Chapter 178

If there was only one person, the current bachelor staff building would be fine; after all, it's much more spacious than the dormitory, but with a wife, the room becomes small.

Qin Miao isn't someone who can endure hardship and live frugally; he has contributed so much to Ha Gong Da and to the country, he deserves to enjoy himself… cough, cough, he doesn't actually pursue enjoyment, but letting his wife and children live a bit better should be only natural, right?

Qin Miao took the design drawings, and based on later experience, he could tell at a glance that this was an 1980s-style staff building, with one elevator serving two households, an area of about fifty to sixty square meters, later colloquially called an old, dilapidated small apartment.

If there were three bedrooms, then the south side would have two bedrooms, the north side would have a bedroom and a kitchen, the living room would be in the middle, and the entrance would be the bathroom.

If there were two bedrooms, there would be one each on the south and north sides, with the kitchen adjacent to the southern bedroom, the living room in the center, and the entrance still being the bathroom.

The bedrooms were long enough, but the width was too narrow; as for lighting in the living room, there basically was none—many families turned their bedrooms into sliding doors, opening them during the day to let in some light.

The bathroom was too cramped to take a bath; even for a shower, many people had to stand on the squat toilet, and some even stepped their feet into it while showering, requiring a call to the firefighter uncle.

This house isn't much better than a Khrushchyovka!

As for this staff building, I actually have some ideas—I don't know if they're mature or not; you're all professionals, so if I'm wrong, just treat it as a joke.

Hmm, go ahead.

The bedroom doesn't need to be big—just enough for a double bed and a wardrobe, since it's only for sleeping—but the living room must be large, a place for the whole family to relax and entertain; it can't just have a dining table, it needs a row of sofas, a TV opposite, and an extra dining area for meals…

So… could you design it for us?

Sure.

Soon Qin Miao sketched out a two-bedroom, one-living-room layout like a later-era Western house: a bedroom on the south, a bedroom on the north, with the bathroom sandwiched between them—indeed, the original living room would become the bathroom. If it's an end unit, the bathroom could even have a window.

Adjacent to the southern bedroom is the living room, which must be sufficiently wide, with a frontage of at least four meters, and outside there should be a balcony with floor-to-ceiling windows where a recliner can be placed; the northern bedroom is next to the kitchen and dining room, and the total area… must be double the original design!

Actually, Qin Miao preferred a large horizontal hall layout—it would be imposing, ideally two hundred square meters—but… he figured he'd be criticized for extravagance, so he let it go.

What about the stairs?

The stairs need to be extended backward, stretching out from the main body…

The purpose of this is, of course, to facilitate later installation of an elevator; even if an old broken small building installs an elevator, it still isn't flush with the floor, so one still has to climb half a staircase—this design makes it easy to add an external staircase later, thus solving a problem for old broken small buildings.

Moreover, during design, they reserved enough space and structural strength margin for adding an elevator later.

Everyone looked at each other, thinking with the mindset of the masses: a house just needs to be livable; why such a huge living room? A bathroom just needs to be usable for a toilet—making it this big…

Okay, then we'll specially design a building according to San Shui's concept! Zhao Ninejiang waved his hand.

Designing it all like that would be too wasteful, but the house prepared for Qin Miao must meet his wishes—after all, he's finished four years of college, surely he'll stay on to teach at the university, and in this lifetime he probably won't leave Ha Gong Da…

Come, San Shui, take a look at this.

What is this?

The office building of Ha Gong Da's Import-Export Company—this building is planned to be constructed right next to the perimeter wall; once it's done, we'll tear down the wall, and it will perfectly become a street-front shop…

Qin Miao then remembered that he had also taken on a job for the import-export company… the first deal was worth three billion five hundred million dollars in skyrocketing monkey… He hadn't originally given it much thought, since many import-export operators are just shell companies, but now…

You don't need a whole building; just find a room in an office building and hang up a sign.

That won't do; nowadays, anyone nationwide qualified to engage in import-export trade is full of vigor, we can't be too shabby—the president emphasized that we must design this import-export company properly…

A three-story small building with a European facade—actually, many buildings in Ha Cheng are European-style, given the local history… Now, looking at a design full of Western elements, Qin Miao didn't object: 'No problem, our civil engineering design plan is naturally the best; it's just… we can't actually use something this big.'

Absolutely! Especially your office—we'll design it like the offices of the heads of import-export companies in the Capital, over two hundred square meters in total, with a large table more than three meters wide in the center; that will be your workspace from now on…

Qin Miao stared, tongue-tied—he really didn't need such luxury… Moreover, the office was too big and rather empty, and he wouldn't be able to hire a few pretty female secretaries…

Cough, cough… Qin Miao quickly checked that thought; if he did something that let down his wife, his father-in-law would never forgive him, so it's better to remain pure and simple.

An office building this big would also be unusable.

It's not usable now, but once the company's business expands, it might still not be enough—after all, Ha Gong Da's future import-export business will also go through this company. A voice sounded from outside.

President Liu, having finished his work, appeared at the doorway, his eyes full of anticipation; hearing that Qin Miao had offended the Capital's foreign exchange oversight department, he had been a little worried, but now there's no need to worry at all—by handling import-export ourselves, opening an overseas account, we can pay directly for foreign purchases through that account, without needing higher approval for foreign exchange, which would be much more convenient!

Advanced computers, high-precision processing equipment, international cutting-edge theoretical research… all of these require foreign exchange to purchase; before, the approval process could run you ragged, but now it's much more convenient!

President Liu?

Well, San Shui, the Ha Gong Da Import-Export Company will be entrusted to you to manage; whatever personnel the company needs, just pick them from our school—regardless of the work, they must obey dispatch—and this import-export company must be run well!

Well, then… first transfer Zhang Honghong to me.

President Liu first blinked, then smiled: 'San Shui, you mean… you don't trust others?'

Zhang Honghong, the elder sister of Chu Miaomiao! Is Qin Miao reluctant to use outsiders?

Of course not—most teachers are engaged in research; pulling them into administrative work would surely make them unwilling, so it's better to start with family members. Qin Miao said.

This certainly isn't his true motive; the real concern is that someone might not withstand temptation—large sums of money flowing in, often millions, possibly even hundreds of millions—when you look at his own salary of just a few dozen yuan a month, he might truly fall into depravity.

Those who have seen the world should be better able to withstand the test.