“President Xia, please use this blanket.”

As soon as they boarded the plane, Little Yu produced a blanket from somewhere and draped it over Xia Xiaolan’s knees.

This level of service is something current flight attendants should learn from.

Other passengers on the flight looked enviously at Xia Xiaolan.

Being beautiful was one thing.

But having her elegant young lady attending to her—what kind of world was this?

They’d only seen southern business tycoons with beautiful secretaries, never something like this.

In these times, anyone who could afford air travel wasn’t ordinary—common people wouldn’t waste money on plane tickets, and they were hard to get anyway. On this flight from Yangcheng to Shangdu, the wealthy and privileged passengers admired Xia Xiaolan—even without Little Yu’s attentiveness, the men couldn’t help stealing glances at her beauty!

Just before the cabin door closed, another beautiful woman boarded.

Xia Xiaolan and Sheng Xuan faced each other, both startled.

Xia Xiaolan recovered first, “Director Sheng is also going to Shangdu?”

Sheng Xuan nodded, “What a coincidence, President Xia.”

What else would Sheng Xuan do in Shangdu besides visiting her boyfriend Zhu Suizhou? It truly was coincidental—the first person Xia Xiaolan needed to meet in Shangdu was also Zhu Suizhou.

She needed to sign the investment contract for Asia Mall with him.

Though they disliked each other, they wouldn’t quarrel on the plane.

Who would that show be for—the strange passengers?

Little Yu quickly made a note in her mental notebook: Director Sheng was the second person President Xia disliked. How did she compare with the Du family’s Fifth Madam in terms of President Xia’s disapproval? You better note it down, just to be safe.

Little Yu wasn’t being nosy.

As Xia Xiaolan’s secretary, she naturally needed to understand Xia Xiaolan’s relationships.

The President’s family situation, which relatives she kept in touch with, and which ones she avoided.

The President’s business partners.

Everything needed to be carefully recorded by Little Yu.

Throughout the flight, Xia Xiaolan and Sheng Xuan didn’t speak again.

After landing, Xu Zhongyi received Xia Xiaolan, while Zhu Suizhou naturally picked up Sheng Xuan.

Zhu Suizhou was naturally friendly; this being only their second meeting, he was very warm: “I only knew President Xia was on this flight when I saw Mr. Xu. You and Xuan already know each other, so I don’t need to make introductions.”

Men who handled big affairs really didn’t sweat the small stuff. Xia Xiaolan didn’t just know Zhu Suizhou’s “Xuan”—she didn’t believe Zhu Suizhou was completely unaware of her conflict with Sheng Xuan.

But Zhu Suizhou could simply ignore it, remaining warmly friendly.

What could Xia Xiaolan do?

Living in this world, who didn’t have some acting skills? Besides, she wasn’t the one feeling uncomfortable.

It was Sheng Xuan… Director Sheng hadn’t said a word since getting off the plane.

As Xia Xiaolan exchanged pleasantries with Zhu Suizhou, he smiled and invited:

“No time like the present! Since we’ve fortunately met President Xia and Mr. Xu today, why not sign the contract now?”

Xia Xiaolan looked at Xu Zhongyi, who nodded slightly.

Then the contract must be fine—Xu Zhongyi had had someone review it.

“Alright, let’s do as Manager Zhu suggests.”

Xia Xiaolan was unusually agreeable.

Xia Xiaolan got into Xu Zhongyi’s car, while Sheng Xuan rode with Zhu Suizhou.

The sudden change from Pengcheng to Shangdu’s cold air made Sheng Xuan breathless. Shortly after leaving the airport, she couldn’t hold back:

“Suizhou, you knew Xia Xiaolan was coming to Shangdu today. Why didn’t you tell me?”

Zhu Suizhou shook his head in denial, “I only knew she’d arrive these few days. I didn’t expect her to be on your flight. Didn’t you see she had others picking her up?”

Sheng Xuan’s chest felt tight.

Zhu Suizhou was a very attentive person—how could he not know exactly which day his business partner would arrive?

“Suizhou, do you have to cooperate with Xia Xiaolan? If you’re short on money, I—”

“Xuan, this isn’t about money. You saw Mr. Xu who picked her up—he’s a returned overseas merchant. He’s investing US dollars but insists on giving the mall shares to Xia Xiaolan… I asked you before if you couldn’t accept my cooperation with Xia Xiaolan. Then, I could have declined Mr. Xu’s investment.”

Now that the investment was finalized, Sheng Xuan’s saying she couldn’t accept it made things very difficult for Zhu Suizhou!

Sheng Xuan had her unspoken difficulties.

She could understand Zhu Suizhou then because the situation was different—she didn’t have to face Xia Xiaolan directly.

Without face-to-face interaction, her disgust hadn’t run so deep.

In just two short months, the situation had changed dramatically—Pan Yijun had leaped from being her subordinate to her superior.

What right did Pan Yijun have?

Just an old fox who started as a small township savings bank teller!

Sheng Xuan was furious.

Pan Yijun’s only backing was Xia Xiaolan—she deliberately promoted Pan Yijun to suppress Sheng Xuan.

At this point, asking Sheng Xuan to calmly view Xia Xiaolan’s cooperation with her boyfriend Zhu Suizhou was impossible!

But as Zhu Suizhou implied, if she wanted to firmly oppose it, she should have said so earlier. Now that both parties had worked out the details and were just waiting to sign the contract, suddenly backing out would offend them even more than during the Building 45 dispute!

“Xuan, if you’re unhappy working in Pengcheng, why not transfer to Shangdu?”

Transferring to Shangdu now would mean admitting defeat, acknowledging she couldn’t compete with Pan Yijun.

Fleeing like a defeated dog with her tail between her legs.

“Think about it carefully. You’re unhappy in Pengcheng, but Shangdu offers a fresh start. Because of Asia Mall, I’ll be staying in Shangdu for the next two or three years. Do we want to live apart all that time? We’ve been together for so long, I’m satisfied with you, and you’re satisfied with me. Once you transfer to Shangdu, we can start planning our wedding. Don’t you think I’m right?”

Zhu Suizhou spoke earnestly.

He was so good at changing topics that Sheng Xuan’s attention shifted from her conflict with Xia Xiaolan to whether she should marry Zhu Suizhou.

In an instant, Sheng Xuan listed Zhu Suizhou’s advantages in her mind.

Good-looking, not short.

Witty conversation and, a warm personality.

Respectful toward women, and understand romance.

Unlike those men content to coast along with their iron rice bowls, Zhu Suizhou had drive and could handle multi-million yuan business deals. Apart from his ordinary family background, such a man had hardly any flaws.

But what did a man’s family background matter? Tang Hongyan similarly had no family support, yet his excellence attracted powerful patrons!

However, when it came to actually marrying Zhu Suizhou, Sheng Xuan hesitated.

A woman could certainly marry multiple times, but if the first marriage was careful enough, marrying once for life was ideal—who didn’t hope for a happy, stable marriage?

Was Zhu Suizhou that person?

Sheng Xuan wavered, “Let me think about it more. A job transfer can’t be arranged immediately anyway.”

…

In the other car, Xia Xiaolan handed a piece of paper to Xu Zhongyi.

“Uncle Xu, you must accept this.”

Xu Zhongyi took one look and smiled, somewhat angry:

“Little Xia, what do you mean by this? Are you still treating me as an outsider?”