“Why should I say anything?” Du Zhaohui answered righteously, leaving Ah Hua speechless.

True, he knew the young master’s moral standards were low, but not this low.

Chairman Tang’s situation was quite pitiful!

He had thought the young master and Chairman Tang were genuine friends.

Ah Hua remained silent, and Du Zhaohui chuckled:

“It would be pointless to mention it anyway. Tang Yuanyue and her have no future… With Uncle Tang’s sudden death, Yuhua being targeted by unknown forces, plus a shit-for-brains brother like Tang Kaijie, my help alone won’t be enough for Tang Yuanyue to survive. He needs other allies! And what could be more reliable than marriage ties? Tang Yuanyue is going to get married.”

If sacrificing one’s marriage as a bargaining chip could protect an enterprise as large as Yuhua,

Some people would be willing to sell themselves ten times over!

This wasn’t surprising – it was a completely normal operation.

Ah Hua was fairly clever, but he lacked this perspective and couldn’t think along these lines.

“Isn’t Chairman Tang’s girlfriend that model?”

Du Zhaohui rolled his eyes, “What model? She was just Tang Yuanyue’s companion for loneliness. Even if Tang Jinyun hadn’t died, a woman like that could never hope to enter the Tang family. Now that Tang Jinyun is dead and Tang Yuanyue needs support, he’s even less likely to marry just anyone. The person who could marry him most quickly… ah, there’s a ready candidate – He Zhitong!”

Ah Hua nearly swerved the car.

It wasn’t because his hands were unsteady or his driving skills were poor.

Even with his strong psychological resilience, he couldn’t imagine how low Hong Kong’s rich young masters could go.

“That’s impossible, Miss He already has someone new.”

Don’t take advantage of his limited education to fool him!

The newspapers were full of it – He Zhitong was engaged to her new boyfriend, they were often photographed holding hands showing their affection and were even caught spending seven days and nights on a romantic yacht trip… The gossip papers were everywhere with this news – Ah Hua hadn’t deliberately sought it out, the information had practically forced itself into his eyes.

Du Zhaohui sneered but kept his head down without further explanation.

He couldn’t continue – those who understood would understand, and for those like Ah Hua who didn’t, Du Zhaohui didn’t want to corrupt them.

Ah Hua was just a poor soul who trembled when signing a contract for a 120-square-meter apartment.

How many 120-square-meter apartments could the Tang family’s money buy?

For such wealth, what was strange about Tang Yuanyue and He Zhitong getting back together?

The He family’s business had always been intertwined with the Tang family.

Unless the He family was behind the troubles, they would suffer if the Tang family fell. Whatever unpleasantness existed before had to be set aside now – they needed to address the biggest conflict and unite against external threats!

Du Zhaohui wasn’t taking pleasure in others’ misfortune.

He wasn’t thinking about having one less “competitor” – instead, an inexplicable chill enveloped him.

Did it matter who Tang Yuanyue liked or didn’t like?

Unable to be with the one he loved.

Forced to be bound to someone he didn’t love.

Unless Tang Yuanyue could disregard Yuhua’s ownership and ignore the business built by two generations of the Tang family, he couldn’t have freedom in marriage… No, without wealth and career, what would Tang Yuanyue be?

At that point, even without Xia Xiaolan, he wouldn’t meet the standards of any woman he might be interested in.

After all, having once been wealthy, his standards would remain high.

Being rich was painful, but becoming poor after being rich would be doubly painful!

Du Zhaohui felt his limbs grow cold.

The Tang family had seemed harmonious, but once the crisis struck, even Tang Yuanyue couldn’t escape this fate – could he escape it?

When the time came, he would also face choices.

A 5% shareholding wasn’t enough; he needed allies’ support.

When the time came to choose between the Du family fortune and the person he loved, which would he choose?

Du Zhaohui’s face showed determination:

“I want both the money and the woman – they don’t necessarily conflict!”

He could turn the woman he loved into his ally.

Ha, what a perfect solution!

He was indeed smarter than that loser Tang Yuanyue.

“Ah Hua, let’s go back to the old mansion.”

…

Tang Jinyun’s death stirred up new storms in Hong Kong.

But this temporarily didn’t concern Xia Xiaolan.

No one had notified her of Tang Jinyun’s death yet. Who would be tactless enough to disturb her at this time – she was on a date with Zhou Cheng.

“This is our last date here.”

Zhou Cheng’s expression was unhappy.

Xia Xiaolan coughed lightly, “I mean at this work unit, aren’t you being transferred to a new unit? The chance of being transferred back soon is quite small, right?”

Yes, Zhou Cheng’s transfer time had finally arrived.

The announcement of his transfer order caught the unit somewhat off guard.

He had just become battalion commander, why was he being moved again?

People like Fang Shizhong had mixed feelings. He was partly glad that after Zhou Cheng left, he wouldn’t have to face him anymore or feel like a failure – without Zhou Cheng as a comparison, he could still be considered young and promising.

But he also worried that Zhou Cheng was giving up his comfortable position as battalion commander to suffer in a new unit… As the saying goes, only through suffering can one rise above others. Fang Shizhong was convinced Zhou Cheng was determined to rise to the top!

Would there be any place left for ordinary cadres like them?

In a couple of years, they’d probably hear news of Zhou Cheng’s promotion, and Fang Shizhong felt he would surely cough up blood!

Zhou Cheng couldn’t care less about Fang Shizhong’s thoughts.

He helped fix Xiaolan’s wind-blown hair:

“The possibility of returning soon is low. It’ll be hard for you to come visit me at first. Sometimes I feel I’ve shortchanged you a lot, but asking me to let go now is impossible! I’m just selfish – I wouldn’t trust anyone else to take care of you.”

What’s this nonsense about letting go of love?

That’s bullshit.

If you have thoughts of letting go, it means you can’t even guarantee you’ll treat your love well – you’ve lost confidence.

Then what right do you have to expect other men to treat her well?

Better to rely on yourself than others!

Zhou Cheng’s gaze was determined, making Xia Xiaolan smile:

“Don’t get sentimental. We’ve already set our wedding date. Once you’re at the new unit, I won’t be able to come see you whenever I don’t have class. You must develop an iron will to reject all temptations.”

Zhou Cheng solemnly saluted her, making Xia Xiaolan laugh out loud.

They walked together to the unit’s entrance.

A jeep was already waiting there. Pan Bohua honked the horn vigorously and stuck his head out:

“Am I interrupting you lovebirds? Hurry up and get in, I’ll take you into the city!”

Jiang Yan sat in the passenger seat, calmly greeting Zhou Cheng and Xia Xiaolan.

Jiang Yan had been back in the country for several days. At first, she said she would come to Beijing but didn’t. Then she said she would go to Pengcheng but didn’t go there either.

Pan Bohua had accompanied her back to Jinling to handle the Jiang family matters… The Jiang family members seemed to have finally come to their senses somewhat. Jiang Wu was already ruined, and looking at the younger generation of the Jiang family, only Jiang Yan remained worth cultivating.

Especially since Jiang Yan had undergone such long treatment in America and could now return to work, even being transferred to a new unit, the Jiang family’s hopes were rekindled.

They had Jiang Yan’s parents call her back to Jinling, wanting to place all their remaining support behind her.