Tang Yuanyue’s secretary greatly envied Xia Xiaolan.
However, Xia Xiaolan left the flowers directly in Yuan Hui’s office, simply to beautify the office environment.
She had wanted to see Tang Hong’en earlier, but Tang Hong’en had gone to Beijing, using the pretext of avoiding suspicion to meet with her mother! When Xia Xiaolan returned to Beijing, Tang Hong’en had already returned to Pengcheng, causing them to miss each other perfectly.
Xia Xiaolan heard from Grandmother Yu about what happened when Tang Hong’en went to Beijing.
First, he met with the potential rival Section Chief Ma, then arranged a suburban tour of Xiangshan with her mother.
Liu Fen didn’t say what happened at Xiangshan when she returned home.
“Young Tang is quite good at pursuing someone. Your mother probably won’t hold out for too long.”
That’s exactly what Grandmother Yu told Xia Xiaolan!
Grandmother Yu’s judgments were always accurate, and Xia Xiaolan felt slightly dejected. Initially, her association with Tang Hong’en was aimed at finding a patron in Pengcheng, essentially trying to secure powerful support despite her brazenness.
She indeed gained many conveniences because of this, and her successful development in Pengcheng wasn’t just due to her foresight – because of Tang Hong’en, others dared not interfere with her business.
However, it now seemed that Tang Hong’en’s help wasn’t without return. The interest he collected wasn’t monetary but rather cost Xia Xiaolan her mother… Mayor Tang wasn’t being despicable, but he and Liu Fen originally had no possibility of contact – Liu Fen, a divorced rural woman, would never have had access to the mayor if not for Xia Xiaolan.
“Who’s really gaining or losing here is truly a muddy calculation!”
Xia Xiaolan muttered these words at the time but didn’t probe further into the details of her mother’s Xiangshan trip.
Mother and daughter had no secrets between them, and just as Liu Fen wouldn’t dig deeply into her relationship with Zhou Cheng, Xia Xiaolan also respected her mother.
Liu Fen did mention voluntarily that there was a low-key house in Xiangshan, where Tang Hong’en had introduced her to an elderly gentleman.
Liu Fen hadn’t thought much of it. She had always gotten along well with elderly people, including the eccentric Grandmother Yu who had grown fond of her. The elderly gentleman Tang Hong’en introduced her to was quite approachable, not inquiring about Liu Fen’s background but only asking how she knew Tang Hong’en.
“It’s strange, who do you think he was?”
Liu Fen was still confused after meeting him. If Tang Hong’en’s parents hadn’t passed away, she would have guessed it was Old Mr. Tang.
Xia Xiaolan hadn’t met him either and couldn’t determine who Liu Fen had met.
Thinking about how Tang Hong’en had risen rapidly in just ten years after his rehabilitation, Xia Xiaolan had her suspicions but only vaguely told Liu Fen:
“He might be one of Uncle Tang’s teachers or close elders. You’ve already met him, so there’s no need to dwell on it now.”
Her mother was easy to placate.
But Xia Xiaolan wasn’t so easily fooled. She wanted to know why Mayor Tang had taken her mother to Xiangshan.
If it was an elder who could make decisions for Tang Hong’en, then this was essentially “meeting the family,” right? They should have at least given her mother some preparation!
Xia Xiaolan felt Mayor Tang’s pursuit methods were too erratic, and it wasn’t good for the man to completely dominate the relationship. She had planned to probe this issue indirectly today, but upon arriving at Tang Hong’en’s home, the words wouldn’t come out.
It wasn’t because Tang Hong’en was alone – Huo Chenzhou was sitting right there in Tang Hong’en’s living room!
Xia Xiaolan was quite surprised, “I didn’t expect Manager Huo to be here.”
Huo Chenzhou was also observing her. They hadn’t seen each other for a long time, but Huo Chenzhou had a deep impression of Xia Xiaolan.
While others tried to reduce project budgets, Xia Xiaolan had insisted on increasing it – doubling it, in fact. Surprisingly, the 30-million-yuan renovation proposal had passed the board meeting.
Rather than calling it a risky move, it was more accurate to say Xia Xiaolan had won through confidence and talent.
“Miss Xia, it’s been a while. Now I should address you as President Xia.”
Four or five months ago, Xia Xiaolan hadn’t even been on Huo Chenzhou’s radar, but in this short time, she had become the owner of Pengcheng’s hottest property – the Jinsha Pool land.
Even he hadn’t been able to get Mayor Tang to agree to let Dongfeng Holdings take the first step in Pengcheng’s housing reform.
Did Mayor Tang trust Xia Xiaolan more?
Huo Chenzhou’s gaze was profound. Xia Xiaolan indeed had the capability – her talent wasn’t just in architectural design, but her skill in land speculation was also astounding. The price of the Jinsha Pool land had skyrocketed from less than 3 million to around 15 million in just half a month – this couldn’t be luck or coincidence.
Huo Chenzhou’s feelings were more complex than others’.
Xia Xiaolan had gained substantial profits in a short time, but the initial capital had come from Dongfeng Holdings.
Huo Chenzhou had heard something about Liu Yong withholding project payments. He had been planning to talk to Liu Yong about not damaging their industry reputation – not just Yuan Hui’s, but also Nanhai Hotel’s and Dongfeng Holdings’.
Huo Chenzhou had thought Liu Yong was just being too greedy.
When Qihang Real Estate suddenly emerged, Huo Chenzhou finally understood where the withheld project payments had gone.
Qihang’s registration capital.
The payment for Qihang’s land acquisition.
All the money had been channeled from the project payments Dongfeng had made to Yuan Hui!
She had the ability, and such audacity too – wasn’t this getting something for nothing? Without a penny of actual cash, she had used Dongfeng’s project payments to make money from money – how was the person who provided the money supposed to feel about such operations?
Although Dongfeng Holdings’ money wasn’t Huo Chenzhou’s funds, he had approved how it was used.
Dongfeng’s payment terms to Yuan Hui had been extremely generous, and completely favorable to Yuan Hui – what company nowadays paid so promptly? Of course, this was also because Huo Chenzhou had wanted to curry favor with Tang Hong’en… He understood the reasoning, but still couldn’t get over this mental hurdle.
Xia Xiaolan noticed Manager Huo seemed unhappy but didn’t know why.
She couldn’t be bothered to figure it out and glanced around the room:
“Where’s Uncle Tang?”
Just as she finished speaking, Tang Hong’en came out from his study, “Xiaolan, you’re here? No need to introduce Chenzhou again, you’ve already met before.”
Xia Xiaolan nodded, “Yes, Uncle Tang. I should thank Manager Huo for taking care of Yuan Hui’s business.”
“Chenzhou is older than you, you two can address each other as siblings from now on.”
Tang Hong’en’s single statement nearly made both Xia Xiaolan and Huo Chenzhou jump up.
Was this a joke? Shouldn’t Ji Jiangyuan be the one she addresses as a sibling? Where did Huo Chenzhou come from to warrant such familiarity?
Huo Chenzhou couldn’t accept it either – not just anyone qualified to be his sister… What was Mayor Tang’s intention? Previously when he had sought out Mayor Tang, despite the man’s close relationship with Huo family elders, his treatment of Huo Chenzhou had been merely perfunctory. How had it become so intimate now?
Huo Chenzhou wasn’t flattered at all; instead, he became very wary.
Someone like Mayor Tang wouldn’t speak without purpose. What kind of trap was this attempt to bring him closer to Xia Xiaolan?
Xia Xiaolan laughed dryly: “I’d better stick with Manager Huo, it’s more respectful!”
Huh, Huo Chenzhou’s rejection was so obvious that Xia Xiaolan could see it clearly, and she had no intention of pushing herself forward.
Why should she eagerly try to become someone’s sister?
Tang Hong’en hadn’t expected such strong reactions from both of them and was momentarily stunned:
“Well, I won’t interfere in how you two interact. I can’t understand young people’s thinking anyway. Since Xiaolan is here, tell Chenzhou when Nanhai Hotel can be inspected for acceptance.”