“Dear, this is an adult business… If that day truly comes, I will ask for your help.”
Xin Xiya released Tina’s hand.
This was how things should normally be – she had shown enthusiasm toward Tina, and Tina repaid her with trust and dependence.
Xia Xiaolan was simply abnormal!
She had trampled on her goodwill.
And that Mond Dawson-Xin Xiya had already investigated what happened at Cornell. The entire Dawson family had suffered at Xia Xiaolan’s hands.
When Mond discovers he can’t get his revenge, he will surely come looking for her!
If Xia Xiaolan’s plane were to fall from the sky, now that would truly be God’s blessing.
The journey from New York to Tokyo, and Tokyo to Hong Kong, went exceptionally smoothly for Xia Xiaolan.
At Hong Kong airport, she casually bought two newspapers, both covering gossip about the Du family.
“Du Zhaohui has gotten another stepmother.”
Chairman Du was truly vigorous even in his old age!
The newspaper reported that Du Zhengrong favored his newly married Fifth Madam, while the former Cinderella story Fourth Madam had fallen from grace. The article authoritatively analyzed whether this Fifth Madam’s appearance would affect the distribution of the Du family assets.
Xia Xiaolan thought the impact would be minimal.
Even if the Fifth Madam had children now, it would take at least 20 years to see if they could take over the business. Chairman Du wouldn’t live another 20 years… While Hong Kong and Macau had many long-lived tycoons, Du Zhengrong wasn’t one of them. Unless Du Zhengrong became senile in his later years and decided to hand over his vast fortune to children too young to maintain the family’s status, whether he married a Fifth Madam or even a Sixth or Seventh Madam wouldn’t much affect Du Zhaohui and Du Zhaoqi.
“Hmm, something still seems off?”
While the impact on Du Zhaohui remained unclear, it must have affected Du Zhaoqi somewhat!
After this Fifth Madam entered the family, Du Zhaoqi’s investments in Shenzhen ran into problems… This meant the alliance between the Third Madam’s faction had hit a snag.
Xia Xiaolan had a subtle feeling that the Fifth Madam might have been Du Zhaohui’s scheme.
She didn’t look down on Du Zhaohui though.
The Du family relationships were a mess, and if Du Zhaohui turned out badly, that was Du Zhengrong’s achievement.
Du Zhengrong kept bringing women into the family one after another. The scene of wives and concubines living in harmony could only exist in a man’s dreams. Women had to fight for themselves and their children, everyone wanting more of the estate… How could anyone expect filial piety? Du Zhengrong had so many children that even his fatherly love was divided into many pieces. If it were Xia Xiaolan, she wouldn’t care for such diluted paternal affection either.
If the father wasn’t loving, why should the son be filial?
When the beam above was crooked, it was perfectly normal for the beam below to turn out like Du Zhaohui.
So just as Du Zhengrong had many women, Du Zhaohui became Hong Kong’s famous playboy, tsk tsk.
Xia Xiaolan finished reading the newspaper.
There was news about another person she knew – He Zhitong, Tang Yuanyue’s former fiancée, was reported to be in a new relationship. She had fallen in love with a young heir, and they had progressed to meeting each other’s parents. A wedding announcement was expected any day… The unscrupulous reporters even dragged Tang Yuanyue into the comparison, saying that while the Young Master Tang had been caught cheating and angrily dumped by He Zhitong through a newspaper announcement, now the lady had found a better match while the man remained alone.
They portrayed Tang Yuanyue as miserable, saying he had lost face and had to flee Hong Kong in exile.
“What nonsense.”
Tang Yuanyue’s Meihua Company has always been developing in mainland China. What exile? Businesspeople naturally go wherever they can make money.
Xia Xiaolan read the newspaper from the airport to customs.
Hong Kong newspapers were quite interesting. Because the territory was so small, wealthy families were all interconnected through thousands of threads. Sometimes business information was hidden within tabloid gossip – seeing who was getting along with whom, who had fallen out with whom, when read together with the financial section, they perfectly complemented each other!
Soon, Xia Xiaolan arrived at Luohu and completed the entry procedures.
People were waiting outside for her. Xia Xiaolan hadn’t notified many people about her return, telling everyone only the approximate time as she didn’t want to make a big fuss.
She had only told Ge Jian the exact time, so he was the one who came to pick her up.
Oh, Ge Jian had also brought Xia Xiaolan’s new secretary, Yu Li, who had just completed a month of job training.
Yu Li wore professional attire which added a touch of maturity. Her face, which wasn’t particularly young-looking to begin with, deliberately styled to appear more mature, now made her look slightly older than Xia Xiaolan. Who would imagine this young woman wasn’t even 18 yet?
“President Xia.”
Xia Xiaolan had brought several suitcases, and Ge Jian hurried to load them into the car.
“President Xia!”
Yu Li tried her best to make a good impression. “Would you like to go home first?”
Home meant the municipal committee family quarters.
Despite the long-haul flight, Xia Xiaolan didn’t feel tired at all, probably because she had spent good money on a first-class ticket!
Each school’s exam week varied slightly, and Xia Xiaolan hadn’t waited to return with the other exchange students. She chose to travel alone because she wanted to return early to handle company matters.
This winter break was especially long for Xia Xiaolan. It was now late December, and she couldn’t return to Tsinghua for another final exam. Her Tsinghua classmates wouldn’t start their break until mid-January, and the new semester would begin around February 15th.
Xia Xiaolan had already taken her exams at Cornell. While others had a one-month break, she had almost two months to rest, until returning to school with her classmates for the new semester.
The difference in academic systems had bought Xia Xiaolan some time.
Thinking carefully, she wasn’t studying less than others – Cornell didn’t have a two-month summer vacation for rest.
Having over 50 days of vacation was quite luxurious.
Being extravagant, she could even afford to sleep for two or three days at home before handling business!
Xia Xiaolan looked at her watch, her mouth more honest than her brain:
“No, not going home. I’ll go to the company first!”
Qihang’s new project had already broken ground, and remote management was different from being on-site. She wouldn’t be able to sleep soundly at home without a complete understanding of everything.
Having worked with Xia Xiaolan for a long time, Ge Jian had anticipated this.
President Xia had entered the workaholic mode.
It was Yu Li, the secretary, who needed to adapt to President Xia’s style.
Along the way, Yu Li kept taking notes – coordinating President Xia’s schedule was her responsibility as secretary.
“I need to return to Shangdu before An Qing No.1 High School starts their winter break.”
“Need to go to Beijing, also before Tsinghua University’s break, need to report back to school.”
“Electronics Plaza.”
“Xu Jing and Ma Hai’s progress.”
“And the building materials store…”
Yu Li was grateful she had learned shorthand within a month, otherwise she definitely couldn’t have kept up with Xia Xiaolan’s speaking speed and thought process.
Was this President Xia’s daily routine?
Success truly had no accidents. Even someone as brilliant as President Xia still put in unimaginable effort. Yu Li became increasingly vigilant.
She worried she wouldn’t make a good secretary.
President Xia was a good person, just like Shao Guangrong, but she couldn’t take advantage of their kindness by just occupying a position and drawing a salary!
Xia Xiaolan saw Yu Li nervously clutching her shorthand notebook but didn’t point it out.
Her requirements for a secretary weren’t particularly high, but they weren’t low either. Whether Yu Li was suitable would require further observation!