Du Zhaohui repeated what he had learned from Xia Xiaolan, leaving the uninformed merchants dumbfounded. Except for Old Duan who knew these strategies came from General Manager Xia, the other merchants truly admired Du Zhaohui.

Although General Manager Du was like a proud young rooster, obviously showing off, he had the skills to back it up!

Being wealthy was already excessive, but being both wealthy and capable – how were ordinary people supposed to live?

The merchants’ flattery was genuine, and Du Zhaohui was so happy he wanted to hum. When Ah Hua reported that February 4th’s sales volume was 1.29 million, he wasn’t too disappointed:

“Even after the promotion ended, we still made 1.29 million, that’s already quite impressive!

If we could maintain around 1.2 million, this project would drive those people in Hong Kong crazy, right?

But that’s unlikely. February 4th’s sales benefited from the momentum of the previous three days. The three-day shopping lottery kept the electronics mall’s popularity high, but it will continue to decline. If we can stabilize daily sales at around 500,000, that would be an excellent result!

The sales data from the 1st to the 4th is already sufficient.

After all, Cheng Rong Group’s Spring Banquet on February 5th is when everyone has to submit their results for comparison.”

As soon as Du Zhaohui received the statistics, he prepared to return to Hong Kong.

Without any warning, Xia Xiaolan approached him:

“I’m going back to Hong Kong with you.”

“…?!”

Such unexpected happiness – what should he do, how should he react?!

Xia Xiaolan gave him a sideways glance, “Ye Xiaoqiong might be in trouble, I need to go check on her.”

Ah, he thought Xia Xiaolan had changed her mind and wanted to accompany him to the company’s Spring Banquet, but it was for someone else.

Ye Xiaoqiong?

Isn’t she just that special assistant that loser Du Zhaoqi promoted? Company rumors said Du Zhaoqi had taken a fancy to his female secretary and promoted her to special assistant.

“What trouble could she be in? She’s completely loyal to Du Zhaoqi, managing his factory in Thailand, running a business in America, and handling matters here in mainland China, heh!”

Know your enemy and know yourself, and you’ll win every battle – though Du Zhaohui called Du Zhaoqi a loser, he wasn’t arrogant enough to truly underestimate him. He was well aware of who Du Zhaoqi’s trusted aids were.

Xia Xiaolan shook her head: “It’s complicated. I just need to go to Hong Kong.”

Du Zhaohui stared wide-eyed: “Even if something happened to this Ye Xiaoqiong, whether Du Zhaoqi fries or grills her, what’s it got to do with you? You said you wanted to stay away from our family inheritance dispute. If Du Zhaoqi finds out you’re helping me behind the scenes, he’ll want you dead. This might be his deliberate plot to lure you to Hong Kong!”

Is Ye Xiaoqiong worth it?

Du Zhaohui really couldn’t understand.

Most of the time Xia Xiaolan was as clever as a fox, but occasionally her intelligence would drop – knowing it was a trap but jumping in anyway!

Du Zhaohui felt bitter inside, wondering if Xia Xiaolan would help him the same way if he were in trouble since she was willing to rush to Hong Kong for Ye Xiaoqiong.

Xia Xiaolan thought for a moment. As an outsider in Hong Kong, she would need Du Zhaohui’s help in this matter, so she should tell him some details.

She briefly explained her connection with Ye Xiaoqiong.

Du Zhaohui suddenly understood, “…so when you asked Uncle Qiu about those calligraphy and paintings before, it was for this Ye Xiaoqiong?”

He looked at Xia Xiaolan with an odd expression:

“If you had told me earlier when I got those artworks, I could have—”

“Could have what? Turned around and threatened Ye Xiaoqiong to work for you?”

Xia Xiaolan’s expression wasn’t pleasant, and Du Zhaohui’s survival instincts kicked in, frightening him into immediate silence.

Though that’s what he was thinking, he dared not continue.

Xia Xiaolan sneered:

“Du Zhaohui, you paid me 10 million Hong Kong dollars for help, and laid out all the additional conditions – that’s transparent pricing, which could be considered an above-board strategy. But exploiting a woman’s weakness to blackmail her is an underhanded scheme that can’t be brought to light. Scheming might win you temporary victories, but it lowers your standing.”

Du Zhaohui felt like surrendering.

He was just used to scheming, after all.

But Xia Xiaolan didn’t like that approach. He had forgotten to hide it in a moment of pride. Du Zhaohui’s eyes darted around, and his face filled with anger as he burst out:

“You’re right, these kinds of tactics are only worthy of Du Zhaoqi! Since he can’t win in business, he’s resorting to dirty tricks. As his elder brother, I need to teach him a lesson, I can’t let him off easily… I’ll help you find Ye Xiaoqiong!”

Not bad, he’d learned to deflect blame – truly making progress.

Xia Xiaolan couldn’t be bothered to expose him.

She was thinking about Ye Xiaoqiong’s “disappearance.”

Xia Xiaolan hadn’t planned to go to Hong Kong, but at noon today, the courtesan using the alias He Shiyuan who worked for Ye Xiaoqiong found her and gave her a bank safety deposit box key:

“Something must have happened to Miss Ye.”

Xia Xiaolan was naturally confused, “Ye Xiaoqiong? What could have happened to her?”

He Shiyuan shook her head, “I don’t know what happened to her. She hasn’t contacted me for many days. After returning to Hong Kong before the New Year, there’s been no news. When I returned to Hong Kong, two men in suits found me, saying Miss Ye sent them to collect items… How could that be possible? Miss Ye’s things are all locked in the bank safety deposit box! She told me early on that if anything went wrong, I should give the safety deposit box key to you.”

Ye Xiaoqiong had said that in the worst-case scenario, He Shiyuan should only trust Xia Xiaolan.

Ye Xiaoqiong trusted no one but Xia Xiaolan, and the bank safety deposit box key must be given to her.

He Shiyuan looked at Xia Xiaolan curiously, clearly unable to understand the relationship between Ye Xiaoqiong and Xia Xiaolan.

Xia Xiaolan held the key, lost in thought for a moment.

“Are you wondering why Ye Xiaoqiong would investigate me while also trusting me? Curious whether we’re enemies or friends?”

He Shiyuan didn’t try to be coy in front of Xia Xiaolan, just nodded obediently.

“…So you knew Miss Ye was investigating you.”

Xia Xiaolan showed no unusual reaction to her attitude, which made He Shiyuan inevitably feel some admiration and respect, emotions beyond her control.

But Xia Xiaolan smiled:

“Miss He, you think Ye Xiaoqiong trusts me, but she also trusts you. You haven’t betrayed her trust, or you would have given the key to those two men in suits, right? You and Ye Xiaoqiong originally had a simple employer-employee relationship, but what you’re doing now seems to go beyond that scope.”

He Shiyuan became somewhat embarrassed and angry.

“I-I just want to find her to settle the final payment. If something happened to her, who would pay me?”

She was saying one thing but meaning another.

Would Du Zhaoqi lack that small amount of money? If she had just given the safety deposit box key to them, Du Zhaoqi would naturally have paid He Shiyuan her fee.

He Shiyuan’s previous payments had come from Du Zhaoqi, just through Ye Xiaoqiong’s hands – He Shiyuan probably knew this too, yet she still chose to help Ye Xiaoqiong. This made Xia Xiaolan recall an ancient saying: The most righteous often come from the humblest origins!