The old man leaned on a cane, his face kind and amiable with a smile that was warm yet uncompromising, taking one steady step at a time onto the stage with the support of his adopted son.
At first glance, he really did seem like a frail old man.
But his gait was actually firm and powerful, sprightly and nimble. Anyone in the venue with some martial arts skill could tell that he was no ordinary person.
Sitting in her seat, Qiao Ying looked at the familiar face of the old man, an involuntary cold smile forming at the corners of her mouth.
That smile contained too many things.
On stage, the old man was saying words of thanks and promoting charity.
To Qiao Ying, it sounded like a huge joke.
A ruthless, cold-blooded killer with blood-stained hands who had cultivated murderous weapons, his blades still unsheathed, had become a greatly admired philanthropist.
It was extremely ironic and laughable.
Was this from doing too many evil deeds and now trying to accumulate virtue out of a guilty conscience?
Would someone like him be afraid of going to hell after death?
With that much karmic burden, how many lifetimes would it take to offset it with good deeds?
Qin Yuchen asked, “Miss Qiao, do you know Elder Wei?”
Qiao Ying immediately responded, “A friend gave me the invitation.”
Qin Yuchen thought to himself, no wonder.
Just then, a familiar figure sat down beside her, the air around him clean and cold. Qiao Ying drew her gaze back from the stage and looked at the man beside her.
Qin Hanyue’s faintly smiling visage went straight to her eyes.
“Third uncle? What are you doing here?” Qin Yuchen was baffled.
His gaze went past Qiao Ying in the middle to lock eyes with his third uncle, and Qin Yuchen’s body reflexively tensed, his back unconsciously straightening. If not for the occasion, he would have properly stood up already.
Qin Yan: Here so fast, overtime pay locked in!
Qin Hanyue simply said, “Was passing by.”
Qin Yuchen: “Don’t you...have a lot of things to take care of today?”
Qin Hanyue spoke indifferently: “It won’t take up much time from the auction.” He glanced at the stage, reminding Qin Yuchen, “The auction is starting.”
The implication was: Pay attention to what’s happening on stage.
“Yes...” Qin Yuchen obediently watched the auction.
But he was thinking to himself: Was it Qiao Ying who notified Third Uncle, or was it Qin Yan? Either way, Third Uncle came because of Qiao Ying.
Qin Hanyue had entered from a back door without alerting anyone.
Some people in front noticed him and were about to greet him, but Qin Hanyue raised a hand to stop them.
Qin Hanyue adjusted his sitting position slightly, then leaned towards Qiao Ying, tilting his head to ask in a low voice: “Where did you get the invitation from?”
The content was not suitable for others to overhear, so Qiao Ying also tilted her head closer to Qin Hanyue’s: “I added a name to their digital guest list myself and got in like that.”
Qin Hanyue: “I thought you snatched it.”
Qiao Ying: “Why go through the trouble when you can use your brain.”
Qin Hanyue chuckled: “Why didn’t you ask me for a ready-made invitation?”
The two had their heads so close their hair was practically touching. The few flyaway strands of Qiao Ying’s soft, fluffy hair even poked Qin Hanyue’s hard, cold cheek.
It tickled.
Qin Hanyue could smell the nice fragrance of her shampoo.
It was fresh and cool, a little like mint but not quite.
Qiao Ying retorted: “You weren’t even going to come originally, right?”
Qin Hanyue: “Indeed, I didn’t have a reason to come at first.”
His words seemed to reveal his intentions a little too obviously.
Qiao Ying looked up at him. Their gazes met at such a short distance, both clearly feeling each other’s breath. The corners of Qin Hanyue’s mouth gradually tensed as he looked at the girl’s exquisite face right before his eyes.
But before he could imagine anything further, Qiao Ying gave him a glance and said nothing at all, not even reacting as she simply turned back to watch the stage.
She didn’t even change her expression.
Qin Hanyue, whose heart rate had just sped up: “......”
After calming himself, he asked: “See anything you like?”
Qiao Ying: “I’m just here to liven things up.”
Qin Hanyue didn’t believe her words, and neither would Qin Yan.
Qiao Ying: “What, afraid I’ll cause trouble?”
Qin Hanyue didn’t respond, but his eyes said it all.
If it was some other matter, Qin Hanyue might have believed her. But this was a charity auction. She had come to donate money out of love and goodwill, no?
If she wasn’t here for the auction items, then she must be here for the people attending the auction...the organizers? Wei Qingyuan?
Qiao Ying continued asking: “So has Sir Qin come to watch me or help me?”
Qin Hanyue: “Naturally, to help.”
Qiao Ying: “What if I wanted to blow this place up? Would you help with that too?”
Qin Hanyue: “If you need to light the fuse, I have a lighter on me.”
Qiao Ying looked at him for a moment then laughed softly.
There was no way she would blow this place up. Apart from all the innocent VIPs sitting here, this wide-open space meant there was no chance she could kill the second-in-command of Shadow—the Red Heart King.
Although Qin Yuchen’s eyes were watching the stage, his peripheral vision kept an eye on the two people beside him the whole time. Seeing Qiao Ying whisper to his Third Uncle, heads tilted closely...he had never seen his Third Uncle act so improperly before...
The first auction item was an antique vase with a starting bid of 3.5 million yuan. A woman bid 10 million for it.
The second item was a pair of antique calligraphy and paintings.
“6 million.”
“6.5 million...”
As Qiao Ying listened to the price getting higher and higher, she couldn’t help but want to laugh thinking about how all this money would be donated to charity under the hands of the Red Heart King.
Charity? The Red Heart King?
Her gaze followed to look at Wei Qingyuan sitting with his back facing her at the front.
The boring auction carried on.
“The sixth item up for auction tonight comes from Cartier’s Desert Fox brooch series, born in 1940...”
“The starting bid is 3 million. Each bid must increase by no less than 500,000. Bidding starts now.”
“3.5 million.”
“4.5 million.”
“...”
“8 million.”
At this time, Qiao Ying raised her hand. “10 million.”
All three men turned to look at her simultaneously.
Just as Qin Yuchen was about to say something, another steady voice beat him to it and asked: “You like it?”
Qiao Ying glanced at Qin Hanyue but didn’t respond.
A female voice called from behind: “11 million.”
Qiao Ying immediately raised her hand again: “15 million.”
Su Lingwei frowned and looked in the direction of the voice to see exactly who kept bidding against her.
Her eyes landed first on the girl dressed in a T-shirt.
She recognized her in one glance—it was Qiao Ying who had taken the taxi here.
Su Lingwei frowned.
“Alright, this young lady bids 15 million. Any higher offers?” The host looked towards Su Lingwei, who had been shouting bids just now.
Su Lingwei shouted again: “17 million.”
Qiao Ying: “20 million.”
Su Lingwei: “22 million.”
Qiao Ying: “25 million.”
Su Lingwei was furious and about to stand up when her father grabbed her. “Lingwei, what are you doing?”
Su Lingwei pointed at Qiao Ying in front. “Dad, can’t you see it’s that girl? She obviously doesn’t have money, she’s just deliberately driving up the price.”
Father Su: “If you like it then bid, don’t make a fool of yourself. Everyone here is an important figure, don’t cause a scene.”
Su Lingwei refused to give in: “She is deliberately inflating the price. Who bids like that?”
Father Su sighed. “When will you learn to control that temper of yours.”
Su Lingwei had been happy for two to three months after Qin Hanyue threw her an olive branch, but with no further developments, she came to this auction today to unwind. Bumping into this annoying situation again, how could she stand it?
A perfectly fine auction had turned into a battle between two women.
Everyone unconsciously looked towards where the two were sitting.
Those in the back rows couldn’t see who was bidding against the Su family, but those in front clearly could. Glancing back, their expressions instantly changed upon seeing Qin Hanyue sitting next to the girl. One by one, they respectfully nodded and bowed obsequiously to Qin Hanyue instead.
Only then did they sneak a peek at the girl sitting between Qin Hanyue and his nephew, wondering about her background.
Su Lingwei’s father also looked over at Qiao Ying but didn’t glean anything from her appearance. However, the back of the man sitting next to the girl did seem a bit familiar...
“This young lady has bid 25 million. Any higher offers?”
The host repeated himself three times. “Going once, going twice—” His eyes fixed expectantly on Su Lingwei.
Not just the host, many others were also watching her.
The Desert Fox brooch—Su Lingwei thought she could buy it for 15 million tops. But now the price had nearly doubled. She refused to be taken advantage of.
Seeing that his daughter was no longer bidding, Su Father had assumed she had calmed down. But the next second, Su Lingwei shouted: “30 million!”
Father Su: “......”
Knowing his daughter was in a bad mood, he left things up to her.
Su's father comforted himself, thinking that anyway it was doing charity.
But unexpectedly, Su Lingwei shouted, "Humph! Let's see if she, someone who takes a taxi, can take out so much money. If she dares to bid, I'll let her be the sucker."
Su Lingwei waited to see Qiao Ying make a fool of herself.
As a result, there was no movement from Qiao Ying's side.
Qin Hanyue looked towards Qiao Ying and waited for a while, but didn't see her attempt to shout again, ignoring the host's prompts.
Seeing this, Qin Hanyue raised her hand to shout on her behalf,
but unexpectedly, as soon as she raised her hand, it was grabbed by Qiao Ying...
