Chapter 527 - Golden Maze (1/2)

May 24th, Tuesday…

At Thriller Hostel…

Chen Kangtuo was standing at the entrance of the old industrial zone, looking around anxiously. All of a sudden, he saw a rented car parked outside. A young man alighted from it.

At that moment, Chen Kangtuo did not dare to approach the young man. He knew that he was meeting an architect by the surname of Liang today and that the architect would be a bit young, but the man in front of him looked a bit too young However, on further thought, both of them had set the time and date yesterday. What’s more, nobody would come by the old industrial zone anyway. After some hesitation, Chen Kangtuo walked briskly forward. “Mr. Liang?”.

Liang Qingfan nodded. “Yes. Are you Boss Chen?”

“Are you really Mr. Liang? How are you, how are you?” Chen Kangtuo shook Liang Qingfan’s hand excitedly. Then, both men walked into Chen Kangtuo’s office. Once they entered, two more people who had been sitting on the couch came forward to welcome them.

Chen Kangtuo introduced the two people to Liang Qingfan. “Mr. Liang, let me introduce you. This is the colleague who is heading Thriller Hostel with me, Hao Qiong. This is the current designer in charge of altering and renovating Thriller Hostel, Shi Zherui.”

Liang Qingfan greeted both of them. He expected to have many common topics of interest with the other architect, Shi Zherui.

Shi Zherui was a young and capable architect in Jingzhou. He was a year older than Liang Qingfan, but neither his academic results nor his resume was as bright as Liang Qingfan’s.

As for why Pei Qian had put him in charge of Thriller Hostel… it was obviously for the same reason as to why he chose Liang Qingfan. He did not want to choose a famous architect to design Thriller Hostel, in case it brought unnecessary fame and popularity.

Chen Kangtuo poured a cup of tea. “Mr. Liang, you have arrived in the nick of time and resolved my greatest worries.” Liang Qingfan was stunned. “Oh? Why do you say that?”

Chen Kangtuo gently placed the cup of tea in front of Liang Qingfan. “It’s a long story. Thriller Hostel is an amusement park project that Boss Pei had decided to turn this old industrial zone into in response to multiple appeals.

“You should know that by now, right? A group of investors had also been persuaded to follow Boss Pei and invest in the surrounding area.

“This group of investors suggested building a huge shopping mall for Boss Pei and Thriller Hostel’s benefit. Props and other peripheral products would be sold in that mall. We are to come up with the plan while they fork out the money.

“Thus, I invited Teacher Shi to come up with a common design for a shopping mall, with the intention of using it for the actual thing.

“Yet, alas, Boss Pei is a man who enjoys perfecting something that is already outstanding! He emailed me yesterday, asking us to design the shopping mall as a maze!” Shi Zherui continued from where Chen Kangtuo left off. “I felt confused when Boss Chen told me about this, too. At first, I thought that there was nothing much one could do with a shopping mall. That was why I used a typical plan. I didn’t think that Boss Pei would be unsatisfied!

“At the moment, I am still in charge of the construction of the Thriller Hostel, and I have to watch the progress like a hawk. If any problems occur, I have to change the plan on the spot. Time is already tight, and yet Boss Pei is requesting that I work on a maze. That would kill me.

“I don’t have much experience with or knowledge of mazes, and I already have so many things on my hands! Thus… we’ve been leaving this on the back burner, and Boss Chen has been worrying about it.”

Chen Kangtuo nodded. “That’s right, but thankfully, Mr. Liang has arrived! Mr. Liang, do you have any good ideas about how to carry out this project?”

Liang Qingfan raised his eyebrows.

Turn a shopping mall into a maze? That was very bold! Boss Pei might have been the only one in the entire world who could come up with such a bold and imaginative idea. Liang Qingfan sipped his tea and asked, “What exactly did Boss Pei say? I have some thoughts about the maze, but I need to understand what Boss Pei requires so that I don’t get it wrong.”

Chen Kangtuo laughed and said proudly, “Don’t worry, I am considered an old employee of Tengda Games. I’ve learned a thing or two about figuring out what Boss Pei wants!

“Boss Pei mentioned two points in his email. First, he wants it to be expensive-luxurious and dazzling. He wanted the shopping mall to be filled with luxury brands.

“Second, he wanted most of the shops selling peripheral products to be hidden within the maze, so that the majority of the customers would exit the shopping mall without even realizing it. They should not be able to find a single shop. “Let me try to interpret Boss Pei’s intentions from my angle. If any of you have anything to add, please feel free to add on.

“I think that Boss Pei’s ‘maze’ idea has something to do with games! It’ll be like collectibles created in games; they would all be hidden. Gamers would then have to search for them repeatedly, which would keep them playing the game for a long time. “At the same time, once a gamer finds a hidden shop, it would be like finding a hidden merchant in the game. It would have a psychological effect on them. They would think that, after spending so much time locating the shop, they had to buy something to reward themselves. Otherwise, it would feel like they’re losing out. That way, we would be able to encourage spending.

“It would be even better if the various shops regularly update their products and gifts for people to purchase as proof that they have been there.

“As for why the renovations must be expensive… I haven’t thought about it yet.”

Liang Qingfan nodded as his right hand caressed his teacup. “Yes, we can easily make gamers spend more time in the game with the maze design. However, from the architect’s point of view, there are other considerations as well.

“Boss Pei said that customers should exit the mall without even realizing it. Obviously, there should be many exits in the mall. That means that the crowd would be split up, and the customer experience would be improved. At the same time, in case of any emergency, customers would be able to disperse very quickly.

“What’s more, creating a maze would require us to divide the mall into segments. For the purposes of designing the building, segmenting could increase the efficiency of space usage in the building. Practically, it’s a sign of far-sightedness.

“I think we can make a few key walls in the maze moveable. When we close them off, the paths would be closed; when we open them, there would be an additional path. Once we make the mechanism automatic, we can use an algorithm to automatically generate new mazes. The paths would change every once in a while, so that the sense of novelty remains for customers. “Of course, for safety, we have to make sure that someone would be watching the automated system at all times. Even if the electricity gets cut, we should be able to ensure that customers can find the exits and would not be trapped inside.