Money really could resolve many disputes.
If everyone was still struggling, Li Fengmei probably wouldn’t have let go of the Shangdu clothing store.
It was precisely because Liu Yong had earned several hundred thousand at once from the Nanhai Hotel renovation that Li Fengmei felt she could relax and agreed to move to Pengcheng with their son for a family reunion.
But no one complained about having too much money. With Liu Yong’s company doing well, they couldn’t possibly abandon a profitable store.
He was just “Millionaire Liu” for now—perhaps only when he became “Ten-Million Liu” could he hand over the clothing store to others?
Of course, with a financial foundation, Li Fengmei might be willing to sacrifice some profits to help her maiden family—this was unavoidable. Just like when Liu Yong had gone into smuggling before, with just a little money he dared to stand up for Liu Fen and Xia Xiaolan, taking the mother and daughter in. At that time, no one knew Xia Xiaolan would be so good at making money; Liu Yong was mentally prepared to support the mother and daughter pair… Blood is thicker than water, everyone cherishes their relatives. The clothing store was now under Aunt Li Fengmei’s management, and they’d agreed not to interfere with each other’s business operations. Xia Xiaolan’s slight frown quickly smoothed out.
This wasn’t something she should comment on. Her uncle had no objections originally; if she spoke up, it might create friction between her uncle and aunt, which wouldn’t be good.
“It’s fine to let Aunt’s family manage it. I’ll talk to Chen Xiliang about the Luna franchise.”
Waiving the franchise fee was impossible. Chen Xiliang had invested tremendous effort in this brand and hadn’t received any dividends yet. All the early work was about promoting this brand—it made no sense to waive the franchise fee just because the franchisee was Xia Xiaolan’s relative.
The newly minted millionaire wasn’t short of that money anyway. Li Fengmei chose to open a franchise store for convenience—what to sell each season and inventory management would all be handled by Chen Xiliang’s side, giving her more time to care for her son and husband.
Xia Xiaolan thought it might be better to convert the Shangdu store into a franchise while Li Fengmei continued sourcing inventory independently in Pengcheng.
Pengcheng and Yangcheng were adjacent, making inventory sourcing very convenient.
As for Shangdu, with Li Fengmei’s sister-in-law managing the store, selling whatever Luna supplied seemed quite suitable, didn’t it?
Liu Yong rubbed his chin: “You’re always quick-thinking, girl. I knew you’d have good ideas when I asked.”
Xia Xiaolan felt slightly guilty, as this suggestion still favored her uncle’s interests. She wasn’t sure what her aunt would think. People naturally had different levels of closeness in relationships, and Xia Xiaolan wasn’t a saint.
Uncle and niece were both pleased after reviewing the accounts, and they went together when Tang Hongen invited them to dinner at his home.
Upon arrival, they found Huo Chenzhou was also there.
Xia Xiaolan understood—apparently, this dinner was arranged because of Huo Chenzhou.
Huo Chenzhou seemed quite anxious!
He was Elder Song’s grandson—could he not secure his position at Dongfeng Holdings?
It was hard to say. There were struggles everywhere, and Elder Song clearly wouldn’t lower himself to manage his grandson’s work matters. Though Huo Chenzhou had become Dongfeng Holdings’ branch manager at a young age, whether he could achieve results still depended on his performance.
“Manager Huo—”
Huo Chenzhou smiled, “Didn’t Uncle Tang say last time? We should address each other as siblings. You can call me by my name, or call me Brother Huo. This is a family dinner, not a formal occasion. No need to be so polite.”
Xia Xiaolan was taken aback.
Huo Chenzhou used to call him “Mayor Tang,” but suddenly switched to the intimate “Uncle Tang.”
Such a rapid change in attitude suggested the land deal might be troublesome.
Xia Xiaolan somewhat regretted agreeing to Huo Chenzhou so early.
Why did Huo Chenzhou have to bring it up during the hotel inspection? Couldn’t he wait half a day? Was he trying to prevent her from consulting with Tang Hongen?
Xia Xiaolan drew in a sharp breath—Huo Chenzhou wasn’t a good person.
But Xia Xiaolan wasn’t one to swallow her pride after being outmaneuvered. After dinner, before Huo Chenzhou could speak, she preemptively took control of the conversation: “Uncle Tang, I need to report something to you. Manager… oh, Brother Huo invited me yesterday to design a real estate project for Dongfeng Holdings. I’m only a sophomore in college—I don’t have experience with such large projects. I’m afraid I’ll mess it up.”
Tang Hongen made a sound of acknowledgment, “Chenzhou, I know you want to help Xiaolan, but don’t overdo it. Forcing growth too quickly will harm her, not help her.”
Huo Chenzhou hadn’t been straightforward either. He had arrived earlier than Xia Xiaolan and Liu Yong, and when discussing the so-called new project with Tang Hongen, he hadn’t stated directly but implied that Xia Xiaolan was interested—Tang Hongen hadn’t quite believed it then. Golden Sand Pool hadn’t broken even yet; what capital did Xia Xiaolan have to operate a new project?
Even if she wanted to do a new project, she wouldn’t have bypassed him to negotiate with Huo Chenzhou first.
Now Tang Hongen’s thoughts were confirmed as Xia Xiaolan mercilessly exposed Huo Chenzhou’s tactics, making Tang Hongen want to smile.
Huo Chenzhou didn’t understand that Comrade Tang had first associated with Xia Xiaolan, whose performance had won Tang’s trust, and only then had Tang taken a liking to Liu Fen. Getting this sequence wrong had rendered Huo Chenzhou’s tactics ineffective.
Tang Hongen truly trusted Xia Xiaolan, not just because of his fondness for her mother.
Xia Xiaolan also genuinely respected and protected Old Tang, definitely not constantly calculating how to exploit his position for benefit.
Tang Hongen and Xia Xiaolan both looked at Huo Chenzhou—though they looked nothing alike, their expressions shared an inexplicable harmony. Huo Chenzhou had extremely thick skin and showed no embarrassment at being exposed:
“Xiaolan is quite capable, otherwise Master Mao wouldn’t have taken her as a disciple. Ability isn’t about age, and her capabilities aren’t related to which year she’s in at university. Yesterday when I talked with Xiaolan, I thought she was very interested in taking on the building’s design. So now, in front of Uncle Tang, let me ask Xiaolan again—can I entrust this design to you?”
Yesterday he talked about joint development, today he changed his tune—Huo Chenzhou truly had a face of iron.
Xia Xiaolan firmly refused to fall into the trap: “I’m young and inexperienced. I’ll listen to Uncle Tang.”
Bah! When the project’s approval wasn’t even certain, he wanted to hand her the design.
For legitimate investments, Pengcheng’s city government would have no reason to refuse. Huo Chenzhou’s resort to such petty tricks suggested he wanted to gain more advantages. Indeed, for the same project, compressed costs would make the profit look better, and wouldn’t better profits demonstrate Huo Chenzhou’s abilities?
But perhaps this beautiful profit would require Tang Hongen to provide special favors… Xia Xiaolan particularly understood why Tang Hongen wanted her to keep an eye on Huo Chenzhou.
She could spot unreliable aspects first.
Because of Elder Song’s relationship, Tang couldn’t bluntly refuse some unreasonable requests from the Song family.
Xia Xiaolan silently sympathized with Old Tang for a few seconds. Even wielding significant power, he still had constraints. When would Old Tang be able to shake off all these burdens and wholeheartedly pursue his political aspirations according to his ideas?
Tang Hongen kept Liu Yong behind to discuss something, while Xia Xiaolan went downstairs first. Huo Chenzhou was displeased:
“I thought we had reached a consensus, and I had already shown goodwill first. Xia Xiaolan, without support from the Song family, do you think you can securely be Mayor Tang’s daughter in the future?”