Really couldn’t they cooperate?

Nothing in this world is absolute. Today’s business friends could become tomorrow’s enemies.

And today’s enemies might become tomorrow’s friends.

Du Zhaohui’s proposal was reasonable – Xia Xiaolan found it hard to refuse.

There was so much that could be done with 20 million. Du Zhaohui would only take back the principal, letting her keep all the profits, plus he’d throw in Liu Tianquan and Xia Ziyu as bonuses. Xia Xiaolan found it difficult to refuse!

But reason told her that Du Zhaohui wasn’t a good person.

“I’ve thought about it, but I still can’t do business with gangsters. Young Master Du, honestly, your habit of kidnapping people and dumping them in the sea frightens me.”

Really?

Du Zhaohui couldn’t find a trace of fear on that smooth face.

“I’m showing such sincerity, discussing a multi-million dollar business with you, and you’re talking about kidnapping and ocean dumping? I’m worth hundreds of millions, with plenty of things to do each day. You think I’m some homicidal maniac – please, if others don’t try to kill me, I don’t have time to go around doing evil deeds!”

If others tried to kill him, that was different. If Du Zhaohui didn’t retaliate, he wouldn’t have lived to his twenties.

Overall, he considered himself quite righteous and kind.

If he happened to stab someone… well, the knife must have moved his hand first!

Xia Xiaolan stood up: “Worth hundreds of millions? You mean Cheng Rong Group’s assets, right? As I recall, all the shares are still under Chairman Du’s name…”

So what hundreds of millions was he worth?

Except for his villa and the sports cars bought with his annual allowance, everything Du Zhaohui had was illusory, built on Du Chengrong’s previous “doting.” Once that favor disappeared, Du Zhaohui’s future would only get worse. With good luck, he might continue receiving some dividends to get by; with bad luck, who knew?

Du Zhaohui’s face turned green.

“At least the 20 million is real!”

That was true.

Not just the 20 million – the sports cars and villas were real too.

Xia Xiaolan looked at his designer clothes and slicked-back hair, hesitating for a moment:

“Have you considered selling your villa and cars?”

Du Zhaohui’s brain completely froze:

“Huh?!”

But Xia Xiaolan was serious. Her delicate voice fell on Du Zhaohui’s ears like a devil’s temptation: “If you’re going to gamble for a year, why not go big? 20 million is a lot, but the business you can do with 20 million versus 30 or 40 million is quite different. If you win, everyone’s happy. If you lose… well, the result can’t be worse than losing your inheritance rights.”

These days, with 40 million as capital, what business couldn’t you do on the mainland?

If Xia Xiaolan had that money, she’d start fresh, not wallowing in the Du family’s mess.

Why fight with the Du family members?

Given 10 or 20 years, 40 million could become 4 billion – who cared about inheriting the Du family business then? He’d still be a wealthy man!

Moreover, if Du Zhaohui could turn 40 million into 4 billion or even 40 billion, with such capability, who else would Du Chengrong give the family business to if not him?

Du Zhaohui felt like his brain had been hit with a hammer.

The coffee he’d drunk tasted like honey one moment and wine the next.

It made him feel dizzy walking.

Leaving the hotel, the valet brought his car around.

“Ah Hua, you drive.”

Ah Hua had no idea what had happened; Du Zhaohui’s conversation with Xia Xiaolan had excluded him and Bai Zhenzhu.

What had the young master discussed with Miss Xia to leave him looking so lost?

Had he confessed his feelings and been rejected by Miss Xia?

While Ah Hua was thinking about how to comfort the young master, Du Zhaohui pulled out a cigarette, failing to light it several times.

More bizarrely, after returning home, he went to the garage and circled it, touching each car like a maniac, then inspected his villa.

Finally, Du Zhaohui called his assistant:

“How many assets are under my name?”

Huh?!

The young master had always spent money freely, never caring if he had enough.

But as an assistant, even if the boss found it troublesome and didn’t care, they had to: “Do you mean all assets? Young Master, your most valuable property is your current Mid-Levels villa. Since Hong Kong property prices started rising last year, your villa is now worth around 14 million Hong Kong dollars. Your other three properties are worth about 4 million in total. You own six vehicles, which cost over 15 million Hong Kong dollars at purchase…”

Du Zhaohui chain-smoked:

“What else? My bank account balance?”

“You have 20.12 million Hong Kong dollars in your bank account, with 20 million being—”

“Wait, you mean besides the 20 million the old man just gave me, I only have 120,000 in my bank account?!”

The assistant didn’t know what he’d said wrong, but the young master’s account only had that much. He could only nod nervously.

“Yes, Young Master, only 120,000 Hong Kong dollars.”

Du Zhaohui’s head started to hurt.

At 18, Du Chengrong had bought him this Mid-Levels villa, and he’d moved out of the Du family mansion.

From that year on, he’d received annual dividends of several million to over ten million. He wasn’t quite 26 yet, so he’d been receiving dividends for seven or eight years. Sometimes more, sometimes less, but it should’ve totaled fifty or sixty million.

But calculating now, only the three properties worth 4 million and the cars worth 15 million were bought with his money.

There should be at least 40 million Hong Kong dollars left – where had it all gone?

“Where did my money go?”

Du Zhaohui was talking to himself, but his assistant’s head nearly exploded.

What did the young master mean? Did he suspect someone had embezzled his money?

This needed to be explained clearly, or someone might die! The assistant tremblingly opened the accounts: “I started working for you in ’83. In January ’84, you bought a property for Miss Judy, costing 700,000 Hong Kong dollars, and in the same month, jewelry and designer bags worth 260,000 Hong Kong dollars—”

“Shut up, I’m not asking about that!”

Du Zhaohui felt uncomfortable.

During those years when he was supporting actresses, he had been quite wild.

Finding a woman to his taste and spending two or three million on her wasn’t unusual.

But from late ’84, he’d gone to mainland China and had no time for actresses. In all of ’85, he hadn’t spent much money, except for his daily expenses and supporting his entourage… there should be a few million left, right?

“Your dividends from last year haven’t been deposited yet. Should we ask the company?”

Du Zhaohui kicked his assistant, “Why didn’t you say so earlier, you idiot!”

Du Zhaohui quickly calculated: This year’s dividend would be about 10 million, plus 20 million from his father, and selling the villa, other properties, and cars would add up to 30 million.

Xia Xiaolan was wrong – he didn’t just have 40 million, but 60 million Hong Kong dollars!

Yes, with 60 million Hong Kong dollars, why hadn’t he thought about doing something himself?

Du Zhaohui started feeling pain over the 40 million he’d squandered – it could have made up nearly 100 million… Was it feasible to ask those women to return everything? Forget it, he couldn’t even remember what they looked like, and doing that would be too humiliating.

More humiliating than selling his villa and cars.

Du Zhaohui stepped on the plush carpet – this house was so comfortable to live in, he really didn’t want to sell it…