Xia Xiaolan had always wanted to make an advance on Zhou Cheng.
Comrade Zhou Cheng was strong-willed – sometimes roguish, sometimes traditional… He respected Xia Xiaolan in his own way, which aligned well with the mainstream thinking of the 1980s. After their formal discussion about this in America last time, Xia Xiaolan temporarily abandoned the idea of making advances.
If Zhou Cheng could control himself despite his youthful vigor, couldn’t she do the same?
Hugging and kissing were fine, but deliberate teasing was off the table.
Xia Xiaolan didn’t want Zhou Cheng to think of her as promiscuous either, so since he wanted to change the subject, she pretended not to notice “little Zhou Cheng’s” enthusiasm.
“Why don’t you accompany me back to Pengcheng first? I need to handle some company matters. I’ve been away for several months, managing everything remotely. By the way, how many days of leave do you have this time?”
Zhou Cheng’s pleasant surprise was exactly what Xia Xiaolan had anticipated.
Since she was making a trip back to China, she knew Zhou Cheng would do everything possible to save up leave days to accompany her.
“Don’t worry about that. I can accompany you until you return to America.”
Xia Xiaolan immediately brightened up.
They ignored the Hong Kong situation and headed straight through customs to Pengcheng.
After clearing customs, many people were waiting.
From the company were Ying Jinchuan and Ge Jian, and among family members were Uncle Liu Yong and Aunt Li Fengmei. Mao Kangshan had wanted to come too, but since Du Zhaohui wasn’t in Pengcheng these days, Mao Kangshan didn’t feel comfortable leaving the electronics plaza unattended.
“Chairman Xia!”
“Xiaolan, oh, I haven’t seen you in so long, let me have a good look at you.”
Li Fengmei was overwhelmingly enthusiastic.
Liu Yong pointed to a car not far away, “Mayor Tang came too. As soon as he arrived, customs became very active, so he’s waiting in the car.”
“Oh, I know! Uncle, isn’t this all a bit too much fuss?”
Before Liu Yong could answer, Manager Ying smiled: “Chairman Xia, this isn’t excessive at all. The entire Qihang is waiting for your direction.”
Ying Jinchuan was referring to the new land Qihang had acquired at auction for 7 million. What did Xia Xiaolan plan to build on this plot? The Jinshachi project had already been handed over, but with no new projects starting, company morale would suffer if this continued for too long.
Xia Xiaolan had just recently developed plans for this, but now wasn’t the time for details, so she just nodded at Ying Jinchuan:
“We’ll have a meeting at the company tomorrow morning. I’ll share the specific plans then. Naturally, I’ll be launching this new project during my return to China.”
Fine, as long as Xia Xiaolan had a plan, Ying Jinchuan could rest easy.
Liu Yong used to dislike Zhou Cheng, but now that even Tang Hongen had been accepted, Liu Yong’s attitude toward Zhou Cheng had softened – actually, Zhou Cheng was still the same Zhou Cheng, perhaps even more capable than when he first met Xiaolan, but Liu Yong no longer worried about Zhou Cheng hurting Xiaolan. This was a change in Liu Yong’s mindset. Whether it was himself, Liu Fen, or Xia Xiaolan, their situations were vastly different from two years ago!
Back then, he worried about Zhou Cheng’s instability, that he was just attracted to Xiaolan’s beauty and wanted to date her.
Liu Yong feared they wouldn’t work out, and feared his niece would be abandoned… But now, firstly, Zhou Cheng’s character had been tested over two years, and Liu Yong couldn’t find fault with him. Secondly, Xiaolan wasn’t afraid of being abandoned anymore – without Zhou Cheng, there would be other excellent young men like Li Cheng or Wang Cheng. Liu Yong felt completely at ease.
Tang Hongen had lowered his car window, so naturally Xia Xiaolan had to go over.
Liu Yong took the opportunity to grab Zhou Cheng, “Weren’t you waiting in Pengcheng yesterday? Why did you suddenly go to Hong Kong? You should have come through customs yesterday, but Xiaolan didn’t come back either. Did something happen?”
Zhou Cheng had always known Liu Yong wasn’t easy to fool.
Unlike Liu Fen, who believed whatever Zhou Cheng said.
Although Xia Xiaolan wasn’t in contact with Xia Dajun, Zhou Cheng had two mountains above his head – Liu Yong and Tang Hongen were his two “fathers-in-law,” neither of whom a new son-in-law could afford to offend.
But how could Zhou Cheng say that he had watched a crime drama with Xiaolan on a cruise ship last night, and happened to witness a murder?
He could only say vaguely, “Something did come up. Wasn’t Xiaolan returning with Grandmother Yu’s daughter-in-law and grandchildren? Yesterday in Hong Kong, we also found Grandmother Yu’s son. Their family hasn’t sorted things out yet, so Xiaolan and I returned to Pengcheng first, leaving the Yu family to handle their relationships in Hong Kong.”
What?!
They found Grandmother Yu’s son in Hong Kong.
Liu Yong was very surprised.
Before he could ask more, Zhou Cheng had already followed Xiaolan. Liu Yong gritted his teeth, “That slippery Zhou Cheng, leaving without explaining clearly. There must be more to this story!”
Li Fengmei rolled her eyes at him, “Oh, give it a rest! What difference does it make whether they tell us or not? Xiaolan is a grown woman with her ideas about everything. There’s no point in you worrying about everything, and you have to consider whether the kids want to tell you. Don’t look at me like that – think about when you were young, did you tell your parents everything you did outside, big or small?”
That was true.
Liu Yong was left speechless: “Hey, whose side are you on anyway?”
“I’m on Xiaolan’s side. She chose Zhou Cheng herself, so Zhou Cheng must be good in every way. I support Xiaolan’s choice!”
Li Fengmei wasn’t intimidated by Liu Yong at all.
When Liu Yong was at his lowest, Li Fengmei agreed to marry him and bore him a son.
Now that Liu Yong had become Boss Liu… he could only say three words about his wife: Can’t handle her!
…
Xia Xiaolan walked over and called out “Uncle Tang,” and Tang Hongen invited her into the car:
“Zhou Cheng, you come too, ride in my car.”
Ying Jinchuan and Ge Jian had come in company cars, and now even Liu Yong had his car. In 1986, cars were still an expensive commodity that hadn’t entered the homes of millions of ordinary people, but they had entered Xia Xiaolan’s life.
After Zhou Cheng got in, Tang Hongen asked: “Is everything resolved in Hong Kong? Will there be any future problems?”
Zhou Cheng wasn’t being selective about which father-in-law to be honest with; rather, Tang Hongen already knew everything about this matter.
Yesterday when Zhou Cheng received the news, it was with Tang Hongen’s help that he was able to reach Hong Kong so quickly.
“Zhang Jiadong died by Cui Yiru’s gun, and Cui Yiru then committed suicide. Pan Third Brother and I helped with some of the cleanup work, but more needs to be done by Xu Zhongyi. I suspect Du Chengrong will also step in – regardless of whatever deal Du Chengrong had with Zhang Jiadong before, now that Zhang Jiadong is dead, Du Chengrong might get even more.”
What Zhou Cheng said, Xia Xiaolan could also guess.
Zhang Jiadong’s visible assets would go to Xu Changde and Tina as inheritance.
But for the shadowy businesses that couldn’t see the light of day, who knew how many people would pounce on them, and Du Chengrong wouldn’t miss such an opportunity to profit.
Tang Hongen gave a slight “hmm” and signaled Little Wang to start the car:
“Consider this matter concluded. A gentleman’s word is his bond – although helping Grandmother Yu find her family was quite dangerous, it has come to a good end. Now that it’s resolved, put it aside. During your return this time, you need to make some proper plans. About that residential land Qihang acquired at auction for 7 million, what do you plan to do with it? Build a second Jinshachi?”