AZI Volume 4 Chapter 58

"Enter."

As the door into her private room is opened, a female worker pokes her head in, and says—

"Mo-laoban, the item you're interested in is about to show up."

"Got it."

The item that Mo-laoban is interested in is a flute.

As it is a last-minute addition to the auction, she didn't have time to negotiate a price with the seller, hence she can only choose to bid on it now.

Grabbing her large jacket, Mo-laoban drapes it over her shoulders, and makes her way down to the fifth floor.

...…

"Our next item is this flute."

Placed onto the display pedestal is a black flute.

The body of the flute is marked up with green stripes. At first glance, it may seem like these patterns had been painted onto the flute, but they are actually a natural trait of the material that was used to craft it.

"Black jadeite."

Recognizing the flute's material, Long Hua narrows his eyes beneath the sunglasses, to which, the Tai Xuan Emperor adds—

(Indeed. Purity is quite high as well. It's worth a ten-roll, maybe even twelve.)

"…Uh."

Hearing Long Hua's remark that is made with a tone of interest, a bead of cold sweat rolls down the side of Nuo'er's head, as she gulps down her own spit.

Knowing her elder sister's interests well, Nuo'er can't help but think—

(Long-shao, what kind of ill-fated connection do you and elder sister have with one another?)

"Starting bid is 200,000 NWD!"

Grabbing the numbered placard, Long Hua is just about to make a bid; however—

"500,000."

"Uh?"

Raising his head, and gazing towards the opposite side of the floor, Long Hua sees Mo-laoban with a faint smile on her face, as she looks towards the flute.

"Really now…?"

As Long Hua's expression darkens, Bai Wen thought—

(Ai, a good cigar in hand with a good show about to begin. What more could I ask for?)

Thinking of this, while removing the sound containment barrier, Bai Wen takes out a pot of wine, and pours it into his teacup—fully intent on watching how this show will go.

"…"

Leisurely pressing her teacup near her lips, Zhen Qing Huai smiles lightly, as she glances between Long Hua and Mo-laoban.

"500,000, going once, going twice…"

Knowing the bidder to be Mo-laoban—who is the owner of this restaurant, Dan'er didn't see any point in waiting to finalize this deal.

"Sol-"

"550,000!"

"Uh?"

Hearing the voice that made this bid, Mo-laoban's smile freezes.

Similarly to Long Hua, Mo-laoban also raises her head, and sees him on the opposite side of the same floor with his placard raised.

"Un, number nine, 550,000, any-"

Before Dan'er can even finish her sentence, Mo-laoban calls—

"700,000!"

As soon as this call is made—

"…Tch."

"…"

Staring at one another, sparks fly between Long Hua and Mo-laoban.

Raising his placard, Long Hua calls—

"750,000!"

"900,000!"

"One million!"

"1.2 million!"

As the price on the flute continues to rise, the other guests can't help but look to one another, as they remark—

"Who the hell are the ones bidding?"

"This seems to be coming from the fifth floor…?"

"Fifth floor? I thought that floor was only meant to exist to give the restaurant more prestige…?"

Almost immediately, all eyes turned to the fifth floor.

"1.75 million!"

Towards Mo-laoban's sharp increase, Long Hua shouts—

"Woman, are you sane?! It's a freaking flute!"

"If you're a man, keep bidding till you win then!"

Twitching his lips, Long Hua shouts—

"Two million!"

As the two continue to bid against each other—

"Chen Lan, that's your item, isn't it?"

Li Zi Xiang turns to Chen Lan with a look of amazement on her face.

"Ah, this… I think, it is?"

Unable to keep track of the situation—due to how abrupt this wealth is coming to him; Chen Lan blinks his eyes with a stiff expression on his face.

"Surnamed Chen, what kind of dog shit luck is this?"

"Dammit, how could a flute be worth this much?"

Subjected to numerous glares of envy from the other members of the hall, Chen Lan scratches his cheek awkwardly, and says—

"Ai, don't stare at me like that. Once this is over, I'll treat all of you to dinner, that good enough?"

"Now that's how a good brother should act."

"Right? Let's hope those two continue to up the bid."

Settling the matter in this manner, Chen Lan's mood improves quickly, as he begins to look forward to receiving the money.

Amidst his anticipation, the thought of one of the bidders being his ancestor had never crossed Chen Lan's mind.

"2.5 million! Keep going if you dare!"

"I do dare! 2.8 million!"

"…"

Looking between Mo-laoban and the VIP guest going back-to-back, Dan'er can't help but make an awkward expression. The former is her employer, so naturally Dan'er felt the need to side with Mo-laoban.

However, rules of the auction limit her ability to do much for her employer. So long as this VIP guest possesses the capital to keep upping their bid, Dan'er can only choose to let the situation play out.

"3.2 million!"

"…"

Taking his hands off the guard rail, Long Hua draws in a deep breath of air, and rotates the Tranquil Heart Incantation fiercely to cool his head off.

If the opponent is just some random bidder, he wouldn't hesitate to just steal the item off them right after the auction is over.

However—

(Damn, this bitch…)

The proprietress of this restaurant is no slouch—that much has become obvious to Long Hua after their first encounter. That being said—

"What's your bottom line? We're getting nowhere like this."

Towards Long Hua's question, Mo-laoban folds her arms beneath her chest, and declares—

"As this restaurant's proprietress, my bottom line is unlimited!"

"…"

Hearing this, Long Hua nearly halts the rotation of the Tranquil Heart Incantation; however, regaining his composure quickly, he offers—

"Literary feud, poetics as our topic! Whoever fails to continue at where the other leaves off needs to forfeit their rights to bid!"