Chapter 653 - 292: Secondhand Boat, Guesthouse, Photography Works (Part 3)

Li Younan only needed to prepare the funding and could simultaneously start designing the renovation plan, which was also a time-consuming and labor-intensive large project.

After confirming this, over the next week or more, Li Younan constantly shuttled between Chen Tiefeng’s office, handling related matters.

At this point, the benefits brought by Li Younan’s celebrity status couldn’t be ignored.

On one hand, he was a lifelong honorary professor at the Forbidden City, had appeared on CCTV News multiple times, and carried the label of spreading Chinese culture abroad.

In a certain sense, he already had a significant value in united front work.

The ship was originally planned to be sold, and although the higher authorities initially considered handing it over to units with government assets, Li Younan’s case was special. Not only was he approved, but he also received special treatment, with the entire process expedited to just over twenty days, which was extremely fast.

Moreover, the ship could be moved ahead of schedule to a ship design unit on Changxing Island, arranged by Gao Tiande, which greatly saved Younan’s time.

While the process was still ongoing there, renovation-related matters could be started here.

Gao Tiande spared no effort in returning a favor; he not only helped coordinate the renovation venue and units but also brought in a highly professional team.

The lead engineer was a seasoned expert in his forties who had participated in numerous major ship designs, and the team for construction was carefully selected.

Nevertheless, even so, producing the blueprints wasn’t an easy task.

Li Younan started to involve Chen Tiefeng, having him take part in the renovation plan this time around.

With Chen Tiefeng’s assistance, they could avoid many detours in designing the plan, and he could help coordinate tricky issues, such as original factory materials and parts.

His experience of participating in the entire process of ship renovations could perfectly solve some detailed pain points in the design process.

For the coming period, Li Younan became busier, constantly accompanying the design team between the ship and a temporarily rented office at the shipyard, holding meetings to discuss the design plan.

This wasn’t an easy process. Although Li Younan was the owner and leader of the ship, and highly skilled professionally, there were still numerous clashes of ideas with the engineers during the discussions, and sometimes the design team members even engaged in heated debates.

However, Younan felt satisfied as he gained a deeper understanding of that quote: the truth becomes clearer the more it’s debated.

The proposal of an idea and a plan truly requires considering all aspects, and one’s vision is always limited. Even someone as knowledgeable as Younan found himself enlightened by others’ perspectives during this process.

In such a process, the design plan gradually took shape, with dozens of blueprint pages being produced every day and repeatedly modified.

Every step, detail, and even small parts in the ship design blueprints required approval.

To further speed up the time, the design and approval processes were carried out simultaneously.

This period of time was also the most fulfilling for Li Younan since he started traveling.

Despite this, Younan didn’t feel tired at all because what he was doing now was different from simply working for others in the past.

He couldn’t help but reflect, realizing that if one can find value in what they do, then no matter how tiring, it won’t feel exhausting; instead, it brings a greater sense of accomplishment and fulfillment.

The shipbuilding venture proceeded briskly, and in his spare time, Li Younan stayed at Jing Chaoyi’s guesthouse.

Some time passed, and Jing Chaoyi’s guesthouse officially opened.

All relevant permits were handled, and it began to officially operate and receive guests.

However, business was even bleaker than expected, with an average of only two or three rooms occupied per day.

The room rate wasn’t high, just around 200, and after deducting rent, utilities, and labor costs, it barely maintained operations.

There was basically no profit to be made.

As a result, Liu Li felt a bit anxious for Jing Chaoyi.

She lived there, helping Jing Chaoyi clean rooms or greet guests every day, but to be honest, with only two or three rooms occupied, there wasn’t much work to be busy with.

Seeing the poor business, Liu Li thought of many methods, like boosting positive reviews on online booking platforms, but such methods seemed too clumsy and were easily seen through.

Liu Li, unwilling to concede, reverted to her former irritable self and confronted the skeptics online... only to be angered and embarrassed when they presented her with solid evidence.

But compared to Liu Li’s anxiety, Jing Chaoyi appeared carefree, even saying with a laugh, "Running a guesthouse is actually so easy."

Indeed, for her, aside from the low income, running the guesthouse was a very pleasant task.

She could wake up naturally every day, then simply clean the rooms occupied by guests the day before, and then have the entire day free for leisure.