Cough, cough.

Elder Aunt was still Elder Aunt – how could someone’s temperament easily change?

This was truly a case of saving oneself at others’ expense.

As for that scoundrel Yuan Han, as long as it wasn’t Zhou Yi who had to deal with him, Jiang Hong didn’t care which woman took him home.

“I met her when I first returned to the country. She had everything arranged.”

Yuan Han wasn’t stupid – it wouldn’t be easy to make him give up the Zhou family connection he’d worked so hard to establish.

Xia Xiaolan thought about that woman from the entertainment industry who claimed to have attended TVB’s acting class. She wondered where Ye Xiaoqiong had found her and whether she was reliable.

Guan Hui’e checked her watch. “Alright, let’s not talk about unpleasant things. Your Uncle Zhou and the others will be getting off work soon. Xiaolan, go wash your hands and prepare for dinner.”

“Yes, I was wrong to burden Xiaolan with all this talk about Beijing right after she spent so long abroad,” Jiang Hong said, critiquing herself.

After playing with little Zhou Ke for a while, Zhou Wenbing and Zhou Guobin returned home.

Xia Xiaolan had made this visit mainly for propriety’s sake. After distributing gifts she’d brought from abroad to the Zhou family members, she ate dinner and then returned home.

She had hoped to see Gu Zhengqing, but he wasn’t in Beijing.

As the Ministry of Education’s appointed supervisor, Gu Zhengqing had gone to Ji Bei Province to inspect pilot counties.

Choosing test sites wasn’t a decision to be made lightly. As the person in charge, Gu Zhengqing wasn’t handling any other work at his unit, focusing entirely on the “Young Eagles Taking Flight” program. He was determined to make this project successful.

Xia Xiaolan could only go to Pengcheng with Liu Fen.

Of course, she would also bring along her secretary, Little You.

Before departing, Kang Wei joined them as well.

Nobody dared upset a heartbroken man, and seeing Kang Wei’s state made it clear things hadn’t worked out… While Xia Xiaolan could help rescue business problems, when it came to matters of the heart, she hadn’t even completed her coursework in that area and truly couldn’t offer much help.

What could ease the pain of romantic disappointment?

Only career success!

In her previous life, she’d seen a motivational quote that went something like this: if you can’t have lots of love, then make lots of money instead!

Xia Xiaolan thought this suited Kang Wei perfectly.

…

In Pengcheng.

While Jiang Hong doubted whether Ye Xiaoqiong was doing any real work, the truth was that Ye Xiaoqiong hated Yuan Han even more than Jiang Hong did. Given the chance to take revenge on Yuan Han, no one was more eager than Ye Xiaoqiong.

While Xia Xiaolan was busy visiting Commercial City and returning to Beijing, the newly appointed Section Chief Yuan had a chance encounter with He Shiyuan, an eccentric and flamboyant Hong Kong merchant’s daughter, at a business reception.

He Shiyuan wasn’t necessarily much prettier than Zhou Yi, but she had an air about her – her makeup, her clothes, her red sports car – all straight out of a Hong Kong TV drama.

Yuan Han hadn’t initially planned to develop any relationship with He Shiyuan. After all, he had finally been transferred to Pengcheng, promoted to section chief, and reestablished contact with Zhou Yi, who was studying in America.

It was rather pathetic when you thought about it – they were legally married, yet hadn’t contacted each other for half a year.

The Zhou family had tried to separate him and Zhou Yi using this method, but hadn’t they failed?

Yuan Han concealed his smugness as he began working to win back his wife’s affection. After all, being out of contact with Zhou Yi for half a year had inevitably caused their relationship to grow distant. At this point, even when he happened to see an attractive Hong Kong merchant’s daughter at a business reception, Yuan Han couldn’t spare any attention for her.

Yuan Han was quite an interesting character.

Every scoundrel has their particular traits, and Yuan Han wasn’t particularly driven by lust or money – what he loved most was power.

He could achieve his goals through Zhou Yi. Having married her and had a child together, why would he risk such a stable relationship by getting involved elsewhere?

Yet he kept running into He Shiyuan as if Pengcheng had suddenly become extremely small.

At first, Yuan Han didn’t think much of it. Although Miss He was beautiful and wealthy, she wouldn’t share her money with him. Moreover, after several encounters, Yuan Han could see Miss He’s bad temper… She was a spoiled rich daughter who was here to invest in the Special Economic Zone, so everyone had to treat her with kid gloves.

The Hong Kong merchant’s daughter, with hooks hidden in her eyes, gave Yuan Han quite an eye-opening experience.

Then he realized that Miss He was subtly flirting with him.

As a qualified scoundrel who was used to pursuing others, when had he ever been pursued himself?

Every glance, every gesture was full of allure.

Yuan Han was a man with a strong desire for power.

Power and influence were his top priority.

Beyond that, he was still a fully functional man with normal physical desires.

He hadn’t seen Zhou Yi for six months.

No, even when Zhou Yi was still in the country, thinking back further – there was her postpartum recovery, childbirth, and pregnancy… Counting on his fingers, Yuan Han realized it had been a very long time since he’d had any intimate relations with his wife.

He’d had opportunities during his overseas assignment.

For a handsome man like him, a crook of his finger would have brought young women throwing themselves at him.

But Yuan Han didn’t dare!

At that time, the Zhou family had been most dissatisfied with him, especially since Zhou Yi had nearly had complications during childbirth. Yuan Han knew the Zhou family wanted to separate him from Zhou Yi, so he didn’t dare make any suspicious moves, worried that the Zhou family had people watching him in secret, waiting to catch him making a mistake.

Yuan Han was wary of any young woman who appeared around him.

However, after coming to Pengcheng, everything went very smoothly, and Section Chief Yuan had somewhat let his guard down.

When He Shiyuan flirted with him, Yuan Han remained outwardly unmoved.

He still feared it might be a trap set by the Zhou family.

Although the probability of the Zhou family arranging a Hong Kong merchant’s daughter to participate in such a scheme was low, one could never be too careful!

While Yuan Han had the desire but not the courage, He Shiyuan lacked patience and quickly turned her attention to one of Yuan Han’s male colleagues.

That guy wasn’t even half as handsome as him… Was this a wealthy merchant’s daughter? She seemed more like a desperate woman! Though Yuan Han hadn’t dared respond to her advances, when He Shiyuan changed her target, he felt quite displeased.

Once He Shiyuan set her sights on Yuan Han’s colleague, she immediately displayed the extravagance of a wealthy merchant’s daughter.

Money truly gave one freedom to act as they pleased – she bought clothes, shoes, and even luxury watches for Yuan Han’s colleague, throwing money around like water. Yuan Han had initially thought his colleague was only half as handsome as himself, but after this expensive makeover, the man didn’t seem to fall short in any way.

In the bathroom, he overheard his coworkers flattering his colleague:

“You’ve found yourself a golden ticket, haven’t you?”

“Don’t talk nonsense, Shiyuan and I are just starting to develop our relationship.”

“Just starting? You better watch out for your reputation. Someone saw Miss He leaving your room late at night. If anyone reports this… Once you’re involved in something like this, your future career is finished!”

But Yuan Han’s colleague wasn’t worried. Instead, he seemed quite proud:

“Who would report it? This is the Special Economic Zone – some Hong Kong merchants even keep mistresses here. Are you saying I’m not allowed to date a Hong Kong girlfriend? Shiyuan is here to invest in the Special Zone. My relationship with her is contributing to our work.”

These words kept spinning in Yuan Han’s mind.

Indeed, this was the Special Economic Zone.

Not Beijing, where he’d been under the Zhou family’s watchful eyes.

Nor was it some remote place where even a conversation between a man and woman would draw attention.

The bathroom conversation continued, turning to He Shiyuan’s family background.

“Shiyuan? The He family from Hong Kong – you know the South Sea Hotel? It was invested in by Hong Kong’s Meihua Company. Meihua’s boss Tang Yuanyue was engaged to Shiyuan’s sister He Zhitong. Shiyuan also has a younger brother called He Shi’en. The relationships in wealthy Hong Kong families are very complicated…”