“Well, Miss He, do you agree with my proposal?”

He Zhitong couldn’t help but sneer:

“Making things so absolute – have you decided never to come to Hong Kong again?”

Making Shi’en apologize, making her apologize – why hadn’t she seen Xia Xiaolan apologize to her?

Xia Xiaolan smiled, “Of course, I’ll still come to Hong Kong, but that has nothing to do with Miss He, much less Mr. Tang.”

True, Hong Kong was ruled by the wealthy, but were the Tang and He families the only rich people in Hong Kong? This free port had produced countless billionaires – even if Xia Xiaolan wanted to do business in the future, she didn’t necessarily have to work with these two families!

They weren’t powerful enough to blacklist Xia Xiaolan completely.

He Zhitong understood Xia Xiaolan’s subtext and couldn’t help but look her up and down again: “You’re very confident!”

Confidence was necessary.

Except for being born into wealth, Xia Xiaolan didn’t feel inferior to anyone.

“Then I’ll await your good news, Miss He. Oh, here’s my future in-laws’ contact information.”

He Zhitong angrily grabbed the note Xia Xiaolan gave her and stood up to leave.

He Shi’en hadn’t expected that Xia Xiaolan, despite her delicate appearance, could be so assertive that even his sister couldn’t gain an advantage.

Stumbling out of the hotel and sitting in their car, He Shi’en suddenly asked:

“Will you reconcile with Brother Yuan?”

He Zhitong found it strange, “Why do you ask? Just because that northern girl said she has no relationship with Tang Yuanyue, I should reconcile with him?”

Oh?!

So they wouldn’t reconcile?

He Shi’en breathed a sigh of relief.

“She- that northern girl is right. Brother Yuan isn’t young, isn’t particularly handsome, and he’s seeing other women. It’s better not to reconcile!”

He Zhitong almost laughed in anger.

Her engagement to Tang Yuanyue wasn’t that simple to begin with.

They were united by mutual interests!

Tang Yuanyue was quite a good marriage prospect. Before this incident, he might have occasionally seen other women, but he was always very discreet, never making He Zhitong lose face.

But precisely because of this, Tang Yuanyue’s current high-profile behavior made He Zhitong very unhappy.

Her family believed Tang Yuanyue wanted to break off the engagement to be with the Special Zone mayor’s daughter to open up the mainland market and help Yuhua develop rapidly there… This reason certainly existed, but He Zhitong had a feeling that Tang Yuanyue was probably sixty to seventy percent genuinely interested in Xia Xiaolan.

People fear comparisons – being with He Zhitong for benefits while truly caring for another woman – who would want such a fiancé?

She genuinely wanted to break off the engagement, but her family was haggling with the Tang family, seemingly trying to extract some benefits from this situation.

He Zhitong saw He Shi’en secretly looking at Xia Xiaolan’s contact information:

“What are you trying to do?”

He Shi’en coughed twice, “I want to see who this northern girl who even looks down on Brother Yuan has chosen!”

He Zhitong took back the note: “Shi’en, this woman is very sophisticated. Stay away from her.”

One Tang Yuanyue was enough, and there was also the notorious Du Zhaohui – He Zhitong didn’t want her brother joining in the commotion.

…

“Xiaolan, you’re just letting it go like this?”

Bai Zhenzhu was puzzled. After spending so much effort to get He Zhitong to bring her brother over, Bai Zhenzhu thought they would at least vent their anger by scolding them, but the matter was resolved peacefully.

“What else could I do? The He family didn’t bow their heads just because of He Shi’en’s intimidation attempt. Intimidation is hard to prove criminally, and the He family can afford lawyers – this matter would likely end up unresolved anyway. I’m angry at the He family’s arrogance and disregard for others, but I don’t want to become mortal enemies with them.”

Often, Xia Xiaolan wasn’t seeking revenge.

She only pursued ‘respect’!

This matter didn’t have much to do with He Zhitong, and Xia Xiaolan could barely understand her extreme actions – any woman would be angry if her fiancé suddenly proposed breaking off the engagement, explicitly stating it was for another woman.

Tang Yuanyue was the one who handled things most wrongly.

Xia Xiaolan didn’t care for such “declarations of loyalty.”

Even his confession was full of calculation, waiting until she arrived in Hong Kong to propose breaking off his engagement – was he afraid her reputation would be too good?

Tang Yuanyue was largely at fault, He Zhitong acted rashly, and Xia Xiaolan was slightly at fault too.

It wasn’t that she couldn’t associate with men who were interested in her, but she shouldn’t have let her guard down… Because Tang Yuanyue had helped her and always showed gentlemanly behavior, she believed he wouldn’t set her up.

How naive!

She needed to repay the favor and visit Hong Kong, but the private dinner Tang Yuanyue invited her to was unnecessary.

She shouldn’t have taken the easy way out by attending the small auction with Tang Yuanyue either.

If she had put in more effort to find a gift for Wu Daonan herself, she wouldn’t have stepped on this landmine.

Xia Xiaolan reflected and summarized her thoughts.

Bai Zhenzhu felt it wasn’t worth it: “We can’t only deal with women in business – barely one in ten business people are women, and you’re so beautiful!”

She often wore men’s clothes for convenience, both for herself and for business dealings.

But even with short hair and a suit, Xia Xiaolan didn’t look like a man.

This was a complete deadlock.

Unless Xia Xiaolan was content with mediocrity, ending her business to be a devoted wife and mother at home – only then could such situations be avoided.

Otherwise, even without Tang Yuanyue, Xia Xiaolan would still interact with other businessmen in the future. If both parties invested millions in a joint venture, and halfway through the partner developed feelings for Xiaolan, what should she do?

Should she never show her face again and let the partner manage the business, or simply withdraw her investment…

Xia Xiaolan tucked her hair behind her ear:

“I’ll explain what I can explain, try to avoid suspicion, and maintain a clear conscience.”

As for what others thought, Xia Xiaolan had no control over that.

Bai Zhenzhu sighed deeply.

Fortunately, she hadn’t planned to find a partner and get married.

If someone as excellent as Xiaolan in every way still faced criticism from her in-laws, wouldn’t someone like herself, who looked neither masculine nor feminine, be criticized to death?

This conversation ended anticlimactic, leaving Bai Zhenzhu uncomfortable and Xia Xiaolan not necessarily happy either.

Fortunately, the next day Xia Xiaolan saw He Zhitong’s sincerity.

Newspapers uncovered the true culprit behind the He-Tang relationship breakdown – it turned out to be a female TV host. The photos were blurry, and her figure was similar enough to Xia Xiaolan’s to pass for her – they claimed she was the one the paparazzi had photographed!

He Zhitong wasn’t wrongly accusing her – this TV host did have a brief relationship with Tang Yuanyue last year.

The TV host admitted it quite readily.

She even gave a pretentious interview, apologizing to He Zhitong from afar, stating that she and Tang Yuanyue had already broken up, and if this had hurt Miss He, she was very sorry.

Female stars in Hong Kong’s entertainment industry rarely refused such news.

If Tang Yuanyue broke off his engagement for her, it would boost the TV host’s status.

Even the scandal helped increase her publicity!

Xia Xiaolan tapped the newspaper with her finger:

“They’re all such drama queens! But Miss He handles things quite straightforwardly.”