For a wealthy person, when would they sell their house and car? Only when they’re bankrupt. If Du Zhaohui were to sell his hillside villa today, tomorrow’s newspapers would declare his bankruptcy. They would say he lost everything gambling in Macau or was scammed and had to sell his house to cover the losses… There certainly wouldn’t be a single kind word!

He could choose to mortgage it to the bank. However, Hong Kong’s banking system was highly sophisticated. Unlike mainland China, it was impossible to get loans exceeding the collateral’s value – these banks were purely commercial entities. How could anyone expect banks to be charitable? For a villa worth 14 million, getting a 10 million loan from the bank would be quite generous. And he’d still have to pay interest.

Du Zhaohui’s thoughts were stirred by Xia Xiaolan’s few words, and that restlessness simply couldn’t be suppressed. Ah Hua, observing Du Zhaohui’s unusual behavior, had an intuition: The Young Master might be about to make an extremely rash decision!

At the hotel, after convincing Du Zhaohui to leave, Xia Xiaolan wanted to stretch. Bai Zhenzhu came over and asked, “Xiaolan, what did you say to that Du fellow? I saw him float out like a wandering spirit, nearly stumbling down the stairs.”

“Nothing much. Do you find Du Zhaohui annoying?” Xia Xiaolan asked seemingly out of nowhere. Bai Zhenzhu pondered, “He’s alright, except for being arrogant. If anyone’s annoying, he’s probably the one who finds me annoying.”

Arrogance was a common flaw among wealthy people. Without money or capability, how could one expect to converse with them as equals? Bai Zhenzhu felt this deeply since coming to Hong Kong. Looking at how these wealthy people conducted themselves – Tang Yuanyue, and the He family – when they competed among themselves, they somehow dragged Xiaolan into it, causing her to be photographed and appear in newspapers. Even then, Tang Yuanyue only apologized over the phone.

The He family was even more ridiculous. A teenage boy wanted to meet Xiaolan but instead of approaching her directly, he paid people to “invite” her. While Bai Zhenzhu couldn’t quite articulate what was wrong, she sensed the condescension. Even Tang Yuanyue had this unpleasant trait.

They claimed to pursue Xia Xiaolan, but their pursuit maintained an air of superiority. While appearing gentlemanly, it was quite domineering… everything had to follow their pace and planning. What gave them that right?

Bai Zhenzhu couldn’t fully articulate these principles, but she felt that Hong Kong’s wealthy were all hypocritical. In comparison, wasn’t Du Zhaohui more genuine?

“Not as annoying as Tang Yuanyue just seems less intelligent.” Bai Zhenzhu’s mind was filled with images of Du Zhaohui’s brazen behavior, swinging that steel pipe. With his small frame, Bai Zhenzhu thought she could take him down with one kick.

Xia Xiaolan shook her head with a smile, “You’re wrong. Du Zhaohui isn’t stupid.” How could a fool whose mother died when he was young survive under the watchful eyes of three stepmothers? In ordinary families, people might scheme for a favor, but in the Du family, such competition was deadly. Du Zhaohui was ruthless and knew how to adapt to circumstances. Xia Xiaolan certainly didn’t think such a person was stupid.

But cooperating with Du Zhaohui? This was an unexpected turn since coming to Hong Kong. Even more surprising was the situation with Tang Yuanyue… she believed she hadn’t crossed any lines, though others thought differently. Xia Xiaolan was also considering how to maintain this balance. Business was already difficult for women, and beauty was considered an original sin. Even 30 years later, seeing a beautiful wealthy woman would still invite malicious speculation.

The path to success for beautiful women was always tainted with romantic rumors. As if without men, without offering themselves, beautiful women couldn’t earn money through their abilities!

Xia Xiaolan wrestled with these thoughts for a while, feeling rather foolish herself. She could respect Guan Huie, but couldn’t live according to Guan’s expectations – if they were to become family, it would require mutual adaptation, not just her conforming!

Xia Xiaolan understood this in an instant.

Bai Zhenzhu happened to ask, “Xiaolan, are we still leaving?”

Xia Xiaolan glanced at her, “Leave what? The police said we can’t leave Hong Kong these few days. The matter with the He family isn’t over.”

She hadn’t done anything wrong, yet having to leave immediately would make her appear guilty! Throughout her journey, many had tried to smear her reputation, but Xia Xiaolan had never backed down. Why should she submit this time?

“I also think leaving would be too frustrating!” Bai Zhenzhu clenched her fists, “I’ll call my martial brothers to come to Hong Kong. Who’s afraid of whom?”

Xia Xiaolan couldn’t help but laugh, “Wait, this isn’t about fighting. We don’t need to call anyone.”

Bai Zhenzhu didn’t understand. If not through fighting, would they compete with money? Xiaolan wasn’t as wealthy as the He family, was she?

“Hong Kong has newspapers.”

Hong Kong had newspapers, with freer speech than the mainland. With enough money, the highest-circulation newspapers could publish engagement termination announcements on their front pages, as well as love declarations.

If He Zhitong could leak information, why couldn’t Xia Xiaolan? He Zhitong’s teenage brother had paid people to “commit violence” – surely the newspapers would be interested in this news. Hong Kong was different from the mainland; even wealthy people needed to follow a process to manipulate public opinion. Hong Kong newspapers had never had restrictions on what could or couldn’t be published. In this small territory with so many newspapers and magazines, news that could drive sales was good!

Xia Xiaolan changed her mind about leaving. While Gong Yang and Wang Houlin had packed everything, Xia Xiaolan arranged for Wang Houlin to return to Pengcheng first, keeping Gong Yang behind:

“Work with me to complete the design proposal for Tang’s villa.”

Wang Houlin, being straightforward, didn’t understand what was happening and felt inexplicably worried, but whatever Manager Xia decided was final.

Gong Yang was even more of Xia Xiaolan’s loyal soldier – if she said draw, he would draw, no questions asked.

While Xia Xiaolan and Gong Yang were working behind closed doors at the hotel, Tang Yuanyue hurried over:

“Are you alright?”

“Thanks for your concern, Mr. Tang. I was fortunate enough to avoid any injuries.”

Tang Yuanyue was left speechless by her sharp response.

He had rushed over as soon as he got the news, worried that a teenage boy’s reckless actions might have hurt Xia Xiaolan.

Well, as long as she wasn’t hurt, he could endure her sarcasm.

“Young Shien realizes he’s caused trouble and has gone into hiding. Once I find him, I’ll bring him to apologize to you.”

He Shien was He Zhitong’s brother.

The Tang and He families had long associations, and Tang Yuanyue had watched He Shien grow up. Even though he wasn’t marrying He Zhitong, he still cared for the He family. This unfortunate incident was dismissed by Tang Yuanyue as childish mischief, which didn’t surprise Xia Xiaolan.

She wasn’t disappointed either.

After all, she was used to relying on herself and not depending on others to stand up for her. Without expectations, there could be no disappointment.

“Mr. Tang needn’t worry about this matter. When the time comes, whether mature or immature, they will naturally come forward themselves.”

While Tang Yuanyue had rushed to the hotel after receiving the news, no one from the He family had come to “inquire” about the situation.

If a teenager didn’t know better, did the adults not know better either?

Xia Xiaolan didn’t explain further to Tang Yuanyue. She had decided to proceed at her own pace!