“How can you say that? Without Miss Xia’s guidance, I wouldn’t have discovered such an excellent project as Asia.”

Du Zhaoqi’s face didn’t show even a hint of a smile, making his words completely unconvincing.

Xia Xiaolan suspected that Du Zhaoqi and Zhu Suizhou had conspired together before buying the Shangdu property.

Chaoyang Real Estate’s bank loans and private lending were all tactics to deceive her and Du Zhaohui, hiding Du Zhaoqi’s connection with Zhu Suizhou.

Of course, there was no point discussing this now – the situation was what it was.

Xia Xiaolan had no interest in investigating the past; she just wanted to handle the present and plan for the future:

“Asia is a good project, but its success depends on who’s managing it. I’ve never worked with Second Young Master before and am not very familiar with your business style, though it now appears to be rather aggressive. Don’t you think it’s too early to create a chain of department stores?”

Du Zhaoqi swirled the glass in his hand:

“Although Miss Xia doesn’t focus all her attention on business, you’re certainly well-informed.”

Xia Xiaolan smiled slightly, “Second Young Master, you had many choices for partners, yet you specifically sought out President Tang from Meihua. President Tang has always been close to your elder brother, so when he found out, your brother knew too. Given our existing partnership, he naturally told me. Since you weren’t trying to hide it from me, why take such a roundabout way to let me know?”

There was no point in speaking hypocritically – they weren’t even that close, just brought together by mutual interests.

Xia Xiaolan didn’t want to waste time beating around the bush.

Du Zhaoqi thought for a moment, “I’ve always wanted to ask you something – why did you choose to work with my elder brother? Someone like him, is he even worth helping?”

Grandmother Yu was right; Du Zhaoqi was still bitter about losing that 5% stake in the Chengrong Group.

Why did she help Du Zhaohui?

Du Zhaohui never presented himself as a good person; Xia Xiaolan disliked him from their first meeting.

Du Zhaohui’s compensation was generous.

Du Zhaohui also listened to advice, at least not acting too cleverly in business matters.

Furthermore, Du Zhaohui never tried to hide the fact that he was a bad person, with no pretense of being good… at least Xia Xiaolan knew exactly what kind of person she was dealing with.

In contrast, Du Zhaoqi, with his cold elite manner and polite courtesy, appeared to everyone as a young boss with an impressive resume.

Yet when Ye Xiaoqiong worked for him and had a disagreement, he put her under house arrest – what kind of twisted behavior was that? Working for him wasn’t selling one’s soul to him; if their ideologies didn’t align, they should have parted ways amicably, but instead, he locked her up!

If it weren’t for He Shiyuan, a woman from the entertainment district, showing compassion and coming to find her, if Xia Xiaolan hadn’t gone to Hong Kong, could Ye Xiaoqiong have escaped?

Hiding in the upstairs neighbor’s home was only a temporary escape, not true freedom.

“Working with Elder Young Master Du gives me peace of mind. Second Young Master might be smarter than him and know more about business operations, but I never know what you’ll do next. Like now – we can still have dinner together peacefully, but tomorrow, who knows if we’ll turn from partners to enemies? Such things are hard to predict, wouldn’t you agree, Second Young Master!”

Du Zhaoqi frowned, “Are you saying you work with my elder brother because he’s stupid?”

“No, I mean your elder brother isn’t overly clever. He takes his fair share of profits, I make my share too – that’s what you call a win-win situation.”

While seemingly discussing Du Zhaohui, they were talking about the Asia department store situation.

In a partnership, taking one’s fair share of profits was the best outcome.

When someone tries to take more than their share, the balance between shareholders breaks!

This point particularly irritated Xia Xiaolan – falling out over profits was common, but to start fighting before even seeing any profits?

Du Zhaoqi changed his tone, “Then let me be equally direct – doesn’t Miss Xia agree with Japan’s Yaohan model? If we plan now, we can secure our market position. If we fall behind, Asia will only be able to watch others feast while we’re left with scraps! I’ve studied Miss Xia’s business development patterns – whether it’s your clothing business, opening building materials stores in Pengcheng, acquiring land for development, or now with electronic dictionaries… haven’t you always been ahead of others? I thought Miss Xia would agree with my business philosophy.”

Being one step ahead makes you a genius.

Being three steps ahead makes you a madman!

Didn’t she understand this?

Of course, she did!

Businesses must follow current economic conditions. Her building materials store succeeded because it aligned with Pengcheng’s rapid construction; even without establishing Qihang Real Estate, she would have made a fortune just from building materials.

Du Zhaoqi’s plan for chain stores wasn’t wrong, but it was too early.

Shangdu Asia hadn’t even opened yet – like an infant learning to walk, not yet steady but already wanting to run… was this just an excuse to force her out, or had Du Zhaoqi lost his mind?

“Second Young Master, you’re determined to attract investment and expand, and I can’t stop you. Let’s discuss this again after you secure your investment. Just ensure that my current 18% stake in Shangdu Asia remains intact.”

Shangdu Asia was supposed to open first.

Xia Xiaolan turned her gaze to Zhu Suizhou. The reasons for Shangdu Asia’s success, the initial promotional strategies, and how they had captured market share from other Shangdu stores through price competition – all these case studies were etched in Xia Xiaolan’s mind.

She had simply been too busy to manage another business.

But if Zhu Suizhou didn’t want to focus on making Shangdu Asia successful and instead wanted to follow Du Zhaoqi’s reckless expansion, Xia Xiaolan truly wanted to push both of them aside and take over Shangdu Asia herself – should she replicate Zhu Suizhou’s past path, leaving him nowhere to go?

Or should she upgrade his path and take complete control of Shangdu Asia?

As this idea formed in Xia Xiaolan’s mind, her probing gaze made Zhu Suizhou nervous.

“Is Director Xia suggesting we separate the Shangdu Asia department store?”

“Yes, as a shareholder, while I don’t manage daily operations, I have the right to refuse such major changes.”

Xia Xiaolan tapped the table, “Mr. Zhu, you remember the specific terms in our contract, right? The sale of my 18% stake in the Asia department store requires Chaoyang Real Estate’s consent first. Only if Chaoyang Real Estate refuses to buy at market price can I sell to others.”

Zhu Suizhou nodded, “Yes, that’s correct. What, does Director Xia want to sell this 18% stake now?”

“No, I’m reminding you that there’s another clause below that one: under normal operating conditions, without my permission, Shangdu Asia cannot accept a third shareholder.”

This clause was Xia Xiaolan’s protection against being inexplicably pushed out.

At the time, Du Zhaoqi had found a loophole by buying Chaoyang Real Estate instead of directly investing in Shangdu Asia.

Now, it was Xia Xiaolan’s turn to use it as a counter-measure.

—You want to turn “Asia” into a chain, attract investment, expand? I can’t stop that.

—But for Shangdu Asia, without my agreement, things must remain as they are!