She didn’t understand.

She didn’t want to understand!

Xia Hongxia objected a hundred times over, but Wang Jingui and Xia Hongbing couldn’t let go of the envelope given by Xia Ziyu’s assistant.

For such a simple task of bringing Xia Junbao from Shangdu to Pengcheng, Xia Ziyu had actually given them 20,000 yuan!

Wang Jingui and Xia Hongbing were blinded by money, and Xia Hongxia couldn’t ask them in front of Xia Ziyu’s assistant if they’d forgotten how terrifying Xia Xiaolan was, and why they wanted to wade into these troubled waters.

Xia Ziyu’s earlier attitude had left no room for refusal.

Perhaps she hadn’t considered that Xia Hongxia wanted to refuse…

Almost forcibly holding the 20,000 yuan, Xia Hongxia returned to her shop near People’s Bridge.

Who am I?

Where am I?

What am I doing?

This envelope burns like fire in her hands.

Including the 2,000 yuan Xia Ziyu’s people had given earlier, she’d brought back 22,000 yuan for just one day of closing the shop.

Even robbery couldn’t bring money this fast.

No wonder Xia Ziyu became a concubine to a rich old man in Hong Kong. If she were prettier, she’d do it too! Pah, pah, pah – what was she thinking? Would she dare spend this money?

Xia Hongxia suddenly snatched the envelope:

“Don’t let this bit of money fool you. Have you thought about the consequences of helping Xia Ziyu?”

“Helping her means money! So that was Ziyu. The girl’s changed so much – if you two hadn’t said so, I wouldn’t have dared recognize her…”

Xia Hongbing had many doubts.

But doubts weren’t important – money was real. Associating with Xia Ziyu brought money so quickly. Who would want to run a restaurant anymore, getting up early and staying up late, getting soaked in cooking fumes until the smell permeated your entire being?

Choosing to run a restaurant meant bidding farewell to “respectability.” Wearing expensive clothes while working at the stove – wouldn’t it be painful to get them dirty?

Xia Hongbing beamed with joy.

Wang Jingui managed to contain her excitement slightly better:

“So what? Sending Xia Junbao to Xia Ziyu means reuniting brother and sister. How can Xia Xiaolan object to that?”

Not taking money would be foolish!

According to Wang Jingui, making a trip to Shangdu wasn’t much. Taking Xia Junbao there – even raising him in Pengcheng for a year wouldn’t cost 2,000 yuan. The remaining 20,000 yuan would be all theirs.

Surely Hongxia would give her at least 10,000?

If not 10,000, then 8,000 would do… 5,000 – it couldn’t be less than 5,000!

Xia Hongxia didn’t bother arguing with them. She took the envelope herself, saying nothing about whether or when they would go get Xia Junbao.

Her small restaurant had always delivered meals to Anjia Building Materials’ old shop, and not just them – many nearby vendors ordered from her too, so delivering to the building materials shop didn’t stand out.

Xia Hongxia secretly sent word through the building materials shop staff that she needed to find Xia Xiaolan, saying Xia Ziyu had approached her again.

Half a day later, when the building materials shop staff came to return the bowls, they gave Xia Hongxia a contact number.

“Manager Xia isn’t in Pengcheng. Call this number.”

Huh?

She had to make the call herself!

Xia Hongxia stiffened her neck – what if Xia Ziyu had people watching her?

Did Xia Xiaolan even understand that spies needed to keep a low profile? No, wait – since when had she become Xia Xiaolan’s spy?

At least Xia Ziyu had shown her respect by coming to see her in person.

While Xia Hongxia’s mind was full of complaints, her mouth proved more honest than her thoughts: “Where did your Manager Xia go? I’m not comfortable calling her. I have something to tell her in person. Could you pass along a message?”

The building materials shop staff didn’t dare relay messages.

Being so secretive – what if it was business confidential? Not something a mere employee should hear.

“Manager Xia is in Shangdu.”

“In… Shangdu?”

What a coincidence.

Xia Hongxia waved her hand, “Quick, go, don’t let anyone see you. Tell your Manager Xia to wait for me in Shangdu.”

So she would have to make a trip to Shangdu.

What about the business? Just abandon it and stop making money?

But if she didn’t go, Xia Ziyu would come back again. Xia Ziyu now had money and power – how could a small restaurant owner like her contend with Xia Ziyu? Better to make the trip to Shangdu then, as it could solve all the problems.

Whether to bring back Xia Junbao or not – she wouldn’t decide. She’d let Xia Xiaolan make that decision.

No decision meant no responsibility.

Xia Xiaolan would have to protect her, otherwise, who would dare help Xia Xiaolan in the future?

Xia Hongxia felt pleased with herself.

She called Wang Jingui and Xia Hongbing over to announce her decision to go to Shangdu.

Xia Hongbing protested loudly, but Xia Hongxia berated him:

“Did she even call you Uncle Three? She didn’t acknowledge any of you, only me! If you want a share of the money, then you and Mother keep the restaurant running well. Every day we’re closed is a day without earnings. Here’s the deal – while I’m in Shangdu, you two can keep all the daily earnings from the restaurant. You can’t let the business suffer, and you can’t make anyone sick. Whether you keep the restaurant open or not is your choice!”

No big money yet, but all the daily restaurant earnings would be theirs?

Xia Hongbing calculated – this was quite profitable. Would Wang Jingui dare to split the money with him? Naturally, it would all be his!

With Xia Hongxia gone, he could even play cards at night – it would be quite free.

Wang Jingui happened to think the same way, and the couple went off to argue about how to split the earnings.

Xia Hongxia packed her bags and boarded the train back to Shangdu.

When Xia Ziyu received the news, she couldn’t help remarking to her assistant:

“Nobody stays foolish forever. My cousin… has become quite capable.”

If even that fool Xia Hongxia could manage Wang Jingui and Xia Hongbing, hadn’t she indeed become capable?

Moreover, for herself – learning from past mistakes, she would never again commit her former foolishness.

“Bring me the report, I want to look at it again.”

She wouldn’t invest wrongly. She wanted to make Du Chengrong’s attraction to her face and figure evolve into trust in her abilities, and reliance on her capabilities.

Money could solve many things, and not everything needed personal attention. As long as she could control the big picture, then-

…

“Why is Xia Ziyu still seeking out Xia Hongxia? What does she want to do?”

Having become the executive director of CR Investment, shouldn’t she be busy finding suitable investment projects? Yet she went to find Xia Hongxia instead.

But Xia Hongxia had grown smarter, knowing to consult her first about this matter.

This was the right choice for Xia Hongxia.

Xia Ziyu must have promised compensation, and Xia Hongxia hadn’t let greed cloud her judgment – wasn’t that indeed becoming smarter? She wasn’t praising Xia Hongxia’s noble character or commending her intelligence, but rather that she dared not touch benefits she wasn’t sure of securing.

Xia Xiaolan was currently in Shangdu.

She had decided to personally inspect the site for the museum, to thoroughly explore Shangdu and better understand this city before beginning the museum’s design.

Design wasn’t about copying, wasn’t about plagiarism, wasn’t about building a replica of New York’s Metropolitan Museum.

With a budget of 20 million yuan, they couldn’t build something on the scale of the Metropolitan Museum anyway.

The design also wasn’t about prematurely creating museums she had been fortunate enough to see in her previous life but which didn’t yet exist in this world – that too would be a form of plagiarism.

Did she need to plagiarize?

No.

It wasn’t about moral superiority – a plagiarized museum might not suit Shangdu.

Architecture needed to be distinctive yet harmonized with a region’s character!