Chapter 65

Nearly 70% of the landscape in Phase One of the Harmony Apartment Project sits right on top of the underground garage. The thickness of the soil layer on top is a major factor for the garage’s load-bearing limits. In my design, I used lightweight ceramsite to shape the terrain. It’s breathable and drains well, but yeah — expensive. Back when the design was being budgeted, finance used the usual rate from previous suppliers. But this year, the City S housing market's been going wild. Now all the building materials companies are hiking up their prices by the week. Buying the same stuff costs us nearly three times more than usual in the second half of the year. Sure, in City H we’ve got reliable partners offering decent quality at fair prices. But once we factor in transport, the savings compared to buying locally in City S basically vanish. “What if we just switch to regular soil?” I asked. “Cheaper material won’t be approved that easily. Harmony has high standards,” he replied. “And act