Xia Xiaolan returned to China this time accompanied by people from the AIA Association.

Including journalists from “Domus.”

If given sufficient allowance, magazine journalists don’t mind traveling globally, but reporters from publications like “Domus” usually visit Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong when coming to Asia, rarely venturing into mainland China.

Mainland architects lacked international recognition, and “Domus” didn’t pay much attention to architectural design innovations in China.

In fact, “Domus” reporters were apprehensive about business trips to mainland China.

Some people from developed countries resist visiting developing nations.

It’s like asking city dwellers to go to the countryside – occasional rural visits might feel poetic, but living there for months would be inconvenient everywhere!

They arrived in Hong Kong first, where the “Domus” reporters and AIA representatives experienced Du Zhaohui’s high-standard reception – mainly for Xia Xiaolan, with them as secondary guests.

Du Zhaohui had Ah Hua prepare dozens of flower baskets. When Xia Xiaolan collected her luggage, she thought some shop at the Hong Kong airport was having its grand opening.

Well, normal people don’t send multiple flower baskets for airport pickups!

Sending bouquets was common, but flower baskets were unique.

The baskets had congratulatory messages, and Xia Xiaolan naturally realized they were for her. When she saw Ah Hua, she immediately knew who had sent them!

“What’s this about?”

“Miss Xia, Young Master said it’s to ward off your bad luck. If the airport allowed open flames, he said he would have prepared a fire basin for you.”

Jumping over a fire basin to dispel bad luck – Du Zhaohui was truly raised in Hong Kong, with very Hong Kong-style practices.

But Xia Xiaolan didn’t believe in such things.

The bad luck had indeed been bad, but having overcome this challenge, the result was still good. Xia Xiaolan had moved past the lawsuit issues; leaving America meant looking forward.

However, Du Zhaohui only sending Ah Hua seemed strange to Xia Xiaolan.

She thought Du Zhaohui would meet with her. Not that she was being presumptuous, but before she left for America, Xia Ziyun’s miscarriage had occurred – didn’t Du Zhaohui want to share his thoughts about that?

While Ah Hua arranged for Mao Kangshan’s group to get into their cars, he explained to Xia Xiaolan:

“Miss Xia, during your time in America for the lawsuit, some things happened in the Du family. Young Master himself is tied up right now. First, Mr. Du discovered the truth about Fifth Madam’s miscarriage. This time Mr. Du didn’t smooth things over but returned to the Du family mansion to confront Fourth Madam. No one knows what Mr. Du and Fourth Madam discussed, but a few days later, Fourth Madam’s child was sent abroad to study, and Fourth Madam herself, though still in Hong Kong, no longer lives in the Du mansion.”

The matter of Xia Ziyun’s miscarriage was indeed Liu Keying’s doing, as Xia Xiaolan had suspected.

“If there’s a first, there must be a second. Continue.”

Ah Hua looked around and lowered his voice further:

“Mr. Du ordering Fourth Madam to move out of the mansion and sending her children abroad for studies has already led Hong Kong media to speculate whether Mr. Du intends to end his marital relationship with Fourth Madam. Though not officially announced, it’s close to that. This is just what outsiders can see. Behind the scenes, Mr. Du wants to take back the business he previously entrusted to Liu Tianquan. Liu Tianquan naturally disagrees and is still seeking people to plead his case to Mr. Du.”

Of course, Liu Tianquan wouldn’t let go easily!

Managing the Du family’s smuggling business meant handling huge sums of money annually. He not only profited from it but also developed his interests on the side.

Such a business – it would be a miracle if Liu Tianquan gave it up willingly.

Xia Xiaolan’s eyelid twitched – would it be that easy for Du Zhengrong to kick out Liu Tianquan? Liu Tianquan had managed the Du family’s smuggling business for a long time and must have built up his power base.

The Du family was headed for chaos. What was Du Zhengrong thinking? Was he too confident, believing he could control everyone in the family?

“What else?”

Ah Hua hesitated, “…Before Liu Tianquan handed over that part of the business, Mr. Du asked Young Master how to handle it once recovered. Young Master absolutely refused to manage it, and Mr. Du seemed to be considering asking Second Young Master to return and take charge.”

Du Zhaohui wasn’t foolish!

He was developing well now, holding ‘Zhengrong Plaza’ and 5% of Zhengrong Group’s shares. As a company shareholder, his position was strong.

Perhaps in a few years, with Du Zhengrong’s guidance, Du Zhaohui could smoothly take over.

Du Zhaohui wanted to be the Du family heir but didn’t want the family’s grey businesses, always wanting to shed this burden. Of course, given Du Zhaohui’s principles, he wouldn’t refuse money from smuggling, but it had to be clean when it reached him. Once he controlled the family, he’d make Liu Tianquan the scapegoat – earning money while eliminating an enemy. A beautiful plan, but his father wasn’t following the script, clearly having new plans now.

Was he testing Du Zhaohui?

Or was he getting senile?

Xia Xiaolan couldn’t understand.

“What about Xia Ziyun?”

Du Zhengrong severing ties with Liu Keying and trying to remove Liu Tianquan for Xia Ziyun showed true favoritism. Xia Xiaolan didn’t believe Xia Ziyun gained anything from this.

Women tend to receive more sympathy from men when hurt or wronged.

Ah Hua handed Xia Xiaolan a newspaper. The headline “Fifth Madam May Become Ultimate Winner” was sensational, and the content was explosive.

This wasn’t a tabloid – it was a serious financial section.

Xia Xiaolan looked at the content again and felt her teeth ache:

“…Zhengrong Group Chairman Du Zhengrong personally funded the establishment of CR Investment, with Xia Minwei appointed as CR Investment’s Executive Director. In an exclusive interview with our paper, she expressed optimism about the mainland real estate market, indicating the first investment might be confirmed soon.”

Ha?!

Xia Minwei was Xia Ziyun’s other name.

Xia Xiaolan had to admire this.

She had misjudged Xia Ziyun, thinking she would enter real estate directly. Given Xia Ziyun’s character of having high aims but low ability, she would likely lose money in any venture.

Unexpectedly, knowing real estate would be profitable, Xia Ziyun learned to play to her strengths and avoid her weaknesses – instead of directly running a real estate company, she turned to investment. What does an investment company do? It gives money to others to earn profits, without direct involvement.

This had the advantage of circumventing Xia Ziyun’s shortcomings.

Xia Xiaolan muttered, “She found the right person to follow, learning to use her brain instead of just relying on underhanded schemes.”

Of course, Xia Ziyun wouldn’t abandon her underhanded methods.

But beyond those tactics, she had made other progress.

Unexpected, yet understandable.

Although Xia Xiaolan was always independent and didn’t want to rely on any man or seek powerful patronage, she couldn’t deny that for some women, their perspective was closely tied to the quality of the men around them.

Du Zhengrong was an old scoundrel.

But he was also a self-made tycoon who rose in Hong Kong during the 1960s.

Xia Ziyun had chosen her patron well – far better than when she was with Wang Jianhua!

“Ah Hua, do you know how much capital CR Investment has?”