Chapter 305: Golden Phoebe Nanmu Wood
Xu Youyou said, “I’ll give you the contact information of Song Zhibai’s agent later. You can have someone go negotiate with him.”
Young Master Li raised his eyebrows. “Negotiate? Isn’t it just a matter of you saying the word?”
“The agent also has to consider Song Zhibai’s wishes. He’s not very fond of social events,” Xu Youyou explained.
Hearing this, Young Master Li chuckled lightly, “Aren’t these celebrities just playthings? Why bother caring about their opinions?”
His tone was so matter-of-fact that Xu Youyou frowned slightly.
“Young Master Li, I respect my artists’ wishes. I won’t force them to take on work they don’t want to do,” Xu Youyou said, already a little angry.
Although Young Master Li was arrogant by nature, he knew Xu Youyou wasn’t one of those women in the industry who clung to wealth and status. She had her own confidence and wasn’t easy to criticize, so he switched to a lecturing tone instead: “Miss Xu, you shouldn’t treat artists too seriously. Otherwise, they’ll become disobedient.”
Xu Youyou knew how dark the Hong Kong entertainment scene had been in the last century. Perhaps even now, many bad practices still lingered, and even today’s domestic entertainment industry was far from pure.
But Xu Youyou didn’t care about others. She had always wanted to stick to her own principles: “If they’re disobedient, it just means we aren’t meant to work together. At least for now, Xiao Song is very obedient.”
Young Master Li had nothing to say to that. However, after Xu Youyou left, he muttered quietly to his friends, “Women are women. They don’t know how to do business. It’s like they’re just playing around.”
Although Lu Jingyao’s friends outwardly showed respect to Xu Youyou, deep down they still felt she didn’t deserve the billions in her bank account.
“She’s protecting Song Zhibai so much, not letting anyone take advantage of him. Could it be because he’s her little pet?”
“If that’s the case, wouldn’t it mean Lu Jingyao’s been cuckolded?”
Instead of worrying about it, they chuckled quietly at the thought.
While they were bad-mouthing Xu Youyou behind her back, Xu Youyou couldn’t help but question Lu Jingyao.
“Are these really your friends?” Xu Youyou asked.
Lu Jingyao shook his head. “Just business partners.”
“Can’t you find someone else to work with? I don’t really like them,” Xu Youyou said.
Though the men spoke politely, their scrutinizing gazes never stopped. Especially that Li guy — he particularly annoyed her.
Lu Jingyao said, “I could find others to work with, but they’re not very smart. Working with them is easier because all their schemes are right on the surface.”
Xu Youyou: …
Suddenly, Xu Youyou wasn’t so angry anymore. So these flashy-looking guys were actually being taken advantage of without even realizing it.
“If you really don’t like it, I can switch partners. They’re not irreplaceable,” Lu Jingyao said.
Xu Youyou shook her head. “I’m not planning to interfere in your business.”
They had already agreed before: they could work together, but wouldn’t interfere in each other’s affairs.
Before ten o’clock, people began wheeling in glass cases covered with red silk into the main hall.
Xu Youyou immediately perked up, realizing these were today’s important auction items.
Before the red silk was even lifted, a system notification popped up in front of her.
[Ding, Treasure Hunt Mission Activated. Please complete the mission within seven hours.]
Xu Youyou wasn’t even surprised by the sudden prompt.
The system’s golden pointer quickly aimed at one of the glass cases covered in red silk.
At exactly ten o’clock, all the red silk was lifted, revealing the treasures inside.
Each case was made of top-grade bulletproof glass, and the security at the venue was tight — no one could dare to try anything foolish.
Xu Youyou originally wanted to head straight to her mission target, but out of the corner of her eye, she noticed someone staring at her.
She turned to look — it was the Gu siblings, Gu Fengchuan and Gu Xueying.
Xu Youyou suppressed her displeasure and patiently followed the order, viewing each item one by one.
The first three items were all porcelain pieces — treasures that would have been centerpieces at any regular auction.
“They’re all real, except one has a slight issue,” Xu Youyou said.
Lu Jingyao was carefully examining a blue-and-white porcelain plate said to be from the Kangxi period. The plate had no inscription on the bottom, but experts had certified it as Kangxi porcelain.
“This one?” Lu Jingyao asked.
Xu Youyou leaned close to him and whispered almost into his ear, “This should actually be from the Jiajing period. The experts made a mistake. If we buy it, it’ll be considered a great find.”
Lu Jingyao chuckled softly and said, “I was thinking about buying this as a birthday gift for my grandfather. Now that you said that, I must get it. I’ll tell him you picked it specially for him.”
Gu Xueying watched the two of them being so sweet and affectionate, feeling incredibly jealous. She tried to edge closer to eavesdrop.
But Liu Xiangyi suddenly squeezed in front of Gu Xueying, loudly exclaiming, “So beautiful! Too bad I can’t afford it.”
With that push, Gu Xueying was forced farther away from Xu Youyou and could no longer hear their conversation. She glared angrily at Liu Xiangyi.
Liu Xiangyi scratched her nose and said apologetically, “Did I take your spot? Don’t worry, I’ll move right away!”
She then quickly walked off, thinking to herself that surely this rich young lady wouldn’t hold a grudge after she apologized… until she suddenly remembered she was there as an assistant. Where had her boss gone?
Liu Xiangyi hurriedly chased after Xu Youyou, who was already viewing the sixth item.
Seeing her own scatterbrained little assistant, Xu Youyou didn’t scold her but instead gently reminded her, “Slow down. Don’t fall.”
Liu Xiangyi nodded vigorously, feeling that Miss Xu was truly such a good person. She was determined to work harder to become a proper assistant as soon as possible!
The other assistant who had barely managed to follow them watched their interactions and thought: They’re both surnamed Liu and both assistants, but why is the treatment so different? Is it just because he’s not a girl?
Xu Youyou spent a long time pretending to be indifferent before finally making her way to her real target.
She glanced casually at the treasure.
It was a small wooden box, seemingly made of golden Phoebe nanmu wood. Inside the box were a few casually placed items, all looking quite ordinary at first glance. Even Xu Youyou couldn’t tell right away which one was the real treasure.
Acting as if nothing was special, she moved away from that case and lingered at the next display for a long time.
Only after confirming that the Gu siblings were still spying on her did she lean in and whisper to Lu Jingyao, “I must get the golden Phoebe wood box. Do you have any trustworthy friends here in Hong Kong who can help me bid for it?”
