Chapter 247: Shoulder Palanquin
“Is there anything you want? Just say it. As my girlfriend, you can have whatever you want,” Chai Wei said with a smile, assuring Gu Xueying.
Gu Xueying forced a smile on her face, but her gaze couldn’t help but follow Xu Youyou and Lu Jingyao.
On the surface, she appeared open and generous, but deep down, she wished she could devour Xu Youyou. She had always felt things weren’t supposed to be this way. From the moment Xu Youyou didn’t compete for the status of a wealthy heiress, Gu Xueying had felt that things were out of control.
It shouldn’t be like this. She believed it should be Xu Youyou who was going crazy, trying to please the Gu family, not herself.
She should have been the one sitting on high, looking down at Xu Youyou, instead of enduring her sympathetic gaze now.
Gu Xueying was annoyed by Chai Wei. She had seen many greasy rich young men in the circle, but this one was by far the most irritating.
If it weren’t for Gu Yuji suddenly going missing, and if it weren’t for Xu Youyou and Lu Jingyao making things difficult, the Gu family wouldn’t have brought her back from Jinling to Hucheng.
Her so-called study abroad lie had been easily debunked, and the Gu family kept pressing her to answer who the father of her child was.
Naturally, Gu Xueying dared not mention Gu Yuji’s name and could only brush it off. At the same time, Chai Wei began pursuing her, and her father seemed to see some value in this trash, urging her to please him, completely ignoring that her body hadn’t fully recovered.
Gu Xueying had even come to resent her family.
“What do I want? I already have everything. There’s nothing special I need,” Gu Xueying said casually.
Chai Wei immediately took charge, “You’ve come all the way here, how can you not want anything?”
Gu Xueying gave a shallow smile and said, “I used to think London was nothing special, but coming with you this time, I suddenly find it quite interesting.”
Such flattery made Chai Wei particularly happy.
When the auction began, Chai Wei was eager to bid on a treasure that Gu Xueying liked.
In contrast, Lu Jingyao seemed more relaxed. The recent business investment he made had yielded huge returns, and now his cash flow was abundant.
“Have you seen any friends you really want to catch up with here?” Xu Youyou suddenly asked.
Lu Jingyao immediately responded, “You want to meet my friends? Actually, they’re really curious about you, but I’m afraid they might scare you.”
Xu Youyou shook her head, lowered her voice, and whispered a few words in his ear.
Lu Jingyao nodded, “Okay, I’ll take care of it.”
Lu Jingyao then turned and headed to a nearby meeting room. He returned only twenty minutes later.
As soon as he came back, he saw the person beside Xu Youyou and couldn’t help but furrow his brow.
“Lu, long time no see. Did you miss me?” Xirel asked, and then made a move as if to cry in Lu Jingyao’s arms.
Lu Jingyao moved swiftly, almost as if avoiding something disgusting.
Xirel missed, and instead of feeling embarrassed, she said, “You Chinese are so reserved. It’s just a hug, why are you so stingy?”
Lu Jingyao still remembered his experience in the U.S. At the time, he couldn’t figure out if Xirel or someone else had done it. Looking back, it was likely the two of them working together.
“Miss Xirel, sometimes seeing each other often isn’t a good thing,” Lu Jingyao said casually.
Xirel sized him up from top to bottom. He was different from ordinary Chinese men, not only tall and handsome but also possessing a look that was admired both in China and abroad.
The more she couldn’t have him, the more Xirel felt drawn to him.
“Lu, is that why you’re saying this? Because you don’t want to see me again? That’s very unchivalrous,” Xirel complained, half playfully.
Lu Jingyao showed no intention of explaining. After the trash can incident, he had cut off all business ties with the Xirel family, and without any further dealings, he made his cold attitude very clear.
“I need to discuss something with my girlfriend. Excuse me,” Lu Jingyao said, pulling Xu Youyou away, signaling he had no interest in continuing the conversation.
Xirel watched them leave, and a young, handsome man appeared by her side. “My lady, you seem to really like this man? Do you want me to do something to him?”
Xirel glared at him and said, “This person is not easy to deal with. Don’t bring up such things again.”
It wasn’t that Xirel had lost interest in Lu Jingyao, but after their families severed business ties, her father’s business had immediately faced fierce pressure from competitors. It took nearly a year to recover.
Both she and her father suspected that the fierce competition was due to secret help from Lu Jingyao. After taking a loss, Xirel realized that Lu Jingyao was not someone to be trifled with.
“My lady, even if we can’t have him, we can still make things difficult for him, like by raising the price at the auction?” the handsome man whispered.
Xirel smirked slightly, lightly patting his face, “You’re not completely useless.”
Little did Xu Youyou know, before she had even found a treasure she liked, she had already unknowingly become part of a bidding war.
Xu Youyou spotted several familiar Chinese faces in the crowd, many of whom she had seen at the small exchange event in the capital.
Among them was Cen Mingzhu, whom she had previously interacted with over some expensive jade.
Even He Zhilan was attending this small auction exchange.
“Seeing all of you here makes me feel like I didn’t go abroad,” Xu Youyou complained to He Zhilan.
He Zhilan had contacted Xu Youyou beforehand, so Xu Youyou knew she would also be attending the small auction.
He Zhilan smiled and said, “The smaller the auction, the more complete the attendance. Sometimes it’s even livelier than the big auctions at Christie’s or Sotheby’s.”
Xu Youyou asked, “But the host of this auction doesn’t take any commission, so why go to all the trouble to organize it?”
He Zhilan lowered her voice and replied, “Some are real auctions, some are fake. The host may seem like they don’t gain anything, but they build networks, and whether they benefit or not is something only they know.”
Xu Youyou looked at He Zhilan more intently after hearing this. The He family also hosted private auction exchanges, so it was clear that the He family had benefited from such events too.
When the time was right, a middle-aged man dressed like a butler began explaining the rules of the auction.
After his lengthy explanation, Xu Youyou sat up straight because the first auction item was being brought up.
A chair made of Huanghuali wood.
To be precise, it was a palanquin, also known in ancient China as a 肩舆 (shoulder palanquin).
