Chapter 40: The Sky-High Price Office Desk

Liu Qianjin tapped the contract twice and said strangely, "It's just about tidying up the office, a few thousand at most, why does it cost so much?"

Chen Geng touched his nose, his face showing an indescribable mix of schadenfreude and anger, "The requirement from the Finance Bureau is that it must be decorated to the standard of the U.S. President's office..."

"What did you say?" Liu Qianjin shivered, frightened, "To the standard of the U.S. President's office? Who knows what the U.S. President's office looks like? Why doesn't Bao Jiaying just build it like the Jade Emperor's Lingxiao Hall?"

"Actually," pointing to himself, Chen Geng sniffed, "I know what the U.S. President's office looks like."

"You know... you know?!" Hearing Chen Geng's words, Liu Qianjin's expression was as if he had seen a ghost, "How do you know?"

Chen Geng had to repeat the story he had used to deceive Gao Yueming.

After finishing, Chen Geng smiled, "Factory Manager, when you go on a business trip to the U.S. in the future, if you have the chance to go to Washington D.C., you can ask the local travel agencies if they offer tours of the White House. Then you can walk around the White House officially, and if you're lucky, you might even get to see the U.S. President's office."

Chen Geng genuinely didn't think visiting the White House was anything special; he had been there twice. But Liu Qianjin couldn't accept it. He couldn't believe that the office of a head of state would be open to the public during normal use, just as he couldn't believe that the office of his country's top leader would be open to visitors. Liu Qianjin stared with wide eyes, "Xiao Chen, is it meaningful for you to joke with me like this?"

"As you said, is it meaningful for me to joke with you like this?" Chen Geng hadn't expected Liu Qianjin to be so stubborn, feeling somewhat amused and exasperated, "Our country has already established diplomatic relations with the U.S., and many people go there. Many know that the White House is open to the public. If you ask around, you'll know if I'm joking."

It seemed to make sense? Chen Geng had no reason to lie about this. Liu Qianjin was stunned for a moment before slowly nodding, "I understand."

"What do you understand?" Seeing Liu Qianjin's expression of sudden enlightenment, Chen Geng was curious.

"The office open to the public is just for show, to fool the common people. The U.S. President must have another office," Liu Qianjin said confidently, "The U.S. President must work in that secret office on a daily basis. This public office is more like a press room, where the U.S. President can stand to record videos or take photos when necessary..."

The more he spoke, the more confident Liu Qianjin became, the more he felt his idea was correct. It just didn't seem right. After all, the U.S. President of the world's top superpower, with so many secrets that could affect global security, how could it be open to the public?

So this limited public office must be a facade, the real office must be elsewhere.

Finally, he nodded heavily, "This is how the U.S. government deceives their people. No doubt about it."

"..." Well, if you say it's fake, then it's fake. Chen Geng didn't want to argue with Liu Qianjin over this meaningless issue. As long as he was happy, and the U.S. President did indeed have a bunker deep under the White House, so it wasn't entirely wrong to say it.

"You make a lot of sense, I never thought of that."

"It's just you young people, who don't think before speaking or acting, easily deceived by Americans. If you use a little brain, you'd know it's impossible," Liu Qianjin sighed, "But no matter what, this is the U.S. President's office on the surface, and it's not bad to follow this standard..."

His eyes sparkled.

Seeing the sparkle in Liu Qianjin's eyes, Chen Geng's curiosity was instantly piqued, "Factory Manager, you're not thinking of doing the same, are you?"

"Cough, cough... How could I?" Liu Qianjin coughed, seemingly trying to hide his embarrassment, "Not to mention, 25,000 to decorate an office, the Finance Bureau is indeed rich... Let me see the diagram you drew. The size of this desk is... Holy crap! 2.8 meters?!"

A desk that was 2.8 meters long? Liu Qianjin was genuinely shocked.

Chen Geng looked matter-of-factly, "Of course, otherwise why would this desk cost 3,999 yuan?"

"Cough, cough, cough..." Liu Qianjin started coughing violently, "How much did you say?"

"3,999 yuan," Chen Geng said.

"A desk? 3,999 yuan?" Liu Qianjin looked at Chen Geng as if he were a lunatic: Who would be foolish enough to spend 3,999 yuan on a desk?

"Didn't we already sign the intent contract?"

Otherwise, how could we highlight the user's prestigious status? Why would we charge 25,000 for the renovation?

"The bastards at the Finance Bureau actually bought it?" Liu Qianjin stared, unable to believe that the money-grubbing officials at the Finance Bureau would spend five years' salary of a worker on a desk for their bureau chief? Had their brains been kicked by a donkey?

It had to be said, the current office conditions for leaders were still quite simple. Liu Qianjin's desk was an old writing desk, older than Chen Geng, with three drawers in a row under the tabletop and two small cabinets on each side for the legs, about 1.23 meters long. The desks of the leaders in the regional committee and the regional government were similar.

The desk Chen Geng drew was 2.8 meters long, almost twice the length of Liu Qianjin's current desk. Even so, Liu Qianjin didn't think such a desk could sell for 4,000 yuan. A desk for 500 yuan would be considered overpriced, 4,000 yuan? Is this desk made of gold?

"This desk is modeled after the U.S. President's desk, which I helped them customize. The Finance Bureau thinks this desk is grand and can highlight their bureau chief's status and presence," Chen Geng said with a look of "I'm really at a loss," "I initially asked for 5,999 yuan, but they haggled me down by 2,000."

"..." Liu Qianjin didn't know what to say. If a desk for 3,999 yuan was hard to accept, then 5,999 yuan was beyond his imagination. But now, Chen Geng had sold the desk for 3,999 yuan, what could he say? That Chen Geng shouldn't have done it? Of course not. Besides, Chen Geng was the deputy factory manager, and he worked hard for whom?

After a long pause, Liu Qianjin finally asked, "Can you make this desk exactly like the U.S. President's desk?"

"Of course not," Chen Geng said confidently, showing no shame for his deception, "I remember the general size of the desk, but who could remember the intricate carvings?"

"They agreed?"

"They can't find pictures of the Resolute Desk, so there's no way to verify. Besides, don't you think the desk I designed is very grand? Here... the picture is here..." Chen Geng pulled out a picture from the documents, "Look, isn't it grand?"

This picture was a quick sketch, originally drawn for Gao Yueming to prove that Chen Geng indeed remembered what the Resolute Desk looked like. As expected, after seeing this picture, Gao Yueming immediately agreed to sign the intent contract with China Resources Industrial Development Co., Ltd.

The reason it was an intent contract rather than a formal one was that Gao Yueming had a requirement: he must see the desk in person before signing the formal contract.

This picture was not of the Resolute Desk but of a large executive desk that would become standard for leaders more than a decade later. Although such a desk nearly three meters long had become a standard for leaders more than a decade later, it was 1985, and such a grand desk had not yet appeared in China. As soon as Chen Geng drew it, it captivated Gao Yueming's eyes. Just for its grand and imposing design, Gao Yueming felt that even if the Resolute Desk didn't look like this, he would still choose this design.

With this grand executive desk sketch, Chen Geng could deceive Gao Yueming, and naturally, deceiving Liu Qianjin was even easier. Liu Qianjin's reaction to the sketch was as expected. Looking at the grand and imposing desk, Chen Geng handed Liu Qianjin a sketch on A4 paper. The size diagram Liu Qianjin had seen earlier didn't show much, but now, looking at Chen Geng's sketch, the grand and imposing feeling immediately came through. Liu Qianjin nodded, "It is indeed grand."

Chen Geng smiled, "The actual desk will look even grander and have a better effect. I had three made, one for the Finance Bureau, one for you, and one for Comrade Peng."

"Ha ha... So the Finance Bureau is paying for us?" Liu Qianjin had originally dismissed the 3,999 yuan desk, but after seeing the sketch, he couldn't refuse. He accepted it with a "subtle" smile.

Chen Geng smiled, "Exactly, the Finance Bureau is paying for you."

"Right, I almost forgot. Who are you planning to have make this desk? Not the carpenters in the factory, right?"

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