Sheng Xuan suppressed the churning in her stomach:

“When we first started dating, I told you why my work in Pengcheng was difficult to progress… I don’t like Qihang’s way of doing things, but if that disputed land in Shangdu belongs to Xia Xiaolan, I can understand why you would compromise.”

Because Xia Xiaolan was too difficult to deal with!

She always had to win in everything, never willing to lose.

Since Chaoyang Real Estate had occupied her land, Xia Xiaolan would likely want to take a piece of flesh from Chaoyang Real Estate.

Zhu Suizhou showed a touched smile:

“I knew you were different from ordinary women. You’ve been abroad and have a successful career – you’re more knowledgeable than 99% of women. Personal preferences and business are two different things. Even if I agree to let Xia Xiaolan invest, she won’t get any advantages… Don’t worry, I’m still the major shareholder of the mall. Even with her money invested, she still can’t control me.”

Major shareholders forcing out minor shareholders was common.

When Zhu Suizhou chose partners, he looked at their usefulness.

He could tolerate those who just invested money without interfering in mall affairs, but if anyone tried to dictate terms to him, he would immediately kick them out.

Zhu Suizhou’s flattery was utterly sincere. Sheng Xuan concealed her discomfort:

“Don’t worry about me. I know you’re under a lot of pressure, and the Shangdu Mall must be built successfully. I don’t object to you meeting Xia Xiaolan. I just hope you’ll continue to tell me about things like this in the future. I don’t like being kept in the dark.”

Zhu Suizhou nearly swore an oath.

To thank Sheng Xuan for her magnanimity, he invited her to Hong Kong – as soon as she could arrange time off, they could spend a few fun days there. This meant he wanted to take Sheng Xuan shopping in Hong Kong – what’s there to be unhappy about? After shopping, everything would feel better.

But Sheng Xuan wasn’t particularly excited about going to Hong Kong.

She had been abroad; she wasn’t some country bumpkin.

It was remarkable how the couple still chatted and laughed as if the mood-spoiling matter had been turned over.

After parting with Zhu Suizhou, Sheng Xuan returned to her dormitory alone. She didn’t even feel like inviting Zhu Suizhou up for coffee tonight.

Why did it have to be Xia Xiaolan?

When Zhu Suizhou went to acquire land in Shangdu, she hadn’t even thought about Xia Xiaolan. Zhu Suizhou couldn’t have done this intentionally, so was he unable to avoid dealing with Xia Xiaolan?

Now she remembered that both Xia Xiaolan and Liu Fen were from Yunan Province.

She had caught Zhu Suizhou’s earlier hint.

Let Xia Xiaolan invest, then use this to deal with her later.

Sheng Xuan didn’t know if Zhu Suizhou was lying to comfort her. She wouldn’t believe men’s words; only actions counted.

“We can observe further…”

If Zhu Suizhou dared to deceive her, that 20 million bank loan wouldn’t be so easy to repay!

Zhu Suizhou had no intention of going upstairs for coffee either.

Sheng Xuan was beautiful. Before entering business, Zhu Suizhou hadn’t imagined he could date such a beautiful woman.

It showed that once a man gained capability, what he couldn’t dare dream of before would come naturally. A beautiful and capable girlfriend gave Zhu Suizhou even more face than his Mercedes.

Moreover, Sheng Xuan wasn’t just beautiful; she had substance and could bring Zhu Suizhou benefits.

As a girlfriend, Zhu Suizhou was very satisfied with her.

If he could quickly build the mall in Shangdu, Zhu Suizhou would be even more satisfied – then he would truly deserve the title “President Zhu.” Before achieving this goal, no matter how beautiful Sheng Xuan was, he wouldn’t spend much energy on her.

At this moment, Zhu Suizhou was thinking about another woman.

Not in a romantic way, but contemplating before meeting a negotiating opponent.

“Is fame well-deserved? Or is it hard to live up to? Tomorrow we’ll know.”

Zhu Suizhou even drove around Jinsha Pool and looked at Qihang’s newly acquired residential land.

Coincidentally, the land Qihang had acquired in Pengcheng cost the same as Chaoyang Real Estate’s land at Erqi Square. Erqi Square was Shangdu’s most valuable location, so 200,000 per mu was reasonable. For the same price, Qihang’s piece was quite ordinary.

Qihang focused solely on the Special Economic Zone, doing business only there, while Zhu Suizhou preferred to avoid popular places like Pengcheng, developing projects in places with lower land prices and secondary economies.

He would surely lose money building residential properties in Shangdu.

Though Shangdu had a large population with decent worker incomes, it depended on the comparison.

For daily necessities – clothing, food, housing, and transportation – Shangdu people could afford clothing, food, and “transportation” meaning bicycles, at most motorcycles, not cars.

High-end residences like Jinsha Pool would likely not sell a single unit in Shangdu. If Pengcheng weren’t next to Hong Kong, who among Pengcheng’s citizens could afford such high housing prices?

Ordinary people couldn’t afford high-end commercial housing costing over a hundred thousand.

But they could afford leather shoes costing over ten yuan, daily necessities, refrigerators, and TVs. Zhu Suizhou was very confident about the mall he planned to build.

…

Xia Xiaolan thought she wouldn’t have the chance to meet Zhu Suizhou, not knowing that the careful businessman wanted to placate his girlfriend first before meeting her.

Today was the day Xia Xiaolan would return to America.

She would go through the transfer process in Hong Kong again. With an afternoon flight, passing through Luohu Customs at noon would be about right.

That was the original plan, but at 10 AM, Zhu Suizhou contacted her, requesting a meeting.

Xia Xiaolan was very curious about Manager Zhu – this timing worked out, showing they had some destiny. Worried about time constraints, Xia Xiaolan simply arranged to meet Zhu Suizhou at customs.

This meeting place was quite strange. Du Zhaohui, dressed presentably, was to escort Xia Xiaolan to board her flight in Hong Kong – according to him since he had picked her up from Hong Kong airport, he should see things through and ensure she boarded the plane “intact.”

Uncultured people were like this – using “intact” here made Xia Xiaolan extremely uncomfortable.

When she tried to politely decline, Du Zhaohui heard Zhu Suizhou was coming and became even more determined to stay:

“I want to see if this person has three heads and six arms!”

Taking Xia Xiaolan’s land and still getting $1.5 million in investment – how was this possible?

Du Zhaohui remembered the 10 million Hong Kong dollars in “consulting fees” he had spent to get Xia Xiaolan’s help, so he wanted to meet Zhu Suizhou.

When Zhu Suizhou arrived, Du Zhaohui looked at his smiling face, then at Xia Xiaolan, and found it even stranger… Damn, while they didn’t look alike, that expression was just like Xia Xiaolan’s brother.

Xia Xiaolan had the same expression when deceiving people!

The Border Collie’s instincts were quite sensitive, and Xia Xiaolan herself also sensed a kindred spirit.

This Zhu Suizhou probably had even greater ambitions than her.

“Miss Xia is younger than I imagined.”

“Manager Zhu… is exactly as I imagined, an ambitious and practical businessman.”

They quickly shook hands.

Were sincerity and hypocrisy so important?

They were both the type who only wanted to profit, and never lose. Zhu Suizhou thought he could use Xia Xiaolan and then kick her out, while Xia Xiaolan planned to sell her shares at a high price during Asia’s peak, letting the great Zhu run wild on his own – but who knew which of them would achieve their goal?