Xia Xiaolan’s refusal to participate in this year’s “AIA Rising Star Architect” evaluation was within AIA headquarters’ expectations. When AIA asked her about returning to China to begin the museum design, Xia Xiaolan replied she would discuss it in a few days.

Actually, with the lawsuit won, there seemed no real need for AIA to send people to China to oversee Xia Xiaolan’s museum design. She had already proven the work was hers, and AIA should simply apologize. Yet neither party mentioned canceling the arrangement.

Xia Xiaolan wasn’t foolish. With the tracking reports from both “Domus” and “A+U” magazines, plus AIA’s promotion, she would quickly rise to fame in architectural circles. Though she claimed she could wait until 32 or 42 to crush Raymond Dawson’s ego, she wouldn’t refuse the opportunity to do it a few years earlier.

After winning the lawsuit, she only accepted an interview with “Domus” magazine. While the interview content wouldn’t be published until the next issue, as Xia Xiaolan predicted, New York media had already begun voluntarily restoring her reputation after learning the verdict.

The previous newspaper reports about “scandals” were merely superficial and not truly about scandals at all. She wasn’t a Hollywood actress – who cared about her relationships? Using “scandal” as a pretext, they were discussing other matters, like whether a woman’s value must be defined by the men behind her.

The answer was no.

While society maintained many inexplicable rules – like men supposedly being superior to women in certain industries, or Asian Americans receiving worse treatment than African Americans and far worse than white people in America – when one’s ability was strong enough, these rules could be broken, just as Xia Xiaolan had done. She could tear off the labels others had stuck on her based on conventional thinking. This wasn’t achievable merely through wealth or knowing rich people like Harold. One needed genuine strength – if she truly wasn’t as good as Lisa, how could she have forced Raymond to judge “fairly”?

Xia Xiaolan’s confidence came from within herself. She knew what she was capable of. Although she once thought she lacked aesthetic sense and architectural talent, the feedback from professionals around her suggested otherwise. Hadn’t McCarthy praised her extensively during his court testimony?

Perhaps she did have some talent that she hadn’t noticed. Or maybe she had set her standards too high from the beginning? From the moment she entered school, she had focused on catching up to Ning Xue… After three years of determined pursuit, she had unknowingly become a talented player herself!

Xia Xiaolan had achieved modest fame in New York. While not quite the best new architect, her appearance had made her memorable. Her work had also gained attention – because of the lawsuit, many people visited the theater to see what kind of work Xia Xiaolan and Lisa had been fighting over. The theater’s renovation effects particularly captured young people’s hearts. Older individuals might prefer more conservative aesthetics, but they couldn’t honestly call it ugly.

GMP’s Kissinger had finally cleared his name. He truly had an eye for talent, rather than promoting Xia Xiaolan due to some deal. If other firms had discovered an intern like her, they would have wanted to keep her and be willing to invest resources in her promotion! There was competition between firms – star architects were rare finds, and firms with star architects attracted more commissions. They weren’t afraid of losing people they promoted to fame; due to the industry’s special nature, architects who brought in significant resources would be absorbed as new partners.

“Are you not considering GMP? After this lawsuit, you’ve made quite a name at headquarters… Yes, I know you have your firm in China, but how many years will it take for your small firm to compare with GMP?”

Xia Xiaolan again declined Kissinger’s sincere invitation. The lawsuit had made her clearer about what she wanted. She would develop Qihang Real Estate well, and likewise pour her heart into Qihang Architecture.

Too many people had placed their hopes in her; she certainly couldn’t give up on becoming an excellent architect.

While Xia Xiaolan’s reputation had turned from black to white, Lisa’s situation was more tragic. Xia Xiaolan heard that Lisa lost her job the same day as the verdict. When reporters tried to interview Lisa at Dawson Studio, they couldn’t find her.

Where had Lisa gone? No one knew. Whether Lisa would appeal was also uncertain. She had simply vanished from public view.

Xia Xiaolan wasn’t worried about Lisa evading the compensation payment. Though the person had disappeared, bank accounts couldn’t run away, nor could real estate and stocks. American courts were quite strict in executing judgments – even with Lisa’s disappearance, the compensation would eventually be paid to Xia Xiaolan, just perhaps a bit later.

What if Lisa’s money wasn’t enough? Then she’d pay what she could, and only if she truly couldn’t pay would she be allowed to file for personal bankruptcy.

Raymond Dawson hadn’t emerged unscathed either. Although he had cleverly chosen to sacrifice Lisa to protect himself when he saw the situation turning unfavorable during the trial, how could Xia Xiaolan let him off so easily? While the trial wasn’t public, Professor McCarthy’s courtroom story still spread.

Raymond was just a narrow-minded person. The Dawsons could freely bully others, but if anyone dared to fight back or resist, they would face Dawson’s revenge… He had no concept of “bullying the small”; hiding behind the scenes to manipulate was truly insidious!

This story spread quickly, thanks to Kissinger. He told everyone, showing no regard for Raymond Dawson’s face. A Pritzker Architecture Prize winner deserved respect, but did Raymond deserve respect?

Anyway, Kissinger thoroughly hated Raymond Dawson and would oppose him for a long time to come! He wouldn’t just criticize Raymond but would watch him closely, waiting to catch any mistakes. If Raymond was too cautious to make mistakes, what about his beauty pageant wife? Or his daughter who couldn’t continue at Cornell and was advised to transfer? The whole Dawson family was Kissinger’s target!

Xia Xiaolan’s stay in New York was also to meet with friends. After being away for over three months, Daisy and others missed her greatly. There were also Chinese students in New York – this time, Xia Xiaolan genuinely appreciated their gathering, grateful for their support outside the courthouse!

Of course, she also planned to take Mao Kangshan and Madam Song on a few days’ tour of America.

How had she obtained Lisa’s works? While post-graduation work came partly through Kissinger, her school works was all helped by her old acquaintance Jim.

Working with Jim again was pleasant. When Xia Xiaolan promptly paid Jim his final fee, he provided her with additional news:

“Xia, you asked me to keep an eye on Tina. She’s surrounded by quite a few people – a dangerous, troublesome group. You know what I mean?”

Since Tina hadn’t testified for Xia Xiaolan in court, Xia Xiaolan wouldn’t have meddled. However, learning she needed to prove herself through the museum project, Xu Zhongyi directly increased the budget from 10 million to 20 million… This was why Xia Xiaolan was willing to have Jim watch over Tina.

“Quite a few people following her?”

Could they be people sent by Xu Zhongyi and Xu Changle?

— No, how could people sent by Xu Zhongyi be described as dangerous and troublesome by Jim?!