“Chenzhou, there’s no shame in it – getting what you want is most important.”

Song Nanzhen neither confirmed nor denied.

Huo Chenzhou immediately knew his mother had visited the old master.

The old master didn’t support his descendants entering politics, and Huo Chenzhou was no exception.

Dongfeng Holdings was a state-owned capital. While family help had gotten Huo Chenzhou to his current position, without notable achievements of his own, he still couldn’t make it far!

He couldn’t even fully control Dongfeng Holdings yet – the current situation didn’t match Huo Chenzhou’s ambitions and expectations.

Could Tang Hongen have such a promising future?

Huo Chenzhou clenched his fists, then after a while let out a breath: “I’ll draft a new proposal for Mayor Tang.”

Lowering oneself was for gaining more – even his grandfather had his ups and downs. Huo Chenzhou wanted to emulate the person he most admired… What was so hard about putting aside pride before Tang Hongen? He could do it!

“Though Mayor Tang is in Beijing, he might not want to be disturbed. I’ll go to Peng City first to wait for his return, and take the chance to meet Sheng Xuan!”

Once Huo Chenzhou understood, his mind worked quickly.

Song Nanzhen showed a satisfied smile: “Good, go see what Sheng Xuan is really planning. If she’s trying something new, you can use the opportunity to disrupt her plans and earn Tang Hongen’s favor!”

Mother and son both looked down on Sheng Xuan.

The old master disliked family infighting, but Sheng Xuan wasn’t family – just a distant relative. What good was her pretty face?

Song Nanzhen had few reservations. If Second Sister-in-law wanted to make trouble, Song Nanzhen wasn’t afraid.

After their discussion, Huo Chenzhou immediately left for Peng City.

…

Xia Xiaolan, confined to school this week, couldn’t concentrate for the first time.

Finally making it to the afternoon of the 13th, she rushed to the airport right after her last class.

Watching her hurriedly leave school, Ning Xue shook her head:

“When people get restless, they can’t learn much.”

Season Jianyuan happened to overhear and disagreed: “Golden Sand Pool opens sales tomorrow, of course, Xia Xiaolan is in a hurry. Ning Xue, I feel like you’re the one paying attention to her now, not the other way around – have you already made her your imagined rival and competitor?”

How precious!

Ning Xue, pure as mountain snow and untouched by worldly matters, devoted only to pursuing her “great path,” was so focused on Xia Xiaolan.

If she were a man, Season Jianyuan would suspect Ning Xue had feelings for Xia Xiaolan!

Season Jianyuan knew about Golden Sand Pool’s sales launch tomorrow because George had told him.

Golden Sand Pool flyers were everywhere, plus newspaper advertisements – George couldn’t ignore them even if he wanted to.

George wanted to do something but was stopped by Bill. Bill wanted to wait and see if Golden Sand Pool would be popular. Its prices were far ahead in Peng City, the most expensive development… if these could sell, the golf course project would surely have good prospects too.

Ning Xue stayed quiet, then later looked up, “Season Jianyuan, can you help me buy a plane ticket?”

“You want to see Golden Sand Pool?”

Such persistence about Xia Xiaolan’s “work.”

Ning Xue nodded frankly, confirming Season Jianyuan’s guess.

“I saw earlier that Xia Xiaolan didn’t want others visiting, but since sales start tomorrow, it must be open to the public!”

That was true – tomorrow everyone visiting Golden Sand Pool would be Xia Xiaolan’s “honored guests.” Even if Ning Xue didn’t buy, she could still tour the show homes.

Both Ning Xue and Season Jianyuan were very interested in Xia Xiaolan’s Golden Sand Pool.

Ning Xue was interested in how the houses turned out.

Season Jianyuan was interested in how much profit the whole project would bring Xia Xiaolan.

Ning Xue still thought like an ivory tower elite, while Season Jianyuan’s thinking had taken on more worldly aspects.

Looking at a commercial project in terms of returns was most normal.

After all was said and done, would Xia Xiaolan’s first development make money?

If profitable, how much would she ultimately earn?

Which of her promotional and sales tactics couldn’t be copied, and which could be learned from?

Season Jianyuan had a feeling that although Harold had returned to America, he was still watching Golden Sand Pool. Bill was Harold’s eyes and ears in Peng City, keeping George in check and monitoring Xia Xiaolan’s movements.

Bill said he wanted to see if Golden Sand Pool would be popular – wasn’t that more like Harold’s thinking?

Season Jianyuan smiled – what was strange about Ning Xue being curious about Golden Sand Pool and Xia Xiaolan?

She wasn’t the only one watching Xia Xiaolan’s moves.

Friends and family hoped her project would sell well.

Competitors and enemies secretly hoped it would fail!

Many eyes were watching Xia Xiaolan.

“I need to head to the airport too. Today’s tickets are sold out, but tomorrow morning’s should be available. I’ll have someone deliver it to you.”

Season Jianyuan waved goodbye to Ning Xue. With only one afternoon flight, he’d be on the same plane as Xia Xiaolan to Peng City.

December 14th – Golden Sand Pool officially opens for sale.

December 15th – Elegance brand’s exclusive store officially opens.

Season Jianyuan should focus on the latter but found himself more interested in the former.

He now understood what Tang Hongen had meant – China was on the verge of great changes, and students like him, Xia Xiaolan, and Ning Xue had caught this era perfectly.

The times make heroes – anything was possible.

Echoing the “Reform and Opening Up” slogan were countless exciting opportunities. Get-rich-quick stories happened constantly, stirring the blood of those involved… In such circumstances, his mother Season Ya created a clothing brand just for jealousy and revenge.

It left Season Jianyuan speechless!

Wasting George’s invested money.

Wasting such a great era.

He felt too tired to comment and couldn’t be bothered to care how Elegance would do after opening. It shouldn’t be too bad, but that was all – certainly not as exciting as Golden Sand Pool’s official opening!

With these thoughts, Season Jianyuan reached the airport.

He knew he’d be on the same flight as Xia Xiaolan but hadn’t expected Tang Hongen and Liu Fen to be on board too.

This was awkward – Tang Hongen, Liu Fen, and Xia Xiaolan looked like a family.

Min Xiaoju fidgeted in her seat while driver Wang stared straight ahead at the seat in front of him.

They didn’t know how the leader would handle this.

If Grandmother Yu were here, she’d surely say this was a valuable learning opportunity.

Tang Hongen, experienced in difficult situations, just nodded at Season Jianyuan and then ignored him.

This made things more awkward for Xia Xiaolan and Liu Fen… especially Liu Fen, who looked like she was causing trouble, making Tang Hongen ignore even his own son with his ex-wife.

Father and son had become so estranged!

Season Jianyuan’s feelings were very complicated.

This must be following through on what was said at the wedding – where Tang Hongen was, Season family members couldn’t be.

Season Jianyuan hadn’t had deep feelings for Tang Hongen originally – he’d have felt uncomfortable if Tang Hongen were too close.

But when Tang Hongen truly kept his word and ignored the Season family, including Season Jianyuan… Season Jianyuan didn’t seem to feel good about it.

Xia Xiaolan thought if she were Season Jianyuan, she’d be driven crazy.