Xiao Bei looked so young, yet possessed such financial strength.

However, she did not dwell on it and instead carefully studied the floor plan.

A few minutes later, Ji Qinglan closed the floor plan and got straight to the point. "President Xiao, do you have a style in mind?"

"Something younger and more fashionable, with more employee activity areas. My idea is to make work enjoyable. Young people shouldn't have to work in an environment that feels too rigid! And then..."

Xiao Bei stated his thoughts.

In truth, he was using Google's office environment from his previous life as a benchmark.

After all, this world also had giant companies like Google, but Xiao Bei had yet to discover anything like Google's corporate culture.

Ji Qinglan smiled faintly. "President Xiao, I understand all your requirements. Within a week, I'll complete the first version of the design. Now, I'd like to know your budget."

"What are your rates?"

"Basic is 299 yuan per square meter, standard is 399 yuan per square meter, premium is 599 yuan per square meter, and top-tier is 1,999 yuan per square meter. All of the above packages include soft furnishings. In addition, my personal design fee is 500 yuan per square meter."

Ji Qinglan spoke calmly as she replaced Xiao Bei's cup of tea.

"I'll take the top-tier package along with your design services."

Xiao Bei answered calmly. He had just calculated it in his head; the total would come to around five million yuan.

Ji Qinglan looked at Xiao Bei upon hearing this. "President Xiao, you truly are impressive for someone so young! Then we can sign the contract now."

"All right, but I have one condition." Xiao Bei set down his teacup and looked at Ji Qinglan.

"Go ahead." Ji Qinglan smiled faintly.

"During the renovation, I need you to assign someone to oversee it for me. I'll be leaving for military training soon and won't have the time. I can pay extra for that as well."

As soon as Xiao Bei finished speaking, Ji Qinglan froze. Military training?

"President Xiao, would it be convenient for me to ask about your personal circumstances?"

Ji Qinglan asked apologetically.

"Sure. What would you like to ask?"

"How old are you this year?"

"I'm eighteen. I just started university."

Upon hearing that, Ji Qinglan immediately became interested in Xiao Bei.

"President Xiao, I didn't expect you to still be in school!"

"Still?"

Xiao Bei was puzzled. Why had she said "still"?

"Because I'm in university too!"

"President Ji..."

"All right, no need to call me President Ji. We're both university students, and I should be older than you. Just call me Senior Sister!"

"Senior Sister, what school do you attend?"

Xiao Bei was rather surprised as well. When he first saw Ji Qinglan, he had thought she looked young, but he had not given it much thought, assuming she simply took good care of herself. Now he knew she was a student too.

"Junior Brother, I'm a third-year student at Hangcheng Academy of Fine Arts. What about you?"

"Hangcheng University!"

Xiao Bei smiled calmly.

Ji Qinglan smiled faintly. "Our universities are quite close, then. How about this? Once the plans are ready, I'll deliver them directly to your school."

"That would be far too much trouble!"

Afterward, the two signed the contract. Xiao Bei paid a five-percent deposit—two hundred and fifty thousand yuan.

"Do you have time now, Junior Brother?"

After the contract was signed, Ji Qinglan looked at Xiao Bei and asked.

"I do. Are you planning to inspect the site?"

Xiao Bei quickly guessed what Ji Qinglan had in mind.

"Yes."

"All right, let's go together."