Du Zhaohui was acting on a whim.

At the cocktail party, he said he would fire Xia Dajun just to see Xia Xiaolan’s reaction.

Xia Xiaolan wasn’t pleased at all, displaying complete indifference as if it didn’t concern her. She was indeed cold and ruthless, yet careful not to give others anything to gossip about.

If she wouldn’t even acknowledge her father, how could anyone expect Xia Xiaolan to have genuine feelings for any man?

This woman, dressed beautifully at the cocktail party, was just looking for a wealthy patron. She first found Tang Yuanyue, then was soon alone with a foreigner on the terrace. Du Zhaohui certainly didn’t like Xia Xiaolan; it was just male instinct that made him notice an attractive woman in his presence. His attention to Xia Xiaolan met with her constant disdain and gradually became perverted… He just wanted to know when Xia Xiaolan would finally lose her composure, become flustered, and plead softly.

Not remain cold and rigid like now, as if she could handle anything by herself.

Women shouldn’t be stronger than men!

Du Zhaohui had drunk quite a bit, and his body felt warm.

“Young Master, Xia Dajun is here.”

Ah Hua stood properly beside him to report, but Du Zhaohui suddenly lost interest.

“Forget it, tell him to go back.”

Meeting Xia Dajun would be pointless; he had zero influence over Xia Xiaolan. She probably wouldn’t even blink if he died in front of her. The rest of the Xia family was even more useless, having all offended Xia Xiaolan deeply.

Perhaps only Xia Ziyu could make Xia Xiaolan change her expression.

“Ah Hua, did you arrange for a doctor to perform plastic surgery on Xia Ziyu as I asked?”

“As per your instructions, we contacted a Japanese doctor who can operate on Miss Xia Ziyu anytime, but they require us to send her to Japan. About this matter…”

Du Zhaohui sneered:

“Why go to Japan? Have the doctor perform the surgery in Kowloon Walled City. If I send Xia Ziyu to Japan, it could easily be traced back to me!”

Nothing could be traced in Kowloon Walled City.

But in Kowloon’s terrible environment, creating a sterile operating room would be extremely difficult. Ah Hua understood Du Zhaohui’s meaning – whether Xia Ziyu survived post-operation recovery would depend entirely on fate! Ah Hua felt no sympathy about this; pursuing wealth and status required sacrifice. Even he had to do things he didn’t want to as Du Zhaohui’s bodyguard. Why should Xia Ziyu be able to climb up without paying any price?

“Young Master, the Japanese doctor asked if we had any preferred templates, saying even a favorite female celebrity would work.”

Preferred template?

He couldn’t think of any female celebrities; since arriving in Pengcheng to expand the market, he hadn’t had time for such relationships. He must be too drunk – when trying to picture Hong Kong actresses, Du Zhaohui couldn’t piece together a single face.

The deepest impression in his mind was Xia Xiaolan from tonight’s party.

Damn, that woman was practically poisonous.

“No template! Tell him to make Xia Ziyu’s face smaller, women with large faces don’t look delicate and pitiful. Her nose is too big, too fleshy at the tip, and the bridge is too low! Can they do something about her eyes? Add a tear mole at the corner…”

Du Zhaohui was practically molding clay, reshaping Xia Ziyu at will.

There was no respect – he was treating Xia Ziyu like an object.

Ah Hua couldn’t question the Young Master’s aesthetics, so he recorded all of Du Zhaohui’s requirements.

Actually, Ah Hua felt that the Young Master’s requirements were based on Xia Xiaolan’s features, except for the deliberately added tear mole. Small face, high nose bridge, delicate and charming – that was precisely Xia Xiaolan… At this moment, Ah Hua truly felt sorry for Xia Dajun.

If he had maintained a good father-daughter relationship and kept Xia Xiaolan from opposing the Young Master, would Xia Dajun worry about not being valued?

Something was wrong with his head, rejecting a daughter like Xia Xiaolan and instead favoring his niece Xia Ziyu, whom the Young Master didn’t even see as human.

The problem wasn’t with the mercurial Young Master; the problem was with Xia Dajun.

Ah Hua quietly withdrew, having heard that the Young Master used to be quite the playboy in Hong Kong but hadn’t had any girlfriends since coming to the mainland. He must be frustrated, so Ah Hua thought it best not to linger around the Young Master at this time!

After analyzing the situation with Xiao Yu, Xia Dajun also believed that Du Zhaohui calling him late at night meant he valued him.

Xiao Yu had Xia Dajun change into a suit, nearly giving him heatstroke in Pengcheng’s July weather. Who wears suits in the height of summer? Only those who have cars to pick them up and drop them off, who frequent air-conditioned hotels and high-end residences… Xia Dajun had none of these privileges. His shirt was soaked with sweat as he waited outside for a long time until Ah Hua came out:

“The Young Master drank quite a bit tonight and fell asleep before you arrived. Dajun, we’ll have to wait until the Young Master is sober. You should head back first!”

Passed out drunk?

Xia Dajun felt indescribably disappointed.

He had wanted to show the Young Master that he could walk now and could return to work for him.

Xia Dajun wasn’t just disappointed; his scalp tingled with anxiety. His family was eagerly waiting, hoping he could solve the employment problems for Xia Hongbing’s family. This was what Xiao Yu had said – Xia Hongbing would go gambling whenever he was idle, and no amount of money, even a mountain of gold and silver, would be enough to cover his losses. Who could bear watching money being carelessly lost to others?

Xiao Yu’s words made sense.

Xiao Yu also said that Xia Hongxia needed a job, or no one would want to marry her.

If she went back to their hometown to marry a farmer, she wouldn’t need a job.

But to settle down in Pengcheng, everyone would scrutinize a woman’s circumstances. Once they learned her father was a gambler, her mother was lazy and gluttonous, and the whole family depended on their uncle for support, potential suitors would be scared away.

Xia Dajun was completely convinced by Xiao Yu. Xia Hongxia was only a year younger than Xia Xiaolan, already nineteen this year, and since she wasn’t continuing her education, she was definitely of marriageable age. Moreover, Hongxia had been sold to a small salon before; Xia Dajun didn’t dare ask what happened to her there, but regardless, having a proper job might make potential suitors overlook her past.

What Xia Dajun carried wasn’t just his future, but the urgent problems the Xia family needed to solve.

Coming with such hope only to be dismissed by Du Zhaohui – one can imagine Xia Dajun’s disappointment!

When pushed to desperation, even an honest person must find solutions. Xia Dajun stuck to Ah Hua, forcing himself to explain his family’s difficulties.

Ah Hua was shocked:

“You mean you want to arrange jobs in the company for your brother and niece?”

This was truly a case of one person’s success elevating their whole clan!

Ah Hua hadn’t expected Xia Dajun to be so thick-skinned. This wasn’t honesty; this was insatiable greed disguised as simplicity.

“Dajun, what are your brother’s and niece’s education levels? Do they know English? Do they have any skills? Prepare their resumes, and I’ll pass them to the company for consideration.”

Xia Dajun’s face reddened:

“My niece finished middle school, and my brother is strong…”

Having to say such things to Ah Hua was already humiliating. If he hadn’t been injured, Ah Hua wouldn’t have risen to his current position. Now that he had recovered, he had to ask favors from Ah Hua.

But Ah Hua’s words were well-founded. Even though Xia Dajun held a nominal position in the company, he knew the company’s hiring standards.

Even high school graduates couldn’t get in.

English proficiency was a hard requirement – all those employees sent from Hong Kong had English names!