“She tore up the check?”
These mainland girls were just so difficult to deal with, their tactics shameless – no wonder Tang Yuanyue had lost his head.
He Zhitong didn’t take Xia Xiaolan seriously at all; she just couldn’t back down gracefully.
If Tang Yuanyue hadn’t proposed breaking off the engagement right before appearing with Xia Xiaolan at the auction, He Zhitong wouldn’t have leaked information about Xia Xiaolan.
She had acted out of momentary anger, but her younger brother He Shien was even more impulsive. Thinking she was heartbroken after being abandoned by Tang Yuanyue, he sent people to trouble that mainland girl.
Such matters would normally be trivial for the He family.
Unless the Tang family stood up for Xia Xiaolan.
But would the Tang family intervene at this time?
When Tang Yuanyue proposed breaking off the engagement, He Zhitong was the “victim” – wasn’t the victim allowed to vent some anger? The Tang family had no grounds to stand on.
Who knew He Shien’s hired men would be so useless – not only did they fail to bring Xia Xiaolan back, but they let Du Zhaohui get involved.
Du Zhaohui was utterly shameless. While Tang Yuanyue was a promising young man, Du Zhaohui was just a worthless playboy who only knew how to chase women.
But Du Chengrong was protective of his own.
Du Chengrong had ignored Du Zhaohui’s previous troublemaking, but now Du Zhaohui was jumping around trying to back up this mainland girl.
He Zhitong muttered, “I underestimated this woman. Left hand holding Tang Yuanyue, right hand holding Du Zhaohui… Haven’t these two seen women before? How are they being played like tops by a mainland girl?”
Abby Lu Yunshi strongly agreed: “You haven’t seen Tang Yuanyue’s lovesick expression – this mainland girl’s methods are truly frightening.”
“But now she wants little brother to apologize-“
He Zhitong couldn’t help looking toward the sofa, where He Shien sat dejected from the recent newspaper coverage, not wanting to go to school.
“I won’t apologize!”
He Zhitong didn’t think her brother had done anything wrong.
If not for caring about his sister, He Shien wouldn’t have stood up for her.
Besides, Xia Xiaolan hadn’t been hurt at all – why was she being so aggressive?
He Zhitong nodded, “Then don’t go. If she won’t take the money, fine. We might as well buy off the reporters.”
She thought these were just baseless rumors – once Hong Kong had another gossip in a few days, the paparazzi would naturally stop focusing on the He family. He Zhitong’s thinking wasn’t wrong, but that evening, their father came home furious, throwing something onto the table:
“Why isn’t this minor matter resolved yet? Fortunately, this article was intercepted. If it had been published and someone had seized upon it, it would have affected the company’s stock price!”
He Zhitong grabbed the article and was shocked.
This wasn’t gossip about the He family – it was a report about illegal direct sewage discharge into the sea from a He family factory.
Fresh water was extremely precious in Hong Kong; even toilet flushing used seawater rather than tap water… This report claimed the He family’s factory had polluted nearby groundwater resources. If published, it would cause real trouble.
Though the article had been intercepted, they didn’t know how many similar stories Xia Xiaolan might have.
The He family wasn’t the only one doing such things.
But while others kept it tightly under wraps, the He family had been caught – this was very bad.
“How dare she!”
He Zhitong was shocked.
Was this mainland girl’s head filled with rocks, daring to confront the He family so directly?
Hong Kong had millions of people, including many illegal immigrants – what would it matter if one or two people disappeared?
“Father, we can’t let her continue like this, making such a fuss over a small matter-“
Mr. He interrupted his daughter, “What do you want to do? Silence her? You think I haven’t considered having someone deal with her, or having her deported back to the mainland, to stop her prancing around Hong Kong?”
Mr. He had considered all these options.
Great achievements required overlooking minor details – which of Hong Kong’s wealthy families was truly virtuous?
Even if they weren’t like the Du family, openly straddling the line between legal and illegal, handling some shady business privately was simple… He Shien was too young, handling such matters himself, even hiring the wrong people – just some worthless thugs scamming his pocket money.
But Mr. He wasn’t a teenage boy.
Though angry, he suspected Xia Xiaolan’s toughness might indicate some backing.
One inquiry to Tang Jinyun revealed everything – she wasn’t just some mainland girl, but the daughter of Pengcheng City’s mayor!
That meant she couldn’t just disappear without a trace.
Hong Kong was, after all, part of China, with handover agreements signed with Britain.
Mr. He suppressed his anger, wanting to resolve the matter peacefully.
Hearing this, He Zhitong became angrier:
“So Tang Yuanyue goes crazy breaking off the engagement because he’s developing business on the mainland and thinks marrying a mayor’s daughter is more beneficial?”
Mr. He had the same suspicion.
Tang Jinyun had explained at length that the Tang family had no such thoughts, but Mr. He remained skeptical.
The engagement with the Tang family, after Tang Yuanyue and He Zhitong’s drama, was now in an awkward position.
“Let’s set aside the Tang family matter. Take Shien to the hotel to meet her. If she wants an apology, what harm is there in apologizing? Get her to stop making trouble and withdraw whatever reports she has!”
Such a small matter was disturbing everyone’s peace.
He Zhitong was depressed.
In the end, she still had to apologize to Xia Xiaolan, who must be very pleased.
Who had taught Xia Xiaolan such methods, so underhanded and vicious, thinking to expose the He family factory’s scandals?
Were these proper methods for a woman?
He Zhitong felt this was beyond her comprehension.
He Shien naturally refused to go, but in only teenage years, despite being the son, he had no real say at home.
He wouldn’t go when He Zhitong asked, but he didn’t dare refuse when his father ordered it.
No matter how rebellious a young master was, none dared defy their father. Without financial independence, their father was their source of money – how could they not listen to their patron?
Whoever had the money called the shots!
…
“Miss Xia, a Miss He wishes to see you.”
When the hotel front desk called to ask, Xia Xiaolan readily agreed: “Take her to the restaurant to wait, I’ll be there shortly.”
Bai Zhenzhu didn’t quite understand:
“Are the He family coming to apologize? How did you know they would bow their heads? You only published a few news articles!”
They were all He family gossip – Bai Zhenzhu thought they were like any tabloid gossip, forgettable, yet Xia Xiaolan seemed certain the He family would yield.
Could tearing up a 100,000-dollar check achieve this?
Then why not a check for a larger amount?
“Those few articles were just testing the waters – I wanted to see which newspapers would publish stories about the He family, and which would take their money to suppress the news.”
Then she sent the real news that could affect the He family – discovered through private investigators – to the newspapers that would suppress it for the He family.
This wasn’t walking into a trap.
She was just using the newspapers to show the He family her determination.
If the He family hadn’t reacted, Xia Xiaolan would have sent the reports to newspapers that dared to trouble the He family.
This wasn’t ordinary gossip – it was something that could affect stock prices… Wasn’t Hong Kong all about money? Only to avoid losing money would the He family apologize to her.
This was how Hong Kong differed from the mainland – Hong Kong’s wealthy and the mainland’s powerful naturally reacted differently.
In Hong Kong, money was supreme.
On the mainland, Ji Ya would fight for money to suppress Xia Xiaolan.
The differences between people were just that great – Hong Kong people wouldn’t go against money!
“Come on, let’s go meet this Miss He.”