Sheng Xuan realized he had a point. It would be best if Xia Xiaolan agreed, but if she refused, it would push the Second Madam right into Zhu Suizhou’s camp. Her mood instantly brightened:
“It seems Xia Xiaolan must have rejected Second Madam without any courtesy.”
Zhu Suizhou nodded and returned to his initial topic: “Look at someone like Xia Xiaolan—she goes wherever there’s money to be made. The more she refuses to let go of Asia Plaza, the more confidence I have in it. She made such a splash in Hong Kong, yet I hadn’t noticed she had projects on Hainan Island. Don’t you think there might be some development plans for Hainan?”
Zhu Suizhou acknowledged Xia Xiaolan’s capabilities. Others might think she relied on Tang Hongen, but Zhu Suizhou recognized her abilities during the Chengrong Plaza project. During the Hong Kong stock market crash, Tang Hongen couldn’t have helped much—mainland capital suffered heavy losses, yet Xia Xiaolan made significant profits. That certainly wasn’t achieved through Tang Hongen’s help!
But capability aside, would Xia Xiaolan resist taking shortcuts when available? Zhu Suizhou suspected she had obtained inside information.
His struggles with Asia Plaza—first dealing with Du Zhaoqi, now guarding against Xia Xiaolan—weren’t they all due to his limited capital and small shareholding? If there was an opportunity for a shortcut, he wouldn’t mind taking a piece of the pie.
Sheng Xuan pondered thoughtfully. “I’ll ask around. Maybe it’s not about Hainan—perhaps Xia Xiaolan’s avoiding Shenzhen out of consideration for Tang Hongen, worried about causing him trouble…”
Tang Hongen had been Shenzhen’s mayor for three or four years now—perhaps he was at a crucial point for promotion?
Tang Hongen’s smooth career progression proved Sheng Xuan’s good judgment—she had set her sights on him years ago, but unfortunately, he had shown no interest in her.
Thinking about this soured her mood again. She had initially thought Liu Fen would hinder Tang Hongen’s career—how could a rural woman with limited experience properly serve as a mayor’s wife? Add to that Xia Xiaolan and Liu Yong doing business in Shenzhen; over time, their growing appetites would surely impact Tang Hongen negatively!
Yet in the blink of an eye, Liu Fen had been married to Tang Hongen for so long. No scandals had emerged, and she handled her role as mayor’s wife steadily. Even the money-hungry Xia Xiaolan and Liu Yong had moved their operations to Hong Kong and Hainan, avoiding any trouble in Shenzhen.
They weren’t holding Tang Hongen back at all? How was that possible?
Sheng Xuan felt frustrated—would she never see the day Tang Hongen regretted marrying the wrong person?
Zhu Suizhou didn’t care about Sheng Xuan’s occasional wandering thoughts. He knew full well about her past devotion to Tang Hongen, but it didn’t bother him.
He married Sheng Xuan because she was suitable as his wife, not because he was desperately in love with her. Without deep love, there was naturally no pointless jealousy. It didn’t matter if she couldn’t forget the mayor—as long as she remained physically faithful, provided resources, and bore his children, it was still an excellent marriage.
…
Xia Xiaolan didn’t know that Zhu Suizhou’s trip to Coconut City had alerted him to Qihang Real Estate’s projects there and the various plots of land being fenced off. Even knowing this, she didn’t care.
She never expected to monopolize all the wealth from Hainan’s real estate anyway. Whether Meng Guanchao’s people made money or Zhu Suizhou did, it made no difference—Xia Xiaolan wasn’t that narrow-minded.
She was angry at Zhu Suizhou for using her as a pawn! If he could push her out, great—after all, Second Madam would be paying the premium for her shares, not him. If she refused to sell, it would still benefit him. He just needed to manipulate Second Madam a bit, and Xia Xiaolan would become the villain while Zhu Suizhou played the role of Second Madam’s “knight in shining armor”!
Damn it.
Xia Xiaolan didn’t mind being seen as the big bad wolf. She had no relationship with Second Madam—if Second Madam wanted to jump into a pit, that was her business. But is Zhu Suizhou using her as a stepping stone? That fired her up.
Bai Zhenzhu thought Second Madam’s foolishness had angered Xia Xiaolan, but when Xia Xiaolan explained her deeper frustration, Bai Zhenzhu clenched her fists: “This Zhu fellow isn’t a decent person at all!”
Of course, he wasn’t—there’s no business without cunning. Honest people could only manage small businesses, while Zhu Suizhou was ambitious.
“I never thought he was a good person—I’m not one myself. I just don’t like being treated like a fool!”
Why play the pig to eat the tiger when you could enjoy being the tiger all the time? She didn’t show off her intelligence, but she also didn’t like being manipulated.
“Then why not buy out Asia Plaza and force Zhu Suizhou out?” Bai Zhenzhu was ready for action.
Qihang Capital could still afford to buy Asia Plaza now. Although they’d spent 150 million Hong Kong dollars buying the Lu family’s “South Kong Financial Report” and over 100 million on Hong Kong properties, they hadn’t exhausted their stock market profits yet!
Seeing Bai Zhenzhu’s eagerness, Xia Xiaolan chuckled: “Wouldn’t that just benefit Second Madam? She’s so wary of me now that even if desperate, she’d sell her 80% Chaoyang Real Estate shares to Zhu Suizhou rather than me—that’s exactly what he wants.”
She was willing to pay the market price for Chaoyang Real Estate shares, but Second Madam wouldn’t sell to her. Why should she pay a premium?
Second Madam was too foolish to see the situation. Once Zhu Suizhou had her cooked and served, ready to be manipulated however he pleased, those 80% shares would go to him below market price!
Second Madam would surely suffer a big loss—why should Xia Xiaolan spend her own money to prevent Second Madam’s self-destruction?
Bai Zhenzhu asked skeptically, “Can Zhu Suizhou even afford to buy Second Madam’s shares?”
Could he raise that much money? Bai Zhenzhu doubted Zhu Suizhou’s financial capacity. Wealth accumulation left traces, and besides Chaoyang Real Estate, he had no other notable assets.
“He doesn’t need to pay all at once. As long as he can sweet-talk Second Madam, he can slowly consume her shares, making the losses barely noticeable—like a frog in slowly heating water. Besides, while others might not have the money, Zhu Suizhou should manage. Don’t forget what sector his wife Sheng Xuan works in.”
The banking sector. She could arrange loans for him.
So they were being used by Zhu Suizhou for nothing?
Bai Zhenzhu fumed, “Let’s go back to their place—I need another match with Third Brother!”
Business always brought such troubles. While Bai Zhenzhu seemed to have had smooth sailing these years, she faced immense pressure. As her business grew, she had to be responsible for her employees and the martial brothers who followed her, worrying about profits and losses, while her family didn’t understand, thinking a woman shouldn’t work so hard—that being a wife and mother was the normal life.
Only when sparring with Pan Third Brother could she forget everything, all pressure vanishing!
—She couldn’t afford to think about anything else anyway. Any loss of focus would result in being knocked down. Pan Third Brother was that strong—she had to give it her all!