“Oh, I’d like to hear the details.”
Without Du Zhaohui’s help, Bai Zhenzhu might not have held out until the police arrived, so Xia Xiaolan couldn’t just turn her back on him.
Du Zhaohui looked concerned, “Should we discuss this on the street?”
He had a point. People on the street were watching like it was a circus show – a beautiful woman, a fight, a rich young man wielding a steel pipe from his sports car. Some passersby even thought they were filming a movie, looking around for cameras.
Xia Xiaolan had no choice but to return to the hotel with Du Zhaohui.
She worried he might remember how Bai Zhenzhu had kicked out his tooth before, but Du Zhaohui didn’t even glance at Bai Zhenzhu.
For once, he wanted to have a serious conversation with Xia Xiaolan. He felt inexplicably nervous, yet also strangely happy.
Sitting on the sofa, Du Zhaohui ordered coffee.
Taking a small sip, he found it strange – today’s coffee tasted sweet.
“Xia Xiaolan, before we get to business, I want to apologize to you.”
Xia Xiaolan was very surprised. “For what?”
Du Zhaohui took a large gulp of coffee, extremely uncomfortable: “…Why does there need to be a reason? An apology is an apology. You women always have to dig into everything!”
“Oh, you don’t need to say it – I know. It’s for your dismissiveness and ignorance, right?”
Their conflict started from their first meeting, when Du Zhaohui’s arrogant attitude of treating women as objects, believing they weren’t worthy of independent actions and thoughts, was truly disgusting.
He had even questioned Xia Xiaolan’s career choice, suggesting she should rely on her looks instead.
Xia Xiaolan wanted to ask who had given Du Zhaohui the audacity to spout such nonsense back then.
Du Zhaohui felt embarrassed at having his past exposed.
But right now, with Tang’s reputation at its lowest, he couldn’t miss this opportunity.
“Yes, after seeing the renderings of the South Sea Hotel, I knew you chose the right profession. Being an architect seems more interesting than acting – that’s what I’m apologizing for!”
An architect might not earn as much as a big star.
But the profession undoubtedly carried social status. While actresses weren’t respected, saying you were a female architect commanded respect.
At least for someone like Du Zhaohui himself, while he might order actresses around, he wouldn’t dare do that to a female architect… The former were playthings for the wealthy, the latter was a legitimate profession.
Xia Xiaolan was genuinely surprised that someone like Du Zhaohui would apologize.
“And then?”
After the apology, there must be some purpose.
This woman wasn’t cute.
In TVB dramas, wasn’t an apology supposed to settle old scores with a laugh?
Yet Xia Xiaolan remained completely guarded against him!
Du Zhaohui felt dejected for three seconds, then realized this was the Xia Xiaolan he knew. There were plenty of cute women around him, but what good was being cute? Their heads were filled with straw – they only showed intelligence when coaxing him to buy diamonds and bags.
“Let’s put the past aside and talk about now. I have 20 million Hong Kong dollars. I need to earn as much as possible with it within a year. What do you think I should do?”
Xia Xiaolan was baffled. “Why are you asking me?”
Du Zhaohui sighed, “Because among all the people I know, you’re the best at making money, and you’re not easily bought off. You won’t be someone else’s planted spy.”
Xia Xiaolan’s hair stood on end.
Du Zhaohui’s sweet talk didn’t please her – it frightened her.
“…Du Zhaohui, if I knew how to make the most money with 20 million, don’t you think I’d keep that information to myself?”
Du Zhaohui chuckled, “Of course there’s compensation. If we make money according to your method, I’ll take the principal, and you can have all the profits. Though we might need to run the profits through my accounts first.”
What benefit could Du Zhaohui get from this?
20 million Hong Kong dollars would earn interest in the bank.
Du Zhaohui could even loan it out at high interest.
He could make money just lying down, so why make things so complicated?
It was as if he needed to show impressive results… Wait!
Xia Xiaolan couldn’t help leaning forward, “This has to do with fighting for your inheritance?”
Du Zhaohui hadn’t expected to keep it secret anyway. The old man had announced it in front of so many people; the news would spread everywhere sooner or later.
“Whoever can make the most money with 20 million gets 5% of the group’s shares.”
Xia Xiaolan wanted to laugh. “No, no, no, you’re still not telling the whole truth. Whoever gets 5% of Cheng Rong Group’s shares leads ahead of other Du family members. This isn’t just about 5% of shares – it’s about the Du family’s succession battle.”
How much could 20 million make in a year?
In Xia Xiaolan’s opinion, building another property development could easily make 10 million.
But earning 10 million probably wouldn’t win Du Zhaohui the competition.
Building properties was something Du Zhaohui must have considered and rejected.
It wasn’t that Xia Xiaolan didn’t want money; she just didn’t want to get involved in the Du family’s inheritance dispute. She had even warned Ye Xiaoqiong to be careful – there was no reason for her to turn around and help Du Zhaohui gain power.
“You’re right, 5% of shares isn’t small money, but what’s important is my father’s approval. If I were running the Du family, I’d cut off all the smuggling business. That annoying Liu Tianquan – I’d hand him over to your boyfriend or Mayor Tang for a career achievement.”
Du Zhaohui had always been bold, and this was Hong Kong territory, so he spoke freely about the Du family’s smuggling business.
Liu Tianquan?
Liu Tianquan wasn’t just a thorn in her and her uncle’s side – that was minor in comparison.
But Liu Tianquan was Zhou Cheng’s nemesis.
Shi Kai had been injured during Zhou Cheng’s raid on the Du family’s smuggling ships, and Liu Tianquan managed that smuggling business.
This was a powerful argument.
Completely beyond Xia Xiaolan’s expectations: “The Du family’s money is your money – you’re willing to cut off the family’s smuggling business?”
Du Zhaohui shrugged, “You’re wrong. Only what goes into my pocket is my money.”
That money bore the Du name, but the Du family wasn’t just him.
Du Zhaohui had already decided – he wanted the biggest share, the cleanest money.
Money that would bring trouble later? He could do without it.
Betraying the Du family’s smuggling business wasn’t new to Du Zhaohui; he was experienced and felt no pressure. Xia Xiaolan tried to put herself in Du Chengrong’s shoes – if you had such a son, wouldn’t it have been better to strangle him in childhood?
“When Chairman Du proposed this competition, he wanted to test you and Second Young Master Du’s abilities, right? Getting my help would be cheating – you could easily be disqualified!”
From Xia Xiaolan’s words, Du Zhaohui could hear her hesitation.
“Father only said we couldn’t use Du’s family resources. I don’t believe Du Zhaoji won’t seek outside help. You’re not a Du family resource… So, how about it? Take some time to think it over?”
Xia Xiaolan was speechless.
Before she could think further, Du Zhaohui added another chip:
“In a year, how about I hand Xia Ziyu over to you?”
Xia Xiaolan sneered: “So you admit Xia Ziyu is in your hands!”
Du Zhaohui shrugged, “I’m not admitting anything. I just happened to know her whereabouts, and catching her wouldn’t be difficult. Well? With such attractive terms, can’t we cooperate?”