A country bumpkin like him, going abroad?

Liu Yong shooed her away, “Stop talking nonsense, hurry to the airport.”

Since no one else could drive except Xia Xiaolan, they accompanied her to the airport. Xia Xiaolan left the car at the airport and took a flight back to Beijing.

When Xia Xiaolan mentioned taking Liu Yong abroad in the future, he took it as a joke.

Going abroad wasn’t easy these days – expensive tickets aside, the paperwork was troublesome. Liu Yong couldn’t imagine that foreign travel would one day become commonplace.

When Xia Xiaolan’s plane landed, it was already evening in Beijing.

She took a taxi from the airport straight to Tsinghua, making it back to the dormitory in time for the weekend room check.

“Where are you rushing back from this time?” Su Jing asked curiously, seeing Xia Xiaolan out of breath.

“Don’t ask, I went to Pengcheng for the weekend. Have you seen Ning Xue return? I need to find her.”

Xia Xiaolan’s lifestyle was something Su Jing couldn’t envy.

Su Jing hadn’t even been on a plane while being a ‘frequent flyer’ was routine for Xia Xiaolan. But she didn’t envy her – everyone could see how busy Xia Xiaolan was.

“Ning Xue is back on campus. No matter how good her academic performance is, she still has to attend room checks. But what’s going on between you two? You seemed close before, but lately, you’ve grown distant.”

What could Xia Xiaolan say? Su Jing was perceptive.

“Stop worrying about these things. Focus on your studies, otherwise next semester you’ll have to do all the dormitory cleaning – wouldn’t that be embarrassing?”

Su Jing spat, “Like a dog biting Lu Dongbin, who cares about you? Go find Ning Xue!”

Xia Xiaolan couldn’t explain in detail how her budding friendship with the academic genius Ning Xue had been mercilessly cut short by Ning Xue’s mother. She felt helpless about it.

Ning Xue’s attitude toward Xia Xiaolan hadn’t changed.

She maintained her original demeanor, and upon hearing that Xia Xiaolan wanted to meet her grandfather, Ning Xue thought for a moment: “Tuesday afternoon would be better, fewer classes then.”

Being in the same major and class, they naturally shared the same schedule.

Xia Xiaolan agreed it was perfect, giving her time to organize her thoughts before speaking to Ning Yanfan.

…

In Yangcheng.

Li Fengmei made these trips to Yangcheng every two weeks to see Liu Yong.

It was better than last year when Li Fengmei and Liu Fen co-managed one store, taking turns coming to Yangcheng for stock, which meant Li Fengmei and Liu Yong only met every two or three months.

The couple met frequently now, discussing their child and business matters, their brief separations making reunions sweeter. Last year’s false “affair” had warned Li Fengmei. When spouses don’t meet for long periods, their relationship can grow distant.

Busy lives could lead to fading feelings, and then someone else’s care and attention could replace her position. Li Fengmei didn’t intend to make this mistake again.

Seeing Xia Xiaolan and Liu Fen thriving in Beijing, Li Fengmei felt envious:

“Ah Fen and Xiaolan are both opening their third stores. Should I open another one too? Compared to them, I feel unaccomplished.”

Liu Yong smiled bitterly, “That would’ve been fine earlier, but opening a store now needs renovation costs, several tens of thousands for inventory… I’m working on a big project with Xiaolan, and we need to gather all our money. I’m even thinking of having you mortgage the clothing store for a loan. Let’s put the branch store plan on hold.”

“How much money do you need to gather?”

“At least 700,000 yuan, but the more the better.”

“That much!”

Li Fengmei was startled, “Where would we get that kind of money?”

“Of course, we don’t have it, that’s why we need loans. Not only will we mortgage the clothing store, but once the contract is signed, I’ll use it for another loan. I can gather 200,000 yuan, and like Xiaolan, I’ll repay Manager Wu’s loan first, then borrow again.”

Liu Yong counted it out for Li Fengmei.

Manager Wu, he had borrowed 300,000 yuan and repaid 100,000 after the New Year.

With another 200,000, he could clear that loan.

He’d used the bank’s money for less than a year, but it had earned him considerable profit.

For the new loan from Manager Wu, inspired by Xia Xiaolan, Liu Yong planned to mortgage their Nanluoguxiang quadrangle courtyard, aiming for 400,000 yuan this time.

After buying government bonds, he’d receive around 350,000 yuan.

If the Shangdu clothing store could secure a 50,000-100,000 yuan loan, Liu Yong would have 400,000 yuan.

Though the Nanhai Hotel wasn’t a municipal government project and the main building was already completed, such a large hotel couldn’t just disappear. If Dongfeng Holdings was willing to give Yuanhui a quarter of the project worth 4 million yuan in budget, surely the banks in Pengcheng would loan at least 400,000 yuan!

Liu Yong’s target was 800,000 yuan, though he could accept 700,000.

Li Fengmei broke out in cold sweat:

“You’re saying Xiaolan needs to gather this much too? Together you’re investing over a million yuan?”

Xia Xiaolan was mortgaging physical assets, but Liu Yong was taking a bigger gamble – using Yuanhui’s cash flow for loans in Beijing and the project contract for loans in Pengcheng… If the project payments fell through, Liu Yong’s company would collapse, and Li Fengmei’s clothing store couldn’t be saved.

Li Fengmei didn’t understand – why take on such big business without having enough money?

The family wasn’t lacking money as things stood.

Others could live on salaries of dozens of yuan, yet Liu Yong and Xia Xiaolan wanted to risk over a million yuan in business – a million yuan, imagine how big that pile would be!

“Does Ah Fen know about this?”

Liu Yong felt the pressure too, but gave Li Fengmei a strange look:

“Whatever Xiaolan does, her mother supports it. Ah Fen won’t oppose.”

Li Fengmei pinched him, “I mean, this business was introduced by Mayor Tang – does Ah Fen know about that!”

Yes, Mayor Tang had introduced it.

But if the business failed, Mayor Tang wouldn’t compensate for their million-plus loss.

Liu Yong had hesitated before, but once decided, he became fearless.

“Xiaolan will tell Ah Fen, don’t worry about that. I know you want to match Ah Fen with Mayor Tang, but our families have different backgrounds. If Ah Fen faces difficulties later, who could stand up for her?”

Liu Yong wouldn’t sell his sister for advancement.

No matter how approachable, a mayor was still a high official. Think about New Year at Qijing Village – what kind of people came to see Mayor Tang? Even Director Fang from Anqing County couldn’t enter the house.

Li Fengmei was angered by Liu Yong, “What do you know? The Xia family had nothing, but haven’t they treated your sister well?”

Liu Yong didn’t argue.

Precisely because the Xia family was insignificant, they could seek justice after they mistreated Liu Fen.

Xia Changzheng and Zhang Cui were imprisoned, who knew if Xia Hongbing’s family had been released from detention, and that most annoying Xia Ziyu had become a fugitive… Xiaolan’s current position came from the Xia family’s misdeeds, allowing her to now hold power over them.

If it were Mayor Tang, who could do anything if a high official wanted to do wrong?

Liu Yong understood now – justice and fairness don’t come from heaven’s mercy alone, you must rely on yourself. Only when you’re capable and powerful enough will heaven spare you a glance and address your grievances!