“Fujian Province… you want to frame that scum as a smuggler?”

Pan Baohua instantly understood Zhou Cheng’s plan.

“Will it work?”

Zhou Cheng wasn’t sure himself. Everything he had learned, Jiang Wu had learned too.

The Zhou family had left the unit a generation ago, but the Jiang family of Jinling had remained deeply rooted in the unit. Jiang Wu was vicious, but he had also been exceptionally well-trained by the Jiang family.

“Let’s split our forces. If Jiang Yan’s evidence proves useless, we can only deal with Jiang Wu as a smuggler.”

But Jiang Wu had established some power in the Golden Triangle.

Zhou Cheng and Pan Baohua hadn’t pursued this angle because the obvious evidence was too conspicuous, raising suspicions… He might have been on some special assignment.

But whether Jiang Wu was actually on a mission or using it as cover to secretly build his power base was another question!

Pan Baohua hadn’t put much faith in Jiang Yan’s evidence either.

Given Jiang Wu’s cunning, it was strange that Jiang Yan had discovered the evidence at all.

Jiang Wu’s subsequent behavior also seemed deliberately designed to make them trust Jiang Yan.

Jiang Yan herself might be unaware, or at worst, Jiang Wu’s accomplice.

For this very reason, Zhou Cheng hadn’t informed Jiang Yan when he left the academy.

As the ship sailed across the ocean, Zhou Cheng grew increasingly anxious.

Xia Xiaolan returned to Pengcheng on the 2nd, spending the first-day paying Qihang’s employees and the second handling building materials store matters.

The third day was finally reserved for Chen Xiliang in Yangcheng.

Year-end accounting had to include Luna’s affairs.

Xia Xiaolan went to Yangcheng to settle accounts with Chen Xiliang, finding Zhang Xiao there as well, which didn’t seem unusual.

Luna needed new advertisements. Their commercial slot on Central Television hadn’t expired yet, and for the New Year, they needed fresh content with Zhang Xiao still as the lead.

Then Chen Xiliang dropped a bombshell that stunned Xia Xiaolan—he was marrying Zhang Xiao!

“You and Sister Zhang Xiao?”

She had encouraged Chen Xiliang to marry when he found someone suitable, to avoid repeating his previous life’s path of being swindled and nearly killed by a venomous wife.

But how had Zhang Xiao become the bride?

Zhang Xiao was slightly older than Chen Xiliang… Age wasn’t the issue—the point was, how could these two suddenly announce marriage without any prior hints?

“Remember when we went to Ji’bei Province together to donate school uniforms to rural schools? I noticed that though she loves beauty, she has a kind heart, so I started paying attention to her. After she returned to her unit, we stayed in touch, initially discussing Luna’s work, then other things…”

A rising actress hadn’t looked down on Chen Xiliang’s divorced status, and gradually they began dating.

Chen Xiliang had even visited her unit twice under business pretexts.

The sudden marriage announcement in Yangcheng came because Chen Xiliang’s ex-wife desperately wanted reconciliation, refusing to believe he had a new partner even after being told.

Or rather, the belief wasn’t the point—Chen Xiliang had made Luna nationally famous, with the first batch of franchise stores successively opening, appearing every bit the successful private entrepreneur. His ex-wife had spent most of her divorce settlement and couldn’t find anyone with better financial prospects than Chen Xiliang, naturally wanting to reconcile!

She kept coming to Luna, causing unsightly scenes.

Chen Xiliang refused to remarry her. When Zhang Xiao came to Yangcheng for the new advertisement and saw the situation, being a decisive person, she straightforwardly proposed marriage.

Once she married Chen Xiliang, his ex-wife would have to give up.

Xia Xiaolan listened in astonishment:

“So Sister Zhang Xiao proposed to you?”

Chen Xiliang was embarrassed, “Well, I wouldn’t dare propose myself!”

A boss was still a boss.

This was Zhang Xiao!

The Zhang Xiao would remain famous for many years to come!

Xia Xiaolan remembered news from her previous life—Zhang Xiao had never married but had a longtime boyfriend and a son with him. Now, before even meeting that boyfriend, she was marrying Chen Xiliang… Xia Xiaolan found it hard to believe.

Perhaps due to preconceptions, she couldn’t see what made Boss Chen so appealing, no matter how she looked at him.

But verbally, Xia Xiaolan offered a stream of congratulations.

Thinking carefully, Zhang Xiao’s peak fame would come in the 1990s. Though Luna’s advertisements had given her career an early boost, the television works that would truly impress audiences hadn’t appeared yet.

In other words, Zhang Xiao hadn’t reached legendary status.

Chen Xiliang, influenced by Xia Xiaolan, had developed faster than in his previous life.

By 1985, he had become a young entrepreneur featured in the People’s Daily, with assets of at least a million yuan. He wasn’t ugly and was two years younger than Zhang Xiao—altogether a perfectly suitable marriage partner.

Moreover, in the current mainland entertainment industry, there was no notion of actresses losing fans upon marriage!

When two such people find each other suitable, why care about others’ opinions? They were both old enough to make their own life decisions.

Understanding this, Xia Xiaolan’s thoughts cleared.

“When are you getting your marriage certificate? Can I attend your wedding before I go abroad?”

Chen Xiliang laughed heartily, “We can register anytime. I told you now precisely because you’re leaving soon. If you hadn’t suggested the advertisement, Zhang Xiao and I wouldn’t have had the chance to meet!”

Chen Xiliang meant that Xia Xiaolan was their unofficial matchmaker.

Xia Xiaolan felt warmth in her heart. Chen Xiliang didn’t just see her as a business partner—they’d known each other since Xia Xiaolan’s first procurement trip to Yangcheng, and though they’d had disagreements over these two years of cooperation, it hadn’t prevented them from becoming friends!

Very good friends indeed, which was why Old Chen wanted to hold the wedding before Xia Xiaolan left the country.

“We’ll need to hear Sister Zhang Xiao’s opinion, but I want to attend your wedding!”

Chen Xiliang was elated by his good fortune. Finally suppressing his joy, he began discussing accounts with Xia Xiaolan:

“Since the advertisement aired, up to February 1st, Luna has added 53 franchise stores, collecting 4.24 million in franchise fees alone. Before the advertisement, we were constantly investing in Luna, putting all profits into brand development. This is our first time having so much cash available for distribution.”

“But with 53 stores, you’ll need at least 2 million in working capital just to stock these stores, right?”

Specialty stores paid for goods upon delivery.

But Luna still needed money to purchase fabric and pay clothing factories for production.

Fortunately, Luna’s largest manufacturer, ‘Chenyu Garments,’ was managed by Chen Xiliang’s brother-in-law, which eased some pressure.

Chen Xiliang rubbed his hands, “Even if we wanted to distribute all the franchise fees as dividends, we couldn’t. There’s about 3 million in the accounts…”

Zhou Cheng still owed the bank 600,000 yuan. Xia Xiaolan just needed to ensure his share could repay the bank loan.

Someone who rarely needed money at the unit had no use for too many dividends. Better to keep the money in the company account for emergencies.

“Let’s distribute 2 million as dividends!”