Shanghai.

In a villa near Sheshan.

The Yu family were sitting down to dinner too, all four of them.

"Beiwang, are the group's RevPAR (average room revenue) figures for the first half in?"

Yu Beiwang put a piece of meat in Yu Jiaying's bowl beside him, then answered without hurrying. "They're in. Up five percent year on year. Set against Marriott, InterContinental and Shangri-La, our RevPAR this year is on the good side — though that's mostly in the budget hotels. In the mid- and high-end the RevPAR is basically flat against last year."

"The Orange Apartments acquisition is finished. What's next for you?"

Yu Beiwang pushed his glasses up. "Every July the group runs random inspections on the hotels underneath it. That work has always been handled by an inspection team the management committee pulls together from the various departments. I don't have much going on at the moment, so this year I'd like to handle it myself."

Yu Liang was interested. "Where do you want to inspect?"

"Jiangzhou."

"Jiangzhou?"

Yu Beiwang nodded. "It's a third-tier city in Jiangxi. Mount Lu is there."

"I know it. Your mother and I traveled there when we were young."

Zheng Qiuyue, who hadn't spoken until now, laughed. "Jiaying, do you want to go along with your brother for a trip?"

"I—"

Yu Jiaying wanted to say she didn't have time, but was afraid her parents would press, so she gave a vague answer. "We'll see."

After that nobody at the table said anything more.

It was only after dinner that Yu Jiaying remembered Zhao Ming mentioning once that Xu Ye was from Jiangzhou.

Yu Jiaying thought about it. Her brother going to Jiangzhou — that couldn't have anything to do with Xu Ye, could it?

She dismissed the idea quickly.

Her brother had met Xu Ye exactly once, and he was so busy the rest of the time. There was no way he could have anything to do with Xu Ye.

Jiang Meilin left on Monday morning.

And that same evening Xu Ye moved back in.

The days went a good deal…