In late March 1988, it was again time for a certain meeting.
Information wasn’t transparent at that time, and proposals requiring assembly resolution weren’t announced to the public in advance.
Of course, even after 30 years, not everything could be announced in advance… In April 2017, establishing a new district in Ji Bei Province was honored by the state as a “millennial plan, national affair” – if such news had been announced earlier, it would certainly caused many effects, naturally requiring all regulations to be perfected before making the final decision!
Today was April 10th.
Sheng Xuan thought about the news she had learned – if the proposal concerning Qiong Island passed, it would have far-reaching effects – not just on Xia Xiaolan, but even on her and Zhu Suizhou’s lives. This news made Sheng Xuan tremble, causing her to lose her usual composure when seeing Zhu Suizhou, asking how much land Xia Xiaolan had bought on Qiong Island.
This question, Zhu Suizhou couldn’t answer either.
He had only visited Yecheng once, discovering that quite a lot of land had been sold there quietly, which raised his suspicions.
His suspicions were right!
A boss was indeed a boss.
If Xia Xiaolan knew, she would surely be surprised by Zhu Suizhou’s keen perception.
Hearing Sheng Xuan’s words, Zhu Suizhou even stopped the car.
“I don’t know how much land Xia Xiaolan bought, I just want to know if we can benefit from this. We can’t let others take all the good opportunities. I can start from scratch myself, but I hope our child won’t have to work as hard in the future!”
Sheng Xuan touched her belly.
Wasn’t it indeed hard?
The gap between people could be widened just by birth.
Women could widen the gap through marriage too.
She didn’t have her cousin’s luck to become Old Song’s daughter-in-law. Though she had early on spotted Tang Hongen, knowing he would rise quickly, she still couldn’t have her way… Then she set her sights on Zhu Suizhou.
Zhu Suizhou was capable.
She naturally had to consider her husband’s and unborn child’s interests.
The era of ration coupons was slowly ending, and the state would eventually abolish the coupon system entirely. In the future, it wouldn’t be about who had more ration coupons living better, but who had more money living better!
No need for coupons, just money to buy goods, the more money, the more-
This point was already demonstrated through Xia Xiaolan.
Xia Xiaolan had profited heavily from the Hong Kong stock market crash, holding so much money that Zhu Suizhou could barely breathe.
Sheng Xuan also felt suffocated; she didn’t want Zhu Suizhou to be marginalized.
She could indeed get bank loans, but bank money belonged to the state – to make it their own, they needed to use the borrowed money to make money!
Sheng Xuan beckoned to Zhu Suizhou, whispering the news she had learned in his ear.
Zhu Suizhou couldn’t speak for several minutes.
“…Is this true?”
“Suizhou, it’s true. I think this is a good opportunity!”
Of course, it was a good opportunity.
Just that he had received the news a bit late!
Not knowing when Xia Xiaolan had gotten the news and how much land she had hoarded, Zhu Suizhou, usually confident in his abilities and rarely envious of others, now felt jealous of Xia Xiaolan.
If he had gotten the news two months earlier, he would have- no, it still wasn’t too late. As long as one was willing to act, it was never too late!
Moreover, the news Sheng Xuan mentioned wasn’t common knowledge yet, so it was still an early opportunity.
Zhu Suizhou quickly accepted this fact. He didn’t want to compete with Xia Xiaolan now; he wanted to seize this opportunity as much as possible. In a very short time, Zhu Suizhou had cleared his thoughts:
“I need to rush to Qiong Island as quickly as possible. You stay in Shangdu, help me register a new company, and secure a bank loan for me. The faster the better. I know you’re pregnant and doing these things will be tiring, but I can only trust you. Xuan, for our better life, I’ll have to trouble you!”
He couldn’t use Chaoyang Real Estate’s name.
Chaoyang Real Estate now had 80% of shares belonging to Second Mistress; he didn’t want to work hard only to have Second Mistress take the biggest profits.
The company name wasn’t important – the core of Chaoyang Real Estate was him; wherever he was, there was the company.
The purpose of the loan needn’t be explained – with Asia still unable to complete construction, Zhu Suizhou was also tight on funds.
Sheng Xuan understood the priorities. She loved bold and daring men, and Zhu Suizhou’s decisiveness made her kiss him:
“Go to Qiong Island with peace of mind, I’ll hold down the fort here in Shangdu.”
April 11th.
Zhu Suizhou returned to Qiong Island.
Now with his attention partly shifted to Qiong Island, he didn’t want to entangle further with Xia Xiaolan over Asia Mall matters, immediately agreeing to her proposal to participate in Asia’s management without any hesitation.
“This Zhu fellow, does he have two faces? He’s too agreeable this time!”
Even Bai Zhenzhu found it strange.
Xia Xiaolan pondered, “He seems to suddenly care less about Asia, why…”
Because Qihang Real Estate had a small piece of land under development on Qiong Island, many employees from Pengcheng gradually came over. Qihang Real Estate had also recruited some local people, letting old employees train new ones, and the project was progressing smoothly.
Since it was still residential, Xia Xiaolan felt repeating designs wasn’t challenging, and being busy making money during the Hong Kong stock market crash, she had completely left the Qiong Island project plans for the ‘Qihang Office’.
The employees from Pengcheng had adapted well too. In these times, employees would only complain about long-term business trips for one reason – if the boss’s salary wasn’t enough!
With sufficient wages, they would travel for work, accept assignments abroad, and do whatever the boss asked.
Since ‘Luohu Tiancheng’ had already been handed over, Ying Jinchuan and Ge Jian’s staying in Pengcheng made no sense, so naturally, they were all now stationed in Qiong Island.
After meeting Zhu Suizhou, Xia Xiaolan went to the site. Mao Kangshan also wanted to come to Qiong Island, but Xia Xiaolan, not wanting the old man to travel, firmly refused. Qihang had already built two housing projects, so with experience from the third project, everything was going smoothly so far.
Surveying the construction site, Xia Xiaolan saw not bricks and cement, but money spread all over the ground.
Presumably, in just these few days, Qiong Island would become a province.
Such major matters were always announced through certain meetings’ votes and declarations; hopefully, she hadn’t bet wrong this time.
Liu Yong was naturally also in Qiong Island. When Xia Xiaolan wasn’t around, Liu Yong handled all dealings with various parties, including seeking bank loans after acquiring land in Yecheng.
In Yecheng, Liu Yong had stayed for almost a year and was quite familiar with various aspects.
In the afternoon, Liu Yong also came to the construction site:
“I met Zhu Suizhou at the city government today, he wants to acquire land… What’s he trying to do? He’s acting like there’s a fire burning under his seat.”