Ye Chen strode towards Liu Qingyou almost straight ahead, his facial muscles tensing as he forced out what he thought was a deep and magnetic smile.

He deliberately lowered his voice, making a series of imitation bubbly sounds in his throat, trying to appear mature and charming.

"Little sister, how are you?"

The sound was sticky and mushy, like it had just been pulled out of a frying pan and was being forcibly stuffed into someone's ear.

Liu Qingyou felt a sudden churning in her stomach, and the hairs on her body stood on end. She involuntarily took a small step back, instinctively trying to create distance. The discomfort emanating from the person before her far exceeded her earlier wild thoughts.

She took a deep breath, suppressing the nausea, and spoke with a polite tone that kept people at a distance.

"This is a place that buys and sells antiques. If you're just browsing, sir, I'm afraid..."

Even behind Ye Chen, the ever-gloomy-faced Poison Scorpion seemed to have an uncontrollable twitch at the corner of his eye. Clearly, even he, as Ye Chen's subordinate, was finding it hard to resist his young master's sudden, greasy performance.

He lowered his voice and reminded Ye Chen.

"Young Master, important matters are at stake."

Ye Chen reluctantly dropped his "love saint" demeanor and nodded impatiently. His sharp eyes, like searchlights, began to scan the store quickly, searching for his true target—the ancient jade that held a great opportunity.

Sure enough, it didn't take long for his gaze to be fixed on the display case in the very center of the exhibition hall. There lay quietly a piece of ancient jade pendant, its surface smooth and lustrous, radiating a faint, almost ethereal aura.

That's it! Ye Chen's heart skipped a beat, and a surge of joy welled up inside him, but he deliberately kept his face calm.

He pretended to examine a bronze vessel for a few seconds, then picked up a plain porcelain bottle and casually asked about the price. His steps seemed casual, but he actually moved with a clear goal to the display case of the ancient jade.

He pointed to the ancient jade, turned to Liu Qingyou, and feigned a slight interest in his tone.

"Miss Liu, how much is this antique jade?"

Liu Qingyou was preparing to quote the price according to the list price.

"One billion."

A male voice, with a slightly lazy tone but full of confidence, suddenly rang out from the side.

Ye Chen's brows furrowed instantly, and he looked in the direction of the sound with displeasure. He saw a flamboyantly dressed, slightly chubby young man with his arms crossed, a mocking smile on his lips, his eyes openly sizing him up.

It was Geng Yu.

Ye Chen was puzzled and turned his gaze to Liu Qingyou again.

Liu Qingyou bowed slightly and explained in a calm voice.

"I'm sorry, sir. This antique jade was purchased by Mr. Geng a few minutes ago. Our shop is currently just holding it for safekeeping."

Geng Yu looked at Ye Chen with great interest, especially at his arrogant attitude, as if the whole world owed him eight million. For no reason, a surge of anger rose in his heart.

Damn it, here comes another self-important show-off.

Seeing Geng Yu's typical spoiled brat behavior, Ye Chen's anger surged. He was already overwhelmed by that treacherous bastard Qin Xiao, and now this clueless fatso was causing trouble again!

But a glance out of the corner of his eye caught sight of Liu Qingyou standing quietly beside him, her beauty ethereal and captivating. Her alluring appearance forced him to suppress his burgeoning anger. In front of a beautiful woman, especially one he had already decided to keep as his prized possession, he had to maintain a basic level of decorum.

He tried to make his tone sound less aggressive.

"Mr. Geng, right? Isn't a price of one billion a bit too outrageous? This jade is indeed nice, but..."

Geng Yu seemed to have heard the funniest joke of the century, and he exaggeratedly picked at his ear.

"Is it expensive? I think it's great value for money, very fair."

He paused, then his smile became even more playful and irritating.

"However... judging by your outfit, although you look respectable, you probably don't have much money in your pocket. Alright, I'm in a good mood today, so I'll treat it as charity and give you a rock-bottom price: 500 million! Cash or card? Take it, you're welcome!"

Five hundred million?

Ye Chen clenched his fist suddenly, his knuckles cracking, and the veins on the back of his hand throbbed faintly.

He had just carefully examined this ancient jade with his internal energy. While its spiritual energy was abundant, its actual market value was at most a few hundred thousand, and at most no more than a million. This fatso actually dared to ask for five hundred million? Was he treating him like a fool?!

Seeing Ye Chen's ashen face, his expression of wanting to lash out but forcibly holding it in, like someone constipated, Geng Yu was secretly overjoyed. He deliberately used an extremely provocative tone to continue fanning the flames.

"What? You think it's too expensive?"

"No way, no way? What era are we living in? There really isn't anyone who can't even come up with a mere 500 million? Tsk tsk tsk, that's really pathetic."

He picked up the ancient jade, casually tossed it in his hand, and made clicking sounds of admiration.

"Wow, this jade looks really good, and it's so translucent. I recently heard that using the finest jade to make soup is called... oh right, jade marrow soup! It's incredibly nourishing! I'll try this when I get home; it'll definitely taste amazing! Maybe it'll even help me live longer!"

Jade Marrow Soup?!

Upon hearing these three words, Ye Chen's expression changed drastically! The true value of this ancient jade lies in the trace of pure spiritual energy it contains. If this ignorant, fat fool were to use it to boil soup at high temperatures, the spiritual energy would inevitably dissipate completely, rendering this precious natural treasure, which is of utmost importance to him, utterly useless!

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