“Who told you that?”

Du Zhaohui chuckled, “She went to the hospital for a check-up. With so many doctors and nurses around, word gets around. I’m not the only one who knows – I think everyone in the Du family knows.”

“I thought you had something else to tell me.”

Du Zhaohui hesitated for a moment, instinctively sensing that Du Chengrong was fishing for information. He decided to follow his gut and deny it:

“Not at all. Vivi was just my way of showing filial respect to you. I’m glad you like her. As long as she makes you happy, nothing else matters. Though I originally had other plans for her, well, let’s not talk about that… I didn’t expect you’d like Vivi this much, Father. You’d better protect her well – I can see Fourth Madam despises her.”

With these words and a grin, Du Zhaohui retreated.

Once outside the company, his face turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

Ah Hua silently followed behind him, waiting for Du Zhaohui to sort through his thoughts.

After a while, Du Zhaohui twisted his face into a smile:

“An old man in love with a young wife – the old man’s level of protection for Xia Ziyu exceeds my expectations. I have to admit now that Xia Xiaolan was right – sending Xia Ziyu to the old man was a major blunder on my part.”

“You haven’t sent the photos to the newspaper yet, so there’s still room to maneuver…”

Du Zhaohui stroked his chin. “Look at how jealous Liu Keying is – she’s like a powder keg ready to explode after holding it in for so long. We should give Fourth Madam an outlet to vent. The Second House won’t deal with Xia Ziyu anymore, they might even try to take advantage of her. But Liu Keying and Xia Ziyu are natural enemies – their interests conflict, and they can never cooperate.”

How long could Liu Keying play the ninja turtle?

Xia Ziyu’s favored status was an infringement on Liu Keying’s interests.

Ah Hua said honestly: “Fourth Madam won’t let Xia Ziyu go, and probably won’t want to let you go either.”

Ah Hua wasn’t sure whether Liu Keying hated the Eldest Young Master more or Xia Ziyu. It seemed she should hate Xia Ziyu more, but then again, his Young Master had an extraordinary ability to attract hatred…

Du Zhaoqi didn’t make any immediate moves. After the Spring Banquet, he accompanied Second Aunt back to the Du family mansion, didn’t go anywhere else, and showed no sign of how losing this competition had affected him.

Xia Xiaolan thought for a moment and took the initiative to call Zhu Suizhou:

“Mr. Zhu, did you forget to tell me something?”

“Is Ms. Xia in Hong Kong?”

“Yes, in Hong Kong. Mr. Zhu should know what I want to talk about.”

“Ms. Xia, I can’t defend my actions. What I did wasn’t honorable. The situation is just as it appears—”

Xia Xiaolan responded thoughtfully, “So you’re planning to give me 2% of the shares for free, thinking it will appease me? Mr. Zhu, what’s done is done. What you did wasn’t honorable, but speaking purely from a business perspective, I can’t say much. You must have your considerations and choices for your actions. I just hope that if there are any future changes in Chaoyang Real Estate’s ownership, you’ll give me advance notice. This time, you exploited a loophole – Second Young Master Du only bought Chaoyang Real Estate, indirectly controlling Asia… Next time something like this happens, I won’t be so understanding!”

Zhu Suizhou promised repeatedly, and Xia Xiaolan verbally agreed, appearing to believe him.

Little You had expected an argument but was surprised by how calmly Xia Xiaolan handled it.

“Ms. Xia, aren’t you angry?”

Xia Xiaolan sneered, “Zhu Suizhou isn’t really in charge. He wants to rise quickly and needs support behind him. Considering the timing of his land purchase in Shangdu, Du Zhaoqi was probably his major financial backer all along. Why would he consider my interests instead of working for his major backer? Without hope, there’s no disappointment. My investment in Asia was pushed along step by step. We’ll see what happens in the future – if Asia does well, I’ll benefit too.”

Apart from concern about Ye Xiaoqiong’s whereabouts and what Du Zhaoqi was planning to do next, Xia Xiaolan felt indifferent about everything else.

The business world was constantly changing. Du Zhaohui was using his tactics – how could she apply double standards and expect Du Zhaoqi to just lie there and take the hits?

That wasn’t possible.

Honestly, Du Zhaoqi was only 23 years old, and Xia Xiaolan found his tactics quite impressive.

If the Ye Xiaoqiong matter could be resolved, she truly wouldn’t interfere with Du Zhaoqi anymore. How the Du brothers fought in the future would be their own business.

Not caring means not getting angry.

While You Li was still pondering this statement, Xia Xiaolan added: “Businesspeople like Zhu Suizhou who operate smoothly still maintain some face. In the future, you’ll find many businesspeople have even less shame than him! In the face of money and profit, some people’s bottom line can be lower than you could imagine. Business matters are always changing – nothing is ever certain. Until money is in hand, anything can change.”

“So we can’t trust any partner one hundred percent?”

You Li was curious.

Xia Xiaolan nodded, “The truth might not sound nice, but that’s how it is. Of course, if people like Bai Zhenzhu or Chen Xiliang, who have been partners for so long and are more than just business associates, were to betray me, I wouldn’t be so calm about it. I’m not a saint – being betrayed by trusted people would hurt just as much!”

Zhu Suizhou was never trusted by Ms. Xia in the first place.

They were just temporary partners due to mutual interests, You Li understood.

“But if Du Zhaoqi doesn’t look for Ye Xiaoqiong, what are you going to do?”

Were they just going to wait aimlessly in Hong Kong?

With millions of people in Hong Kong, trying to find someone without any leads would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Xia Xiaolan shot her a glance:

“Young lady, you can’t always expect immediate returns for everything you do. Look, even if I haven’t found Ye Xiaoqiong, coming to Hong Kong hasn’t been a waste. Haven’t I shown you the world? This hotel is nice, isn’t it? The bed is comfortable, we can enjoy good food, and even if we don’t go shopping, we can have the hotel make purchases for us… From another perspective, this is me taking a break, having a vacation.”

Oh, thinking about it that way, the anxiety seemed to lessen.

Ms. Xia had been spinning like a top since returning from America – it was good to take a few days to rest.

You Li’s heart settled as well.

While Xia Xiaolan was enjoying her vacation with good food and accommodations at the hotel, others should be the ones worrying.

February 5th seemed particularly long because of the Spring Banquet, but in reality, it couldn’t turn from 24 hours into 48 hours – it would pass just the same.

On February 6th, Guangdong Television began broadcasting an advertisement.

The product being advertised was something new, previously unknown.

The advertisement’s protagonist was also peculiar – it was the science stream top scorer from Hunan Province.

The top scorer, dressed neatly with clean features and a scholarly air, recommended an electronic dictionary for English learning in the advertisement: “Having trouble with English? Can’t remember vocabulary? Can write but can’t pronounce? You need a Wenquxing English-Chinese Electronic Dictionary. For back-to-school gifts, choose Wenquxing!”

On February 6th, 1987, when this advertisement aired on Guangdong Television, the Wenquxing electronic dictionary made its debut, sounding the first horn for China’s electronic education industry.