On Saturday, Xia Xiaolan didn’t return to Hong Kong.

On Sunday, it was the same.

Xia Ziyu no longer had any doubts about Liu Fen’s “critical condition.”

One mountain cannot harbor two tigers – how could two reborn people coexist peacefully?

She must eliminate Liu Fen for her destiny to truly proceed smoothly!

Xia Xiaolan could guess what Xia Ziyu was imagining.

After two days of questioning at the police station, Tian Xiaoyan’s psychological defenses finally collapsed, and she truthfully confessed her crime and motives.

After being pushed out of the car by Xia Ziyu, she began her vagrant life in Pengcheng.

Initially, before Xia Xiaolan sent people to look for her, Tian Xiaoyan had actually visited the People’s Bridge Small Commodities Market. She was lost then, wanting to ask Xia Hongxia to take her in again while she made other plans.

But seeing Xia Hongxia wiping sweat around the stove, Tian Xiaoyan turned and ran again.

Even if Xia Hongxia was willing to take her in, what use would it be? That wasn’t the life Tian Xiaoyan wanted.

She wanted to be above others!

Fine clothes, luxury homes, everyone catering to her and agreeing with her – not struggling for survival in a greasy small restaurant!

The only person who could give her such a life was Xia Ziyu.

Xia Ziyu wouldn’t keep useless people, and she wanted Tian Xiaoyan to kill Liu Fen… Tian Xiaoyan chose to hide and wait for an opportunity, not daring to act herself. If she hadn’t met an easily fooled idiot, Tian Xiaoyan might have given up on this plan.

This was how Tian Xiaoyan told it to the police. Throughout this process, she didn’t stop being crafty, pushing everything onto Xia Ziyu, saying Xia Ziyu had threatened her, that she was just scared and had no choice but to follow Xia Ziyu’s orders.

She kept crying, telling the police how pitiful she was.

She had made a mistake and would definitely correct it, and so on.

“She’s still not being honest. Continue questioning her, though we probably won’t get any valuable evidence,” Xia Xiaolan frowned.

Drama queens had no age limit.

At most, Xia Ziyu had manipulated and used Tian Xiaoyan.

As for threats, what could she threaten with?

Tian Xiaoyan could have chosen not to work for Xia Ziyu.

If there was no evil in her heart, she could have just stood before Liu Fen and explained everything clearly.

Xia Ziyu had merely amplified the evil in Tian Xiaoyan’s heart… but attacking Liu Fen was still Tian Xiaoyan’s own decision.

Xia Xiaolan wasn’t so easily fooled, nor did she believe Tian Xiaoyan would reform.

However, Ji Jiangyuan’s return to Pengcheng wasn’t just an act to deceive Xia Ziyu. When he heard about Liu Fen’s injury, he immediately returned to Pengcheng to visit.

After all, Liu Fen had taken such good care of him and was willing to lend him money. Hearts are made of flesh, and Ji Jiangyuan’s concern was genuine.

He received the news while at Qingshan Hospital.

When she heard about Liu Fen’s injury, Ji Ya’s expression was extremely pleased.

Ji Jiangyuan strongly disapproved, and Ji Ya sneered:

“I raised you to this age, and you’re rushing to be a village woman’s son!”

It wasn’t enough that she had stolen Tang Hongen, now she wanted to steal her son too.

Ji Jiangyuan couldn’t be bothered to argue.

What drove him to visit Ji Ya at Qingshan Hospital every week was no longer filial affection, but the shackles of blood relations binding him.

– Aunt Liu had her daughter, why would she need to steal a son? The couple’s relationship was excellent, they didn’t need to curry favor with him, the ex-wife’s son!

But arguing with Ji Ya was pointless.

“I can’t control your thoughts, and you can’t control my actions.”

Ji Jiangyuan left after saying this. He truly didn’t care if Ji Ya would be angry. No matter what others did, if it didn’t match Ji Ya’s thoughts, she could always find fault… and he, as an economically and mentally independent adult, would no longer be controlled by Ji Ya.

When Ji Jiangyuan returned to Pengcheng, he naturally didn’t mention this episode, but Tang Hongen was very happy to see him return.

This was his son, and though they weren’t very close, this child had a conscience.

That was enough!

They would take it slowly.

While Xia Ziyu thought Xia Xiaolan was crying in grief and panic, Xia Xiaolan’s family was quite harmonious. Liu Fen’s injury had brought the family even closer together.

…

October 19, 1987, Monday.

This day would be written into Hong Kong stock market textbooks.

Any account of Hong Kong’s stock market crash would inevitably include today.

Today, Xia Xiaolan didn’t go to the company but went directly to the exchange.

How could she not be present in person for the main event?

Just past nine o’clock on the morning of the 19th, before the exchange opened for trading, the autumn air was crisp, and Hong Kong’s sky was a soul-refreshing blue.

“The weather is nice today!”

Zhang Byron nodded perfunctorily.

He hadn’t had a good weekend at all. None of Hong Kong’s financial papers believed the stock market would fall.

“Ms. Xia, let’s close our positions as soon as the market opens…”

Losing forty million couldn’t be helped. Making money in the stock market depended on luck. Bad luck this time, maybe better luck next time to earn it back.

The boss was still too young.

It wasn’t necessarily all bad for young people to stumble early.

Zhang Byron advised earnestly, but Xia Xiaolan just glanced at him, “Who said anything about closing positions? As soon as the market opens, continue shorting, and we must act quickly, no delays!”

Zhang Byron looked at Ji Jiangyuan.

Ji Jiangyuan smiled at him, and Zhang Byron instantly despaired.

Right, today was Monday, and Manager Ji should have been back at school, but he stayed in Hong Kong, wasn’t it just to join the boss in this madness?

Manager Ji and the boss were both in their early twenties. Zhang Byron suspected he was getting old and couldn’t keep up with young people’s pace.

The forty million loss belonged to the boss and shareholders, not him. If the boss wasn’t worried, why should he be anxious?

Thinking this way, Zhang Byron suddenly felt much more relaxed.

If disaster was inevitable, he had already tried to prevent it. The rest was up to heaven… Oh heavens, when the market opens today, it must fall!

Another car stopped.

Lu Yunshi stepped out with her handbag and high heels. When Miss Lu appeared, this place looked more like a runway than an exchange.

“Xia Xiaolan, you’re such a small person, maliciously shorting our Lu family’s stocks!”

Xia Xiaolan couldn’t help laughing, “Miss Lu, you should be responsible for what you say. Lu Family Press is a listed company, and stocks are meant to be traded by investors. If no one is interested in this stock, that would indicate problems with Lu Family Press.”

Lu Yunshi rolled her eyes:

“I admire you, still able to laugh after losing millions.”

Xia Xiaolan nodded very seriously, “Well, what can I do? I have money. Not just a few million, I can afford to lose even tens of millions… So I plan to continue shorting ‘Lu Family Press’ after the market opens. What does Miss Lu think about that?”

“You—”

Lu Yunshi clutched her handbag tightly, her eyes wide.

How could there be such a shameless woman as Xia Xiaolan?

Lu Yunshi laughed in extreme anger, “Fine, I was worried you wouldn’t continue shorting. Let’s see how much money you can lose. Money given to you by others, once lost, you’ll have to find a way to pay it back!”

“Miss Lu doesn’t need to worry about that. Whatever money I owe, I certainly don’t owe Miss Lu a penny.”

Xia Xiaolan looked up to see Xia Ziyu’s car just parked.

Looking at her watch again, there were two minutes until the market opened at 10…

Tick, tick, tick.

Why was the second hand moving so slowly?!