Zhou Cheng still didn’t know how to tell Xia Xiaolan about Liu Yong’s situation.
How could someone trust a woman introduced by a business partner?
Zhou Cheng felt that if Liu Yong lacked even this basic level of vigilance, he’d surely be taken advantage of many more times in the future. As they say, one learns from their mistakes – without a hard fall, Liu Yong probably wouldn’t have learned his lesson deeply enough. If it were anyone else, Zhou Cheng would have said exactly this to Kang Wei – why meddle in someone’s personal life when they’re already grown?
But Liu Yong was his wife Xiaolan’s uncle.
The saying that pity leads to love wasn’t wrong, because Zhou Cheng was the same way. Perhaps it was because of love that he couldn’t bear to see his Xiaolan suffer even the slightest grievance. She already had a father who might as well have been nonexistent, and Liu Yong was the only male elder who truly loved and cared for her.
If anything happened to Liu Yong, Xia Xiaolan would be worried sick!
He was her uncle – how could they not care?
This uncle was practically like a father to her. It was Xia Xiaolan who had encouraged Liu Yong to do business in Shenzhen, and now if it led to family instability, how would she feel? Zhou Cheng didn’t want to tell her, but he remembered Xiaolan saying they should be honest with each other… if he were in the same situation, he certainly wouldn’t want Xiaolan keeping secrets from him.
Zhou Cheng first took his wife’s hand and held it tightly.
“I need to tell you something, but you can’t get angry!”
Xia Xiaolan’s mind filled with question marks. “What is it? I definitely won’t get angry, just tell me.”
Usually, when someone tells you not to get angry, it’s probably something that will make you angry, but how could Zhou Cheng bear to make her angry? Xia Xiaolan couldn’t guess what he wanted to say.
“Alright, if you get angry, I’ll give you a kiss.”
Would a kiss calm her down?
Zhou Cheng’s eyes sparkled, and Xia Xiaolan couldn’t help but laugh. What kind of consolation was this – who was taking advantage of whom?
After listening to Zhou Cheng slowly explain everything, Xia Xiaolan didn’t feel particularly angry. Deep down, she trusted Liu Yong.
Her uncle was currently focused entirely on improving his business – he probably didn’t have the energy to spend on other women, right? But it was hard to say. Who knew what might happen since Liu Yong had just quarreled with Li Fengmei? If some sweet-talking flower took advantage of this opportunity, wouldn’t her uncle’s family fall apart?
Xia Xiaolan would feel guilty.
What was the point of making so much money if the family fell apart? It would be better to run a small business in the countryside, being moderately well-off but at least maintaining family harmony.
What should they do now?
Should they notify her aunt Li Fengmei to rush to Shenzhen to “catch them in the act”?
They didn’t even know if anything improper had happened yet. If there was nothing going on, but Li Fengmei with her temperament caused a scene, her uncle might actually be provoked into making a mistake.
Xia Xiaolan considered various possibilities. Zhou Cheng was still worried she might be angry, so she suddenly leaned over and kissed him:
“I’m not angry, I’m just thinking about what to do.”
While Zhou Cheng was still savoring his wife’s kiss, he said, “This is the Hong Kong boss’s trap for our uncle – using a beautiful woman’s pillow talk. I don’t think our uncle will necessarily fall for it. Whether good or bad, everything was said by Kang Wei. How about I find time to make a trip there?”
“No, you can’t be the one to go!”
Xia Xiaolan rejected the idea too quickly, leaving Zhou Cheng confused.
Actually, Xia Xiaolan was worried about Zhou Cheng taking time off work. Besides, if her uncle was getting restless, she could manage the situation without him getting angry. But if Zhou Cheng went to handle it, her uncle would have to be willing to listen!
But Xia Xiaolan changed her tone and said instead: “This woman is quite scheming. What if she gives up on my uncle and sets her sights on you?”
“I love it when you get jealous like this.”
Give Xia Xiaolan a little sunshine, and Zhou Cheng would be more than radiant – he was absolutely delighted.
He wanted to score some points in front of his wife: “This matter still needs to fall on Mayor Tang – we need to figure out what the Hong Kong boss wants.”
Liu Yong was just a small contractor – the other person was a boss with tens of millions in assets. Why would they deliberately arrange for a skilled woman to seduce him?
What use would seducing him serve? The Hong Kong boss couldn’t make money from Liu Yong.
However, through Liu Yong, the Hong Kong boss could make contact with Tang Hongen.
The Hong Kong businessman was using Liu Yong as a stepping stone, which also annoyed Zhou Cheng:
“We should have someone investigate his background too.”
Investigate Liu Tianquan?
Xia Xiaolan only knew that he built Shenzhen’s first commercial housing development. As for Liu Tianquan’s background, she also became curious.
“But wouldn’t it be difficult to investigate in Hong Kong?”
“Remember Brother Pan San? Leave this to him, and he’ll handle it properly for you.”
Xia Xiaolan nodded.
She decided to go to Shenzhen herself.
Not to meet some skilled bar hostess, but to meet Liu Tianquan!
…
“Sister-in-law, are you not going to call my brother?”
Li Fengmei shook her head, then looked suspicious: “Ah Fen, you’ve mentioned this several times now. Did my husband say something to you?”
Liu Fen hurriedly waved her hands, “Nothing, nothing. Just that Xiaolan said she needed to handle some business in Shenzhen and asked if we wanted to go sightseeing. She said we could bring Taotao too.”
Go sightseeing in Shenzhen?
Li Fengmei was somewhat tempted.
She had been to Guangzhou to pick up goods but had never been to Shenzhen.
She suspected Liu Yong might be up to something – after eight years of marriage, she hadn’t backed down this time out of stubbornness. It would be a lie to say she wasn’t concerned about how Liu Yong was doing in Shenzhen. When she heard that Xia Xiaolan wanted to take several people to Shenzhen, Li Fengmei was very interested:
“But how can Taotao go? He has school!”
“Xiaolan said we’ll go by plane, someone will help us buy plane tickets, and we’ll be back by Sunday.”
By plane?
Li Fengmei had never flown before.
Of course, in 1984, very few people had flown on planes at all.
The clothing store’s business was doing well right now. Ma Wei had completely taken over, and the other new employee wasn’t stupid either. With fixed pricing for sales, clear accounts, and inventory checks, Li Fengmei and Liu Fen weren’t worried about the shop assistants causing trouble. They could leave for two days.
For the plane tickets, they couldn’t ask Hu Yongcai – he couldn’t get the required introduction letter.
This time, Xia Xiaolan asked Shao Guangrong for help. With Uncle Shao’s connections, buying two tickets in Shangdu was quite easy. It was Li Fengmei and Liu Fen’s first experience of flying in the sky. When the plane took off, they felt nauseous. Li Fengmei and Liu Fen could endure it, but Liu Zitao got sick.
When they arrived at Guangzhou Baiyun Airport, Xia Xiaolan’s flight from Beijing had arrived earlier, and she was already waiting for them at the airport.
“Is Taotao not feeling well?”
“This child got sick on the plane.”
Even the usually mischievous boy was listless, and Xia Xiaolan felt sorry for him.
All these grievances would have to be settled with Liu Tianquan! Zhou Cheng said Brother Pan San would be waiting for her in Shenzhen, and Xia Xiaolan felt somewhat urgent. She had invited her mother along so her Aunt Li Fengmei wouldn’t be suspicious – Xia Xiaolan couldn’t possibly have her aunt come to catch someone in the act under the guise of “tourism.”
“Let’s go, Kang Wei is waiting outside with his car. He bought a new car and wanted to come pick us up.”
Kang Wei came to pick them up?!
Li Fengmei looked around, “Your uncle didn’t come?”