After Chloe quoted a price, Hurst glanced at her with a wry smile and continued raising the bid in an unhurried manner.
The increments were not substantial.
Hurst: "Two hundred twenty thousand."
Chloe disliked this despicable man Hurst, who had previously tried to stir up trouble between Chloe and Xavier.
People like him who schemed needlessly were just like that.
Chloe secretly raised her middle finger.
Unfortunately, her middle finger had barely emerged before Ren Yunying forcibly pressed it down.
Chloe was slightly defiant. She looked towards Ren Yunying, silently asking with her eyes if she could raise the bid again.
The answer, of course, was yes.
After all, Ren Yunying's purpose for coming to the Barren Planet was to acquire this Frigid Grass.
However, it would be too conspicuous for a young girl like Chloe to call out the bids.
Ren Yunying covered Chloe's mouth and continued slowly:
"Two hundred twenty-one thousand."
The crowd: "..."
Behind them, Hurst raised his eyebrows slightly:
"Two hundred twenty-two thousand."
As expected, Ren Yunying added another decimal place, dragging out the bidding war with Hurst at a leisurely pace.
Until the price reached two hundred forty-one thousand and five hundred.
People in the auction house gradually became dissatisfied.
"What's going on? If you want to buy, just bid properly. With the way you two are going, the rest of us might as well not bid!"
"Hurry it up, there are still many items left! We don't have time to wait for you two!"
"For the love of the Goddess, if you don't end this quickly, I'll chop you both up!"
Amidst the rising anger, Ren Yunying frowned slightly, almost imperceptibly.
At that moment, Hurst, seeming to have finally lost his patience, directly raised the price to one million.
The surrounding crowd fell silent.
Surely this would end it, wouldn't it?
Ren Yunying clenched her fists. She hadn't expected anyone to compete with her for a Frigid Grass that wasn't extremely valuable, just rare.
One million wasn't a large sum, and Ren Yunying could afford it.
But they were currently on the Barren Planet. As she had said earlier, they had no foundation here. For a woman carrying a substantial amount of money while accompanied by five young children, the troubles after the auction would undoubtedly only increase, not decrease.
Clearly, Hurst had also counted on this, which was why he had bid such an awkward number.
Ren Yunying hesitated.
Just as she wavered about continuing to bid, Hurst's leisurely voice came from behind:
"Beautiful lady, even if you don't care for yourself, you should consider the little ones by your side."
With those words, Ren Yunying disappointedly lowered her paddle.
Hurst smiled contentedly as he leaned back in his chair.
"One million going once, one million going twice, one million going thrice!"
"Sold!"
...
After the auction ended, fewer and fewer people remained.
Ren Yunying and the children stood up and followed Hurst.
Hurst calmly received the Frigid Grass from the staff, then turned to see Ren Yunying's cold expression.
He shrugged helplessly: "Beautiful lady, is there anything else I can help you with?"
Ren Yunying stared at him coldly, raising her chin to indicate the Frigid Grass in his hand, and said simply:
"Name your price."
Upon hearing this, Hurst blinked, then spoke in his rich, almost chanting tone and voice:
"My dear, I am not at all short of money."
Chloe looked at his pretentious expression, scoffed and muttered:
"Showoff."
Hurst narrowed his eyes, looking at Chloe with interest:
"What did you just say?"
"I didn't say anything wrong," Chloe pursed her lips and turned to her companions, "Don't you agree?"
Qin Huaibei hesitated, but Daniel didn't, immediately saying:
"You're absolutely right, he's just a despicable showoff."
And the way he keeps saying 'my dear' is nauseating!
Daniel made a clear expression of disgust.
The perfect smile on Hurst's face almost cracked.
He reined in the oily tone in his voice and straightened his collar:
"Alright, I admit you're right, but we need to leave this place soon."
"After all, too many eyes and ears around."
As he finished speaking, Hurst surveyed their surroundings.
The 'rats' and scum hiding in the shadows quickly scattered.
Hurst just gave them a warning glance before turning to the young gentlemen and ladies before him, his smile flawless:
"My dears, shall we go?"
Chloe noticed that the curve of his smile was always precisely the same, to the millimeter.
He was a strange man. If one were to open his head and take a look inside, would there be a human brain, or just chips running on data and code?
Before Chloe could ponder further, after considering, Ren Yunying followed Hurst out of the auction house.
Hurst said he would take them to the only decent hotel on the Barren Planet.
Ren Yunying's eyes were filled with cold mockery as she gripped the handle of her whip:
"It had better be, or I can't guarantee you'll leave here alive."
Hurst raised his hands in surrender, assuring them he had no ill intentions and asking them to trust him.
He shook his head and sighed:
"My dear, I'm not foolish enough to provoke a military academy instructor."
Hurst glanced mockingly at the whip in Ren Yunying's hand:
"After all, your weapon looks rather daunting."
Hearing this, Ren Yunying snorted:
"At least you're sensible."
She put the whip back at her waist and led the children to follow Hurst to the hotel he mentioned.
Unexpectedly, this hotel was built in the heart of the Barren Planet, where the most concentrated population of thugs, criminals, and killers resided.
Yet without exception, these impoverished and vicious evildoers all carefully avoided this hotel, as if it were some flood or ferocious beast.
Hurst brought them to the top floor, where he opened a room for them.
The interior of the hotel was luxurious and modern, in stark contrast to the rest of the Barren Planet.
Hurst opened the door with familiarity and invited Ren Yunying and the others to enter.
He even thoughtfully prepared milk and juice for the children while pouring low-alcohol drinks for the adults.
In the living room, Chloe sat close to Ren Yunying, with Anderson by her side.
The children gathered around Ren Yunying, like a group of loyal little bodyguards.
This was the adorable scene that greeted Hurst when he returned.
He paused momentarily, then smiled as he placed the wine and beverages on the table:
"Please, take your time."
Chloe didn't hesitate, immediately hugging the milk to her chest.
Following his lead, the other younglings also picked up their drinks.
Ren Yunying didn't have time to stop them before she ended up taking the wine herself.
She sipped it slowly.
Seeing this, Hurst gave a satisfied smile:
"Now then, this beautiful young lady, would you care to tell me why you desire the Frigid Grass?"
