Chapter 74: Chapter 74: 15 Million Renovation Budget

Seeing her boss approach, Xu Fangfang stood straight and bowed. "Hello, President Xiao!"

Xiao Junwen nodded. The imperious air of a company president vanished, replaced by the warm smile of a friendly uncle. "My dear niece, what brings you here today?"

Qi Fei stood up, her eyes level with Xiao Junwen’s.

Seeing this, Wu Yun also stood up out of respect, since the man was clearly an elder to Qi Fei.

"Uncle Xiao, I’m here with my boyfriend to buy a house. This is Wu Yun! My boyfriend," Qi Fei said with a polite smile, pulling Wu Yun over and clinging to his arm as she made the introduction.

"Hello, Uncle Xiao," Wu Yun said, nodding naturally. He showed no signs of nervousness, despite Xiao Junwen’s status as the president of a large corporation.

As he nodded, Xiao Junwen sized up Wu Yun in an instant. His gaze fell on the floor plan on the table—clearly for a villa. ’This is one impressive young man,’ he thought.

"So you’ve chosen a property?" Xiao Junwen asked, though his eyes were on Xu Fangfang.

Xu Fangfang answered, a little nervously, "President Xiao, Mr. Wu has his eye on Villa 16 at Black Eagle Manor. We just negotiated a price of 25.34 million yuan."

The more Xiao Junwen looked at Wu Yun and Qi Fei, the more he felt they were a perfect match. He smiled. "How could I not give you a discount when you’re buying from your Uncle Xiao? On my own authority, I’ll waive the odd amount. Please understand, my dear niece, Lushan International isn’t a solo venture by my company, so too large a discount would upset some people. You two go ahead and get the paperwork sorted. I have a meeting to get to, so I’ll be on my way."

Xiao Junwen gave Wu Yun a nod, then started to walk back the way he came. He hadn’t gone far before he turned and called out, "Niece, tell Old Qi I said hello, and I’ll find him for tea sometime soon!"

Afterward, with the help of Xu Fangfang and other staff members, Wu Yun signed the contract to purchase the house in full and paid the 25 million yuan.

Because of the 90% off villa discount card, he only had to pay 2.5 million. The system covered the remaining balance.

Looking at his bank account, which now had only 7.79 million left, Wu Yun couldn’t help but feel it was a small amount. It was true what they said: it’s hard to go from lavishness back to austerity.

The 90% off villa card also included renovation costs, with a limit of 40 million. As it happened, neither of them liked the current interior design of Villa 16 at Black Eagle Manor, so they had Xu Fangfang recommend a company that specialized in villa renovations.

After a complimentary lunch at the sales office, Wu Yun and Qi Fei lounged on a sofa, scrolling through different interior design styles on their phones.

Villa renovation jobs were always big-ticket items, so the design company sent someone to the sales office right away.

Wu Yun looked at the group that arrived—a man and two women in professional attire. The man, who appeared to be in his thirties, was clearly in charge.

"Mr. Wu, hello. I’m Wesley, the chief designer from Nescafe Decoration. These are my two assistant designers," the slightly balding Wesley said, introducing himself.

Seeing the expressions on Qi Fei and Wu Yun’s faces, he explained matter-of-factly, "Please don’t laugh, Mr. Wu. My father’s surname is Wei and my mother’s is Li, hence the name."

Wu Yun nodded. "Engineer Wei, I’ve bought Villa 16 at Black Eagle Manor. I was wondering if your company has any relevant experience with the property."

The two younger female designers looked at Qi Fei with envy, thinking how lucky she was to have such a rich boyfriend.

Wesley laughed. "You can rest assured, Mr. Wu. Our company handled the initial installations for both Black Eagle Manor and Black Ebony Manor. We used a standardized template, so the design styles are all quite similar."

"Of course, many homeowners have done secondary renovations and changed some of the designs. But as for gutting the place and redoing it completely, like you’re planning, Mr. Wu, our company has done that four or five times. I personally designed half of them. Here, this portfolio shows some of our previous work." As Wesley finished speaking, the assistant on his left handed over an exquisite album.

Wesley wasn’t in a rush. People in design were patient, especially those who worked on villas. Otherwise, they would have been driven to a breakdown by demanding clients long ago.

Wesley took a sip of water, observing Wu Yun. Someone who could buy a 25-million-yuan villa outright was undeniably powerful. Adding in the Jaeger-LeCoultre on his wrist and the beautiful woman by his side, he was the very picture of wealth.

’How can I pitch a renovation that’s both high-quality and high-priced?’ Wesley schemed.

Wu Yun placed the album across his and Qi Fei’s laps. He wrapped his right arm around her waist, and they looked through Nescafe Decoration’s portfolio, their heads close together.

More than ten minutes later, the two of them finished looking through the album.

Wesley smiled. "So, are you both confident in our company’s skills and designs?"

Wu Yun nodded, then said, "Engineer Wei, I’ll lay out our requirements now."

"First, it needs to be bright. All the rooms should be as bright as possible. We saw the house today, and while the decor is luxurious, it feels a bit dark, which we don’t like." The female assistant to Wesley’s right rapidly jotted down Wu Yun’s requirements, while a recording pen on the table blinked with a green light.

"Second, the design elements should suit us as young people." 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Third, smart home integration and automation."

"Fourth, I want a dedicated home gym, complete with a punching bag, and also a home theater. I don’t mind sacrificing a few rooms for them."

...

Wu Yun went on to list more than ten requirements, specifying a modern, light luxury style.

The smile on Wesley’s face grew even wider. ’He’s not afraid to make demands, and the more demands he makes, the higher the price will be! This is definitely going to be a huge commission.’

"Mr. Wu, will you be wanting us to procure the furniture and appliances, or will you be purchasing them yourself?" Wesley asked, a routine question.

"You can handle it all as a package deal. My only job is to pay for it," Wu Yun said. He found the idea of shopping for all those things tedious. It was better to let them handle it all at once, which would save him the headache of finding furniture and appliances that matched the design style.

"Of course, Mr. Wu. Thank you for your trust. One last question: what is your budget for the renovation?"

Wu Yun thought for a moment, then said, "As long as it’s under 10 million, just focus on the design. Fifteen million is the absolute limit!"

Even Qi Fei was stunned by Wu Yun’s extravagance. She tried to stop him, "Are you crazy? With that much money for renovations, you could add a little more and buy a whole other villa!"

Wesley and his two assistants were also shocked. Fifteen million could buy a large, fully-renovated villa in another location.

Wu Yun patted Qi Fei’s hand. "Fei, I just want our home to be as nice as possible! Besides, it’s not like I’m short on cash!"

Qi Fei thought of Wu Yun’s Little Red Car and decided not to argue further. Instead, she shot him a playful glare. "This isn’t *my* home. We’re not married, you know!"

"AHEM..." Wesley coughed, interrupting their public display of affection. "Mr. Wu, are you certain you want to spend 15 million on this renovation? To be honest, a 10-million-yuan renovation is already considered rare in our industry! And based on our experience, 10 million is more than enough to renovate a villa in Black Eagle Manor."

Wesley wasn’t a designer without professional ethics, so he added, "Thank you for your trust, Mr. Wu. How about this? We’ll go back and draw up a preliminary budget for you to review. After all, there’s no real upper limit to renovation costs, and we’ll need to consult with you frequently about the design plans anyway."

"Our company has the construction blueprints and original renovation diagrams for Villa 16 on file, so we won’t need to do on-site measurements."

Now that he knew Wu Yun’s budget, Wesley planned to report back to his boss and ask for her full support. He wanted to make this project a new benchmark for Nescafe Decoration. It would be the biggest challenge of his career.