Xia Hongxia came and went like the wind.

She handled matters as if waging war.

When Xia Ziyu wanted to help “underprivileged children,” Xia Hongxia simply snatched them and ran.

While her actions were decisive, her thinking remained muddled.

She must have been quite foolish in her teens. Judging by her intelligence, she never expected that a 13-year-old girl could lie more smoothly than a 23-year-old adult.

Not even worried about being reported as a child trafficker, she ran off with her cousin and took Xiao Yan along… thinking she would create trouble for Xia Ziyu, without considering that such situations should first be reported to the police.

She dared to help someone escape without even verifying their identity.

Just thinking about taking them to Pengcheng and dumping them on Xia Ziyu – what if he refused? How would she get rid of Xiao Yan then?

Xia Xiaolan’s assessment of her wasn’t wrong. The current Xia Hongxia could only manage small business ventures. She had some minor cunning but still couldn’t think things through properly.

…

Xia Xiaolan didn’t know how bold Xia Hongxia was.

One dramatic incident not only rescued Xia Junbao but also altered others’ fates, perhaps ultimately affecting Xia Xiaolan too. She knew none of this – Xia Xiaolan was human, not divine, unable to foresee every future event.

Of course, she wouldn’t worry about things that hadn’t happened yet.

She devoted herself completely to designing for the museum, becoming obsessed for several days.

When she came to her senses, Frank and others thought she would start writing, but Xia Xiaolan instead packed her bags to leave Shangdu.

“I need to go to Qiong Island for some business matters. The photographers don’t need to follow – just wait for me in Shangdu.”

Xia Xiaolan owned a real estate company.

Going to Qiong Island for business seemed normal – surely she couldn’t focus solely on this design without any private life?

Xia Xiaolan wasn’t going for private matters – well, she did want to see the places Ge Jian and Yu Li had investigated, but business was secondary. The important thing was Zhou Cheng’s birthday. She hadn’t seen Zhou Cheng for a long time and hoped to meet him on Qiong Island.

Whether this wish could be fulfilled remained uncertain, but she had to try.

What if she did see him?

Zhou Cheng’s new workplace had even higher security than his previous one, so Xia Xiaolan couldn’t bring magazine photographers along. That’s why she left everyone behind and traveled light.

She also had to bring the watch she bought for Zhou Cheng.

“Xiao Yu, notify my uncle to meet me in Yecheng, Qiong Island.”

In April 1987, Qiong Island wasn’t yet a province.

It was called the Qiong Island Administrative Region, a vice-provincial unit under Yue Province.

By next April, Qiong Island Province and the Qiong Island Special Economic Zone would be established together, finally giving Qiong Island its independence.

Now?

Now Yecheng, the administrative center of Qiong Island, was still quite undeveloped.

Land prices there hadn’t taken off yet, lagging far behind Pengcheng. Qiong Island wasn’t famous for coconut drinks yet but for the sensational smuggled car case from two years ago. Saying the entire island was full of smuggled cars wasn’t an exaggeration. At its peak, aerial views of Qiong Island showed reflective surfaces everywhere – the gleam of metal car bodies.

The smuggled cars in Qiong Island were brought in as parts and reassembled on the island… People made considerable profits smuggling cars there in previous years, but the scale became too large and too rampant, and the state cracked down.

Some were arrested, others sentenced, and now the people of Qiong Island had become law-abiding.

Smuggling could only enrich a tiny portion of people and couldn’t drive economic development.

After the crackdown on smuggled cars, Qiong Island’s false prosperity immediately dissipated. In 1987, this vice-provincial region’s total industrial and agricultural output only accounted for 5% of Yue Province’s – truly a poor backwater.

But this backwater was already quietly attracting certain people.

Though the Special Zone hadn’t been established yet, rumors were spreading. In April 1988, “A Hundred Thousand Talents to Qiong Island” would create a human tide similar to today’s rush to Pengcheng.

However, this year, a year before Qiong Island Special Zone’s establishment, well-informed individuals were already stirring. Several friends Liu Yong met at the golf club were inviting him to develop in Qiong Island, seemingly having inside information.

Liu Yong was skeptical.

After experiencing Liu Tianquan’s contract fraud, Liu Yong distrusted such windfalls.

He trusted in doing renovations – others provided money, and he did solid work.

But being invited to invest in Qiong Island by people he barely knew… huh, he didn’t believe it.

When his niece Xiaolan mentioned it, he believed it.

Before Xia Xiaolan went abroad for the lawsuit, she asked him to raise money, and Liu Yong gathered 5 million.

This wasn’t too difficult – he had earned 4 million in the past year, and this year, besides the ‘Luohu Tiancheng’ renovation, he hadn’t taken on any big projects and wasn’t short on cash.

Even with big projects, it wouldn’t matter – besides paying workers’ wages on time, ‘Yuan Hui’ now qualified to delay payments to building material suppliers. Most renovation materials still came from ‘Anjia Building Materials,’ so it was fine to pay them after clients settled payments, and the same applied to other suppliers.

Every industry works this way – whoever holds the money is the boss.

Clients who hired Yuan Hui were the first-level bosses, Yuan Hui was the boss of material suppliers, and suppliers could be the bosses of manufacturers by delaying their payments…

Who had it worst?

The manufacturers, of course!

That’s why big shots could make money in real estate, the stock market, and internet investments, no problem, but mention manufacturing, and their heads would hurt.

Liu Yong raised 5 million to make the first move, planning to seek fortune in Qiong Island with his niece. Just as he started moving, it became truly awkward – at Yangcheng Airport, he ran into the friends whose invitation to Qiong Island he had declined, and they felt he wasn’t being straightforward:

“Boss Liu, we could all make money together.”

“Would I harm you?”

Liu Yong couldn’t avoid them.

Everyone was taking the same flight to Daingshan Airport in Yecheng, Qiong Island, making the situation very awkward.

So when Xia Xiaolan went to meet her uncle in Yecheng, she found several people surrounding Liu Yong.

“This is my niece Xiaolan.”

“Your niece is beautiful, Old Liu is fortunate.”

One middle-aged man, whom Xia Xiaolan had met at the golf club, was named Meng Guanchao.

Meng Guanchao was still trying to persuade Liu Yong, barely acknowledging Xia Xiaolan’s greeting.

Leaving the airport, and seeing the desolate Yecheng, Liu Yong thought that if Xiaolan hadn’t called him here, he wouldn’t dare invest even 50,000 in this ghostly place, let alone 5 million!

He couldn’t hold back anymore, seeing Meng Guanchao’s dismissive attitude toward Xia Xiaolan, and reintroduced her:

“Chairman Meng, this is my niece Xia Xiaolan, owner of Qihang Real Estate. I came to Qiong Island at Xiaolan’s call. I’m not very smart, always following my niece to make money. Wherever she tells me to invest, I invest – all my money is managed according to her arrangements!”

Xia Xiaolan’s smile was more perfect than a professional hostess’s:

“Chairman Meng, a pleasure to meet you. Hearing your optimism about Qiong Island’s development, why don’t I host a casual meal? We can discuss while we eat?”

Damn, she’s the owner of Qihang?

So young.

Chairman Meng felt somewhat embarrassed – Qihang was considered a benchmark among private real estate companies in Pengcheng.