Liu Jinghong's carriage was already approaching the outside of Jubaolou.
Boss Chen came to greet him from afar: "Oh! Young Master Liu! Young Master... no, Miss Chu! It's been so long! How have you been?"
The carriage stopped, and Liu Jinghong jumped down first, then turned back to help Chu Hongluan.
"How has Fourth Brother been lately?"
"Excellent! Excellent! Young Pavilion Master, you may not know this, but before the Nine Pavilion Summit, I bet five thousand high-grade spirit stones at the casino, betting that you would win! Everyone thought I was crazy! In the end, thanks to you, I made a fortune! It really is me, Chen, who has a discerning eye!"
Liu Jinghong smiled enigmatically: "That's right, Boss Chen's nose is always incredibly accurate when it comes to smelling spirit stones."
"You flatter me! You flatter me, haha!"
Chen Si led the two inside, his smile causing wrinkles to gather under his eyes.
"Fourth Brother, I've come today to help you make a big deal!"
"Look at what you're saying! Every time you come here, you help me close a big deal!"
Liu Jinghong was taken aback. After thinking about it carefully, it seemed that it really was true!
He shook his head and explained, "I'll need you to put on a show with me then!"
"Hey! Just tell me! I'll definitely cooperate!"
Upstairs, it was still the same room, number one in the "Heavenly" section.
Last time Liu Jinghong brought Chu Hongluan over, she bought a lot of magical artifacts shaped like jewelry, but I've hardly ever seen her use them. After all, true powerhouses never need such flashy things like mine to protect them.
Liu Jinghong told her to pick out anything at random, and Chu Hongluan casually reached for a phoenix hairpin. It was a low-grade defensive magic artifact, exquisite and beautiful, the kind of style that ordinary female cultivators would like.
When Chen Si brought the tea and snacks upstairs, Liu Jinghong handed him the phoenix hairpin and whispered a secret plot in his ear.
Chu Hongluan sipped her tea while watching the two men with great interest, and then she noticed that Boss Chen's eyes were getting brighter and brighter.
Mr. Chen's face clearly said: "Is there really such a good thing in the world?"
After seeing Boss Chen off, Liu Jinghong couldn't hide his smug smile. He muttered to himself, "Four ungrateful bastards! If I don't skin you alive today, I'll go to Leshan and move that giant Buddha statue!" He sat there, retorting, "I'll take my seat!"
Soon, the two young masters arrived, panting heavily.
"Oh, you're here so fast. Didn't you take those two clueless people to the clinic?" Liu Jinghong was refilling Chu Hongluan's tea and didn't even look up when she heard the commotion.
"Ah... this." Sorry, I didn't think of that at all.
"The young master himself said that the two of them are clueless. If we meddle in this matter, wouldn't that make us seem clueless as well?"
They laughed it off and, with a smug grin, got to the table.
"Waiter! Waiter! Bring me a pot of wine!"
One of the young masters, Li Fugui, shouted at the top of his lungs, and his spittle flew straight towards Chu Hongluan's face opposite him!
With lightning speed, Liu Jinghong unfolded her jade-bone fan with a snap, and with a flick of her wrist, her spiritual energy surged, precisely deflecting the spittle!
"If you don't want your mouth, I can sew it back on for you!" Liu Jinghong coldly rebuked.
Chu Hongluan raised her hand and pressed down his fan. "Alright, why are you angry? It's just a small matter. Don't ruin the harmony."
Under the table, Chu Hongluan gently nudged him with her leg, reminding him: "A small act of impatience can ruin a great plan."
Liu Jinghong coughed awkwardly, and two blushes crept onto her delicate earlobes.
All anger vanished in that instant.
Li Fugui quickly apologized with an awkward laugh, then pushed the chair back a little further away with his bottom.
When the waiter brought the wine, Li Fugui grabbed the wine pot and poured a cup for each of the four of them. He laughed heartily, thinking he was being very cheerful, and said, "I was inappropriate in my words and actions earlier. I would like to offer this cup to the young master as an apology. I hope that the young master will not hold my mistake against me and will forgive me for what I have done."
Li Fugui and Wang Zhaocai next to him had already raised their wine glasses, but Liu Jinghong did not move: "The one who should apologize is my junior sister, why should I offer my apology to you, young master?"
"Ah, yes, yes, yes. Master... um, how should I address the young master's junior sister?"
"His surname is Chu," Liu Jinghong replied.
"Oh!" The two immediately turned their glasses to Chu Hongluan, "A toast to Miss Chu, and we hope you will forgive us!"
Chu Hongluan smiled meaningfully, picked up her wine glass, but before she could bring it to her lips, Liu Jinghong intercepted it.
"Junior sister can't hold her liquor, so I'll drink it for her."
After saying that, he drank it all in one gulp.
Chu Hongluan: "......"
Li Fugui: "......"
Wang Zhaocai: "......"
Legal but sick.
Soon, the auction officially began.
As usual, Chen Si took the stage and gave an opening speech, which was met with thunderous applause from the audience.
Then, the first item was presented on stage.
Phoenix hairpin, a low-grade defensive magic artifact, starting bid is ten Heavenly Spirit Jade.
The people below were buzzing with discussion.
"No way, a low-grade defensive magic weapon is priced this high?"
"Who knows? Maybe it's just that women's money is easier to earn."
Liu Jinghong glanced sideways at Chu Hongluan and winked, "Junior Sister, do you like it?"
Chu Hongluan picked up her teacup and took an elegant sip: "It's passable."
Liu Jinghong smiled and immediately said, "Fifteen Heavenly Spirit Jade!"
"Hiss—is this how the price is increased? In units of five Heavenly Spirit Jade?"
"Shh, I just checked, and it seems that Room Number One in the Heavenly Palace belongs to Young Master Liu!"
"Young Master Liu! The same Young Master Liu Jinghong who won the Nine Pavilion Summit and topped the Wind and Cloud Ranking?!"
"That's him!"
Suddenly, a female voice came from the room opposite room number one in the Heavenly tier: "Sixteen Heavenly Spirit Jade."
Chu Hongluan raised an eyebrow, already having a rough idea of what trick Liu Jinghong was up to.
As expected, Liu Jinghong spoke again: "Twenty Heavenly Spirit Jade."
"Twenty-one Heavenly Spirit Jade".
"Twenty-five pieces," Liu Jinghong continued to raise the price.
"Twenty-six."
Thirty pieces.
The lobby downstairs was in an uproar.
"Thirty Heavenly Spirit Jade! Good heavens! It's just a low-grade magic weapon!!!"
"What do you know? The young master is probably trying to please his sweetheart. Didn't you see he was bidding on a phoenix hairpin?"
"Really? Didn't I hear that Young Master Liu is averse to women and avoids them like the plague?"
"How long has it been since you left the house? You're still showing off such old news! It's all over the side street now! Young Master Liu was so angry for a woman!"
"What? Tell me in detail..."
The discussion below was in full swing, and Liu Jinghong's bids continued to climb, reaching two hundred Heavenly Spirit Jade, and showed no signs of stopping.
Li Fugui and Wang Zhaocai were dumbfounded. Although they had spent Liu Jinghong's money, they still couldn't help but feel the pinch: "Young...Young Master...a mere Earth-rank magic artifact, it can't be...it really can't be that bad—"
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