Chapter 31

Chapter 31

"Oh, I was just testing you." Xia Yinxi straightened his jacket. "Let's go."

Ji Yunzhuo found him adorable and laughed, reaching out to pull him back. Anticipating a hit, he precisely caught that hand. "Let's go, wife."

"Let go of me! Are you asking for a..."

"Are you looking for a slap?" A very familiar female voice came from the side. Xia Yinxi paused, dropped his hand, and obediently let Ji Yunzhuo hold his waist as they both greeted her.

Meng Shuxue was arguing with Xia Yucheng about something, frowning and scolding him. When she heard Xia Yinxi's voice, she turned around with a changed expression, smiled, and nodded at the two before walking into the venue.

Xia Yucheng followed her, turned back, and gestured wildly at Xia Yinxi, then jogged to catch up with Meng Shuxue.

Ji Yunzhuo was puzzled. "What does Dad mean by that?"

Xia Yinxi didn't know why he understood it either. "He wants me to save him later."

After saying that, he glanced at Ji Yunzhuo. "Isn't it 'father-in-law and mother-in-law'?"

Now he was calling them Mom and Dad more and more naturally.

Ji Yunzhuo didn't answer, just smiled.

In his twenty-six years, he hadn't smiled as much as he had in the few months since meeting Xia Yinxi.

Being with Xia Yinxi always made him happy—he had that kind of magic to him.

Even without talking, just looking at him was enough to make him happy.

The restaurant had a wide variety of food options. Xia Yinxi was a bit hungry and really wanted noodles, but eating soupy stuff often risked spilling on himself, so he switched to Western food instead.

This auction was hosted by the Bai family and was charitable in nature, but at its core, it was still a banquet. So, all the board members showed up in person instead of sending proxies.

There was still a distance from the park entrance to the venue's front door. The open space was already packed with small stalls and individual vendors selling rough jadeite, their haggling voices rising one after another. Listening from afar, Xia Yinxi felt like he was at a farmers' market.

Seeing his curiosity, Ji Yunzhuo asked, "Rough jadeite? You interested?"

Xia Yinxi followed his gaze to the hundreds of stalls, his eyes lighting up eagerly. "Let me check it out."

Seeing how excited he was, Ji Yunzhuo couldn't bring himself to remind him that the chances of finding good quality at such stalls were slim. He just nodded. "We can get the stone cut on-site later."

The stones on the stalls all looked the same. After pausing for three minutes, Xia Yinxi zeroed in on an oval-shaped one.

Its shell was yellowish, with no bumps at all, like a dinosaur egg from a video game—round and heavy.

Most importantly, Xia Yinxi inexplicably felt a connection to this stone.

That "inexplicable" feeling might just be his luck boost kicking in!

"Hey boss, how much for this one?"

The stall owner was tidying up. He looked up, paused, and said, "Eight thousand."

Xia Yinxi: "Make it cheaper."

The stall owner's gaze shifted to Xia Yinxi. Just from his clothes, it was clear he was a rich kid, and the hand holding the rough stone was slender and fair, obviously pampered and never having done a day's work.

The man beside him, though silent, had an unmistakable air of nobility.

"Young master, I'm just running a small operation here." The stall owner put on a smile. "Isn't eight thousand practically giving it away for free to someone like you?"

Xia Yinxi: "Then give it to me for free then."

Stall owner: "..."

"Didn't you say it was the same?"

"...Don't mess with me, haha."

Xia Yinxi held up one hand. "Five thousand. If not, I'll go buy from someone else."

The stall owner gritted his teeth. "Fine, it's fate we met. Five thousand it is!"

After all, it was just something he'd picked up randomly to fill a box—any profit was a bonus.

Xia Yinxi paid, pocketed the stone, and glanced smugly at Ji Yunzhuo, who immediately caught on and praised, "Nice."

He'd never seen anyone haggle before; Xia Yinxi was really something else.

As soon as they stepped into the venue, the atmosphere seemed to freeze for a second, then returned to normal before they could notice.

Some of the people there had attended Grandpa Ji's birthday banquet and recognized Xia Yinxi. Those who hadn't, seeing Ji Yunzhuo with a companion for the first time, couldn't help but pay attention. Xia Yinxi was a step too slow and found himself surrounded by a few people, so he had to stand next to Ji Yunzhuo, wanting to just be an accessory.

"Mr. Ji, long time no see. I heard Ming Ji secured that land west of the city and is planning to build an amusement park?"

"...Yeah, there are indeed plans in that direction." Ji Yunzhuo took a glass from the server, handed it to Xia Yinxi first, then grabbed another for himself.

His deep black suit was perfectly tailored, accentuating his restrained demeanor, exuding elegance with every move. The people coming to chat were much older than him, yet when speaking with him, they showed no sign of treating him like a "junior"—in fact, he was even more relaxed in conversation.

Xia Yinxi hugged the stone, took a small step, then another one three seconds later. Seeing Ji Yunzhuo still chatting, he thought about slipping away.

Ji Yunzhuo seemed to sense it and turned his head to look.

"OvO?"

"..."

"Mr. Ji, and this is...?"

Ji Yunzhuo set his glass aside. "He's my..."

"Assistant." Xia Yinxi cut in.

Ji Yunzhuo glanced at him. "This is President Feng."

"Hello, President Feng."

President Feng smiled and nodded. "So you're an assistant. I thought you were some young master."

Xia Yinxi gave a polite smile. "You flatter me."

An unusually intense gaze fell on him again. Xia Yinxi reached out and poked, signaling Ji Yunzhuo to tone it down, but his fingertip was caught.

Xia Yinxi: "?"

Gao Qian: "!!"

President Feng: "Haha, I see President Wang over there. I'll take my leave."

The stranger left, and Xia Yinxi pulled back his fingers, accusing, "What was that about, CEO Ji?"

Ji Yunzhuo: "Am I not worth showing off?"

Xia Yinxi evaded the question: "Did you see Donghai and Lili?"

Song Baichuan was in a corner sharing snacks with Li Yili when a dinosaur egg suddenly plopped down in front of them, making both step back in unison.

Xia Yinxi rubbed his sore wrist: "What the hell?"

Li Yili saw what was on the table and relaxed: "I thought you dropped a bomb."

"What's with the rock?" Song Baichuan pushed the stone, watching it wobble like one of those roly-poly toys. "Where's your husband?"

"This is a jade rough I bought... Forget about him, finally got rid of him."

Song Baichuan gossiped: "You guys fighting?"

Xia Yinxi refused to answer and reached out to steady the stone he'd been pushing: "Be careful!"

"..." Song Baichuan hesitated: "You didn't just find this on the street, did you?"

Xia Yinxi bristled: "I paid five thousand bucks for it!"

"Oh." Song Baichuan gave it another push. "Only five grand? Then just mess around with it."

Xia Yinxi: "..."

Can't even talk to you rich kids.

"Nothing good ever comes from those street stalls. There will be rough stones at the auction later that might yield jade—you can check those out too." Song Baichuan pulled out his phone, found the auction list, and put it in front of Xia Yinxi. "You can mess around with anything under two million. Don't go higher than that, or people'll laugh at you."

"..."

So you rich kids only care about getting laughed at.

You don't care about the money at all, do you?

Two million sounds like two hundred bucks to you.

Xia Yinxi hugged his five-thousand-yuan stone and looked down on Song Baichuan: "Maybe this one of mine'll turn out to be good jade too."

Song Baichuan hesitated for a second between not wanting to crush the guy's hopes and not wanting to lie, then chose the latter: "The odds of this stone having jade are the same as me winning the lottery."

Basically zero, okay!

"I'm done listening to you." Xia Yinxi covered his ears, but Song Baichuan relentlessly pulled his hands away: "Jade roughs can't be this perfectly round!"

With that, he pulled a small flashlight from his pocket and pressed it against the stone: "See? No color whatsoever. Calling it a pebble is being generous."

Xia Yinxi: "What if I turn one buck into two hundred mil?"

Even though the stone's surface doesn't look anything like jade rough... he still felt like it was meant to be.

"That's a pretty big 'what if.'" Song Baichuan patted Xia Yinxi's head like a dad, not wanting to discourage him further, and changed the subject: "There's something I've been wanting to ask you. After you married Ji Yunzhuo, did your dad suddenly lose his mind?"

"Lose his mind how?"

Song Baichuan took a sip of tea: "Every parent who meets Ji Yunzhuo goes home and starts pushing their kids like they're possessed. My dad did."

"?"

So that's where those childhood nightmares come from...

"Though your dad's never been hard on you." He looked over curiously. "Not even after meeting Ji Yunzhuo?"

Li Yili: "Hahaha."

Xia Yinxi: "I'm ignoring you."

Outside, it was already dark. The group chatted idly, and Xia Yinxi's eyes grew heavy with sleep. Suddenly, Song Baichuan said, "You're like one of those Calabash Brothers."

Xia Yinxi: "?"

"All colorful in a sea of boring suits." Song Baichuan sighed. "If I dressed like this, my dad would kill me. Hey... ever thought about trading dads?"

"I'm telling Uncle Song."

"No, no, forget I said anything."

As the three were talking, a shadow fell over them. Xia Yinxi looked up and found the person in front of him vaguely familiar.

The newcomer spoke with a hint of sarcasm: "Master Song's here for the auction too, huh?"

Song Baichuan sneered: "Looks like Master Zheng got his allowance back."

Last time, Zheng Jinfeng caused trouble at the shooting range, and his father found out, freezing his bank account and grounding him for a month. Song Baichuan had been mocking him for that ever since.

A guy in his twenties, with companies and shares—how could he still let his family control his money? It was embarrassing just to talk about.

Zheng Jinfeng choked, pissed but couldn't think of a comeback. Spotting the stone on the table, he switched to a sneer: "So this is the one Master Song's got his eye on? Picking up a worthless rock and calling it jade—Master Song better not get fooled."

Without waiting for a response, he turned and left, his back showing a hint of hurry.

The corner fell silent for a moment. Xia Yinxi: "Was he talking about me?"

Li Yili: "Is he insane..."

Xia Yinxi: "So he doesn't even know who I am?"

Song Baichuan chuckled: "Ignore his crap. But of course he doesn't know you—you never come to these events with Uncle Xia."

"Oh." Xia Yinxi lowered his head to drink tea. "I'm shy with strangers."

Li Yili turned: "Really? I thought you were outgoing."

After all, they'd hit it off right from their first meeting.

Xia Yinxi patted his shoulder: "We're fated."

As the two laughed, Li Yili's muscle memory from years of being suppressed by his brother kicked in. He slowly turned to look behind him and sure enough, Ji Yunzhuo had finished his socializing and was staring their way.

Li Yili whipped his head back around and dodged Xia Yinxi's hand in a flash: "No, no, I dare not be fated."

"?"

Xia Yinxi sat next to a white porcelain piece, but he seemed even more delicate and clear than the ceramic. Next to the two darker-toned people beside him, he looked like he was from a different layer.

Ji Yunzhuo suddenly remembered seeing him and Song Baichuan bickering in that alleyway, and how there was an inexplicable, irritating feeling about it back then.

So even back then he had feelings for Xia Yinxi? But at the time, they had only met once.

Li Yili felt a prickling sensation at the back of his head, his scalp tingling. He reached out to grab a pastry to steady his nerves. Xia Yinxi leaned back to make room for him, while Song Baichuan handed the plate over from the other side.

Maybe their whispering was a bit too loud, because Ji Yunzhuo turned his head again to glance in their direction.

What he saw was the image of two huskies sandwiching a cat between them.

...What an eyesore.