Xia Xiaolan took a deep breath.

Her irritation gradually subsided.

She couldn’t let emotions cloud her judgment.

Regardless of Harold’s intentions, he had indeed disrupted her plans, making her position at GMP extremely delicate.

Originally hoping to gain Grey’s favor and Hoffman’s approval… after today’s events, who knew how Hoffman would view her? His agreement to let her work on the Wilson Hotel project likely came from a place of dismissiveness.

If everyone learned about her connection with Harold, even her C·W competition championship would become questionable.

But this was a double-edged sword. As Harold said, GMP would want to succeed in the bid and might take a chance by allowing her to join the project design team. Not as someone doing odd jobs, but as a true participant – if only Xia Xiaolan’s abilities could keep up!

“Harold, you call me strange, but haven’t you noticed you’re even stranger?”

What benefit was there in doing things this way?

Xia Xiaolan couldn’t even feel genuinely grateful to him.

She disliked this kind of “help.”

She would appreciate straightforward assistance, but when she was determined to rely on herself, having someone forcefully arrange backdoor opportunities… she strongly resented anything that went against her wishes!

“You can consider this as me repaying a favor. I wanted to give your Mr. Zhou a check, but since you didn’t want it, I can only repay this debt in my way.”

Xia Xiaolan wasn’t convinced by Harold’s explanation:

“You’ve already repaid it. The Chinese delegation’s successful purchase of the production line was when I felt most grateful to you.”

Harold smiled, “Well, just wait and see. Trust me, there will be moments when you’ll be even more grateful to me!”

There was still an economic gap between them.

Since Xia Xiaolan was just an exchange student in America, Harold didn’t think she had much influence here. Honestly, if he wanted to, he could help her with almost anything… Most annoying was that she wouldn’t even appreciate his help. If she didn’t look so beautiful when angry, Harold would have walked away.

“Thank you, I’m very grateful now! Mr. Harold, may I, this little GMP intern, leave now?”

Her smiling face didn’t look very thankful at all.

A mature man shouldn’t quarrel with a young girl, so Harold decided to magnanimously forgive Xia Xiaolan.

“We’re old friends who met in China. I thought you might treat me to a meal to show your gratitude, but I guess I thought too much?”

Xia Xiaolan had no appetite.

She felt completely stifled.

She didn’t need to return to GMP today, but where should she go?

Harold had disrupted her plans, leaving her feeling empty, unsure of where to go. Well, might as well return to the apartment and take a nap!

Returning unusually early, Xia Xiaolan unexpectedly met Xu Jing at the stairway.

Xu Jing was about to go downstairs.

Both were quite surprised – Xu Jing hadn’t expected Xia Xiaolan to return so early, and Xia Xiaolan hadn’t expected Xu Jing to venture outside… The electronic dictionary project had reached a crucial stage, and both Xu Jing and Ma Hai had become complete shut-ins, barely stepping out of their rooms. Xia Xiaolan even paid for food delivery for their three daily meals.

“Senior Xu, you’re going out?”

Xia Xiaolan asked casually, and Xu Jing looked embarrassed.

Xia Xiaolan immediately sensed something was wrong: “Did something difficult happen?”

Xu Jing sighed, “Actually, I’m not sure if I should go, but Xiang Li has been hospitalized.”

Xia Xiaolan instantly felt a headache: “Senior Xu, remember we signed a confidentiality agreement? I don’t know why Xiang Li is hospitalized, but she has a boyfriend… Wait, how do you know she’s hospitalized? Have you two been in contact recently?”

Xu Jing quickly waved his hands, “No, no, no contact. Someone else told me.”

Xia Xiaolan narrowed her eyes: “Let’s go upstairs first. We can’t talk here.”

If anything happened to the electronic dictionary project, Xia Xiaolan could sue Xu Jing and Ma Hai until they couldn’t afford to pay compensation – breaking the contract would only lead to jail time.

It wasn’t that Xia Xiaolan lacked sympathy, but learned from past mistakes – she believed that at this crucial moment, they should stay away from Xiang Li and Li Yong’s group.

After all, her investment of 65,000 dollars was real money. Xia Xiaolan felt Xu Jing owed her an explanation!

When she asked Xu Jing to go upstairs, he obediently followed.

Ma Hai came running up the stairs, panting. He had missed the elevator and rushed down the stairs to intercept Xu Jing, just missing Xia Xiaolan. After running out to search without finding anyone, he returned, and the three finally met.

“Junior, Junior Xia, it’s great you’re back. Please talk some sense into Old Xu!”

This was terrible – being caught by Xia Xiaolan just like this. Ma Hai had hoped to catch Xu Jing himself.

The three sat down, and Xia Xiaolan, parched from delivering documents, poured herself a glass of water before asking:

“Tell me, what’s going on?”

Xu Jing looked embarrassed, while Ma Hai sneered: “We heard Xiang Li is hospitalized, supposedly due to domestic violence from Li Yong. Junior Xia, think about it – would someone like Li Yong, who cares so much about his reputation, beat Xiang Li until she needed hospitalization? I think this is just a scheme, knowing Old Xu is soft-hearted and easy to fool, trying to gain his sympathy… Anyway, I don’t believe it, and I don’t want Old Xu to visit her!”

They had both completed their credits and could return to China anytime.

The reason they hadn’t returned was that the electronic dictionary project had reached a critical stage, and they could get more standard components in America. Since Xia Xiaolan hadn’t announced the next step of the plan, the two were staying in New York.

Ma Hai had it all planned out – after completing the electronic dictionary, with Xia Xiaolan’s investment, they could build a great business, a career for him and Xu Jing!

At this crucial moment, if Xu Jing got involved in his ex-girlfriend’s mess again, wouldn’t he be ruining his bright future?

Ma Hai firmly opposed it.

Xia Xiaolan also frowned at hearing “domestic violence.”

Li Yong appeared refined and cultured, not seeming like someone who would commit domestic violence.

It wasn’t that Li Yong absolutely wouldn’t hit someone, but as Ma Hai said, how could someone who valued his reputation above all else allow rumors of violence to spread in the international student circle?

Even if he did hit someone, he would keep it tightly under wraps rather than use it as a ploy to trick Xu Jing.

Someone had told Xu Jing about this, likely someone from the international student circle. If one person knew, everyone would know. To trick Xu Jing, they shouldn’t have used such a poor excuse – now Li Yong’s reputation in the circle would be ruined.

While Xia Xiaolan didn’t support Xu Jing visiting the hospital, she also didn’t completely agree with Ma Hai’s view:

“Let’s first clarify what exactly happened. Senior Ma, can you find someone to get more detailed information? I strongly oppose violence, and if Xiang Li was beaten by Li Yong, I deeply sympathize… But if you want to contact Xiang Li again, Senior Xu, you need to be prepared to lose everything.”