Xia Ziyu remained unperturbed.

Du Zhaohui was just lucky to be born into wealth, and like many others, he lacked the wisdom to recognize true worth. He wasn’t the only one blind to what was right in front of him.

“Before we discuss cooperation, let me first show my sincerity. Mr. Du, you seem to be in trouble now. You injured that high-ranking official’s son in Beijing, and his family won’t let this matter rest. This must be giving you quite a headache, right? And you discovered that this official’s son has a good relationship with my cousin, which made you think of my Second Uncle, hoping to resolve this trouble through him… I apologize for getting off track. Let’s talk about my cousin instead – she’s beautiful, intelligent, and particularly vindictive. Her boyfriend comes from an impressive background, which must be causing you considerable anxiety.”

Even thinking about making threats made Du Zhaohui feel constrained, given the Zhou family’s background. Anyone could see how frustrated he must be.

While Du Zhaohui was studying Xia Ziyu, she was also observing him. People like Du Zhaohui, born with silver spoons in their mouths, couldn’t handle even the slightest grievance.

Xia Ziyu felt experienced in dealing with such people – flatter them, go along with them, but also make them feel useful!

In just a few sentences, she explained the situation with the Zhou family.

She had deliberately investigated the Zhou family. The more Ran Shuyu and Wang Jianhua were vague about them, the more curious she became. After learning that Zhou Cheng had become a high-ranking official, Xia Ziyu didn’t stop there. She also investigated Zhou Cheng’s parents’ work, especially Wang Guangping’s transfer to the Party History Office. Feeling her safety wasn’t guaranteed, Xia Ziyu became extremely vigilant about the Zhou family, using every means at her disposal to research them.

Xia Xiaolan was fortunate to have caught the most promising young man in the Zhou family. Though Xia Ziyu hadn’t met Zhou Cheng yet, with his family background and prospects, he would be an excellent match even if he looked like a pig!

What Xia Ziyu knew was just superficial. While she could name Zhou Guobin and Zhou Wenban’s positions and knew where the Zhou family patriarch had retired from, she couldn’t specify the Zhou family’s allies or enemies.

However, the information she brought still enlightened Du Zhaohui considerably.

Du Zhaohui was incredibly frustrated. The background of Xia Xiaolan’s boyfriend had been confirmed – if Tang Hong’en, the Kang family, and the Zhou family united, he, as an outsider, would have to lay low like an insect.

“Are you jealous of Xia Xiaolan?”

Though Du Zhaohui kept his thoughts hidden from Xia Ziyu, after she believed she had done him a favor, his unexpected question nearly infuriated her.

“Mr. Du!”

“It’s normal to be jealous of someone. Jealousy can be a motivating force.”

Du Zhaohui put himself in Xia Ziyu’s position. Having a cousin who surpassed her in everything – from heaven-given looks to intelligence to the quality of the man she attracted – would naturally make Xia Ziyu angry.

A family couldn’t accommodate two ambitious people; they would compete for attention and resources. If Du Zhaohui had a cousin who outshone him in every way, he wouldn’t hesitate to eliminate them given the chance!

The Xia family was poor, which only made the competition fiercer – fighting over clothes, food, and educational opportunities.

Xia Ziyu’s expression darkened, though she was typically very patient. If it had been Xia Xiaolan facing Du Zhaohui’s attitude, she would have stormed out already.

“Mr. Du, I’ve shown my sincerity. Can we discuss cooperation now?”

Du Zhaohui thought for a moment and had his bodyguard bring in his briefcase.

“Your information has value, and I’ll pay you for it. I usually prefer to settle in Yuan, but some people in Shenzhen prefer Hong Kong dollars since they can directly buy Hong Kong goods.”

Writing checks was also possible, though Du Zhaohui didn’t particularly like this method. A check for anything less than 100,000 felt insubstantial.

Cash was different, especially Yuan. With the largest denomination being 10 Yuan, giving 10,000 Yuan meant ten stacks, creating an impressive visual effect.

Xia Ziyu was stunned by Du Zhaohui’s response.

Du Zhaohui thanked her for the information by placing 10,000 Yuan before her.

If she had only wanted 10,000 Yuan, why would she risk coming to the hospital to find Du Zhaohui? She could have just taken money from Xia Dajun and returned to Beijing!

Xia Ziyu understood – Du Zhaohui hadn’t taken her mention of “cooperation” seriously at all.

If she were more impulsive, she would have left immediately. However, with Wang Guangping’s transfer to the Party History Office and Wang Jianhua being only a potential future asset, she had limited options. Beijing was full of important people, but Xia Ziyu couldn’t connect with them. Through Xia Dajun’s connections, she had finally managed to speak directly with a Hong Kong merchant’s son… losing this opportunity meant not knowing when the next one would come.

In 1985, she wouldn’t easily find another person who could casually donate several million to a school.

“Mr. Du, I gave you this information for free. Since you’re not interested in discussing further cooperation, I’ll take my leave.”

Xia Ziyu wrapped her scarf around half her face and left the hospital.

Du Zhaohui fingered the money in his hands, finding the two Xia sisters quite interesting. The seemingly vain one refused his money, though he would have offered not just 10,000, but at least two more zeros to resolve this matter.

The seemingly modest one wanted money but pretended to refuse it mysteriously.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want money; she thought the amount was too small and wanted to get more from him. Like the girlfriends he’d dated, those who straightforwardly asked for gifts, Du Zhaohui would try to satisfy. Those who refused gifts were troublesome – they were trying to maintain an image to marry into wealth!

…

“Ziyu, are you done talking with the young master?”

Xia Dajun wheeled his chair forward. Xia Ziyu concealed her anger and put on a smile:

“Second Uncle, I’m finished. Mr. Du seemed busy, so I left. Where are you staying tonight? Let me wheel you back.”

Thinking that Xia Xiaolan was also in the hospital made Xia Ziyu uncomfortable. She would need to be patient with Du Zhaohui; being too eager would make him look down on her.

Xia Ziyu needed to find a place to stay.

When Xia Dajun had been Du Zhaohui’s bodyguard, he lived next door to wherever Du Zhaohui stayed.

He didn’t have his place.

It would be lonely to spend Spring Festival alone, and since Xia Ziyu came to Shenzhen to keep him company, Xia Dajun naturally wanted her to stay for a few days. He had initially thought of letting her stay with his hometown friend Xiaoyu, but remembering Young Master Du’s jokes, he felt this arrangement wouldn’t be appropriate.

“We’ll stay at a guest house. Second Uncle has money now, no need to save money for me!”

Xia Dajun thought he was being generous, but Xia Ziyu secretly frowned while pushing his wheelchair: not staying in the same place as Du Zhaohui would make it harder to find excuses to see him again!