“Look on the bright side, at least you’re getting well paid.”

Ji Jiangyuan glanced at her:

“Thanks, you know how to comfort people.”

Xia Xiaolan accepted Ji Jiangyuan’s insincere thanks, knowing she had spoken the truth:

“With time, you’ll realize Harold won’t be the only one treating you differently because of Uncle Tang. Ji Jiangyuan, if you want to stay in China, you’ll have to get used to this. You don’t need to feel uncomfortable about it – Uncle Tang earned his current position through his hard work. As his son, if you can’t feel proud, at least you shouldn’t feel ashamed, right?”

Tang Hongen wasn’t some corrupt official – what was shameful about being his son?

As the son of Shenzhen’s mayor, Ji Jiangyuan was undoubtedly a high official’s child. Though his relationship with Tang Hongen might be distant, outsiders didn’t care about that. The more power Tang Hongen had, the more people would try to curry favor… Harold was nothing, just a drop in the ocean. Some people tried to get close to leaders by approaching their family members and offering gifts and money to Ji Jiangyuan.

Wasn’t that exactly what Liu Tianquan had done? Back then, they didn’t even know Ji Jiangyuan existed, but Fat Liu desperately tried to get close to her uncle because of Tang Hongen’s apparent closeness to Yuanhui.

Classmate Ji Jiangyuan had ideals and aspirations, so he was indignant about people trying to curry favor indirectly.

He complained about her poor comforting skills, but didn’t he realize how many emotionally fragile people would envy his position right now?

Ji Jiangyuan was silent for a while, “So you’re saying I should continue being Harold’s companion, pretending none of this happened?”

Xia Xiaolan gave him a strange look, “Classmate Ji, even pride needs backing. You’re currently buried in debt, and if you can’t come up with the tens of thousands of dollars your mother wants by graduation, you’ll have to crawl back to her begging for mercy. If the companion job pays well, of course, you should keep doing it!”

He was being used as a stepping stone to get close to Tang Hongen, and the young man’s feelings were hurt – but shouldn’t he at least earn some part-time money?

“100 dollars a day!”

Ji Jiangyuan angrily stabbed the bread roll again.

“Then congratulations! No project can be finalized quickly, so you have the entire summer to earn money through this part-time job. Why turn down several thousand dollars?”

In 1985, several thousand dollars was not a small sum.

Xia Xiaolan remembered reading news about the 1980s in her previous life. In the early 1980s, when China opened up for tourism after reform and opening up, an American couple interested in China had to pay $1,800 for a 10-day China tour… Chinese people assumed that with America’s development, $1,800 would be easy for them to pay. The truth was they both had to work part-time jobs and save for a while to gather that amount!

Dollars weren’t just valuable in China – several thousand dollars was quite substantial anywhere.

On the black market exchange, it could be worth tens of thousands in Chinese currency. Xia Xiaolan thought this part-time job was worth doing!

They say young people learn from being fooled, but his feelings were still hurt by the wealthy. If Xia Xiaolan were Ji Jiangyuan, she would try to drag out Harold’s China trip even longer… Well, better not teach Ji Jiangyuan such devious methods.

Why not take a few thousand dollars?

Ji Jiangyuan’s good impression of Harold had completely vanished. While he wouldn’t help George and Ji Ya do anything bad, he wouldn’t favor Harold either.

“Maybe you’re right – I should just take the part-time salary without thinking too much. I take back what I said earlier. Though your words are direct and harsh, they’re all correct!”

It was good he could see it that way. Ji Jiangyuan didn’t need Xia Xiaolan’s sympathy.

Please – a high-end companion job paying $100 per day, with car service, luxury hotel accommodations, good food, and even formal wear? How many people would envy Ji Jiangyuan for such excellent conditions?

What was there to sympathize with? If a wealthy American woman needed a companion like Ji Jiangyuan, Xia Xiaolan wouldn’t mind taking a $100 per day part-time job either.

“Ji, there you are.”

An elderly foreigner approached, “Am I interrupting your chat with this beautiful lady?”

Ji Jiangyuan put down his fork, “Butler Allen, I’ll go upstairs right away.”

Ji Jiangyuan smiled apologetically, and Xia Xiaolan told him to attend to his work first.

“It’s fine, I’ll be staying in Shenzhen for a while, we’ll have chances to meet again.”

She would be staying in the south all summer, except for a construction seminar in Jiangcheng on July 20th. Xia Xiaolan’s summer focus was on business here. Though she had previously said she wouldn’t be friends with Ji Jiangyuan anymore, after his several kind warnings and considering Tang Hongen, they couldn’t remain strangers forever.

Neither had specifically mentioned it, but both Ji Jiangyuan and Xia Xiaolan knew they were friends again!

But just ordinary friends – because of Ji Ya standing between them, Xia Xiaolan and Ji Jiangyuan’s relationship couldn’t get any closer, not even best friends.

When Xia Xiaolan turned around, she found Du Zhaohui talking to Liu Yong.

Seeing Xia Xiaolan approach, Du Zhaohui raised his voice with a laugh:

“Miss Xia is quite busy. I have a renovation project and was just asking Manager Liu’s opinion – would Yuanhui be interested?”

Liu Yong had zero interest – this Du person wasn’t good news, just like Liu Tianquan.

In public, Xia Xiaolan could only smile and decline:

“Young Master Du must be joking. You already own a renovation company. Tiancheng is bigger than Yuanhui – what work would be left for us? Besides, Yuanhui needs to focus on the Nanhai Hotel renovation now. We probably couldn’t spare any workers for Young Master Du’s project.”

This Du person was like a persistent ghost, and Xia Xiaolan was very wary of him.

Du Zhaohui sighed:

“What use is Tiancheng being bigger than Yuanhui when it doesn’t have talented designers like Miss Xia? Tiancheng couldn’t even win the Nanhai Hotel bid against Yuanhui. Honestly, I don’t trust Tiancheng – it was previously managed by others. Every family has its difficulties. I understand your concerns, but in business, are there eternal enemies? I hope we can resolve our differences through cooperation—”

Xia Xiaolan was nearly sick of listening.

“Young Master Du, let me be direct – whoever I dislike, you employ them. Whoever I have grudges with, you help them. I never want to cooperate with you in this lifetime!”

Du Zhaohui put down his wine glass:

“Oh, I see. Then if I fire Xia Dajun, would that show my sincerity? As for Xia Ziyu, sorry, but I haven’t seen her since she became a fugitive. I swear, not even once!”

Fire Xia Dajun?

For a moment, Xia Xiaolan was tempted, but then she wanted to laugh coldly: now that Xia Dajun had a job, the Xia family would firmly leech off him, and she and Xia Dajun were in a state of mutual disregard. If Xia Dajun were fired, wouldn’t those Xia family parasites just come crawling back?

Before Xia Xiaolan could respond, she heard someone shout:

“Mayor Tang has appeared.”

“Mayor Tang finally shows up – who’s that unfamiliar person beside him?”

Xia Xiaolan and Du Zhaohui followed everyone’s gaze. A foreign man was following Tang Hongen. Du Zhaohui turned to look at Xia Xiaolan again, his expression meaningful.

Du Zhaohui’s look seemed to suggest he had caught Xia Xiaolan in some impropriety.