“Impossible.”

Xia Xiaolan shook her head.

Rather than reporting Xia Ziyu, Du Zhaohui would probably prefer to kill him instead.

What son would willingly shame his father?

Unless that son was prepared for financial independence and held no regard for his father’s fortune – only then would he not care about his father’s happiness.

Du Zhaohui hadn’t reached that point yet.

With a fortune measured in billions, who wouldn’t want it? No one had the right to make Du Zhaohui give it up.

So publicly reporting Xia Ziyu wasn’t possible. Du Zhaohui might as well spend money to have Xia Ziyu eliminated. If Du Chengrong discovered this afterward, he would certainly be furious, but since it wouldn’t be public, there was still a chance he might forgive Du Zhaohui.

Or if Du Zhaohui executed it cleverly enough, Du Chengrong might never discover it was his doing… No, better not indulge in such wishful thinking. Du Chengrong was too shrewd, his thoughts too mysterious. Xia Xiaolan truly couldn’t fathom what he was thinking.

She didn’t even know how much influence Du Chengrong had in Hong Kong.

People said the Chengrong Group was half-legitimate, half-underground. Now that the Du family wanted to go legitimate, where had that “dark” half gone? Had they truly abandoned it, or merely moved it somewhere more discreet?

Xia Xiaolan had no desire to make an enemy of someone like Du Chengrong unless she could avoid setting foot in Hong Kong while he was alive.

“Sister-in-law, are we just going to watch her act so arrogantly?”

Kang Wei had run around without results, and his efforts to ask around had only led to his Second Uncle Kang Lianming hearing about it and scolding him.

Saying he was making a mountain out of a molehill, overstepping his bounds, and acting without considering the consequences.

Xia Xiaolan pushed the dishes on the table toward Kang Wei:

“Of course, we won’t let her remain arrogant forever. Her crimes in the mainland weren’t serious to begin with, and given her special status now, we have to consider the elders when we act.”

The elders she referred to weren’t Du Chengrong.

Rather, it was Tang Hongen, Kang Lianming, and Zhou Guobin.

Even as government officials, they had to act according to laws and regulations.

They weren’t invincible.

Just like Zhou Wenbing, who suffered indirect consequences because of his daughter’s misconduct…

Kang Wei angrily slapped the table.

“If I had known this woman would be so cunning, back when she was studying at the Capital Institute—”

Kang Wei had long despised Xia Ziyu.

A woman who stole his cousin’s boyfriend and caused her to lose face beyond redemption couldn’t be any good.

Back then, if he had reached out, he could have ended Xia Ziyu’s future.

Keep her trapped in the mainland, where they could deal with her slowly, like a cat playing with a mouse.

But Brother Chengzi had insisted on letting Sister-in-law Xiaolan handle it herself… and before they knew it, they had let this trouble grow.

“No, she wasn’t this destructive when she was in school. Even I didn’t take her seriously then. Whatever grudges exist between her and me. If you and Chengzi had helped me, it wouldn’t have been the same. Don’t worry about this matter anymore. It seems Xia Ziyu plans to do business on the mainland. She’s always disliked me, and will likely enter real estate. By the way, did you have any success at the club today?”

The matter of dealing with Xia Ziyu couldn’t be left to Kang Wei; he hadn’t even sorted out his affairs yet.

Xia Ziyu was coming after her.

At the same time, Xia Ziyu’s presence created a conflict of interest with Du Zhaohui.

Du Zhaohui wouldn’t agree to let someone cut into his piece of the pie.

Xia Xiaolan sighed. After finishing her role as a consultant for ‘Chengrong Plaza,’ she should have had no more connection with Du Zhaohui, but because of his foolish move, she would have to cooperate with him for a while longer.

Kang Wei’s attention was successfully diverted:

“What success? Do you mean like Zhang Xiao connecting with that Hong Kong director, or Uncle Liu meeting interested clients? If that’s what you mean, then no, nothing like that.”

“…No rush, take it slowly.”

Xia Xiaolan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She had meant to ask if he had met any suitable young ladies at the club.

Although some members brought their mistresses, another portion brought their families.

Xia Xiaolan had seen several well-mannered young women.

How could Kang Wei be so blind as to not even look?

She shuddered.

This was terrible – she had truly aged, developing an interest in matchmaking…

Until leaving the golf club, Xia Xiaolan didn’t encounter Xia Ziyu again. Naturally, she also didn’t see Tang Yuanyue and the others, nor did she deliberately wait for Du Zhaohui – it was the weekend, and she needed to return to Beijing early!

So when would AIA respond to her appeal?

The department had promised that when AIA sent people to China, they would give her leave, so she wouldn’t need to attend every class, allowing her to focus on the museum design.

…

An attendant bent down and whispered something in Xia Ziyu’s ear.

Xia Ziyu nodded with a smile, “Mm, I understand.”

Xia Xiaolan had left.

In Xia Ziyu’s view, she must have left in shame.

During the New Year’s spring banquet, Xia Xiaolan received exceptional treatment from Du Chengrong, sitting at the main table, quite gloriously.

At that time, she, as the fifth concubine, had to squeeze in with Du’s family’s other women.

Today was finally her time to hold her head high.

While it was good that Liu Fen had married Tang Hongen, Xia Xiaolan had to keep a low profile. She couldn’t use her stepfather’s position as Pengcheng’s mayor to demand high-level VIP membership at the club, could she?

No, she couldn’t.

The more Xia Xiaolan relied on Tang Hongen as her backing, the less she could harm him this way.

So while becoming the mayor’s stepdaughter was an advantage, it was also a restraint.

Knowing she had backing, ordinary people wouldn’t provoke her.

But everyone would scrutinize her with a magnifying glass, watching for any mistakes, hoping to catch something that could bring down Tang Hongen… This was something Xia Ziyu had put great effort into understanding.

Conversely, Xia Ziyu herself had transformed, gaining clean, legal Hong Kong resident status. As long as she didn’t do anything illegal on the mainland and invested according to mainland policies and regulations, she was a Hong Kong businesswoman.

No one could touch her.

Xia Ziyu had realized this and had a sincere discussion with Du Chengrong about it.

She remembered Du Chengrong’s expression and seemed quite surprised at the time.

After his surprise, he not only agreed to her business plans but even gave her the club’s invitation!

In the soft background music, the high-level VIP rest area wasn’t flashy; its decorative style was heavy, expressing understated luxury.

Xia Ziyu held a glass of juice and huddled with a Singaporean member, discussing something.

This woman was clever enough – Hong Kong members all knew she was the Du family’s fifth concubine and weren’t willing to lower themselves to chat with a concubine.

The Singaporean member didn’t know Xia Ziyu’s background.

Seeing her attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony earlier, they treated her as a high-level VIP member…

Du Zhaohui nearly ground his teeth to powder.

Xia Ziyu used to be uncouth and unattractive. Her etiquette was trained with his money, her plastic surgery was done by doctors he paid for, and damn it, even her fluent English was taught by teachers he hired!