Xiao Rou’s face was filled with fear.
“You know her?”
Liu Tianquan thought this was quite a coincidence.
Xiao Rou nodded, “Boss when I said I was forced to leave my hometown, it was because of Xia Xiaolan. I’m truly terrified of her.”
Xiao Rou was her stage name; her real name was Fan Yu.
After Fan Zhenchuan’s arrest, she was forced out of Hedong County by Fan Han, making life impossible there. Fan Yu headed south, meeting two people on the train who promised to help her make good money, and eventually ended up in Pengcheng – where “making good money” turned out to mean working as a hostess.
Fan Yu initially refused.
Getting involved with Fan Zhenchuan was one thing, but entertaining multiple men was something else entirely.
But Fan Yu had little education; she had no chance of factory work, and her only work experience was as a domestic helper.
In Pengcheng, even domestic helper jobs weren’t easy to find – employers preferred local people they knew well. After all, for washing clothes, cooking, and housework, why not hire someone familiar? Young maids made female employers wary. Having lived comfortably for several years, Fan Yu couldn’t handle dirty, exhausting work anymore.
Finally, she had no choice but to become a hostess.
She hadn’t started at Nanyang Dance Hall; Liu Tianquan first met her at another venue, noticed her soft, vulnerable demeanor that made her seem pitiable, and arranged for her to seduce Liu Yong – Liu Tianquan’s attention to Liu Yong was all because of Tang Hongen. Mayor Tang was single, with no known family in Pengcheng. Even if he had a wife elsewhere, Liu Tianquan believed that no man living alone could resist temptation.
Fan Yu’s approach to seducing Liu Yong was to appear reserved and withdrawn.
Compared to men who frequented such establishments, Liu Yong was too honest and had a masculine sense of responsibility. Today’s drama, including the earlier groundwork, had all been planned between Fan Yu and Liu Tianquan, including deliberately letting Liu Yong overhear others’ gossip and the men who came to cause trouble today… Liu Tianquan had planned to close the trap today, but finding Liu Yong’s willpower stronger than expected, he had to let Fan Yu wear him down gradually.
Slowly wearing away Liu Yong’s defenses, arousing his sympathy.
Once Liu Yong agreed to take in Fan Yu, whether out of sympathy or male protectiveness, he wouldn’t be able to easily get rid of her.
Unable to shake off Fan Yu meant unable to shake off Liu Tianquan.
Liu Tianquan’s bait naturally came with his special means of control; he didn’t care about “Xiao Rou’s” past – he hadn’t forced her to become a hostess.
Who would have thought that “Xiao Rou” actually knew Xia Xiaolan?
Fan Yu felt incredibly unlucky.
She had never met Liu Yong before and didn’t know he was Xia Xiaolan’s uncle.
Had she known, she would have stayed far away from Liu Yong. Making money as a hostess was making money – why choose such a difficult target?
How had Fan Zhenchuan fallen?
That man who had left the Shangdu City Party Committee guesthouse with Xia Xiaolan had left a deep impression on Fan Yu.
As for Ge Jian and Li Dongliang, though they had followed Xia Xiaolan then, Fan Yu had been too panicked to notice them – otherwise, seeing Ge Jian would have told her of Liu Yong’s connection to Xia Xiaolan.
Because someone wanted to force Xia Xiaolan into marriage, causing upheaval in a county’s officialdom?
Liu Tianquan pondered – this aligned with his thinking that Xia Xiaolan, though lacking background herself, was a kept woman of some powerful figure!
Yet she dared lecture him about not using beauty and pillow talk as underhanded tactics?
Liu Tianquan thought Xia Xiaolan herself was a beneficiary of such tactics.
Believing he had figured out Xia Xiaolan’s background, he felt more at ease.
According to Fan Yu, Xia Xiaolan was just a country girl from Yunan Province; she couldn’t possibly have legitimate connections with Mayor Tang – except for her beautiful face. This was perfect – it showed that Mayor Tang had weaknesses too. Once you found the weakness, you could certainly find leverage with Tang Hongen. Liu Tianquan had no choice; despite his flashy appearance in Pengcheng, he had made his fortune through his sister becoming Du Chengrong’s concubine. Now the Du family’s four branches fought like roosters, with Du Chengrong still favoring his eldest son by his original wife – who had died early, or else the children of the other three concubines wouldn’t have had a chance.
Liu Tianquan wasn’t fighting for himself; once he established a firm foothold in Pengcheng, he could provide reverse support to his sister’s side.
A few million Hong Kong dollars’ worth?
Compared to the Chengrong Group’s assets, his money was nothing. If they could gain the upper hand in the inheritance dispute, that would be a considerable profit.
The plan had been good originally.
His relationship with the Pengcheng government had been quite good, and not all his previous business cooperation had been just for profit. But when Tang Hongen took office as the mayor in charge of economics, he didn’t favor Liu Tianquan, causing many opportunities to slip away… Thinking of this, Liu Tianquan’s fat belly jiggled:
“Xiao Rou, you’re like a stray dog driven from your hometown. Now in Pengcheng, are you still afraid of Xia Xiaolan? Don’t you want to find an opportunity for revenge…”
Fan Yu raised her head, expression frightened. Though her face was bruised and unsightly, it made her seem even more pitiable.
Liu Tianquan felt stirred.
After all, Fan Yu and Xia Xiaolan had already crossed paths today. Xia Xiaolan couldn’t stay in Pengcheng forever.
A niece might try to control everything, but could she control her uncle’s belt?
Liu Tianquan still wanted to proceed with his original plan.
…
“Uncle, if Aunt knew you went to the dance hall…”
On the car ride back, Xia Xiaolan only needed this one sentence to make Liu Yong want to jump out of the car.
“I didn’t do anything at the dance hall. Those Hong Kong people are strange, insisting on discussing business there, and we mainlanders have to follow their customs.”
Liu Yong was trying to explain.
Xia Xiaolan wanted to roll her eyes – it wasn’t just Hong Kong people who liked discussing business in dance halls. Legitimate business was mostly conducted in offices; only somewhat shady dealings needed nightclub settings. Knowing Liu Tianquan’s background, Xia Xiaolan could understand his methods.
“Why wouldn’t Xiao Rou dare to meet me? I don’t eat people.”
Xia Xiaolan’s complaint made Liu Yong’s head hurt.
“Xiaolan, thankfully you came today, or I couldn’t have gotten away!”
Liu Yong explained everything that had happened.
From Liu Tianquan’s invitation to the inexplicable way “Xiao Rou” had become attached to him, becoming his supposed responsibility, Liu Yong knew he’d been manipulated but couldn’t understand why Liu Tianquan would go to such lengths to trap him.
– He knew his worth; he wasn’t valuable enough to warrant all this.