Age of Legends

Chapter 196 Got it!

It's another weekend.

Wang Bowen picked up Chen Xuran in his Alto and drove her to the new studio.

The studio is a creative center built within the first ring road. It was transformed from an old brick factory by the municipal government, creating Wang Bowen's personal brand and showcasing his programs, projects, and achievements. Of course, all of this is also for the convenience of leaders who come to visit and take photos.

A mayor from the government went on an inspection tour and was provoked. It is said that when people from outside mentioned Fuzhou, they didn't even know what Fuzhou was most famous for, some didn't even know where it was, and some even made mistakes, using the characteristics of other cities to make their impression of Fuzhou. After a long time, all they could come up with was "Mapo Tofu".

It is said that at the time, someone even asked the mayor, "Don't you all ride pandas across the street?", and they genuinely believed it.

Upon his return, the mayor declared at the Standing Committee meeting, "Fuzhou must go global, and the first step is to expand its cultural influence!" This statement was met with immediate and widespread support, leading to the immediate introduction of relevant policies to create a cultural brand and the simultaneous restructuring of industries.

The changes brought about are also significant. In an era where mainstream media view the online video game industry as spiritual opium and a monstrous flood, Fuzhou is the first city in the country to publicly support the development of online games and has proposed to build Fuzhou into "China's Digital Entertainment and Cultural Industry Center".

On the other hand, emphasis has begun to be placed on integrating historical and cultural resources and intangible cultural heritage into the city's brand. Efforts have started to protect, renovate, and upgrade distinctive neighborhoods, optimize cultural and park facilities throughout the city, and construct public cultural spaces.

At the same time, Wang Bowen, who successfully created the Rongcheng Digital Culture Festival and is a culturally influential celebrity, has also become a key support target. In fact, the concept of IP already exists these days, and Wang Bowen debuted as an IP with the identity of a well-known personal director in Rongcheng.

The creative park built from the old brick factory still retains the structure of red bricks and tiles, but the whole thing has been repainted and a garden and ginkgo leaf garden have been designed. The park is for animation and game development companies, and there needs to be a leader among them. Wang Bowen's studio is the anchor.

The studio is a two-story building separate from the office buildings in the creative park used for startups. It has circular floor-to-ceiling windows and looks like a modern building.

We have a guest today, named Ma Hongrui. He was born in the 70s and is from Beijing. He earned a master's degree in architecture from Princeton University and won many design awards. After returning to China, he founded XAD Space Architecture Company, dedicated to building an international architectural design firm in China.

The blonde, blue-eyed girl next to him is named Emilia, Ma Hongrui's American classmate. She joined a startup company. Ma Hongrui and Chen Xuran know each other, so Chen Xuran wants to entrust them with the design of the Lanyuan Park renovation project.

Ma Hongrui has an elite air about him. He is very talented and has won many design awards during his university years, making him quite well-known. He returned to China with his friends to start a business, determined to succeed.

Chen Xuran's park renovation project is geared towards high-quality development, aiming to create a leading creative design and make a splash in Fuzhou. Ma Hongrui also had the idea of ​​using this project to make his XAD startup company famous. So they hit it off immediately.

Today, Ma Hongrui brought his design proposal to Wang Bowen's studio. Upon entering the meeting room, he saw that besides Wang Bowen and Chen Xuran, there was also a young man.

Specifically.

He is a high school student.

Zhang Chen stood up and shook hands with them. Chen Xuran then introduced him, "This is Zhang Chen, my godson."

Wang Bowen then pointed to the glass window outside the conference room, "That guy playing games is my own son."

Ma Hongrui smiled. Although he was skeptical that a high school student would appear at such a decision-making meeting, he was open-minded and shook hands with Zhang Chen casually, saying, "Then I look forward to your guidance!"

"No, no, Brother Ma is a top student in architecture from Princeton. I've seen many of your design works, and I think they're fantastic. Your company is sure to be a huge success in the future!"

Ma Hongrui laughed heartily, feeling quite pleased with himself.

Amelia, a blonde American woman with wavy hair, was also dressed in a professional suit and high heels. She greeted them one by one with a slight smile, a confident yet reserved smile. At this stage, American students like her have a great advantage in starting businesses in China. Just by displaying their academic qualifications and standing there, most Chinese people can be impressed and feel that this company is high-end and not simple.

Therefore, Ma Hongrui would always take her along when he went out to discuss business, and they were always successful. In Emilia's view, it was only a matter of a few rounds before the boss could win over this group of clients.

Ma Hongrui connected the projector and played his design proposal and concept on the projection screen.

Wang Bowen and Chen Xuran watched from the sidelines, offering no opinions. They felt that Ma Hongrui's design looked very high-end, but they couldn't quite put their finger on it. After all, he was a highly educated returnee from overseas, so what opinions could they possibly offer?

When Ma Hongrui speaks eloquently, he is not domineering or overbearing. He will always pause during a segment of his speech to ask for your opinion.

Wang Bowen and Chen Xuran had no objections. Then Ma Hongrui continued, displaying a seemingly gentle and refined demeanor while forcefully projecting his professional knowledge.

Emilia knew that Ma Hongrui would, unsurprisingly, put the people in front of him in a position to successfully take over the Rongcheng market.

But when Ma Hongrui revealed another idea, he stopped. This time, the stop wasn't to ask for their opinions, but rather a pause because he had talked too much. Before he could continue, Zhang Chen spoke up: "I don't think this wave-shaped corridor design is very good. The local residents have lived in Lanyuan Park for a long time, and they would prefer to see a new form that retains some of the original features. This design is certainly avant-garde, but it's too out of touch with reality."

Wang Bowen and Chen Xuran then realized that Zhang Chen had pointed out something they had always felt was wrong.

Emilia was slightly surprised. Of course she understood Chinese, since it was an elective course in university. However, she mostly used English in her work, and starting a business in China was even easier. Now she was surprised by Zhang Chen's words, which directly criticized Ma Hongrui for being "out of touch with reality."

This is one of the most outstanding young Chinese scholars in the Princeton architecture department, a person who has won many youth awards.

Emilia, doubting whether the other person knew this, said in slightly accented Chinese, "This corridor design actually originates from Mr. Ma's Young Architects Award-winning work, it's in the same vein. Using it here is actually to represent Mr. Ma's personal fingerprint, showing his emphasis on it..."

Ma Hongrui frowned as well: "How could it be out of touch with reality..."

Then Zhang Chen raised another objection regarding the design: "Regarding the design of 'Bird's Nest Plaza,' I understand that people gather here like migratory birds returning to their nests, which does have a Western aesthetic. But I know that the old park was a spiral slide, a memory for many generations, where many people grew up. Forgive my bluntness, but if the slide becomes a bird's nest, then the memories of the previous generation will be severed. When we renovate parks and buildings, we should be familiar with the local conditions, preserve the memories of the past, and have warmth..."

Ma Hongrui also argued his case forcefully, demonstrating his eloquence, given his numerous awards and experience of fluently explaining his ideas on stage. However, for an architect, and indeed a creator, the primary principle is to uphold one's own beliefs. Therefore, the exchange became quite intense for a time.

In diplomatic terms, the two sides had a frank and in-depth exchange.

Ma Hongrui was getting a little anxious and asked Chen Xuran, "President Chen, what's your opinion?" Emilia felt that the people who should have set the tone should have done so long ago, so that such a young Chinese high school student wouldn't question the opinions of professionals.

Chen Xuran glanced at Zhang Chen and said, "Zhang Chen's meaning is the same as mine. If Hong Rui still can't change your mindset, I think I'll probably find someone else to do the design work."

Ma Hongrui hadn't expected Chen Xuran to be so firmly supportive of Zhang Chen; his words implied that even their personal relationship couldn't compare.

The atmosphere became somewhat awkward and silent for a moment. Ma Hongrui then said, "I need to go out and make a phone call. I also have some official business to reply to. Let's talk about this case later."

Emilia followed Ma Hongrui out the door and into the lobby. She could tell that Ma Hongrui was still angry, so Emilia followed him and said, "It's okay. You've already lowered the price a lot. You're just helping a friend. Since they don't appreciate it, they must have misjudged us. We still have projects in Beijing. Let's go back and work on that first!"

But Emilia saw Ma Hongrui, who was supposed to be leaving, stop at the door. He was much calmer now. After all, he was a top-tier architecture master's graduate, arrogant and talented, who had returned to China intending to make a name for himself. He had a mindset of looking down on everyone else, and now that he had run into a wall, he was bound to act rashly. So the argument between the two sides in the room just now had become quite heated.

However, Ma Hongrui, whose face was flushed, did not leave. Instead, after calming down with the wind, he said to Emilia, "No, let's go back. I think he's right!"

In fact, after returning to China, Ma Hongrui dedicated himself to bringing Western aesthetics to the country and took on several projects. Of course, the clients dared not say anything about his qualifications and only praised him, but the actual results were not so good.

He had been thinking about what exactly was missing.

I just had an argument with Zhang Chen. It wasn't so much about the design of this project as it was about our differing philosophies.

Now, it seems that Ma Hongrui has gained some inspiration from that high school student.

"Architecture should have warmth, connect with the past, have emotion, and connect the ancient, the modern, and even the future without severing the connection."

Not long after, Ma Hongrui was sitting in the conference room again with Zhang Chen and his group.

This time, however, it was Ma Hongrui who guided Zhang Chen to express his thoughts, while he spent most of his time taking notes and listening.

"I still maintain that before carrying out renovations, it's best to solicit the opinions of nearby residents. What do they want to preserve? What are the things that hold deep memories for them, such as the river in front of their homes? Then, the renovation process should revolve around these things. We could even create some artificial flowing water to form a water play area for children, similar to the days when locals would spend an afternoon playing by the stream. This would both connect the past and the future, and I believe it would be well received by nearby residents."

Zhang Chen recalled that some areas in the nearby district were redeveloped back then. Some of the redeveloped areas were criticized harshly, even though they had good design. The government even hired many famous designers to handle the projects. They were practically going to embed the designers' nameplates on the pillars. However, the local residents did not appreciate it. On the contrary, the wading stream mentioned in the park became a gathering place for countless residents to bring their children every summer, and it received rave reviews.

Zhang Chen may not understand design as well as Ma Hongrui, but he knows the future.

Ma Hongrui listened intently, feeling as if he had been enlightened. He had always felt that the Western aesthetics he had mastered after returning from studying abroad were out of place and always too sophisticated for the general public. But now, after this detailed conversation with Zhang Chen, it was as if his meridians had been opened, and he felt incredibly refreshed.

Listening to Zhang Chen's many insightful quotes, one can almost feel the flavor of architectural philosophy.

“I believe that urban areas need to have memories, they need to have history. History is not fake, it is real. We need to preserve the traces of change, but life still moves forward. A brand new life needs to be injected into the old city. Imagine, here is the old city wall, the traces are still there, even the tree roots that may be hundreds of years old, which we protect. Next to it is an aerial botanical garden built against the city wall, below which is a modern library. Next to it can be luxury shopping malls. Just a wall away is a well-preserved ancient temple, where the gentle sound of bells rings in the morning light every day as monks do their morning prayers. Outside is the financial district where white-collar workers shuttle to and fro, and underground is a subway hub that roars by.”

After the exchange ended, Ma Hongrui stood up and said, "I understand, Sister Chen. This project must be entrusted to me. I intend to make it one of my masterpieces. I will first collect opinions from the local community in the next construction period and make them public. After that, I will produce a new design. This time, I guarantee that everyone will be satisfied."

As he was leaving, Ma Hongrui smiled at Zhang Chen and said, "Are you a senior in high school this year? Are you interested in studying architectural design...? Maybe I can introduce you to someone..."

Zhang Chen knew he had the talent, so he quickly declined, saying, "I'm just offering some immature suggestions. I've loved reading science fiction since I was a child and imagining those future worlds. It just so happens that some of my ideas can come in handy. I hope they can provide some inspiration for Brother Ma!"

Ma Hongrui departed with a full load.

Zhang Chen was just discussing the project with Ma Hongrui, and he was actually sharing some ideas with Chen Xuran. His mother, Huang Huifen, didn't understand these things, and the renovation concepts and designs were all Chen Xuran's responsibility. Zhang Chen was sharing some of his experience from the future with Chen Xuran so that she would have a clear understanding of the situation.

This way, Chen Xuran can also make a difference at the employee meeting.

Actually, it wasn't a complicated matter. Zhang Chen simply described to Chen Xuran what successful park renovation projects from later generations looked like, making the direction of her responsibilities much clearer. After that, it was up to her.

With the help of a genius like Ma Hongrui, the first project should be completed smoothly without any problem.

After seeing Ma Hongrui off, Chen Xuran, at Wang Bowen's prompting, tugged at Zhang Chen's sleeve and said, "Give me an idea. Your mother's ideas and concepts are very good. You saw them yourself; many media outlets reported on them back then. But who knew that someone would steal them from her?"

Zhang Chen then asked, "Liu Qi from Yipin Real Estate?"

Chen Xuran said, "So you knew! Many plots of land in Rongcheng are being redeveloped simultaneously. Yipin Real Estate's project is just one block away, clashing with ours. Now they're using the same concept we had when we opened, promoting it heavily. It's like they're the first to do it, attracting our potential clients who were interested in community commercial development to theirs instead. It's essentially the same project; the park redevelopment is accompanied by land sales for community commercial development, with identical business formats. They're trying to steal our high-quality clients. I asked your godfather, and he said you're quick-witted, asking if you have any ideas?"

What thoughts could I possibly have?
Faced with this aggressive propaganda offensive...

Alas!
Zhang Chen had an idea. So he said it to Chen Xuran.

As Chen Xuran listened, her eyes darted around and then brightened again.

(End of this chapter)