“I told you long ago – at crucial moments, don’t concern yourself with other matters. If you hadn’t flown back to America to testify, would Tina have grown distant from you? Cynthia, are you telling me you can’t even pacify a young girl anymore?”

Old Ivan still had plenty of complaints.

Women, regardless of age or status, tend to act impulsively when their tempers flare. They don’t consider the bigger picture, instead fixating on things that shouldn’t matter!

Couldn’t she have waited and dealt with Xia Xiaolan later?

Cynthia insisted on testifying now, as if proving Xia Xiaolan had stolen someone else’s work would be enough to bring her down.

How naive.

Xia Xiaolan’s foundation wasn’t built on her reputation in architectural circles – in Ivan’s view, as long as someone had money in their bank account, that mattered more than any reputation. Being an architect wasn’t Xia Xiaolan’s only path forward. Losing the lawsuit would embarrass her, but it wouldn’t touch her core assets.

Obtaining the Wilson family fortune would be different.

Just imagine if Harold were the one causing trouble for Xia Xiaolan right now – how miserable would she be then?

Whatever business she set her eyes on would face a squeeze.

To suppress her, they could afford to lose money just to wear her down. That kind of overwhelming pressure would truly leave Xia Xiaolan devastated and cornered!

“Cynthia, you still have a choice about what to say in court. You need to think carefully-“

“No! I want both!”

Cynthia gripped the phone receiver, her eyes reddening.

“Why should I compromise? Why am I always the one compromising? I compromised when your father handed the family business to Harold – and look what we have now! Back then you told me to endure, saying that patience would lead to ultimate victory… I’m done being patient!”

When Harold first took over the family assets, Ivan had told her to be patient, saying Harold was too young and would make mistakes.

His mistakes would prove he wasn’t fit to manage the Wilson family assets.

But as she endured and waited, Harold didn’t just manage – he became increasingly adept at it.

Harold was younger than both her and Ivan. By the time she and Ivan died, he would still be alive. This kind of waiting and enduring was simply unbearable!

Cynthia had had enough of this feeling. She didn’t want to wait until everything was settled to get revenge on Xia Xiaolan. If she couldn’t deal with Harold, did she need to be so cautious about handling someone from China?

The depression brought by bankruptcy had affected Cynthia far more than Ivan realized.

With Cynthia refusing to budge, Ivan was at a loss.

“Let me think… this might not be a bad thing. You and Tina are both in America. It’s a shame Harold is in China – if only he were in America… Wait, why couldn’t he come to America? I remember he used to be very fond of Xia. Now that his princess is in trouble, shouldn’t he go to America to save her?”

Ivan muttered to himself.

“You mean…”

Cynthia paused.

“First, keep Tina close, and create more opportunities to meet with her. Testify however you want in court. Since you’re all in America anyway, let’s drag this lawsuit out. I’ll find a way to lure Harold back to America!”

This would require modifying the plan.

However, the modified plan might have a better chance of success.

Xia Xiaolan suing Lisa wasn’t arranged by him and Cynthia – it was a coincidence.

Tina and Cynthia testifying for opposing sides, their conflicting positions causing friction… wouldn’t that actually lower Harold’s guard?

The more Ivan thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.

Now he even approved of Cynthia testifying for Lisa – better to show a major rift with Tina!

…

Nobody could figure out what Xia Xiaolan was trying to do.

These past two days, newspaper coverage about her had taken a strange turn, infuriating Professor Mao Kangshan so much that his hair practically stood on end:

“These people are deliberately spreading lies with their eyes wide open!”

How could Americans be so gullible?

Was someone paying off these reporters behind the scenes? Mao Kangshan could only attribute it all to conspiracy theories.

Professor Wen, having lived in America for many years and better understanding of American society, saw things more clearly: “This kind of writing has more news value. Did you think that when Americans talk about ‘equality,’ they truly want to share equality with the whole world?”

Of course not.

Americans would criticize their government while maintaining an inherent sense of pride – everything American was the best in the world.

American power, American technology, American movies – didn’t everyone in the world want to immigrate to America?

Americans liked stories, especially stories of the weak defeating the strong – it satisfied the common person’s fantasy.

But they didn’t want to hear about a Chinese female student defeating an American female architect… that was too absurd. How could a Chinese university student be more capable than an American architect with years of experience? Impossible! However discriminated against American female architects might be in their industry, that was in comparison to American male architects.

How could a Chinese female student compare to an American female architect?

Wouldn’t that suggest that Chinese education was better, that Chinese people were smarter?

That was impossible.

The best of everything was in America!

The media certainly understood what Americans were thinking, and reporters shared this subtle psychology. For the sensationalism of the news and the logic of their narrative, the media felt this angle was more appropriate.

Mao Kangshan trembled with anger. With his temperament, he wanted nothing more than to confront these bastards and argue with them face-to-face.

“Xiaolan hasn’t been seen for two days now. What is she up to?”

Mao Kangshan knew his young apprentice well – Xia Xiaolan had never been one to admit defeat or take abuse quietly.

Just as he was thinking this, Xia Xiaolan appeared.

Someone followed behind her, wearing a linen suit and hat, carrying a briefcase.

“You girl-“

“Oh, Master, don’t be angry! I went back to Ithaca. Let me introduce you to someone – Professor McCarthy, who took great care of me during my studies at Cornell University.”

With an outsider present, Mao Kangshan held back from scolding her.

Xia Xiaolan had brought McCarthy here.

Mao Kangshan knew of this McCarthy – famous for being strict and eccentric, who had wanted Xia Xiaolan to stay at Cornell University.

Hmph, was this person trying to steal his apprentice?

The thought of someone trying to steal his student was unacceptable to Mao Kangshan, but his body moved more honestly than his mind. He had already extended his hand with a smiling face: “I’ve often heard Xiaolan mention you, Professor McCarthy. I never expected we’d meet under these circumstances. Thank you for taking care of Xiaolan!”

McCarthy was similarly sizing up Mao Kangshan.

Ah, so this was the old Chinese fellow, the teacher Xia Xiaolan truly respected, the reason she refused to stay at Cornell and insisted on returning to China – because this old man could teach her more about the profession?

The two strong personalities didn’t immediately hit it off at their first meeting.

Truthfully, they could both feel a natural repulsion toward each other.

But their hands still clasped together, because, at this moment, their personal views of each other didn’t matter. They shared a single purpose: to help Xia Xiaolan win her lawsuit and gain the recognition she deserved!