“Young Master, are you planning to find Miss Xia?”

A Hua decided to address the matter directly since Du Zhaohui was lingering at the hotel.

Unexpectedly, Du Zhaohui shook his head, “What reason do I have to find her? Don’t you know that once I won the 5% shares, our cooperation ended?”

A Hua knew this was true.

But surely Miss Xia wasn’t that cold-hearted. After spending a year together, she must at least consider Young Master a regular friend, not just someone who hired her.

However, as a bodyguard, one shouldn’t appear smarter than their employer – except that A Hua felt Young Master was already quite intelligent in matters not concerning Miss Xia.

Du Zhaohui didn’t have the face to approach Xia Xiaolan right now.

He had his pride, after all.

Xia Xiaolan had done her job and helped him win 5% of the shares. But he hadn’t fulfilled either of his two promises to her in return – turning over Xia Ziyu and destroying the Du family’s smuggling business to make Liu Tianquan suffer the consequences.

The second condition was more complicated and the timing wasn’t right to act yet.

But he had to resolve the Xia Ziyu matter first.

She must have been so pleased with herself at today’s Spring Banquet, wearing expensive jewelry and trying to act as the hostess, even presuming to help the old man entertain guests… Fortunately, the old man hadn’t completely lost his mind and rejected her on the spot, making Xia Ziyu lose face badly.

Of course, women like Xia Ziyu had no shame to begin with. Used to swallowing insults, she thick-skinedly stayed until the end of the Spring Banquet.

During the event, Xia Ziyu tried to keep a low profile.

The paparazzi waiting outside the hotel didn’t know the truth – they only saw Xia Ziyu entering and leaving with the old man, appearing to be his beloved.

“Hah, his beloved? Since she’s so fond of being in the papers, I’ll put her on the front page! A Hua, get those photos published in a newspaper.”

A Hua’s eyelid twitched, “Young Master, the share transfer agreement won’t be signed at the company until tomorrow. If you expose those photos now and make the Chairman lose face, won’t it affect your receipt of the shares?”

A Hua was genuinely considering Du Zhaohui’s interests.

Du Chengrong wasn’t wrong when he said Du Zhaohui knew how to use people – those working for Du Zhaohui were basically all won over by him.

Just like now, A Hua was opposing Du Zhaohui’s orders despite it being of no benefit to himself… he simply didn’t want to see Du Zhaohui’s interests harmed.

Young Master was eager to prove himself to Miss Xia.

But such matters couldn’t be rushed – haste would only lead to mistakes. Having finally gained the upper hand over the Second Young Master, immediately angering Chairman Du would be a poor trade!

The Chairman valued face so much – no matter how little he cared for Xia Ziyu, would he allow photos of her to be published in newspapers for all of Hong Kong to see?

He would certainly cold-shoulder Xia Ziyu afterward.

And Young Master, who caused this, would suffer some consequences too.

Du Zhaohui’s expression darkened at A Hua’s words. After thinking, he said: “Have someone watch that good-for-nothing Du Zhaoqi closely. Now that he’s lost, Ye Xiaoqiong whom Xia Xiaolan’s looking for might be in trouble. I’ll go see the old man now, or maybe I’ll just be direct – as his son, giving my father a woman could be seen as filial piety, at worst I’ll get scolded a bit.”

Ah.

Young Master was determined to deal with Xia Ziyu.

This time A Hua didn’t dare object, silently following Du Zhaohui as they left the hotel.

…

After the Spring Banquet ended, Du Chengrong didn’t return to the Du family mansion or go to Xia Ziyu’s residence but chose to return to the company.

Also located in Central, it wasn’t far, and his office already had a spacious and comfortable rest area, making it unnecessary to go home.

He waited at the company, knowing either Du Zhaohui or Du Zhaoqi would come to see him.

Or perhaps both would come together.

This was Xia Ziyu’s first time in Du Chengrong’s office.

When she previously worked at the company, she was in Du Zhaoqi’s secretarial office and had never been to the Chairman’s office.

Later, even though she became Du Chengrong’s favorite, he didn’t let women interfere in company affairs, so she never had the opportunity to come.

The Chairman’s office was on a high floor with large floor-to-ceiling windows, bright lighting, and an imposing atmosphere!

The environment was secondary though – mainly, this office represented supreme power. Any order issued from here could command the entire Chengrong Group.

Xia Ziyu caught the intoxicating scent of power.

Today’s experience at the Spring Banquet had changed her thinking again.

Money was certainly good, but it seemed having money alone wasn’t enough.

A major company’s chairman could affect the livelihoods of thousands of employees with just a casual word, naturally having many people working for him, even if the company was operating at a loss… This was more impressive than someone with hundreds of millions in the bank but no idea how to spend it.

People with savings were merely wealthy, with more emphasis on the crude than the wealthy part.

Like the jewelry and properties Du Chengrong had given her – calculating their value, they added up to over ten million.

Xia Xiaolan’s pathetic real estate company only handled projects worth tens of millions.

Yet Xia Xiaolan could sit at the main table, while she could only endure ambiguous teasing from others.

Throughout the Spring Banquet, Xia Ziyu remained silent, contemplating these matters. After the banquet ended, she gradually cleared her thoughts.

Having money didn’t equal having power or commanding respect.

Money needed to come with authority.

Previously she had wanted to run her own business, but after the tutoring school failed, she hadn’t thought about it for a long time. After arriving in Hong Kong and successfully becoming Du Chengrong’s fifth concubine, she had been busy securing and maintaining his favor, losing all ambition.

Today’s experience at the banquet taught her a lesson.

“I told you to go home, yet you followed me to the company. Why don’t you go rest for a while, and after I finish with business matters, I’ll take you to dinner.”

Du Chengrong himself hadn’t dwelled on making Xia Ziyu lose face at the banquet.

If Xia Ziyu was clever and docile, she definitely shouldn’t bring it up herself.

After the banquet, since Xia Ziyu hadn’t made a fuss, Du Chengrong was willing to bring her to the company, which could be seen as a way of comforting her.

Unexpectedly, Xia Ziyu shook her head at his words:

“Mr. Du, I don’t want to rest right now, I have something I’d like to discuss with you.”

“Are you unhappy about what happened at the banquet? If you want to be the Du family’s fifth concubine, you need to completely abandon your previous identity – or are you still attached to it? Not letting you associate with your cousin Xia Xiaolan is for your good.”

Getting beaten when you can’t win and still asking for more – what kind of hobby was this?

Xia Ziyu suppressed her shame and anger:

“I know Mr. Du has my best interests at heart, and I lost my composure earlier today. But what I want to discuss isn’t about what just happened. Mr. Du, you’re often busy with company matters and can’t accompany me every day. I’m alone in Hong Kong without family or friends, and I don’t enjoy socializing with those wealthy ladies. I was wondering if you would allow me to find something meaningful to do for myself?”