“Get lost! I won’t see him. Tell him to stay far away. From now on, anyone with the surname Xia is forbidden from appearing before me!”
Is that so?
Ah Hua was quite skeptical – what if Xia Xiaolan came to visit? Would this Xia be allowed to see him then?
Ah Hua didn’t expose the Young Master’s contradiction and went to handle Xia Dajun’s matter himself.
Xia Dajun didn’t need to see Du Zhaohui – he felt pressured in front of the Young Master and was satisfied just speaking to Ah Hua. When Xia Dajun mentioned that Ke Yixiong had driven away all three members of the Xia family, explicitly stating it was because of Xia Xiaolan, Ah Hua was secretly surprised: Could Ke Yixiong also know about Xia Xiaolan’s relationship with Mayor Tang?
But that couldn’t be right – if Ke Yixiong knew, he absolutely wouldn’t have mentioned Xia Xiaolan’s name when firing the three Xia family members.
That didn’t seem like doing Xia Xiaolan a favor – it was more like bringing trouble to her doorstep!
Ah Hua maintained his composure: “Wasn’t it because you performed poorly at Boss Ke’s construction site? He made you a supervisor, but you didn’t do the job well? Dajun, you’re putting the Young Master in a difficult position. You’re drawing a high salary without doing any work, and the colleagues at the Pengcheng office have many complaints about you. Someone reported your situation to headquarters, saying the Young Master was practicing nepotism by promoting incompetent people. Others seized this weakness, making it hard for the Young Master to explain himself to Chairman Du. That’s why he thought of transferring you to Boss Ke’s site as a supervisor, hoping you’d at least learn some real skills… During this time, how much have you learned?”
Ah Hua had become increasingly trusted by Du Zhaohui for his abilities as both a bodyguard and general assistant.
Xia Dajun had been lucky – he happened to be the one who carried Du Zhaohui to safety during their escape.
After all this time, he had only learned how to drive.
He couldn’t speak Cantonese or English, couldn’t handle official documents, and with his poor educational foundation, he didn’t put in the effort to learn. When Ah Hua asked what he had learned as a supervisor, Xia Dajun had turned “supervision” into mere “surveillance,” spending his days just watching Ke Yixiong. Now when Ah Hua asked what he had learned, Xia Dajun struggled to come up with anything concrete.
“I don’t understand those blueprints. I can do masonry work…”
Ah Hua looked at him quietly. “Do you think the Young Master needs a mason?”
A mason?
Du Zhaohui despised anyone with dirt on their clothes – what use would he have for a mason?
Xia Dajun’s face turned pale at Ah Hua’s words. “I can drive.”
“The current driver for the Young Master is the previous driver’s younger brother. His older brother died for the Young Master, which is why he got this job opportunity. Do you think it would be appropriate to take the driver position from him?”
This was impossible. Xia Dajun let out an almost guttural roar:
“I can protect the Young Master-“
Before he could finish his shout, without even seeing how Ah Hua moved, he was thrown heavily to the ground.
Ah Hua placed his foot on Xia’s chest, looking down at him. He had only used thirty percent of his strength to take him down.
“Don’t you understand yet? You’re completely unsuitable as a bodyguard. Apart from having some brute strength, you’ve never received professional training. You don’t know martial arts or how to handle guns, and you can’t assess situations when enemies suddenly attack! Xia Dajun, the Young Master has given you many chances, but you’ve squandered them all in a daze. The Young Master no longer needs you by his side. The job at Ke Yixiong’s construction site was your last chance from the Young Master, and you still messed it up. How dare you expect the Young Master to continue supporting a useless person!”
The confidence Xia Dajun had built from his high salary while working alongside Du Zhaohui crumbled inch by inch.
Ah Hua’s words were harsh, but Xia Dajun couldn’t refute them.
Du Zhaohui’s coldness toward him had shown early signs – Xia Dajun just hadn’t wanted to think deeply about it.
Now that Ah Hua had torn away the veil, Xia Dajun was left in a daze.
“Am I fired?”
Ah Hua removed his foot but didn’t answer Xia Dajun’s question.
Did that even need saying?
He didn’t care whether Xia Dajun was suffering or not. Those words weren’t just Ah Hua’s fabrications – when someone receives a high salary and lives in a good environment for so long without learning anything useful, what’s there to sympathize with such a waste of space?
After handling Xia Dajun, Ah Hua returned but didn’t bring up the matter.
Finally, Du Zhaohui couldn’t hold back anymore.
Ah Hua relayed what Xia Dajun had said, and Du Zhaohui suppressed his unease: “Weren’t she and Ke Yixiong getting quite close lately? Ke Yixiong even supplied sand and stone to the Jinsha Chi site. How did they end up falling out?”
Ah Hua truly didn’t know.
Having just returned to Pengcheng from Hong Kong, Ah Hua had no reason to inquire about Ke Yixiong.
But since the Young Master was curious, Ah Hua knew what to do.
After Ah Hua went out and returned, Du Zhaohui pieced together about seventy to eighty percent of the story:
“She’s always been so bold!”
When Bai Zhenzhu was injured by Ke Yixiong’s men, Du Zhaohui could only applaud in celebration – he still remembered how Bai Zhenzhu had kicked out his tooth.
However, Xia Xiaolan had stood up for Bai Zhenzhu, reporting the incident and getting Ke Yixiong’s men arrested, causing Ke Yixiong significant losses.
“That Ke fellow is probably going to fail. Stay away from him from now on, don’t give him any more work.”
This time, even having someone take the fall for Ke Yixiong wouldn’t help. Ke Yixiong probably hadn’t realized his name had already been marked by the mayor. The mainland was very sensitive about organized crime – Du Zhaohui believed he would eventually fall!
What a failure – even Du Zhaohui himself had to behave properly when investing in the mainland. Ke Yixiong was more arrogant than Du Zhaohui – wasn’t his failure inevitable?
Du Zhaohui paced around the room, talking to himself:
“I’m pleased that that thug Ke Yixiong threw out all the Xia family members, but he shouldn’t have said it was because of Xia Xiaolan. When the Xia family goes to Jinsha Chi to find her, won’t that blame fall on my head?”
Ah Hua didn’t understand this logic.
But if the Young Master said so, then so be it. “You mean-“
“We should warn her.”
Ah Hua thought to himself that Xia Xiaolan despised Ke Yixiong and had never shown any fondness for the Young Master. The Young Master kept hitting walls but persisted in his attempts. The symptoms were so obvious that you didn’t need a Hong Kong doctor to diagnose them.
Unfortunately, the Young Master wouldn’t admit it, and Ah Hua didn’t dare say it.
Du Zhaohui drove to Jinsha Chi and found the irritating Tang Yuanyue was also there.
Tang Yuanyue had come to curry favor, but he was much better prepared than Du Zhaohui. He discussed topics that interested Xia Xiaolan, and when he saw Du Zhaohui appear, he smoothly dug a pit for him:
“…That’s roughly how things are. As for why Wang Mingming changed her mind, I’m not familiar with those female celebrities. Since Zhaohui is here, why don’t you ask him? He has many acquaintances in Hong Kong’s entertainment circle.”
Xia Xiaolan looked up at him, and Du Zhaohui’s face stiffened.
What did he mean by having acquaintances in Hong Kong’s entertainment circle?
Tang Yuanyue was referring to his previous relationships with many female celebrities. During their first meeting, he had even encouraged Xia Xiaolan to film in Hong Kong. This unfriendly beginning had kept his relationship with Xia Xiaolan tense until now. Tang Yuanyue knew how to bring up the worst topics!
As soon as he saw Xia Xiaolan, Du Zhaohui’s “terminal illness” started acting up. His gaze became evasive as he warily avoided Tang Yuanyue’s trap:
“What business does Director Xia have with Wang Mingming? Only after hearing about it can I know whether I can help.”