Her uncle hadn’t completely lost his mind yet!
Kang Wei’s assessment of the situation was too severe. Of course, if they waited until her uncle completely fell into Liu Tian Quan’s gentle trap, it would be too late to pull him back up! Many shrewd men, when deceived by women, become as if possessed – impossible to shake awake. Xia Xiao Lan didn’t distrust her uncle’s character; she was just too wary of this treacherous society.
Letting her uncle learn life’s lessons from society would leave a deep impression, but the price would be too high. A harmonious family would be destroyed – what use was earning so much money then? Xia Xiao Lan didn’t think her aunt Li Feng Mei was the type to silently endure her husband finding other women… Li Feng Mei had already been divorced once; a second divorce wouldn’t be surprising.
By then, what use would it be for Xia Xiao Lan to confront Liu Tian Quan? He couldn’t be held responsible for maintaining her uncle’s family harmony. Anything that tests human nature never ends well – better to nip problems in the bud when possible.
Liu Yong felt he wasn’t worth Liu Tian Quan’s scheming, making Xia Xiao Lan laugh. “Uncle, you’re underestimating yourself… Do you think that hostess is keeping her distance from you? That’s called playing hard to get.”
While Xia Xiao Lan had never used such tactics herself, she knew the pattern. In modern times, there were terms like “green tea bitch” and “bro-zoner” – women who played hard to get when seducing men. They’d first call a man “brother,” addressing him as “big brother” constantly, pretending there were no romantic feelings, just life’s hardships requiring occasional help from a man. When the man’s wife noticed and caused a scene, the man would feel puzzled – she was just like a little sister, there were no romantic feelings, what was there to make a fuss about!
The man would feel his family didn’t trust him when they argued, while the “sister” outside maintained an innocent face and tried to mediate. One was hysterical, the other understanding – after several instances of comfort, feelings that didn’t exist before would develop.
Xia Xiao Lan spoke vaguely, leaving Liu Yong dumbfounded.
“How could I possibly distrust your aunt over a hostess?” His brain must have been squeezed by a door.
Xiao Rou was quite pitiful, but it wasn’t Liu Yong who had forced her to become a hostess. Wait, why did he think Xiao Rou was pitiful? Liu Yong rubbed the back of his head – although he had been vigilant, had he been unconsciously influenced? Otherwise, why hadn’t he left decisively today, almost being led by the nose by those people at the Nanyang Dance Hall?
Liu Yong realized this belatedly, breaking into a cold sweat after hearing Xia Xiao Lan’s analysis.
From Xiao Rou’s first appearance, though he didn’t like her, compared to other hostesses, he didn’t find her disagreeable. The more properly Xiao Rou behaved, the more respect Liu Yong had for this hostess. During their first meeting, when he “pretended to be drunk,” he was clear-headed and hadn’t seen Xiao Rou act improperly. Liu Yong had formed his first impression based on this.
Following Xia Xiao Lan’s analysis, it was clear Liu Tian Quan had arranged everything according to his personality.
Including the gossip, he overheard from other hostesses in the bathroom.
Including today’s supposed appearance of Xiao Rou’s hometown boyfriend.
Liu Yong felt very embarrassed. “Despite all my precautions, I still almost fell for it. That hostess is also from Yunan Province; I could tell from her accent… This probably isn’t a coincidence either.”
Now that he was free from that morally constraining atmosphere, Liu Yong’s mind was clear again.
If Xiao Rou was from Yunan, her hometown boyfriend must be from there too. For someone whose family was so poor she had to become a hostess, how could her hometown boyfriend afford to bring seven or eight people from Yunan to Shenzhen to cause trouble? Travel wasn’t free – a train ticket from Yunan to Guangzhou cost over twenty yuan per person, making it over 200 yuan for seven or eight people.
A group trip would cost several hundred yuan!
Moreover, entering Shenzhen required a border pass. Without one, they could only sneak in. Thinking about these details, everything seemed too unreasonable. Liu Yong couldn’t help but smile bitterly: “And I thought I was being clever!”
Seeing her uncle had understood, Xia Xiao Lan didn’t press the issue further.
“The project Liu Tian Quan asked you to cooperate on, it wouldn’t happen to be Xiangmi Lake, would it?”
Liu Yong nodded.
Xia Xiao Lan then explained the background of the Xiangmi Lake development – it was a key project of the Shenzhen municipal government. Having finally gotten a taste, would Liu Tian Quan let Liu Yong have a sip?
Liu Yong now distrusted Liu Tian Quan completely.
He suddenly became more nervous than if he’d been caught cheating: “…I’ve already signed a contract with Liu Tian Quan.”
They’d signed a contract?
For Xia Xiao Lan, this was far more important than any hostess situation.
“Let’s look at the contract first, see if we can find any loopholes.”
There wasn’t even a formal Contract Law yet, and even with one, contracts could still contain many pitfalls. Especially in 1984, contract traps could be deadly.
Xia Xiao Lan was prepared for her uncle to take a big financial hit.
Thinking about it now, Manager Wu’s loan had probably done more harm than good.
While uncle and niece were talking, others in the car remained silent. Hearing Xia Xiao Lan’s words, Pan San suddenly spoke up: “If that Hong Kong guy dares to cheat on the contract, I’ll make him spit out the money some other way.”
“Third Brother, thank you… but it’s best if we can resolve this through proper channels. Extreme measures are only for extreme times. If we act righteously, others won’t make things difficult for us.”
Pan San had ways to make Liu Tian Quan return the money.
Someone like Liu Tian Quan feared death more than anything. This was Shenzhen – even with triad connections in Hong Kong, he couldn’t act freely here.
Pan San was different.
Even if Pan San kidnapped Liu Tian Quan for ransom, Xia Xiao Lan wouldn’t be surprised.
But they couldn’t handle it that way. Xia Xiao Lan didn’t want Pan San to take risks, and handling business matters through business means had always been her principle. On this point, she coincidentally agreed with Zhou Cheng. When dealing with Fan Zhen Chuan, although Zhou Cheng had secretly collected much evidence of Fan’s illegal activities, he ultimately let the authorities arrest Fan Zhen Chuan.
This approach might not provide immediate satisfaction, but it had fewer aftereffects!
Liu Yong was becoming anxious. Xia Xiao Lan comforted him: “As long as you’re okay, that’s what matters. Aunt, Tao Tao, and my mother have all arrived. Don’t let them notice anything unusual, or I won’t be able to keep your visit to the dance hall a secret!”
Kang Wei, driving the car, wanted to laugh but didn’t dare, his face turning red from holding it in.
Liu Yong very unreasonably said:
“Ge Jian, why didn’t you just knock me out and carry me away?”
Huh?
How did this become about him?
The honest Ge Jian was confused by Boss Liu’s words. He knew about carrying away a drunk Boss Yong, but carrying him away when he wasn’t drunk in the future?!
…
“Xiao Lan has come to Shenzhen?”
Tang Hong En, having just finished a meeting, heard this news from Little Wang.
“She wants to have a meal with you. I think she’s run into some trouble.”
What kind of situation was this – either she’d encountered trouble right after arriving in Shenzhen, or she’d come to Shenzhen specifically because of trouble? Tang Hong En nodded:
“Then arrange it for tonight.”