Chapter 61: Chapter 61: Auction House

Ji Zeqiu’s fever had subsided, but his body was still somewhat weak. Seeing that there were still two or three days left of his leave, his manager simply let him go home to rest.

Back at the apartment, after taking his medicine Ji Zeqiu lay in bed and drifted into a heavy sleep.

His eyebrows were tightly furrowed, as if he was not sleeping peacefully.

Ji Zeqiu dreamed he was curled up in a dark corner, endlessly waiting for Wen Li’s arrival.

The ticking of the clock echoed in his ears incessantly, at first, he followed the ticking sound in his mind, thirty, three hundred, three thousand…

Gradually, he lost track of the count, was it millions or tens of millions?

The ticking sound continued, bit by bit torturing the will of his wait.

But the door remained tightly shut, with no one coming to find him.

He buried his head between his legs, biting his lips hard, just as he was about to give up, finally, there was a noise at the door.

A beautiful figure in a dress walked in, extending her hand towards him with a gentle smile on her lips, “Mommy has come to take you home…”

His hands trembling, he placed his hand on top of hers and looked up, wanting to see the face of the person clearly, only to be woken up by a clattering noise.

He opened his eyes, escaping the gloomy and frightening room, and the tautness in his emotions eased.

The noise arose once more.

“Ah ah, the oil is splattering!”

“Hiss, that hurts!”

Ji Zeqiu rubbed his temples irritably and got up to go to the living room. Seeing Lin Xu in the kitchen instantly invigorated him, “What are you doing?!”

“You’re awake, I was thinking of cooking something for you to strengthen your body,” Lin Xu gestured with the spatula in her hand.

Ji Zeqiu glanced at the slightly charred meat in the pot, his expression somewhat complex, recalling the previous unpalatable stir-fried meat. He snatched the spatula from Lin Xu’s hand, leading her to the living room, “Cooking is the nanny’s job, let her handle it. You should do your own thing.”

“But I don’t really have anything else to do,” Lin Xu blinked.

“Then play with your phone or read a magazine,” Ji Zeqiu said, pushing a magazine into her arms without any discussion.

“…Alright.” Let’s assume he is considering his tired mother.

Lin Xu casually flipped through the magazine in her hands.

Seeing the spatula taken over by the nanny, Ji Zeqiu secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

However, it wasn’t long before he heard Lin Xu shout in surprise again.

“What’s wrong?” Ji Zeqiu asked.

Lin Xu turned the magazine around, pointing at a jewelry necklace on the page, her eyes sparkling, “This necklace is so beautiful!”

Ji Zeqiu wasn’t interested in that kind of thing, he glanced over briefly and said indifferently, “It’s alright.”

“Let’s go buy it!” Lin Xu was excited.

“If you want to go, go by yourself,” he had no intention of going out with her.

“How can I buy it if you don’t go?”

“Don’t tell me you want me to buy it for you?” Ji Zeqiu was astonished.

“Is that not okay?” Lin Xu batted her eyes at him, those translucent and sparkling eyes so affecting that they softened one’s heart.

Ji Zeqiu abruptly turned his head away, his voice stiff, “Of course, it’s not okay!”

He wasn’t Ji Tingyang, why should he buy it for her, especially with such an entitled tone.

“Really, it can’t be?” Lin Xu reached out to touch the necklace on the magazine, a look of regret on her face.

Her lips pursed into a straight line, the joyous expression she had earlier fell, her long lashes quivered slightly, displaying a pitiful appearance.

“Actually…” Ji Zeqiu’s eyes flickered awkwardly, “it’s not that I can’t buy it for you…”

Should he let Ji Tingyang buy it for her? This thought had just surfaced when he heard his own change of heart.

“Really?!” Lin Xu abruptly looked up, her dim eyes suddenly bursting with light as she gazed straight at him, “I knew you were the best to me!”

The ears hidden beneath her tousled hair slowly reddened as Ji Zeqiu stiffened his neck and shouted, “I’m not buying you a necklace because I’m good to you! This is a thank-you gift for protecting me on the cliff before, and for taking care of me yesterday. After this, we’re even. Got it!”

“Alright, alright, I understand.” Lin Xu cheerfully cupped her cheeks.

“As long as you know.” Ji Zeqiu muttered, taking the magazine to see how to make the purchase.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“I’ve checked already, it’s at the auction house over there, the time is this afternoon, and setting off now is just right.” Lin Xu had already memorized the details and was pulling him to leave.

As a public figure, Ji Zeqiu found it inconvenient to appear in public with Lin Xu, as getting photographed could easily land them in the hot searches.

Hence, he contacted the auction house staff, secured a private box, and took Lin Xu with him.

With about ten minutes until the start of the auction, Lin Xu passed the time by casually flipping through the booklet of the evening’s auction items.

She was drawn to a pink diamond bracelet and after counting the zeroes following the starting bid, she quickly abandoned the thought of asking Ji Zeqiu to buy it for her.

There were too many zeroes behind; her son still lived in a pitiful little apartment, so she might as well forget about the bracelet.

Sitting opposite, Ji Zeqiu was completely unaware that Lin Xu was pitying him in her heart again, or else he would have insisted on showing her his bank account balance to prove his capability.

One by one, the attendees of the auction began to arrive, and the auction started.

The first items were antiques and calligraphy that Lin Xu had no interest in. It wasn’t until mid-auction that the staff brought up the gemstone necklace she had set her eyes on.

Many men who had come with their female companions started bidding, and in no time, the price had shot up to a million.

“One million two hundred thousand.” Lin Xu hurriedly raised the bid.

“One million five hundred thousand.” Someone quickly outbid her.

Lin Xu: “One million six hundred thousand.”

“One million eight hundred thousand.” Outbid again.

After several rounds, the price had escalated to three million, and each of Lin Xu’s bids was suppressed.

This feeling was extremely unpleasant.

Lin Xu was so frustrated her eyes bulged, even tempted to go straight to five million, but the thought of wasting Ji Zeqiu’s money made her suppress this urge, downcast as she sipped her tea.

Ji Zeqiu clicked his tongue and as the staff’s gavel was about to fall for the first time, a deep voice came from the box, “Seven million.”

He boldly added four million more, full of determination to secure the necklace.

The man who had been competing with Lin Xu downstairs paused for a moment, and then sheepishly put down his bidding card.

He gave up.

No one else continued to bid, and the necklace went to Ji Zeqiu without contest.

Ji Zeqiu looked away, meeting Lin Xu’s eyes shining with touched emotion.

“I didn’t think you would spend so much money for a necklace for me.”

Ji Zeqiu averted his gaze, his voice stumbling and stiff, “Don’t get me wrong, I just couldn’t stand that guy!”