A petty person frets constantly, while a shameless merchant stays brazen.

With housing sales about to begin, discovering this obstacle to her profits somewhat spoiled Xia Xiaolan’s mood.

She had to return to Beijing tomorrow and was busy meeting with Tang Hongen, then needed to see Sheng Xuan. She had no time to comfort Mao Guosheng’s fragile feelings, merely exchanging quick greetings before leaving the site.

Mao Guosheng’s face changed colors like a palette.

“Dad, Brother Zhou, and I are heading back to Yangcheng first. We’ll visit you and Mom another time!”

He had previously said he’d spend the weekend with his parents, but now on Saturday was already talking about returning to Yangcheng.

Mao Kangshan had long seen through his son’s nature and wasn’t particularly upset. “Visit your mother when you can, don’t bother if you’re busy.”

He knew Mao Guosheng wanted to work at Qihang, envying Wang Houlin’s high salary.

Wang Houlin not only had a high monthly salary of 600 yuan but would surely receive a substantial bonus when the project was completed.

When initially invited, Mao Guosheng refused, but now he had changed his mind and wanted Xia Xiaolan to come begging… What could Mao Kangshan say? No ability but full of pretense – he shouldn’t be indulged!

When Xia Xiaolan said she could hire Mao Guosheng, Mao Kangshan was the first to object.

Fortunately, Mao Guosheng didn’t know this as he fumed about returning to Yangcheng.

Zhou Maotong had helped arrange Mao Guosheng’s job transfer out of respect for their teacher and worried on the journey back: “Guosheng, in front of others, you shouldn’t casually call Junior Sister Xia ‘Little Xia’ anymore. She’s now a real estate company boss. It’s fine in private, but be mindful when others are present.”

Mao Guosheng stiffened his neck, “When she came to my home to become an apprentice, she acted so humble. You’re saying it was all an act? Now that she’s powerful, I can’t call her Little Xia anymore!”

Zhou Maotong was speechless.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to help his teacher, but with Mao Guosheng’s attitude, he wouldn’t succeed even with a hundred ladders beneath his feet!

Times had changed.

Qihang Real Estate had soared on Golden Sand Pool’s momentum, and Xia Xiaolan’s status had naturally risen with it.

Zhou Maotong wasn’t afraid of offending Xia Xiaolan – Qihang still needed Guangdong Construction’s qualifications. But as fellow disciples, Xia Xiaolan respected him as a senior brother, and Zhou Maotong wouldn’t diminish her in front of others!

Using “Senior Brother” and “Junior Sister” showed closeness, but what was this “Little Xia” about? Did he think himself above Xia Xiaolan?

Besides being older than Xia Xiaolan, what abilities did Mao Guosheng have over her?

Unable to reason with him, Zhou Maotong closed his eyes and ignored him. Mao Guosheng sat breathing heavily, deeply resentful: he had just spoken casually, why were they making such a big deal of this mistake?

Asking him to admit his error, to flatter Xia Xiaolan in front of others – Mao Guosheng couldn’t bring himself to do it.

…

Xia Xiaolan didn’t care whether Mao Guosheng came to “flatter” her or not.

Honestly, when someone bad at flattery forces it, it’s uncomfortable for everyone involved.

Since Tang Hongen had taken her to Ji Ya’s wedding banquet, Xia Xiaolan hadn’t visited him at city hall, fearing recognition by the wedding guests.

Today they met at Tang’s home, and surprisingly, Tang Hongen had cooked.

“I gave the housekeeper two days off and made something simple. Try it first – I haven’t cooked in many years.”

Too busy with work, he’d always eaten at the cafeteria before, and later with his high position became a housekeeper, so he hadn’t needed to cook.

Xia Xiaolan felt honored, “How fortunate I am.”

Tang Hongen had made pan-fried buns. To be honest, while the dough was decent, the filling was bland and couldn’t mask the meat’s gaminess. The heat had been too high while frying, burning the bottoms… Xia Xiaolan hadn’t planned to mention these flaws – how could she complain about buns personally made by Mayor Tang?

His mind was on important matters; it was normal not to excel at cooking!

Being poor at cooking herself, Xia Xiaolan particularly understood.

But Tang Hongen sincerely asked for her critique, so she offered her opinions.

Tang Hongen nodded after listening: “I also thought they weren’t very tasty. Seems I need more practice before cooking for your mother.”

With a bun still in her mouth, Xia Xiaolan didn’t know whether to swallow or spit it out – was this about the buns or about feeding her dog food? This was too much – if he wanted her to taste-test, he didn’t need to say that part!

After several gulps of water to get the bun down, Xia Xiaolan spoke directly:

“Uncle Tang, weren’t you planning to tell my mom about Sheng Xuan? Honestly, I don’t care much about the romantic rivalry, but Sheng Xuan has been transferred to a bank in Pengcheng, right when Qihang needs mortgage loans. Golden Sand Pool’s units are about to go on sale – what happens if customers can’t get bank loans!”

Tang Hongen took the opportunity to put down his chopsticks, seemingly taking a moment to recall who Xia Xiaolan was talking about.

“Sheng Xuan? Is she giving you trouble?”

Xia Xiaolan was speechless.

“Uncle Tang, please focus on the main point. I’m saying Sheng Xuan has been transferred to work in Pengcheng. I don’t care if she makes things difficult for me this time – Pengcheng has more than one bank! But if she keeps this up, she’ll become a real nuisance. I came specifically to ask your advice on how to handle her?”

Tang Hongen tapped the table, “You know yourself there’s more than one bank in Pengcheng. It’s just that you happened to mortgage the land with Sheng Xuan’s bank, so you’d prefer to handle everything through one channel, including the mortgage loans. As for what Sheng Xuan is thinking, just go talk to her. I haven’t seen her in a long time, but I vaguely remember she’s not that foolish.”

Tang Hongen certainly knew about the rumors Sheng Xuan and the Song family’s second branch had spread about her refusing to marry anyone but Tang Hongen.

Tang Hongen didn’t think his charm was so great that it could make a young woman in her twenties fall in love at first sight. He had never considered remarrying and couldn’t be bothered with whatever the Song family was plotting.

He hadn’t expected Sheng Xuan might misunderstand that she still had a chance.

Tang Hongen added: “I don’t see her because I don’t want to give her false hope. You should know I only want to build a family with your mother. Whatever others say or do is just trying to drive a wedge between us.”

Xia Xiaolan knew it wouldn’t be appropriate for Tang Hongen to intervene.

Perhaps Sheng Xuan was trying to force Tang Hongen to appear.

After all, the gap between Sheng Xuan, a mid-level bank manager, and the mayor was significant – a bank director couldn’t just directly report to the mayor, could she?

Narrow-minded Xiaolan hadn’t expected Tang Hongen to step in; she just wanted to know his stance.

As it turned out, Tang Hongen seemed completely indifferent, as if Sheng Xuan was irrelevant… Xia Xiaolan felt somewhat relieved – at least Comrade Old Tang was clear-headed about these matters.

“Then I’ll go meet with Miss Sheng myself. Don’t worry about it – I’ll handle Miss Sheng’s situation!”