Chapter 69: The voting results are out

Broad and Elegant's other members found their own seats, while Xia Xi stood alone on the stage, took out a USB drive from her bag, bent over to plug it into the computer, and the projection screen displayed a completely new design scheme that they had never seen before.

Gao Ge stared wide-eyed from below.

This……how is that possible?

From yesterday's incident to this afternoon at five p. m., altogether less than thirty hours, even without eating, drinking, or sleeping, it would be impossible for one person to finish the Jingyu Yuan design scheme.

Unless Xia Xi knows the art of duplication!

You know they completed the previous design scheme with the eight-member team dividing labor and cooperating, rushing for over ten days, even working overtime until late during the New Year holiday at the company.

Gao Ge's eyes could hardly take it in, sometimes looking at Xia Xi, sometimes at the big screen; the design scheme's cover border was an auspicious cloud pattern, and in the center were five bold black characters—Tang-Song-Yuan-Ming-Qing.

Its concept had nothing in common with the previous scheme.

Xia Xi held the remote pointer to explain to everyone, her voice calm and clear: "In recent years, all industries have seen a rise in Chinese retro style; young people increasingly advocate traditional culture, such as the everyday wearing of hanfu, the promotion of national-style cosmetics, the popularity of ancient-style music, the widespread collection of cultural artifacts, and some grand evening galas, even performances related to traditional culture on the Spring Festival Gala, are more popular and have longer-lasting appeal. I believe everyone has heard the saying—our ancestors' top-notch aesthetics are no fluke."

A burst of laughter rang out in the spacious meeting room; even with many competitors present, they couldn't help but share a knowing smile.

"This is not a joking remark, it's a fact." Xia Xi spread her hands, "Saying all this, I actually want to tell you that Chinese retro style has permeated our clothing, food, housing, transportation, and entertainment, but in the 'housing' aspect, many renovations done under the banner of Chinese retro style, due to lack of understanding or insufficient depth, mix in Japanese elements and lack historical substance. I have repeatedly studied the structure of Jingyu Yuan's five buildings; many adopt ancient architectural design, so I feel it aligns best with Chinese style……"

The five buildings exactly correspond to the name she gave this scheme: 'Tang-Song-Yuan-Ming-Qing'.

Ten minutes passed, Xia Xi's demonstration ended, and the venue fell silent.

As the person in charge, Wang Xiao raised a question: "Nowadays the trend formed by national style is called 'guochao'; no one knows when this trend will fade, what if it goes out of fashion in the future? A holiday resort isn't like clothing or cosmetics—if it's unpopular, you can't just take it off the shelves and stop selling it."

Xia Xi smiled.

Wang Xiao, somewhat bewildered, asked: "What are you laughing at?"

Xia Xi said: "Chinese retro style exists against the backdrop of China's traditional culture, combining inner spirit and outer aesthetic expression. China's five-thousand-year culture has so much to explore; as overall national strength and cultural confidence rise, only more people will come to like Chinese style, and I believe works truly imbued with historical culture will never decline, no matter how much time passes."

Wang Xiao was moved by the sparkle in her eyes and actually began to anticipate how this scheme would look when realized in architecture.

A theme hotel combining the cultural characteristics of various dynasties—wouldn't that be equivalent to traveling through time and experiencing ancient people's lives?

Wang Xiao had no further questions, and Xia Xi spoke the closing remarks: "Time is rushed; this scheme still has many shortcomings. If we are fortunate enough to cooperate with the Xu Clan Group, I will lead my team to provide a more perfect and detailed plan afterward. Thank you."

Someone in the meeting room started clapping, then more and more people joined in, and the applause swelled into a continuous wave.

Xia Xi gave a slight nod, picked up her belongings, and stepped down; no one knew that a fine layer of sweat had seeped out on her forehead.

She was more nervous than anyone else, worried she would mess up.

Xia Xi used the gesture of tossing her hair to wipe her sweat, shifted her gaze, and suddenly caught sight of a figure.

She stared intently; that person stood outside the meeting room door, tall and sturdy, with deep-set brows and eyes, gazing steadily at her, a faint smile of pride on his face, clapping along with the others.

The applause inside the room was too loud; his share was drowned in it, hard to hear.

But she saw him.

Her heart skipped a beat; Xia Xi quickly averted her gaze, as if she had never noticed him. Yet her heartbeat continued to pound fiercely—even though the applause in the venue thundered like thunder, she could still hear the thumping in her chest, deafening.

She was so immersed in presenting the scheme that she didn't know when Xu Yanfeng had appeared, why he hadn't entered the meeting room but stood outside……peeking.

Xia Xi returned to her team's position, reaping a heap of praise; Gao Ge, unusually expressive, raised both hands to give her a thumbs-up—if they hadn't had a prior disagreement, she estimated she would have given Xia Xi a hug.

After a long while, Xia Xi furtively lifted her eyes toward the meeting room door; that figure had vanished, as if that scene had been her illusion. The host stepped forward to announce the end of the proposal presentation process, and that voting would begin shortly.

The judges on site, namely the senior executives of the Xu Clan, numbered in the dozens; after those design firms finished presenting their schemes, they would cast either an 'approval' or 'rejection' vote.

The top five with the most 'approval' votes would be placed on the shortlist for a second round of voting. In the second round, each judge could cast only one vote, and the scheme with the highest total would win.

"Xia Xi, I'm curious—how did you manage that?"

Xia Xi was in a daze; her body and mind had been tense for nearly thirty hours, then suddenly relaxed, leaving her feeling wooden, her mind blank, her reactions slow. So, hearing Gao Ge's question, Xia Xi stared for a few seconds: "What do you mean, how did I do it?"

"This scheme! In such a short time, how did you manage to do it alone?"

"I didn't complete this scheme in that short time."

"Huh?"

Xia Xi rubbed her slightly throbbing temples, her eyes struggling to stay open, her speech less clear than when she was on stage, muffled: "When the Jingyu Yuan project first began circulating in the industry, I already had this idea; I started doing some preparatory work, even completing part of the design drafts."

She's not a deity—how could she possibly produce a complete scheme in just over twenty hours?

"Then you……" Gao Ge paused, her expression a bit awkward, "Why didn't you say anything during the team meeting?"

Xia Xi, exhausted, couldn't help but yawn: "I had everyone brainstorm to hear if there were better ideas; later you suggested a business style, which was also good. Besides, you've always been dissatisfied with me taking on that six-hundred-square-meter villa project, so this time I handed the project over to you to take charge."

Gao Ge: "……"

She felt a bit ashamed; Xia Xi's scheme was obviously deeper than hers, her proposed 'business style' was too superficial, only aiming for high-end, not realizing that tradition is the true high-end.

Gao Ge raised another question, this time sincerely seeking her advice, her tone much humbler: "How did you come up with it?"

"I cheated." Xia Xi struggled to keep her eyelids from fluttering; seeing Gao Ge's surprised expression, she smiled and said, "You must have heard who designed the architecture of Jingyu Yuan, right?"

"Li Zongyu." Gao Ge answered, "Professor of the Architecture Department at Nancheng Daxue, I think he retired just last year."

Xia Xi nodded: "Professor Li Zongyu was once my teacher; I served as his class representative for a semester, so I know his preferences best. He likes ancient architecture, his home is stacked with a full bookshelf of ancient building books. You said why the Xu Clan invited him out of retirement to design Jingyu Yuan?"

Gao Ge suddenly understood.

The Xu Clan Group invited Professor Li Zongyu to design Jingyu Yuan, valuing his deep research into ancient architecture; therefore, the corresponding decoration style would surely lean more toward Chinese, simple and unadorned.

Gao Ge looked at Xia Xi and thought she was practically divine, having even considered this aspect.

"You know everything, so how dare you let me take charge? My 'business style' is off-topic." Gao Ge took a deep breath, "Aren't you afraid Broad and Elegant will lose?"

Xia Xi shrugged, giving off an air of carefree resignation: "Don't say that; the voting results aren't out yet, making it sound like my scheme is sure to win."

Gao Ge: "At least it has a higher chance of winning than my scheme!"

At that moment, the host walked to the front holding an envelope, telling everyone the voting results had been tallied and were inside the envelope in her hand.

The atmosphere in the meeting room instantly turned tense, comparable to the segment of a large awards ceremony announcing the winners; if there were background music now, it would surely be dense drumbeats.

"Thud thud thud thud thud——"

(End of chapter)