The Du family was a complete mess, with Du Chengrong controlling all the shares. Tang Yuanyue didn’t think much of Du Zhaohui – after all, it was Du Zhaohui who had initially approached him, not the other way around.

If that was true for Du Zhaohui, Du Jiaoqi meant even less… Impressive? He could show off once he managed to take control of the Chengrong Group.

Tang Yuanyue had always been quite mild-mannered, but how could a young master from a wealthy family truly lack temper and edge?

“80,000 once… 80,000 twice…”

The auctioneer’s voice grated on Du Jiaoqi’s nerves.

He suspected Tang Yuanyue was deliberately driving up the price.

All just to get revenge for his brother Du Zhaohui!

“80,000 – is it still worth buying?”

Du Jiaoqi asked Ye Xiaoqiong.

Ye Xiaoqiong hadn’t expected such a dramatic scene. She wanted Du Jiaoqi to buy the Tian Huang seal and could have steeled herself to encourage him to continue bidding, but Du Jiaoqi wasn’t a fool – he would later realize her ulterior motives. Ye Xiaoqiong painfully shook her head:

“Second Young Master, it’s already overpriced!”

Yes, it was overpriced.

50,000 for a seal was Du Jiaoqi’s mental limit.

With Tang Yuanyue suddenly bidding 80,000, Du Jiaoqi wasn’t sure if he should continue this battle of pride.

“80,000 third-“

“100,000.”

Du Jiaoqi raised his paddle. Tang Yuanyue applauded him, the tension between them thick. Before the auctioneer could speak, Tang Yuanyue had already raised the price to 120,000.

Xia Xiaolan watched speechlessly as the two wealthy young masters fought.

People fight for pride while Buddha accepts incense – ordinary people’s feuds take many forms, but wealthy people’s feuds are all about throwing money around.

120,000 for a Tian Huang seal to give to Wu Daonan?

Wu Daonan might laugh at her foolishness if she accepted it – with that money, she might as well gift him a house in Jin Sha Chi. Even the most expensive properties there cost about the same at cost price.

The Tian Huang seal was out of the question now. Xia Xiaolan looked down at other items in the auction catalog.

She spotted a yin-yang fish jade pendant with a starting price of 15,000 Hong Kong dollars.

Tang Yuanyue and Du Jiaoqi had driven the price up to 150,000. Even Tang Yuanyue felt it was pointless – this kind of pride battle was too childish. Hadn’t he noticed Xia Xiaolan’s attention had already shifted?

Embarrassingly, when the price reached 150,000, the woman beside Du Jiaoqi said something, and Du Jiaoqi suddenly stopped bidding.

Tang Yuanyue won the Tian Huang seal.

The auctioneer offered congratulations, but Tang Yuanyue was fuming.

Du Jiaoqi had deliberately caused trouble!

Meanwhile, Ye Xiaoqiong’s heart was bleeding.

She still didn’t know how to recover Qiu Ying’s painting that Second Young Master Du had bought for 400,000 Hong Kong dollars.

Now another Tian Huang seal had fallen into Tang Yuanyue’s hands, rising from a starting bid of 10,000 to 150,000 Hong Kong dollars… When it reached 150,000, she had advised Du Jiaoqi to give up for the second time. This time Du Jiaoqi had listened to her, but Ye Xiaoqiong felt terrible.

Family heirlooms couldn’t be measured in monetary terms.

But when they were measured in money, their value far exceeded Ye Xiaoqiong’s expectations!

All the remaining auction items seemed meaningless to Ye Xiaoqiong, though she had to maintain her spirit to give Du Jiaoqi new suggestions.

…

“You’re interested in this yin-yang fish jade pendant?”

The yin-yang fish referred to the central part of the Taiji diagram, where two fish-like shapes, one yin and one yang, seemed to intertwine. In traditional Chinese architecture and sculpture, this concept of “all things carry yin and embrace yang, achieving harmony through their blending energies” was often represented by actual fish forms.

The two fish faced head-to-tail, forming a Taiji pattern. Even Xia Xiaolan, an amateur, could see the fine jade quality and the aesthetic beauty of the carving lines.

“What’s the use in being interested? As soon as you bid, Second Young Master Du will surely follow, and this jade pendant will also exceed my budget!”

Thinking of this, Xia Xiaolan wondered why she’d even come to this auction.

Besides being misunderstood about her involvement in Tang Yuanyue’s relationship with his fiancée… it wasn’t worth it!

Tang Yuanyue rubbed his nose, “If you want it, we can figure something out.”

He whispered something to someone beside him.

Soon it was time to bid on the yin-yang fish jade pendant.

Starting at 15,000 Hong Kong dollars, after two or three rounds of bidding, it sold for 30,000.

This time, neither Tang Yuanyue nor Du Jiaoqi had bid.

Someone else won the yin-yang jade pendant.

However, Tang Yuanyue and Du Jiaoqi clashed twice more afterward. Tang Yuanyue maliciously bid up items Du Jiaoqi wanted, until finally Du Jiaoqi overpaid for a pair of Song dynasty plum vases – Tang Yuanyue’s “payback.”

Finally, the auction ended. Xia Xiaolan felt bored, but Bai Zhenzhu was lost in thought.

She didn’t know how much these antiques were worth on the mainland, but once auctioned in Hong Kong, their value increased at least tenfold!

Some might even increase by dozens of times.

She wondered what kind of background one needed to do this business. Bai Zhenzhu was very tempted.

Tang Yuanyue paid and waited to collect the Tian Huang seal when a middle-aged man handed him a box: “Young man, you’ve gone to great lengths to win a beauty’s smile.”

“Please don’t tease me. This is Miss Xia, a designer I invited to Hong Kong. We’re just ordinary friends.”

The middle-aged man laughed heartily, “That’s right, all intimate relationships start as ordinary friendships. No matter, youth should be romantic!”

Beautiful indeed.

The middle-aged man couldn’t help but glance at Xia Xiaolan again.

Whether the marriage alliance between the Tang and He families was finished wasn’t up to Tang Yuanyue – that would be for the family elders to decide.

After exchanging pleasantries, the middle-aged man left. Tang Yuanyue handed the box to Xia Xiaolan:

“I knew Second Young Master Du would interfere if I bid, so I asked an uncle to bid on it instead.”

Inside the box was the yin-yang fish jade pendant Xia Xiaolan had admired. Business was business, so Xia Xiaolan still said thank you:

“I’ll transfer the money to you after I get back.”

“Good! I know you’re very angry about tonight, thinking I used you. What’s done is done and I won’t make excuses. Consider it a favor I owe you, to be redeemed whenever you want! Was I wrong earlier? After knowing each other for so long, can’t we at least be considered ordinary friends?”

After Tang Yuanyue’s speech, Xia Xiaolan responded with an eye roll.

“Goodbye, Chairman Tang!”

Among all the auction attendees, probably no one had arrived by taxi.

Xia Xiaolan was about to set a precedent, taking a taxi back with Bai Zhenzhu.

Tang Yuanyue had called them ordinary friends, so Xia Xiaolan immediately addressed him as “Chairman Tang,” strictly drawing boundaries. This made Tang Yuanyue laugh.

Then Du Jiaoqi walked out with his people, and Tang Yuanyue’s smile grew wider:

“Jiaoqi, come visit sometime. I’m closer to your elder brother, and we haven’t interacted much. I have a feeling we’ll have many more opportunities to deal with each other in the future.”

Du Jiaoqi nodded, “I’ve just started working, I need to learn much from Elder Brother Tang.”

Both men wore smiles that didn’t reach their eyes.

Tang Yuanyue found that compared to the refined Du Jiaoqi, even Du Zhaohui seemed somehow likable.

—What kind of poison had he taken?!