The door to Wang Xiaoliang's office opened.
Cui Wanqiu brought in a large roll of yellowed drawings and set it on the desk with a thump.
Engineer Zhang took it, adjusted his reading glasses, and spread it straight out on the desk.
Minister Feng leaned closer.
Their fingers traced back and forth across the drawings as they muttered technical terms.
"This old building was built with solid materials." Engineer Zhang tapped the drawing firmly. "There's no need to knock down walls in the street-facing offices on the first floor. Just cut down from the windows and turn them into doors. The partitions are already there, so each room is a ready-made storefront. But the offices on opposite sides can't be connected, because that would affect the load-bearing walls. The corridor can only serve one side; seal off the other side. Only this largest room can be converted into a shop running all the way from front to back."
"Fire safety will be easy, too," Minister Feng added. "Leave the load-bearing wall on this side of the corridor untouched, and keep the second floor as it is. Attach a steel staircase directly to the outside of the building, leading straight to the second floor. A standard separate fire escape. Once the fire compartments are laid out, install sprinklers and smoke detectors in every unit. There definitely won't be any trouble with approval."
Listening to the two men back each other up, Wang Xiaoliang felt reassured.
The work would be simple and inexpensive. Feasible.
He saw the two experts off.
Xie Hui was still studying the drawings.
"It's a bit of a waste with these courtyard-facing offices. They can only be opened up to connect with the ones facing outside." Xie Hui pointed to the reception room on the drawing. "This one's