What was Tang’s CEO going to get?

Was it the Golden Sands Pool land, or was it the woman Xia Xiaolan?

These questions flashed through Ah Hua’s mind. He suspected Young Master Du harbored both thoughts, but he couldn’t expose the young master’s true intentions. Instead, he maintained a serious expression and nodded:

“Our source at Meihua revealed that CEO Tang arranged to meet Miss Xia tomorrow at the Municipal Government Guesthouse. Miss Xia has agreed.”

The Municipal Government Guesthouse – just the name sounded serious, clearly a venue for formal business discussions.

Du Zhaohui, who associated with Tang Yuanyue, had managed to buy off someone in Tang’s inner circle.

Tang Yuanyue probably did the same – such practices were tacitly understood in their circles.

There were no true friends in business; everyone would turn on each other when profits were involved.

For instance, now Tang Yuanyue had offered 12 million yuan for Golden Sands Pool and was meeting Miss Xia privately, excluding Du Zhaohui. Unable to acquire the land and angered by Tang’s actions, Du Zhaohui wanted to ensure nobody got what they wanted.

Knowing their meeting time and location, Du Zhaohui smiled sinisterly:

“Tomorrow, let’s add some dishes to CEO Tang’s meal. After all, Xia Xiaolan collected so many business cards at the investment meeting, yet nobody seemed to win her favor. Since CEO Tang’s taking the lead, we should properly celebrate for him.”

Ah, so they were going to crash the meeting.

Ah Hua stood respectfully, asking Du Zhaohui:

“What dishes should we prepare for CEO Tang?”

Du Zhaohui waved his hand, “Handle it as you see fit. Just bring a good bottle of wine tomorrow.”

…

On Saturday, Xia Xiaolan arrived in Yangcheng.

She flew there.

This mode of travel had one advantage – it kept away those she didn’t want to see.

Like Xia Dajun and Xiaoyu, who were taking a train from Yangcheng back to Yunan.

Though Xia Dajun’s salary could afford plane tickets, without working for Du Zhaohui, even simple matters became complicated. Buying plane tickets requires documentation… Xia Dajun had money but no connections.

He wasn’t good at networking, even having awkward relationships with his coworkers. When needed, he couldn’t even find someone to help him buy comfortable sleeper train tickets, let alone plane tickets!

Hard seats wouldn’t have been an issue – Xia Dajun’s back injury had mostly healed, and he could endure it.

But Xiaoyu was only two months pregnant, and the journey from Yangcheng to Shangdu would take over 30 hours. Xia Dajun worried about his son’s safety.

Finally, he managed to buy two sleeper tickets at a premium price from scalpers.

“Brother Dajun, you’re so good to me!”

When Xiaoyu first came south, she had traveled hastily, not caring about comfort, and was even scammed along the way.

Now returning to Yunan, she had a comfortable sleeper compartment, somewhat like returning home in glory. How could Xiaoyu not be satisfied?

Xiaoyu’s affectionate behavior toward Xia Dajun drew frequent glances from other passengers. In that era, couples usually remained reserved in public, regardless of how loving they were at home. People weren’t used to public displays of affection.

The male passengers envied Xia Dajun’s ability to find such a young and pretty wife – for some men, this was their dream life!

Xia Dajun walked with a spring in his step under these envious gazes.

Why hadn’t he understood before, stubbornly trying to reconcile with Liu Fen?

And wanting to repair things with Xia Xiaolan… Hah, that girl didn’t even acknowledge her father, an ungrateful white-eyed wolf. He had just been wasting his time.

Wasted several months leaving Xiaoyu waiting.

If he had started his relationship with Xiaoyu a few months earlier, their son might almost be born by now!

Xia Dajun was very satisfied with his current life.

His status in the Xia family had improved, with everyone depending on his income, giving him a great sense of achievement.

He had a young, beautiful new wife who would soon bear him a son – this life filled Xia Dajun with motivation.

If only the young master would bring him back to work by his side, everything would be perfect.

Xia Dajun was full of hope for the future, believing he was better off than his ex-wife who had left him, and the daughter who didn’t acknowledge him.

Little did he know that Xia Xiaolan, whom he considered ungrateful, was now moving in the same circles as Tang Yuanyue and Du Zhaohui.

It wasn’t her beauty attracting men’s attention – with the Golden Sands Pool property, Xia Xiaolan could genuinely sit at the same table as wealthy young masters like Tang Yuanyue and Du Zhaohui. After landing, she headed straight from Yangcheng to Pengcheng and then to the Municipal Government Guesthouse, all in one smooth sequence.

“Is everything arranged for the meal with Director Pan?”

Ge Jian nodded: “Director Liu already made arrangements with Director Pan. They’re in the next private room.”

Xia Xiaolan nodded with satisfaction.

The two private rooms couldn’t hear each other’s conversations, but her uncle would surely find the right moment to let Director Pan know she was meeting with Tang Yuanyue from Meihua.

How else could they convince the bank that Golden Sands Pool was truly worth over 10 million?

Given Qihang Real Estate’s scale, Xia Xiaolan couldn’t possibly get Tang Yuanyue to act in a show… If Tang Yuanyue were truly willing to help like this, Director Pan would only feel more assured – you could tell seven or eight-tenths about a person’s capabilities by looking at the social class of their associates!

Even Xia Xiaolan couldn’t avoid this – to survive and thrive in society, one couldn’t completely escape such worldly matters.

Aloof people were suited for working in isolation, whether as scientists or crop researchers – there were many suitable industries for survival, but business definitely wasn’t one of them.

Xia Xiaolan arrived at the guesthouse to find Tang Yuanyue waiting at the entrance like a gentleman, even though it wasn’t yet the appointed time.

“Miss Xia, meeting you is quite challenging!”

Tang Yuanyue observed Xia Xiaolan.

Today’s Xia Xiaolan looked different from the banquet – less elaborate, clean, and tidy, but seemingly without makeup.

Her face was like a peeled boiled egg, and Tang Yuanyue couldn’t help but look several times.

This was truly a woman blessed by heaven – few women appeared before Tang Yuanyue without makeup.

As a man, he liked beautiful women and didn’t mind when they wore careful makeup.

But it turned out not all women needed makeup to be charming – heaven’s favor was truly enviable.

Unaware of Tang Yuanyue’s thoughts, Xia Xiaolan played along: “CEO Tang, given our respective positions, without the Golden Sands Pool property, I wouldn’t dare hope to sit at the same table as you. With Meihua’s numerous business affairs, how could I dare disturb your work?”

Tang Yuanyue laughed heartily: “You’re not me, how do you know I don’t welcome your disturbance?”

They entered the private room chatting and laughing. Ge Jian followed Xia Xiaolan closely, while Tang Yuanyue had two or three people with him – indeed a proper business dinner.

However, someone didn’t see it that way. Just as Xia Xiaolan and Tang Yuanyue had settled in, before the food arrived, Tang Yuanyue began discussing the Golden Sands Pool property:

“Miss Xia, business requires luck, and you’re very lucky. Buying that piece of land casually turned out to be extremely fortunate-“

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Halfway through Tang Yuanyue’s words, someone knocked roughly on the private room’s door.

Xia Xiaolan’s attention was drawn – servers wouldn’t knock so rudely, could it be her uncle? No, her uncle wouldn’t be so foolish as to force Director Pan in.

“Open the door and see.”

Tang Yuanyue instructed his assistant.

The door opened to reveal Du Zhaohui’s irritating face. Behind him were several servers pushing carts of dishes, while he walked in laughing: “I’m late, I’ll punish myself with three drinks as penance!”