Du Chengrong’s lavish praise made Xia Xiaolan rather uncomfortable.

Strange – wasn’t today supposed to be about announcing the competition results between the Du brothers, naturally followed by elevating the winner?

Yet this old fox Du Chengrong was enthusiastically praising her, an outsider, leaving Xia Xiaolan quite bewildered.

No matter what, Du Chengrong certainly wouldn’t hand over 5% of Chengrong Group’s shares to an outsider like her, bypassing Du Zhaohui and Du Zhaoji, so why shower her with such praise?

Du Zhaohui’s eyes lit up.

The old man never acted without profit and never spoke empty words. Willing to promote Xia Xiaolan in front of so many people – could he genuinely want to match them as a couple?

Finally, Du Zhaohui believed that the old man truly valued Xia Xiaolan’s abilities.

The old man wanted Xia Xiaolan to work for the Du family forever!

How could this goal be achieved?

The best way, of course, would be to make Xia Xiaolan part of the Du family – perhaps as the eldest young mistress… This belated paternal love left Du Zhaohui delightedly dazed.

Du Zhaoji’s heart sank as he reached the same conclusion as his brother.

Was this about bringing Xia Xiaolan into the Du family?

If Du Zhaohui married Xia Xiaolan, he would undoubtedly become the Du family heir and those 5% shares—

Xia Xiaolan hadn’t considered the romantic implications, naturally finding Du Chengrong’s enthusiasm excessive.

Though internally vigilant, she maintained a humble and polite exterior. “Chairman Du, you’re too kind. My small achievements are nothing compared to how you built Chengrong Group from scratch.”

“Even the tallest building starts from the ground up, Miss Xia, no need to be so modest! Earlier, there was a feng shui project in Pengcheng that was promoted in Hong Island called ‘Golden Sand Pool’ – perhaps you’ve heard of it? That was Miss Xia’s first real estate project.”

While they might not know about other matters – even with Pengcheng being nearby, not everyone had invested there – mentioning ‘Golden Sand Pool’ did ring some bells.

“Wasn’t that the one where Wu Daonan helped with advertising?”

At this point, Xia Xiaolan could only smile and nod graciously, “Yes, thanks to Master Wu’s kind assistance.”

“Ah, that Golden Sand Pool! I do remember it.”

Madam Yu, who had been chatting with Xia Xiaolan earlier, became even more enthusiastic: “So ‘Golden Sand Pool’ was Miss Xia’s work! In business, scale matters greatly, but judging someone’s business talent solely by scale is too simplistic. No wonder Mr. Du speaks so highly of you. Such an exceptional young person – I quite like you myself!”

Could just anyone handle real estate?

In Hong Island, those who dared enter this field were all formidable people.

Xia Xiaolan appeared barely in her early twenties, yet with Du Chengrong’s high praise and tangible achievements, no one questioned her place at this table.

Rather than an empty-headed beauty, she had real capability – the kind of young person no one could dislike.

At least, that’s how it appeared.

The atmosphere became thoroughly cordial.

Du Chengrong exchanged a few pleasant words before leading the Du brothers to other tables. Madam Yu moved her seat next to Xia Xiaolan, speaking very courteously and asking how she’d thought to invite Wu Daonan for advertising.

Someone at the table teased that Madam Yu was taking advantage of being female to get close to Xia Xiaolan, prompting Xia Xiaolan to raise her glass and toast everyone:

“Today’s protagonist is Chairman Du. We’re all here to congratulate Chengrong Group on last year’s achievements. I won’t steal his spotlight. Please allow me to offer this toast, and if you ever visit Pengcheng, I’ll certainly be the perfect host!”

“Excellent, Miss Xia is straightforward – we must finish this toast!”

“Haha, Mr. Du’s endless praise for Miss Xia must be not just for her capability, but also for this frank personality that suits his taste, right?”

“Come, come…”

The atmosphere was lively, and while there was teasing, it held no disrespect.

They could freely joke about Du Chengrong’s newly married young wife and make suggestive remarks – these were trivial matters that wouldn’t anger Du Chengrong himself.

But for someone like Xia Xiaolan, who had established her own real estate company at such a young age, they shouldn’t just see her beautiful appearance – she deserved equal respect!

Seeing Xia Xiaolan’s popularity, Xia Ziyu at the next table felt a suffocating chest tightness and nausea churning in her stomach.

Of course, she knew about Xia Xiaolan’s real estate company.

Liu Yongze had opened a renovation company.

Uncle and niece stirred up Pengcheng and made some money.

But all that was because Liu Fen had remarried the Mayor of Pengcheng… with such connections, even a pig could do business in Pengcheng.

If Xia Ziyu hadn’t kept her mouth tightly shut, she would have vomited right there!

Xia Xiaolan’s glory was far more irritating than Liu Keying’s mockery.

Watching the activity at the next table, Liu Keying’s feelings were quite complex.

In her decade-plus marriage to Du Chengrong, she’d rarely seen him show such respect to any woman.

When Du Chengrong looked at women, he only cared about their charm and whether they were worth bedding.

Capability or lack thereof didn’t matter to him.

At the next table, besides Xia Xiaolan, Madam Yu was the only woman. Madam Yu hadn’t originally been Du Chengrong’s friend – her late husband had been his acquaintance. After her husband’s death, Madam Yu took over his business, and only after several years of not running it into the ground did Du Chengrong finally acknowledge her abilities… Now, young Xia Xiaolan had joined their ranks.

Seeing Xia Ziyu’s discomfort, Liu Keying perked up and said to Liu Tianquan:

“I was mistaken earlier. Many people in the world look somewhat alike. But she’s a capable businesswoman, while our Fifth Lady… hehe.”

Xia Ziyu stood up, covering her mouth.

Someone immediately approached: “Fifth Lady, are you unwell?”

Xia Ziyu nodded, and they quickly led her to the bathroom, where she vomited violently.

This was a normal early pregnancy reaction. Xia Ziyu looked at her somewhat disheveled reflection in the mirror, red-eyed and fierce.

What’s so special about being good at business?

Didn’t she know real estate was profitable?

Liu Keying’s sarcasm was useless – married to Du Chengrong for over a decade, she hadn’t achieved anything using the Du family platform either.

But this did remind her – instead of just watching Xia Xiaolan’s glory, she should take this opportunity to coax Du Chengrong, saying she’d like to try her hand at some projects too.

With Du Chengrong’s support, there was no reason she couldn’t do better than Xia Xiaolan.

Those who treated her casually today while showing such enthusiasm for Xia Xiaolan would surely show a different face to her in the future!

Xia Ziyu reapplied her makeup and returned to her seat radiantly, deliberately ignoring any further commotion from the neighboring table. It was too irritating to listen to – better to neither hear nor see!

Xia Xiaolan likewise had no time for her.

While entertaining her tablemates, Xia Xiaolan wondered when Du Chengrong would announce the competition results.

Finally, Du Chengrong walked toward the center of the venue, appearing ready to speak as Chairman of Chengrong Group—