Xia Xiaolan had no idea what precious opportunity she had given to Little You.
She didn’t think Little You was a gold digger either.
A true gold digger wouldn’t work so diligently. Little You wanted to work hard and was the type of girl who preferred to change her life through her efforts… Xia Xiaolan didn’t care at all about Little You concealing her age and her relationship with Shao Guangrong. It wasn’t strange for a teenage girl to temporarily lose her way and look for shortcuts, but hadn’t she corrected her course and started working earnestly?
Xia Xiaolan was willing to give opportunities, but Little You had to work hard to seize them.
Take the rent collection matter, for instance. Some people only move when prodded, but Little You, despite having no work experience, knew to “organize” – this showed both insight and sincere commitment.
Xia Xiaolan admired anyone, male or female, who was willing to be self-reliant and work hard.
Education was certainly important – even at Xia Xiaolan’s level she still cared about it, otherwise, why would she study architecture at Huaqing?
But she had her reasons for attending university.
For a secretary position, she wasn’t as demanding. Little You possessed all the necessary qualities – quick-witted and diligent. She was also very young, seemingly barely 18, which was the golden age for learning. If she hadn’t been a secretary before, she could learn on the job, and if she wanted to further her studies, Xia Xiaolan could sponsor her education for a few years.
She contacted Ge Jian, asking him to help settle Little You when she reported to Pengcheng.
“Arrange accommodation for her, find someone to teach her properly, let her learn typing and English. Also Cantonese – the more she can learn, the better, since she’ll be dealing with Hong Kong clients quite often.”
While agreeing, Ge Jian thought that having a female secretary was indeed suitable for Manager Xia.
To be Manager Xia’s secretary, one needed to be accomplished in everything, able to share her burdens and not bring her shame.
It would be even better if she knew some martial arts.
Ge Jian was eager to see Little You’s potential, contemplating teaching her some simple yet practical moves!
Having found herself a soon-to-be secretary, Xia Xiaolan put the matter out of her mind.
She went to the construction site on Shennan Boulevard to find Mao Kangshan, where Du Zhaohui was also present.
The wound on Du Zhaohui’s head had long since scabbed over, and he no longer wanted to wear that ridiculous bandage. When Xia Xiaolan came to find Mao Kangshan, he, as the owner of the Electronics Plaza, pestered her with many questions about the project—
Mao Kangshan was puzzled; Du Zhaohui never asked him these professional questions, so why did he become so inquisitive when seeing Xiaolan?
After patiently answering several of Du Zhaohui’s questions, Xia Xiaolan asked him:
“Do you know that Second Young Master Du also wants to invest in Pengcheng? I don’t know what he wants to invest in yet, but you should be on alert.”
Du Zhaohui was more than alert – his tail practically bristled with alarm:
“Where would that good-for-nothing still have money to invest?”
Even with support from the other two households, Du Zhaoqi’s funds weren’t unlimited.
Xia Xiaolan kindly reminded him, “Don’t forget, Second Young Master Du originally planned to buy production lines in America. He drove the price up to over 9 million US dollars, and since he didn’t spend that money, doesn’t he now have spare funds?”
Du Zhaohui immediately gritted his teeth.
He had forgotten that Du Zhaoqi could still produce at least 9 million US dollars.
Nine million US dollars, at the current exchange rate, was over 70 million Hong Kong dollars… The thought that Du Zhaoqi could produce such a large sum made Du Zhaohui’s heart pound.
Then he silently cursed Du Chengrong as an old fool.
Without Du Chengrong’s extravagant gifts of houses and jewelry to the Second Mistress, Third Mistress, and Fourth Mistress Liu Keying, how could those women have gathered so much money?
As for Summer Ziyu, he needed to hurry things along. He had to make Summer Ziyu useful before handing him over.
Those three women in the Du family must be thrown into chaos first – Du Zhaoqi couldn’t be allowed to have so much support!
“In such a short time, I want to see what good projects he can find. Let him come if he wants – Pengcheng is big enough, can I stop him?”
Du Zhaohui surprisingly didn’t explode in rage.
This man had learned to use his brain to think rather than rely on empty threats – he really had improved quite a bit.
Xia Xiaolan nodded, “As long as we make the Electronics Plaza successful, with this one project alone, you’ll be in an invincible position. Second Young Master Du’s ‘investment’ might just be a tactic to disturb your peace of mind. Just be aware of it, there’s no need to see snakes in every shadow. Secondly, I can return to the country after mid-December. By then, your side should try to complete construction. When I say complete, I don’t just mean the main structure, but also the interior decoration. Don’t be afraid to spend money – mainland labor costs are cheap to begin with. As long as you’re willing to spend, workers will naturally be willing to work three shifts for you! When I return to the country, you must still have several million in cash remaining, and then we’ll operate together.”
Historically, Saige Plaza has been very successful.
Du Zhaohui’s Electronics Plaza was different from Saige Plaza.
It was unknown whether the Electronics Plaza under new ownership would recreate Saige Plaza’s glory, and if it needed two or three years to build up popularity, Xia Xiaolan could wait, but Du Zhaohui’s “competition” with Du Zhaoqi couldn’t.
A slow rise to popularity?
That wouldn’t do.
Xia Xiaolan planned to spend money to boost the Electronics Plaza’s popularity.
When Xia Xiaolan told him to reserve cash, Du Zhaohui became anxious, “When you say several million, how much do you mean, and is it Hong Kong dollars or Chinese yuan?”
Four million could be called several million.
Nine million could also be called several million.
Hong Kong dollars and Chinese yuan had a difference of double.
If it was US dollars, Du Zhaohui might as well find a rope to hang himself – of course, he wouldn’t commit suicide, if he were to hang himself, it would be at the entrance of the Chengrong Group, forcing Du Chengrong to produce the money.
“More than 5 million Chinese yuan. I know you’re tight on funds building this plaza… Let me be frank upfront, that 10 million Hong Kong dollars you gave me, I’ve used almost all of it, and I can’t pay you back now, even if you regret it.”
Xia Xiaolan looked wary.
Du Zhaohui’s chest hurt from holding back.
Damn!
Only because it was Xia Xiaolan saying this – if it were anyone else, he would have had Ah Hua beat them until they were picking their teeth off the ground.
Money he had given out – how could there be any logic in taking it back? Even if he were reduced to begging, he would never ask for any gifts back from his former “girlfriends.” Well, even if he hit rock bottom, he would first have his way with all those women one more time, but he would never ask Xia Xiaolan for anything back even if it killed him.
This was Du Zhaohui’s last shred of dignity and persistence.
“Don’t worry, I can still produce several million! I heard you had a piece of land in Shangdu that was snatched by someone surnamed Zhu?”
Xia Xiaolan nodded casually:
“Even you’ve heard about it, so it seems you haven’t lost contact with Uncle Xu. Yes, that’s what happened.”
Du Zhaohui felt even more stifled: “You act so tough in front of me, yet you’re willing to take this loss?”
Xia Xiaolan gave him a strange look, “When did I say I was going to take a loss? Young Master Du, sometimes taking a small loss is about gaining a bigger advantage. As long as there’s money to be made, I can turn hostility into friendship with you, can’t I?”
Du Zhaohui: ??!
Was this even human speech? When had he ever snatched Xia Xiaolan’s land like that Zhu fellow?!