Chapter 87: Too Exciting

The high service fees dispelled Xiao Jun's thoughts of making a quick buck by following the car, but because the handling fees and interest provided by Di Ye were very high, he could still earn quite a bit, so he did his best to handle the task; on March 6, he made a special trip to Yangcheng to find someone at the Guangdong Investment headquarters to pull strings, and then on March 7, he secured the 2 million USD loan.

After getting the money, Di Ye immediately used the excuse that the internet speed in Pengcheng was too slow and that he needed to go to Hong Kong to set up the official website for the Browser, and taking the siblings Xia Jianwu and Xia Fangfei with him, they cleared customs and went to Hong Kong that very afternoon, beginning to lay out the next big plan following the Treasury Bond Incident.

March 8, 1995, 7:50 AM, in the Macau Suite on the 24th floor of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

Xia Fangfei walked out of the bathroom wrapped in a bath towel from the waist up and asked Di Ye, who was leaning against the pillows reading a finance magazine, "Are you sure Diana will stay at this hotel next month?"

Di Ye had just finished a hearty morning workout and was in a state of post-coital clarity; he said nonchalantly, "Members of the royal family are fond of tradition. When she came to Hong Kong in 1989, she stayed at this hotel, so when she comes next month, she will definitely stay here again."

"But the public reports only say she is coming to Hong Kong for a visit next month; they don't say which day exactly."

"We'll know sooner or later. For now, let's get familiar with the environment of this hotel, and then we'll study how to make contact with her."

Xia Fangfei jumped onto the bed nimbly like a bird returning to the forest, lay down beside Di Ye, and said with a playful smile, "You've gone to such painstaking lengths to scheme against Diana—is it for money or for her beauty?"

"For money."

Xia Fangfei didn't believe him at all; she gave Di Ye a light kick and asked, "If we do make contact with Diana, how do you plan to make money off her?"

Di Ye felt that her pair of smooth, slender, fair legs were too dazzling and were distracting him from reading his magazine, so he lifted the quilt, tucked her legs inside to cover them, and asked, "What do you think Diana's identity is?"

"A princess, of course."

"Wrong. Her identity is the most well-known gossip star in Europe and America."

Di Ye flipped a page of the magazine and explained, "My new Browser will use many new technologies. To promote these technologies, I plan to use Diana's name and status to build a fashion and gossip website. Once the technology promotion is complete, I'll sell it to those suckers in the United States."

"How much can it sell for?"

"Starting at 1 billion USD, I suppose."

Xia Fangfei teased Di Ye with her toes under the quilt and said coquettishly, "You told the Second Brother that buying me would start at 1 billion USD, and now you say Diana also starts at 1 billion USD—which one of us is worth more?"

"I said the website could sell for 1 billion USD; I didn't say she herself was worth 1 billion USD. That's not the same thing."

"Dodging the question—you've got a guilty conscience!"

Xia Fangfei transformed into a secret agent, flipped over, pinned Di Ye underneath, and interrogated him sternly, "Last time in Pujiang, you said something about wanting both wealth and beauty. Don't think I've forgotten so soon."

"If I remember correctly, what I said was that we would do it together."

"That's right, so let's practice how to play together first, to prevent us from being flustered and ending up with neither wealth nor beauty."

"We already practiced just now..."

At this moment, the telephone in the suite rang. Xia Fangfei instantly transformed from a seductive enchantress into a pure maiden; she let go of Di Ye, picked up the receiver, said hello, and spoke in a gentle, pleasant voice, "Second Brother, we're already up; we'll be down in 10 minutes."

After hanging up, she looked down at Di Ye, who was lying on the bed like a salted fish, and threatened, "I'll let you off this time, but if you dare to let your mind wander again, I'll squeeze you dry!"

"Hey, I haven't surrendered yet."

"Serves you right."

Seeing her ignore him and walk into the walk-in closet with a cat-like, seductive gait, Di Ye had no choice but to take a shower, surrender to himself, and then head into the closet too. While putting on his clothes, he reminisced, "Fangfei, do you remember that before the Spring Festival, you would blush if I even held your hand?"

"What, do you think I'm not reserved enough now?"

"No, I just feel like you've changed too fast, and I'm a bit unaccustomed to it."

Xia Fangfei was wearing a lace-trimmed blouse and deliberately left the top few buttons undone. She walked up to Di Ye and said with a playful smile, "One takes on the attributes of those one associates with. You are a shameless scoundrel, so don't expect me to remain pure. You should know that the devil and the angel cannot coexist."

"Why do I feel like you never wanted to be an angel in the first place?"

"Of course. Being an angel means having to keep up appearances all day—how could that be as exciting as being a devil and doing whatever one pleases? Like right now, for example."

"Hey, hey, hey, stop the stimulation; if you keep stimulating me, something will happen. Your Second Brother is still waiting for us at the restaurant downstairs."

"Let him wait. The plan you've come up with is just too crazy and too exciting; I get excited just imagining it..."

Xia Jianwu had been waiting in the Clipper Lounge buffet restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel for over 30 minutes before he saw his little sister walking over, arm-in-arm with Di Ye, looking radiant. He couldn't help but grumble, "Are both of your watches broken?"

"It's all Di Ye's fault. He wouldn't get out of bed, and no matter how much I urged him, it was no use."

"I was exhausted from the long-distance car ride a few days ago and haven't recovered yet."

Di Ye chuckled, told Xia Fangfei to go get breakfast, and sat down at the table himself, saying, "Second Brother, you should have booked a suite too; it's more comfortable than an executive room."

Xia Jianwu was an old hand and naturally understood what was going on. He said testily, "Why would I book a suite by myself? I'm here to talk business, not to talk about love!"

"Second Brother, keep your shirt on. I guarantee I'll help you deal with that Hong Kong Manager from C-Cube within five days."

Xia Jianwu was indecisive before making a decision, but once he had made one, he would go all out. He had spent the last few days visiting Shunde, Zhongshan, and other places to investigate the VCD industry chain and had collected a large amount of first-hand data. Anxious, he said, "Don't talk about five days; I can't even wait one day. You have to know that there are already over a hundred factories in Guangdong Province producing VCD Players, and many of them have already bought chips from C-Cube."

"That's just small-time stuff. The 70 USD chip price dictates that they won't last long."

Xia Jianwu picked up his cup and took a sip of coffee to suppress his agitation, then asked, "How do you plan to deal with the C-Cube Manager?"

"There's a story in Aesop's Fables about a bat that wavered between the birds and the beasts, trying to please both sides, only to end up liked by neither. This Hong Kong Manager is just like that bat; the foreigners think he understands China, and the Chinese think he understands foreign countries, but in reality, he understands neither. I can make him reveal his true colors with just a little bit of trouble."

"How will you stir up trouble?"

"I need three or four days to build momentum and, incidentally, collect information on this Hong Kong Manager. You should go out and have some fun these next few days to ease your anxiety."

When a business is just starting and everything is waiting to be done, it is easiest to stimulate one's ambition and drive. Xia Jianwu had no interest in leisure right now and pressed, "How will you build momentum, and how will you collect his information?"

"Trade secret, I cannot disclose it. You'll see the results in a few days."

"I really want to splash this cup of coffee in your face."

Xia Fangfei happened to return with a tray just then and, hearing this, said, "Second Brother, if you dare do that, I'll dump the whole tray on your head."

"Little sister, you've changed. You used to be so cute and gentle, and now you're so annoying and fierce."

"But Di Ye thinks I'm even cuter and gentler than before, don't you?"

"Yes, yes, yes, extremely cute and extremely gentle."

Seeing that Di Ye refused to reveal his plan and that Xia Fangfei was always siding with him, Xia Jianwu had no choice but to relax his mind, leave the two of them, and go out to play.

After finishing breakfast, Di Ye returned to the suite and first made a call back to Pengcheng to ask the deputy team leader, Cheng Zhongwei, about the R&D status. After learning that everything was normal, he was just about to hang up when he was caught by Fu Chuanyi, who advised, "Di Ye, you have everything you could want now; don't go messing around, especially with finance—don't you dare touch that, that thing is just gambling!"

"Don't worry, Teacher Fu. We can't use RMB here in Hong Kong, so even if I wanted to touch it, I couldn't."

"Then hurry up and finish the website and come back soon. Xiao Cheng's ability and prestige aren't as strong as yours; he won't be able to hold up for long."

"I'll do my best."

After Di Ye finished the call, Xia Fangfei walked out of the walk-in closet and said with a smile, "'A gentleman can be deceived by what is right'—is that what you're referring to with someone like Teacher Fu?"

"A gentleman can be deceived by what is proper, but it is difficult to hoodwink him with what is contrary to the Dao. Teacher Fu is a gentleman, so we can only deceive him in a reasonable way, but the Manager of C-Cube is not a gentleman, so we must deceive him in an unreasonable way."

Di Ye finished quoting the classical Chinese, picked up the press pass lying on the nightstand, handed it to Xia Fangfei, and instructed: "Remember, speak English the whole time, do not use Mandarin."

"I know, it's still a colony here, after all; speaking English makes one seem superior."