Wang Mingming had never dated Du Zhaohui. At this point, Wang Mingming was already in her thirties – no matter how well she maintained herself, to Young Master Du she was from the previous generation of actresses… With so many young, vibrant women around, Du Zhaohui had no interest in women more than 10 years older than him!

If it had been Tang Yuanyue, Xia Xiaolan might have asked more.

But with Du Zhaohui, Xia Xiaolan always felt he had ulterior motives, so she was vague: “I just want to know if Wang Mingming is too busy with her schedule in Hong Kong to get away. She was originally booked for a commercial but canceled at the last minute.”

Was this really about her schedule?

There was more to it.

Du Zhaohui thought Xia Xiaolan wanted to invite Wang Mingming to film an advertisement for the Jinsha Chi property. Hearing about Wang Mingming’s cancellation, Du Zhaohui was also unhappy. As Tang Yuanyue had said, he was very familiar with Hong Kong’s entertainment industry – too familiar. Knowing what some celebrities were really like in private, he naturally looked down on people in the entertainment industry:

“Even someone like Wang Mingming dares to cancel? I’ll help with this matter!”

Du Zhaohui’s indignation and disdain were written all over his face. Xia Xiaolan was somewhat puzzled and added: “I just want to understand the reason. Even if Wang Mingming has availability now, I wouldn’t work with her anymore.”

Chen Xiliang had already found someone to shoot the advertisement!

Chen Xiliang had reached out to several popular young actresses in the mainland, and the one who agreed most readily was actress Zhang Xiao.

The young Zhang Xiao had a round face that didn’t look particularly fashionable at first glance, seemingly mismatched with Luna’s style. But Xia Xiaolan knew that times change – among the current popular young actresses, few could maintain their popularity, yet Zhang Xiao with her round face and less refined features stayed popular… Although later, after the millennium, she would be caught up in tax evasion scandals and criticized for insisting on playing young girl roles at an inappropriate age, earning the nickname “Leader of the Girl Cult” from netizens, but that would all happen many years later.

The current Zhang Xiao would remain popular for several more years, and having her film Luna’s advertisement wouldn’t be a loss.

When she heard Chen Xiliang had secured Zhang Xiao, how could Xia Xiaolan not support it?

So now she didn’t need Wang Mingming anymore. Zhang Xiao was already on her way to Yangcheng. Though this person would have many negative news stories in the future, her current work ethic satisfied Xia Xiaolan.

Xia Xiaolan had asked about Wang Mingming casually, slightly worried that something she didn’t know about had happened.

She was making small talk with Tang Yuanyue when Du Zhaohui barged in, guaranteeing he would handle everything.

Xia Xiaolan was creeped out by Du Zhaohui’s attitude.

She remembered how at the airport last time, Du Zhaohui had pretended not to see her, and now he was suddenly so enthusiastic – she didn’t know what scheme he was plotting this time.

However, Du Zhaohui did move quickly, wielding considerable influence in Hong Kong. Before Xia Xiaolan could board her plane, Du Zhaohui already had news. This time, without Tang Yuanyue present, Du Zhaohui came to find Xia Xiaolan himself:

“Wang Mingming isn’t in Hong Kong – she came to the mainland a few days ago. Isn’t that strange? What’s even stranger is that her manager leaked to the paparazzi that Wang Mingming had taken a mainland property advertisement deal. Guess which one!”

Xia Xiaolan looked at the golf course under construction next door.

“That must be my neighbor then.”

“Exactly. Wang Mingming is now in Pengcheng, and she should be with people from the Wilson family.”

Du Zhaohui had thought Xia Xiaolan had an ambiguous relationship with Harold Wilson, who was investing in the golf course. The impression from the investment reception was too deep, and Jinsha Chi happened to be right next to the golf course.

He hadn’t expected the Wilson family to snatch the deal from under Xia Xiaolan’s nose. This was unexpected to Du Zhaohui yet somehow seemed reasonable – it appeared that Xia Xiaolan, Mayor Tang’s future stepdaughter, had deeply offended the mayor’s ex-wife. The grudges involved were as complex as those in his own family!

Ji Ya and George had been waiting here all along.

Xia Xiaolan had sensed something fishy about this before, and now that it was confirmed, she wasn’t anxious anymore.

Getting Wang Mingming to endorse the property project must have been Ji Ya’s idea. But how had Luna’s plan to hire Wang Mingming leaked? Had Ji Ya snatched Wang Mingming away just to spite her?

If only things were that simple.

Du Zhaohui sneered, “Just an actress and singer, really thinking too highly of herself. Since she had already agreed, she can’t just refuse to film now…”

Xia Xiaolan interrupted Du Zhaohui’s show of dominance:

“Du Zhaohui, why are you helping me like this?”

“I said we’d have a ceasefire. We never had any deep hatred – why fight to the death? I admit that initially asking you to film in Hong Kong was looking down on you – you’re suited for business! By the way, I have no relationship with Ke Yixiong. He just helped me with some small matters, so I gave him some construction work. Now he’s fallen out with me, and when I sent the Xia family members to him, he fired them without a word… He even said he fired them because he had a grudge against you. They might come looking for you.”

Du Zhaohui’s attitude was very frank.

If during their first meeting, Du Zhaohui hadn’t been so full of himself, and had shown even half of his current sincerity, Xia Xiaolan probably wouldn’t have developed such antipathy toward him.

But once a bad impression had formed, Xia Xiaolan couldn’t easily change her wariness of Du Zhaohui.

Just as she had told Ke Yixiong, they weren’t the same kind of people – how could they be friends?

She wanted to say something to Du Zhaohui, but he again showed that expression like he was being chased by dogs, ready to run before she could speak:

“Anyway, this is just to show some sincerity. I’ll make Wang Mingming-“

“No need to find Wang Mingming. Even if she agreed to honor the verbal contract now, I wouldn’t work with her anymore.”

This matter had nothing to do with Wang Mingming – the reason lay with George and Ji Ya.

But Wang Mingming’s lack of professional ethics was also true, and Xia Xiaolan wouldn’t work with her again.

Watching Du Zhaohui’s retreating figure, Xia Xiaolan was lost in thought. Since when had Du Zhaohui become so agreeable? It made her uneasy.

But she still wouldn’t help Du Zhaohui, Tang Yuanyue, and others acquire land. No matter how much “sincerity” these two showed, Xia Xiaolan wouldn’t budge on this matter.

Fortunately, Tang Yuanyue had stopped sending flowers.

However, whenever Xia Xiaolan came to Pengcheng, Tang Yuanyue would appear right on schedule.

She felt uneasy talking to these people. Both had been influenced by their environment since childhood and with their current experience, they were no less shrewd than the business veterans Xia Xiaolan had met in her previous life… Her Chengzi was much more lovable – Zhou Cheng said whatever was on his mind, putting his thoughts right out in the open, more straightforward than ordinary businesspeople.

Xia Xiaolan clutched her chest – oh no, she was missing Zhou Cheng again!

She couldn’t come to Pengcheng next week; she had to go to Ji Bei to see Zhou Cheng. Jiang Yan had broken her leg, and though she said she wouldn’t trouble Zhou Cheng to take care of her, Xia Xiaolan wasn’t completely at ease.

“Ge Jian, go investigate what Ji Ya has been doing recently. Did she poach Wang Mingming just to annoy me, or was there another reason?”