Harold wasn’t able to personally hand the high-V invitation to Xia Xiaolan, which indeed made it less ceremonial.

Upon learning that Xia Xiaolan had chosen to marry in her early twenties, Harold, a diamond bachelor, found it quite incomprehensible. Later, the club never sent the premium VIP invitation to Xia Xiaolan, and throughout the entire year, she had no time to visit the club, so the matter was put on hold.

The postponement was temporary; the invitation remained valid, at least the Boss hadn’t mentioned canceling it. Karl, now the daily manager of the golf club, had met Xia Xiaolan at the land auction in Qiong Island and naturally wanted to ask about her intentions.

Even without Xia Xiaolan, there were two other high-V members standing there, and Karl needed to greet them as well.

Sheng Xuan and Zhu Suizhou had misunderstood – Karl wasn’t bidding on Plot No. 2 under Xia Xiaolan’s instructions.

The club wanted to upgrade its membership level.

Xia Xiaolan wouldn’t refuse such an offer.

“Of course, Mr. Karl. This recognition from the club is my honor.”

Her assets met the club’s threshold for premium VIP membership. Why wouldn’t she agree to an upgrade earned through her capabilities? Becoming a high-V member meant Xia Xiaolan could network with people at an even higher level, advancing from small business owner to major entrepreneur – her social circle was about to transform!

To put it, when she previously did business with Du Zhaohui, Tang Yuanyue, and others, people tended to speculate about romantic scandals.

Now she had earned her place in this elite circle not through beauty, but through capability!

Certainly, her wealth still couldn’t compare to major Hong Kong companies like Cheng Rong and Yu Hua, but her business ventures were developing steadily. While becoming the wealthiest might be difficult, catching up to Cheng Rong and Yu Hua was possible—

At least the golf club thought so, recognizing her strength and potential.

As soon as Xia Xiaolan agreed, Karl promised to personally deliver the invitation to her.

“Congratulations, Xiaolan!”

Tang Yuanyue offered generous congratulations.

Du Zhaohui felt no need to voice his congratulations – he had known about this news already, and Xia Xiaolan certainly had the capability to receive this invitation!

While Du tried to maintain his composure, his eyes curved with joy.

That sense of shared pride couldn’t be expressed to others.

He Shi’en pulled Tang Yuanyue aside and quietly asked his brother-in-law, “Is this the same club we visited in Pengcheng? She’s becoming a premium VIP member just like that?”

Something seemed off – wasn’t the club’s premium VIP membership supposed to be extremely difficult to obtain? It was a symbol of both status and social circle.

His brother-in-law was a premium VIP member because Uncle Tang had suddenly passed away, and his brother-in-law had taken over Yu Hua Group!

Yet Xia Xiaolan, at such a young age, had also become a premium VIP member…

Tang Yuanyue countered, “What, do you think she’s not worthy?”

“It’s not that she’s unworthy, I… I don’t know.”

Ah, the young man’s feelings were quite complicated.

A beautiful young lady who was not only attractive but also so accomplished at such a young age – He Shi’en felt tremendous pressure about admiring such a remarkable woman!

Tang Yuanyue didn’t want to discourage his young brother-in-law’s youthful admiration, since it would lead nowhere anyway, why embarrass the young man?

Instead, he used this to motivate He Shi’en, pointing at Du Zhaohui who was grinning from ear to ear:

“Xia Xiaolan deserves the club’s premium VIP invitation because everything she has now was built from nothing by her own hands. Those who appear beside her and chat with her casually should consider whether they’re worthy… If Du Zhaohui was still that playboy constantly appearing in gossip tabloids, he wouldn’t even deserve to speak with Xia Xiaolan!”

He Shi’en nodded vigorously – his brother-in-law was right, Du Zhaohui deserved such criticism!

What right did Du Zhaohui have to speak with Xia Xiaolan? That shameless man, with all those women in his past… Wait, why did it feel like his brother-in-law was implying something else?

He Shi’en looked resentful.

Was his brother-in-law suggesting that if he didn’t work hard, he’d become someone unworthy of speaking to Xia Xiaolan?

Surely not.

He was much better than Du Zhaohui!

…

Sheng Xuan, unaware of the club’s high-V invitation matter, watched Karl’s enthusiasm toward Xia Xiaolan from afar and had already condemned her in her mind.

Plot No. 2 had sold for the highest price per unit, which was highly unreasonable.

If Xia Xiaolan had prompted that foreigner to compete with Yangfan Real Estate, the unreasonable aspects suddenly became reasonable!

Xia Xiaolan didn’t want Yangfan Real Estate to acquire more land because property prices in Ye City were rising too rapidly. If Yangfan Real Estate hoarded enough land, they might surpass Qihang Real Estate – Xia Xiaolan was suppressing Yangfan Real Estate!

“Suizhou, look over there – the buyers of all three plots are acquainted with Xia Xiaolan. This seems far too coincidental.”

Zhu Suizhou glanced over.

Indeed, it was quite a coincidence.

Although Qihang hadn’t acquired any plots and seemed rather passive, as if just going through the motions, the ownership of all three plots appeared connected to Qihang.

Du Zhaohui went without saying – he’d been in cahoots with Xia Xiaolan for the past couple of years.

Their business interests were so intertwined that outsiders couldn’t distinguish which parts belonged to Du Zhaohui and which to Xia Xiaolan. Whether they had an improper relationship was hard to determine, but their business ties were closer than most married couples.

…They had even worked together to send Young Master Du to prison.

And Xia Xiaolan was this close with Tang Yuanyue from Yu Hua as well?

Then Young Master Du’s failure wasn’t unjustified.

Back then, Young Master Du had wanted to model Asia Department Store after Japan’s Yaohan chain stores and had sought investment from Yu Hua’s Tang Yuanyue, but Tang Yuanyue had refused.

Now it seemed Xia Xiaolan’s influence had played a role!

Zhu Suizhou wasn’t defending Du Zhaoji – just thinking about “Asia” doubled his discontent.

Asia had been his idea.

He had resigned from his government position to enter business in Asia.

But whether it was he who invested effort or Du Zhaoji who invested substantial money, they had both ended up paving the way for Xia Xiaolan – now Asia belonged to her.

Setting aside Du Zhaohui and Tang Yuanyue, what was the story with that foreigner?

Zhu Suizhou was already disappointed about not securing any land, and dwelling on these thoughts made him feel worse. He had no real grievance with Xia Xiaolan initially – they had even mutually admired each other at first. But as time passed and events unfolded, they had gradually become competitors.

Or rather, Zhu Suizhou unilaterally viewed Xia Xiaolan as a competitor, comparing everything he did against her.

While Xia Xiaolan hadn’t bought any land today, the connections she displayed made Zhu Suizhou feel greatly threatened.

Whether she bought the land was merely superficial – perhaps behind the scenes, one of these three plots would soon be transferred to Qihang… Zhu Suizhou took a deep breath:

“Xuan, regardless of the truth, we can only lay low for now. Yangfan still can’t compete with Qihang – that’s an objective fact!”