Against the backlight, Xia Xiaolan looked several times:

“Are you Xiao Ye, Xiao Ye from the train?”

Xia Xiaolan hadn’t developed dementia yet – it just took her a moment to recognize the once tearful and sorrowful Xiao Ye, now unexpectedly meeting in Hong Kong.

Ye Xiaoqiong hadn’t expected this at all.

She had just come out to buy something, yet ran into Xia Xiaolan on Hong Kong’s streets.

“Comrade Xia, I’m so happy.”

Ye Xiaoqiong pulled out her wallet containing several hundred Hong Kong dollars and tried to stuff it all to Xia Xiaolan: “It’s not that I didn’t want to repay you. I wanted to wire you the money, but I also hoped to thank you in person someday. Please take it, please.”

Ye Xiaoqiong’s eyes reddened, her speech becoming stuttered.

Xia Xiaolan only took what was originally borrowed and returned the rest to Ye Xiaoqiong, writing her a note on the spot:

“I’ve received your money, but since I don’t have the IOU with me, let me write you a receipt.”

Ye Xiaoqiong’s back straightened a bit more.

In just half a year, she had repaid what Xia Xiaolan had lent her.

Hong Kong’s wages weren’t low, and this amount wasn’t difficult for Ye Xiaoqiong to produce. But the kindness Xia Xiaolan and Zhou Cheng had shown her, preventing her from being trafficked – such a profound debt of gratitude couldn’t be repaid just with money… More deeply speaking, Xia Xiaolan hadn’t just lent her money back then but had given her hope.

Ye Xiaoqiong carefully tucked the receipt into her wallet.

Seeing people behind Xia Xiaolan, she became somewhat embarrassed: “Comrade Xia, am I interrupting something?”

Xia Xiaolan waved her hand, “It’s fine, I’ll have them head back first. Shall we find a place to sit and talk? Meeting again in Hong Kong – it must be fate.”

Gong Yang and Wang Houlin were completely puzzled but followed instructions and returned to the hotel.

Bai Zhenzhu stayed with Xia Xiaolan, mainly because Xia Xiaolan was pretty and Bai Zhenzhu worried about her safety alone at night.

After finding a place to sit, Xia Xiaolan and Ye Xiaoqiong finally properly established their ages.

She had been calling Ye Xiaoqiong “Xiao Ye,” but it turned out she was born in ’61, four years older than herself.

“Sister Ye… you look young.”

Xia Xiaolan felt quite embarrassed.

Ye Xiaoqiong didn’t mind – she knew she looked young, and her introduction letter back then had been misleading.

“Then I won’t call you Comrade Xia anymore. Can I just use your name?”

Xia Xiaolan nodded, “Names are meant to be used, feel free! But Sister Ye, how is it that after half a year of separation, you’re in Hong Kong and seem to be doing well? Did you find your relatives?”

Compared to her shabby appearance at their first meeting, Ye Xiaoqiong now looked completely renewed.

While not as fashionable as the secretarial office ladies, she was vastly different from her former self.

Ye Xiaoqiong smiled bitterly, “What relatives? I stayed in Shanghai for a while then smuggled myself into Hong Kong. I was lucky to get a clerical job at a big company in Central. If it weren’t for the money you lent me, I would have starved to death.”

She had no money when she fled.

Couldn’t even afford a train ticket – it was her first time fare-dodging in her life.

Perhaps she had lost the Ye family’s dignity when she dodged that fare?

It was Xia Xiaolan who helped her buy a proper ticket, exposed the traffickers, and lent her 100 yuan, allowing her to survive the hardest times.

Later, by chance, she followed others to smuggle into Hong Kong, becoming today’s Ye Xiaoqiong.

Working in Central?

Ye Xiaoqiong was certainly capable. While many illegal immigrants made it in Hong Kong, getting a respectable job at a major company in Central in such a short time showed Ye Xiaoqiong’s excellence.

Why had such an excellent woman fallen to such straits back then?

Xia Xiaolan had previously thought Ye Xiaoqiong was very young, mistaking her behavior for youthful shyness.

Thinking carefully now, it was more like panic and a complete loss of direction.

“Sister Ye, I only lent you 100 yuan, not even enough for smuggling into Hong Kong. It’s your hard work that makes you a respectable office worker. What are your plans? Settling in Hong Kong?”

Ye Xiaoqiong probably hadn’t obtained Hong Kong residency yet.

But there were many such “illegal residents,” and since she worked at a big company, people generally wouldn’t investigate her.

Ye Xiaoqiong had many plans but didn’t want to tell Xia Xiaolan.

Not because she didn’t trust her, but because Xia Xiaolan had already helped her, and she didn’t want to cause more trouble. She only vaguely said: “I’ll stay in Hong Kong for now, focus on doing well at this job. Whether I’ll return to the mainland is uncertain. Human energy is limited – coming to Hong Kong made me realize how little I know, I was just a frog in a well before… I’ll learn more, work more, and focus on living well now before thinking about the future.”

This was quite practical.

“I’ll be staying in Hong Kong for a while, currently at a hotel. We can keep in touch if you’re free.”

Seeing it was getting late, Xia Xiaolan left her hotel address and contact information with Ye Xiaoqiong.

Ye Xiaoqiong also wrote down her rental address and workplace.

Xia Xiaolan looked at it:

“You work at the Cheng Rong Group?”

Ye Xiaoqiong nodded, “I work in Young Master Du’s secretarial office. You might have heard since you’re in Hong Kong – Young Master Du is Chairman Du’s second son.”

So that’s Du Zhaohui’s brother, the one fighting for the family inheritance?

Xia Xiaolan hadn’t expected the world to be so small.

She naturally couldn’t tell Ye Xiaoqiong about her complicated relationship with the Du family. Ye Xiaoqiong had finally found stable work – what if she got impulsive and tried to help, ending up losing her job?

Xia Xiaolan didn’t have a deadly feud with the Du family.

Even if she did, she wouldn’t involve Ye Xiaoqiong.

“I’ve heard about the Du family’s situation, it’s very complicated with the inheritance dispute… Working for Second Young Master Du, you should be careful.”

Better not take sides – a secretary could keep her position even if Second Young Master Du lost the fight.

Or as Ye Xiaoqiong said, learn more and work more – by the time the Du family’s inheritance dispute reaches its peak, she might be capable of leaving Cheng Rong Group’s whirlpool.

Ye Xiaoqiong nodded, though it wasn’t clear if she took the advice to heart.

Saying more would be too presumptuous given their brief acquaintance, so Xia Xiaolan bid farewell to Ye Xiaoqiong.

Ye Xiaoqiong watched Xia Xiaolan’s retreating figure, standing there for quite a while.

“I’m sorry, I might have to disappoint your well-intentioned warning…”

Self-preservation, the middle way?

These were all for her good.

But she harbored an ocean of hatred – if she chose to be a moderate person, how could she ever take revenge?

Having entered Cheng Rong Group and being assigned to work beside Second Young Master Du, Ye Xiaoqiong could only bet on him. The Second Young Master had influence in the company, his secretary lived well, and if he eventually managed the company, his secretary would naturally soar.

…

“I don’t think that Ye Xiaoqiong will take your advice. She seems like another person with a story.”

That was Bai Zhenzhu’s assessment.

Xiaolan was just too kind-hearted.

Xia Xiaolan smiled, “Do you think I’ve gone soft, being nice to everyone? I don’t help just anyone – I like people who strive to live better lives, regardless of gender. Sometimes these people just need one opportunity. For me, a bit of insignificant money, a few words of encouragement, might change someone’s destiny.”

She wasn’t enjoying playing God – in her previous life, she had climbed from a small promoter to an executive over nearly twenty years, meeting many “benefactors” who had guided her.

They hadn’t helped her expecting anything in return. Xia Xiaolan best understood that feeling of gradually turning around an unfavorable life.