The wedding Xia Xiao Lan was to attend was no ordinary ceremony.
Tang Yuan Yue and He Zhi Tong’s wedding was undoubtedly Hong Kong’s most anticipated event of the year. If Xia Xiao Lan wasn’t running Qihang Capital, she would have kept her distance, simply sending her blessings and a wedding gift to the couple. But since she had drawn Xia Zi Yu into her trap, with Qihang Capital’s aggressive entry into Hong Kong, too many eyes were on her to show any weakness.
This was why Xia Zi Yu was so despicable.
What should have been a normal loan transaction – Xia Xiao Lan hadn’t even borrowed from Tang Yuan Yue but from Du Zhao Hui – borrowing fifty million to repay one hundred million, was nothing short of usury. In the future, the government would define usury as loans with annual interest exceeding 24%, making them legally unenforceable. During the legislation process, experts had calculated that borrowers would struggle to make regular payments on interest rates above 24%.
This wasn’t without reason – 24% represented the maximum profit margin for most legitimate businesses. Any business generating profits above 24% would likely be illegal, barring a few exceptional industries.
Thus, loans with interest rates exceeding 24% could definitively be classified as usury. If business owners couldn’t manage such interest rates, how could salaried workers and ordinary citizens manage them? When they couldn’t pay, what else could it be but usury?
Xia Xiao Lan was confident she could repay Du Zhao Hui. Initially, she was certain of profits from the Qiong Island real estate venture, and later she set her sights on the Hong Kong stock market crash.
She had promised such high interest that she could have borrowed from others even without Du Zhao Hui. She genuinely wanted to give Du Zhao Hui some spending money, feeling he was too pitiful and weak to face off against Xia Zi Yu and Du Zhao Ji – not what Xia Xiao Lan wanted to see.
Du Zhao Hui lent to Xia Xiao Lan because he believed in her abilities. Even if she couldn’t repay the hundred million, she wouldn’t lose the initial fifty million.
It was Du Zhao Hui who borrowed from Tang Yuan Yue, based on their friendship. Du Zhao Hui would certainly pay Tang Yuan Yue interest, and Xia Xiao Lan didn’t feel uncomfortable using the money.
But after Xia Zi Yu spread those rumors, a normal loan became a scandalous affair – loans were meant to be repaid with high interest, yet it was twisted into an improper relationship between her and Tang Yuan Yue, thoroughly disgusting Xia Xiao Lan!
She suspected that when Du Zhao Hui initially approached Tang Yuan Yue for the fifty million, he definitely wouldn’t have mentioned it was for her. Without a doubt, Du Zhao Hui was that petty, preferring to pay Tang Yuan Yue interest rather than let him join in on the profits.
Tang Yuan Yue lent money to Du Zhao Hui out of friendship; she was simply caught in the crossfire.
But would He Zhi Tong believe this explanation?
This was why Xia Xiao Lan felt awkward and supported Du Zhao Hui’s decision to dig up Wang Jian Hua and present him to Xia Zi Yu.
If they liked playing dirty games, let them taste their own medicine.
While Xia Xiao Lan was struggling with whether to attend Tang Yuan Yue and He Zhi Tong’s wedding, Tang Yuan Yue returned to Hong Kong and learned of the situation. His solution was to face it directly:
“Rather than let others speculate and report wildly, we should maintain our association openly. I have nothing to hide about this matter. Although I once expressed feelings for you, I now sincerely want to marry Zhi Tong! If you don’t come because of this, won’t Zhi Tong harbor suspicions forever? I lent money to Zhao Hui without knowing it was for you – that was his disloyalty, always hiding things from me, afraid I might profit too much!”
Tang Yuan Yue personally called Xiao Lan to extend another invitation.
He didn’t avoid mentioning Du Zhao Hui’s pettiness, even joking about it.
Actually, Tang Yuan Yue knew that Du Zhao Hui’s reluctance to mention Xia Xiao Lan’s establishment of Qihang Capital and his unwillingness to let him invest wasn’t about preventing him from making money, but about avoiding frequent contact between him and Xia Xiao Lan – Du Zhao Hui was acting like a jealous boyfriend while being merely a secret admirer, which truly baffled Tang Yuan Yue!
Tang Yuan Yue wasn’t lying when he said he sincerely wanted to marry He Zhi Tong.
In his position, marrying someone he truly loved was a luxury. Being able to marry someone suitable whom he didn’t dislike was already his fortune.
The He family had helped him, and establishing closer ties through marriage was what he should do.
After his father Tang Jing Yun’s death, Tang Yuan Yue suddenly shouldered the burden and truly understood his father’s emphasis on “credibility.”
People say there’s no merchant without cunning, and the Tang family, despite their vast business empire, wasn’t exactly honest. But if they betrayed their allies at crucial moments, who would dare help the Tang family in future troubles?
Tang Yuan Yue willingly accepted marriage to He Zhi Tong – this was his responsibility!
Xia Xiao Lan agreed with Tang Yuan Yue’s perspective.
If Tang Yuan Yue had moved past it, wouldn’t she have avoided the situation and just made it more suspicious?
Xia Xiao Lan wasn’t so romantic as to believe that a man’s momentary attraction would last forever. Wasn’t someone allowed to move on from unrequited love?
“Don’t worry, Mr. Tang, I will attend to personally congratulate you and Miss He!”
Tang Yuan Yue’s tone relaxed, “Actually if Mr. Zhou attended with you, these rumors would naturally disappear…”
Xia Xiao Lan smiled bitterly, “Your wedding with Miss He will be grand, with many distinguished guests, merchants, and political figures attending. Even if Zhou Cheng could get leave, it wouldn’t be appropriate for him to appear in such a setting!”
Zhou Cheng was a classified unit official.
Should she ask him to accompany her to the wedding, be photographed by Hong Kong paparazzi, and have their pictures appear in gossip tabloids as the only way to counter the rumors?
Even if Zhou Cheng could go to Hong Kong, he wouldn’t be reported in this way.
If he appeared in entertainment newspapers involved in a love triangle with wealthy heirs, his unit would be the first to discipline him.
Tang Yuan Yue considered the mainland situation and realized he had made a foolish suggestion, so he awkwardly changed the subject.
They discussed Qihang Capital briefly, with Tang Yuan Yue finding it strange that its performance was mediocre, which didn’t match his impression of Xia Xiao Lan.
Unable to reveal the truth, Xia Xiao Lan vaguely replied:
“I’m not very familiar with the stock market, I’m slowly adapting. Entering a new field always requires some trial and error!”
Tang Yuan Yue was skeptical.
Xia Xiao Lan wouldn’t likely spend real money on “trial and error.”
If she lacked confidence in the stock market, why temporarily abandon her expertise in real estate development to enter Hong Kong – unless Xia Xiao Lan’s true target was Hong Kong real estate?
That would be truly presumptuous.
If we’re talking about real estate development, Shenzhen would be Xia Xiao Lan’s best base of operations. Even with over a hundred million Hong Kong dollars in capital, Xia Xiao Lan couldn’t play in Hong Kong’s real estate market.
With the Hong Kong government approving less and less land, there wasn’t enough for Hong Kong’s local real estate developers to divide among themselves, so how would they allow companies from outside Hong Kong to get involved?
In the face of absolute profits, Hong Kong’s real estate developers would collectively squeeze out outsiders, and no matter how clever Xia Xiao Lan was, she would be forced to leave with her tail between her legs!
Tang Yuan Yue absolutely couldn’t guess about the Hong Kong stock market crash, much less imagine that Xia Xiao Lan had entered the market three months in advance to both make money and set traps.
There was no need for Xia Xiao Lan to get involved in Hong Kong real estate!
In Hong Kong.
When Lu Yun Shi heard that Tang Yuan Yue had hurriedly contacted Xia Xiao Lan upon returning to Hong Kong to invite her to the wedding, she burst into angry curses:
“What kind of disgusting man is this, showing not the slightest concern for your feelings… Tang Yuan Yue is your husband, I’ll let him lose face and you won’t live well, but if that Xia woman dares to come, I’ll teach her a lesson!”