In front of Yu Li and Zheng Feng, Xia Xiaolan didn’t ask too many questions.

She was already delighted that Zhou Cheng could stay in Hong Kong. Selfishly, she hoped Zhou Cheng’s assignment would last as long as possible. She had so many things to tell Zhou Cheng – how could letters capture all the little moments in life?

“If only things could be like before!”

Like before, when Zhou Cheng would call two or three times a week. During her second half-year as an exchange student in America, despite being separated by the Pacific Ocean, she felt so close to Zhou Cheng.

Zhou Cheng’s eyes were full of smiles. “Things will get better. Once I finish this task, we can return to our previous frequency of contact.”

Xia Xiaolan nodded: “That would be wonderful. The house in Luohu Tiancheng should be completed in about six months. Had I known you were coming to Hong Kong, I would have brought the design drawings with me so you could check if anything needs modification.”

Xia Xiaolan intended to use the Luohu Tiancheng house as their marital home.

Zhou Cheng didn’t brush it off with casual remarks – he genuinely wanted to be involved.

“But since you’ve shifted your business focus to Hong Kong and Qiong Island, will we have time to live in Pengcheng?”

Zhou Cheng’s question was also Xia Xiaolan’s worry.

Should they get another house on Qiong Island?

Who knew how many years Zhou Cheng would stay there?

Zhou Cheng was like a building block; he moved wherever he needed to.

Xia Xiaolan took Zhou Cheng to Qihang Capital. The company had hired many employees, all calling her “Director Xia.” She naturally introduced Zhou Cheng’s status to everyone:

“This is Mr. Zhou Cheng, my fiancé.”

“Hello, Mr. Zhou!”

So this was the man behind Director Xia – not President Tang from Yuhua, not the Du family’s eldest son, but this Mr. Zhou.

The company staff were very curious about Zhou Cheng’s background, but seeing his bearing, they could tell he wasn’t ordinary, and everyone was extremely welcoming.

Ji Jiangyuan had been waiting for Xia Xiaolan and opened his office door.

“Xiaolan, I’ve found a promising… Oh, Zhou Cheng?!”

Zhou Cheng shook hands with Ji Jiangyuan. “Thank you for coming to Hong Kong to help Xiaolan. You two discuss business first, and we’ll have dinner together tonight.”

Ji Jiangyuan didn’t stand at the ceremony. It wouldn’t be appropriate to call him Instructor Zhou anymore – they were engaged now, and as Xia Xiaolan’s stepbrother, they were practically family.

Ji Jiangyuan was quite puzzled by Xia Xiaolan’s previous operations – losing several million in trial and error was enough, he had wanted to discuss this with her for a while.

Xia Xiaolan gave Zhou Cheng an apologetic smile as Ji Jiangyuan pulled her into the office.

Zhou Cheng stood at the door, gesturing for them to talk first.

At this point, forget dinner – they hadn’t even had lunch. Returning from a wedding banquet on an empty stomach was truly absurd!

“Little Yu, please order some food. You and Zheng Feng haven’t eaten either, right? Let’s all eat together.”

“Yes, Mr. Zhou!”

Yu Li didn’t say much, though she was quite angry.

These wealthy Hong Kong people who considered themselves high society didn’t understand basic etiquette.

Director Xia probably hadn’t even sipped water at the wedding banquet, let alone taste the supposedly 5,000 Hong Kong dollars per table feast.

Director Xia had even given a wedding gift.

Hmph!

So this was how high society treated their guests!

This so-called “high society” was quite meaningless. Yu Li, worried about Director Xia going hungry, hurriedly went to arrange for food.

He casually found a chair:

“May I sit?”

“Of course, you may sit, Mr. Zhou, please!”

Zhou Cheng waved his hand. “No need to be so nervous. Let’s just chat casually. You’re a Hong Kong local, right? I have something I’d like to ask you – would it interfere with your work?”

The middle-aged man Zhou Cheng had pulled aside was a bit nervous.

The tabloids said Director Xia had a financial backer – could it be this Mr. Zhou?

Or perhaps there was no backer, and Director Xia was the main investor herself. In that case, the man before him must be someone worthy of matching the financial investor – who would dare underestimate him!

“Mr. Zhou, you’re too polite. Yes, I’m a Hong Kong local, Zhang Bailun. I’ve been settled here with my family for over 20 years.”

Zhou Cheng nodded:

“Then you must know Hong Kong well. Have you heard of a woman named Lu Yunshi? People seem to call her Abby. There’s also a man surnamed Qiu who knows Lu Yunshi – he’s not very tall, has pale skin, and looks quite frail.”

Zhang Bailun thought for a moment. “Are you referring to Miss Lu Yunshi from the Star Herald? If you’re talking about someone surnamed Qiu around Lu Yunshi who matches your description, it can only be Qiu Jiaming. Miss Lu is quite well-known in Hong Kong, but Qiu Jiaming is even more famous, though his reputation is rather… negative, like-“

Zhang Bailun almost blurted out that Qiu Jiaming was like Young Master Du from two or three years ago.

What a slip! He had almost spoken the brutal truth.

Fortunately, Young Master Du wasn’t here to hear it. Offending the company’s second-largest shareholder – how would he continue working here?

Comparing Qiu Jiaming to Du Zhaohui didn’t seem quite right either. Du Zhaohui was just a playboy, while Qiu Jiaming had even lower moral standards.

Zhang Bailun quickly corrected himself, “Mr. Zhou, as you’re Director Xia’s fiancé, I don’t know if you’re acquainted with Young Master Du. The Qiu family is similar to the Du family, though their business scale isn’t as large as the Du family’s, and they often compete in business. The Star-Herald is a family-run newspaper, and the Lu family owns not just the Star-Herald but also the South Hong Kong Financial Report. The two papers have different focuses, and they also publish magazines.”

Hong Kong’s news industry was extremely developed, with the highest ratio of newspapers to population in the world.

With so many newspapers, the key to survival in this small space was free competition.

Papers that fell behind the times would be eliminated. As Hong Kong’s situation changed, the structure of the newspaper industry was also changing.

Newspapers that were popular ten years ago might have shut down today. Keeping a newspaper running in Hong Kong was quite challenging.

The Lu family still maintained two newspapers and published magazines – their family business was doing quite well!

“Do you think this Lu Yunshi has a chance of taking over the family business?”

Zhou Cheng’s question made Zhang Bailun laugh:

“Mr. Zhou, you might not be familiar with how things work in Hong Kong. In families like the Lus, daughters are only groomed to take over when sons prove completely incompetent. Miss Lu has two older brothers and a younger one. I’d say her chances of inheriting the newspaper business are extremely slim.”

Were there cases of daughters inheriting family businesses when there were sons?

Of course, there were.

Years later, the Macau gambling king’s business would be inherited by his daughter.

Clearly, from Zhang Bailun’s words, Lu Yunshi wasn’t the type of queen who could make her brothers step aside willingly.

The social environment of 1987 was also different from 2017!

As for Qiu Jiaming, Zhang Bailun said his family was similar to the Du family, with business competition… Zhou Cheng couldn’t help but think more deeply. Business similar to the Du family’s didn’t sound very legitimate – could the Qiu family also be involved in smuggling?

“Thank you, I understand now.”

The food Yu Li ordered arrived, and Xia Xiaolan and Ji Jiangyuan had finished their discussion. Ji Jiangyuan looked at the delivered food in surprise:

“Xiaolan, didn’t you attend a wedding banquet today?”

A wealthy family’s wedding banquet… Surely they hadn’t failed to even get a meal there?

Ji Jiangyuan wondered if something had happened!