Du Zhao Hui must have taken the wrong medicine or lost his mind! Instead of keeping close to his previously clever followers, he made a simpleton his confidant. Liu Tian Quan couldn’t help but feel frustrated.
But his thinking always took roundabout paths. Originally just a gang member, Liu Tian Quan had only risen through nepotism after Du Cheng Rong took a liking to his sister. Because he’d made his fortune through his sister, Liu Tian Quan particularly believed in underhanded methods of “getting close” to people. He never learned how to conduct business properly, unable to shake off his petty cunning.
Take his cooperation with Liu Yong – if he’d just collaborated honestly a few times instead of plotting so much, Tang Hong En would naturally have recognized Liu Tian Quan as a legitimate Hong Kong businessman. But because he tried to deceive people, Tang Hong En’s impression of him only worsened!
Liu Tian Quan still hadn’t learned his lesson.
If Du Zhao Hui succeeded in Pengcheng, it would make Liu Tian Quan look incompetent, so how could he sincerely help?
He and Liu Ke Ying had planned to bring Du Zhao Hui down while he was away from Hong Kong.
That brat Du Zhao Hui was particularly slippery, never giving Liu Tian Quan the time of day. Though he spent his time in Hong Kong chasing female celebrities, he’d suddenly become well-behaved in Pengcheng. Liu Tian Quan had tried to arrange women for Du Zhao Hui, but Du Zhao Hui’s tastes were too particular, dismissing the women Liu Tian Quan arranged as worthless.
Liu Tian Quan didn’t have many good options left. During the last inspection of the dance hall, all the hostesses he’d carefully gathered were sent back to their hometowns.
Now, Fan Yu was the only useful person at Liu Tian Quan’s disposal.
Fan Yu knew how to act and pretend, and Liu Tian Quan had leverage over her, so he didn’t worry about her disobedience.
When Fan Yu heard she was supposed to seduce one of Du Zhao Hui’s bodyguards, someone named “Xia Da Jun,” she developed the same aversion as Liu Tian Quan to the surname Xia.
But seduce a bodyguard?
Why not Young Master Du himself… if Fan Yu could hook up with Du Zhao Hui, she’d kick Liu Tian Quan aside.
Marrying Du Zhao Hui was impossible, Fan Yu knew her place. Men were fickle, and with the Du family’s wealth, Du Zhao Hui’s standards would certainly be higher than Fan Zhen Chuan’s. She didn’t need to be Du Zhao Hui’s long-term mistress – just spending some time with him to extract money, or following him to Hong Kong would do. Who there would know about her past back home?
Du Zhao Hui was so wealthy that even his shirt cufflinks cost thousands!
Liu Tian Quan watched as Fan Yu lowered her head, her pointed face showing that pitiful expression again, and he inwardly sneered.
How could he not understand Fan Yu? Whenever she showed that expression, she was scheming.
Liu Tian Quan patted her face: “What, you think you can win over Young Master Du? That brat Du Zhao Hui doesn’t like your type. He dates socialites and female celebrities.”
Fan Yu’s appeal lay in her pitiful air, her looks merely pretty.
Her plain appearance, like a simple village girl, might work on inexperienced men like Liu Yong. But putting herself before Du Zhao Hui would only invite humiliation.
Fan Yu lowered her head even more when Liu Tian Quan exposed her thoughts.
Liu Tian Quan pinched her face, “Don’t underestimate being just Du Zhao Hui’s bodyguard. Du Zhao Hui is generous with his people – his confidants earn thousands of Hong Kong dollars monthly. If you can get money from that bodyguard, however much it is, it’s all yours.”
Fan Yu was tempted.
When Fan Yu had come south, Fan Han and his people had already stolen her money. Her few years of savings had been scammed away on the journey.
After arriving in Pengcheng as a hostess, she hadn’t worked long before Liu Tian Quan “discovered” her. He wouldn’t let her serve other customers, focusing solely on Liu Yong. Fan Yu had to play innocent, but how could an innocent girl get Liu Yong to spend money? After all that effort without hooking Liu Yong, Fan Yu naturally hadn’t earned any money.
Liu Tian Quan became even stingier. Following him, she could get some nice clothes to wear and a few hundred in monthly living expenses, but Fan Yu earned less than other hostesses at the dance hall! Of course, it was because she was with Liu Tian Quan that she hadn’t been sent home like the others when the Nanyang Dance Hall was inspected.
With Du Zhao Hui’s bodyguards earning thousands of Hong Kong dollars monthly, Fan Yu wanted to coax some money from this “Xia Da Jun.” No situation was stable or permanent, so getting more money while young was the real priority.
After discussing it with Liu Tian Quan, Fan Yu began waiting for her opportunity.
Xia Da Jun’s daily routine was simple. He lived with Du Zhao Hui, had no close relationships with others, and only listened to Du Zhao Hui.
Du Zhao Hui’s other people generally ostracized Xia Da Jun, but he seemed too dim to try to improve relations with Du Zhao Hui’s assistants. Du Zhao Hui trusted this mainlander, which greatly displeased the assistants who surely complained in private.
But they knew nothing about Xia Da Jun except that he was from the mainland, as he never spoke about his background.
Unable to get useful information, Fan Yu decided to approach him directly.
Fan Yu didn’t dress provocatively, deliberately wearing plain clothes and acting timid when she bumped right into Xia Da Jun.
Xia Da Jun had just left the bank – he’d been keeping his salary under his pillow until Young Master Du, unable to stand it anymore, made this fool put the money in the bank. Keeping a bankbook under the pillow was easier than keeping cash, and being with Young Master Du, even his clothes were provided by Du Zhao Hui, leaving no opportunities to spend money.
He’d already received two months’ salary. Though he’d lost his previous dockworking savings, in just two short months, Xia Da Jun felt he’d reached life’s peak.
He’d saved 7,000 Hong Kong dollars!
In just two months! If he continued with Du Zhao Hui, he’d be in a ten-thousand-yuan household in another month.
In a year, he could take over 30,000 back home.
With that much money, any family conflicts could be resolved.
Family disputes always came down to money – what else made relatives scheme against each other but poverty?
Life’s opportunities were truly unpredictable. When Xia Da Jun was stuck at home, he never imagined earning over 3,000 a month, and so easily too – no exhausting dock work or village labor like ditch-digging or dyke-building. Just follow Young Master’s orders, whatever he says goes, and earn such a salary monthly!
He tucked the bankbook in his jacket and collided fully with someone.
The other person cried out and fell to the ground.
It was a young woman, her face contorted in pain. Xia Da Jun immediately became anxious:
“Comrade, where did you hurt yourself?”
The young woman started – his accent was from Yunan.
Why were there so many people from Yunan Province making a living in the south?
Her eyes glistened with tears, her eyelashes trembling, her nose and eye rims red – truly pitiful.
Xia Da Jun was so anxious he didn’t know what to do. This woman seemed to have fallen quite hard!
“Brother, please help me up…”
Only when the young woman spoke did Xia Da Jun snap to attention. Yes, yes, first help her up!
“I’m so sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going. Let me take you to the hospital!”
With arms so thin they looked like they’d snap, how could such a woman withstand a fall? As she whimpered in pain, tears still clinging to her lashes, she sniffled: “Brother, you’re from Yunan?”