Chapter 1004: Auction
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Gu Mang walked forward and pushed open the door to her office. Elder Bai followed her inside and closed the door behind him. Both of them sat down at the table.
“Young Lady, the Head Elder and Leng Xuan agreed to let you take over Base 102 too quickly. I’m afraid they have other arrangements,” said Elder Bai with a grave and worried face. He had phrased his words carefully and nicely, but what he actually meant was that he was afraid that those people had other tricks up their sleeves. “You have to watch out.”
Gu Mang leaned back against her chair nonchalantly. “It’s fine. I’ll play along with them.”
Elder Bai knew her temper, so he made no further comments on the matter.
Gu Mang drummed her fingers against the chair’s armrests as she fell deep in thought for several seconds. “Tell my grandfather to tighten the security at the Bai residence.”
As things had been rather chaotic on Jijing Island lately, she was afraid that something might happen to the Bai family because they were standing on her side.
“Noted,” answered Elder Bai respectfully.
…
Although Gu Mang hadn’t moved into the Council House, Lu Chengzhou’s men were there to keep the place running. She was on her way back to the villa in the evening when she received a call from Lan Sha.
“I’ll send someone to fetch you tomorrow afternoon.” Lan Sha’s voice carried hints of patience that a father would have toward his daughter when he spoke to Gu Mang. “The auction is held on Jijing Island’s nearby offshore island.”
“Noted,” Gu Mang said before asking, “Can I take someone with me?”
Lan Sha had heard about what happened to Gu Si recently, so he naturally thought that she wanted to bring Gu Si along. Thus, he said with a smile, “Of course you can. You can bring your fiancé and introduce him to me.”
“Ah.” Gu Mang was reminded of what Lu Chengzhou said to her earlier in the morning. She licked her lips. “I’ll ask him about it.”
That night, after Gu Mang was done showering, Lu Chengzhou pulled her into his arms and helped her blow dry her hair. “I’m going over to Red Flame tomorrow. I have some things to settle.”
The underground market’s annual auction would be held tomorrow, and Lan Sha would be personally overseeing the event. Hence, he wanted to go back and prepare contingency measures in case his talk with Lan Sha fell through.
Gu Mang was planning to tell him that her godfather had invited her to the auction, but she changed her mind after hearing what he said. Instead, she nodded and said, “My godfather asked me to go over to his place tomorrow. I wanted to bring you along and introduce you to him, but let’s leave for another day since you’re busy.”
As what Lu Chengzhou was about to do couldn’t be delayed, he could only postpone the ‘meet-the-parents session’. He responded with a smile, “I’ll prepare some gifts for you to bring over tomorrow. Help me apologize to Godfather on my behalf.”
Gu Mang fell silent upon hearing how readily he addressed her godfather as his. “Fine.”
“Does he have any hobbies?” Lu Chengzhou combed Gu Mang’s ebony hair with his fingers as the ends of her hair became scattered because of the hair dryer.
Gu Mang wasn’t too sure what her godfather liked either, so she dug into her memories of when she was a kid. “I’ve seen my parents giving him antiques like calligraphy, paintings, porcelains, and tea.”
“Alright, I’ll prepare some gifts for him.”
…
The next morning, Lu Yī brought over an antique painting, a set of calligraphy tools, and two canisters of tea leaves, and presented the gifts to Gu Mang.
Lu Chengzhou prepared a lot because he reckoned that Gu Mang’s godfather must be someone of high status since he was close enough with her parents to become her godfather.
Aside from having the blood of an ancient imperial physician flowing within him, Yu Mufeng himself had some knowledge about antiques. Just the sight of the painting edges alone was enough to make him curious and excited. However, he nearly choked to death out of shock when he unrolled the painting.
“Whoa!” It took him some time and effort to get over his shock. With much difficulty, he pointed at the painting and said, “This thing was sold at two hundred and sixty million yuan in last year’s antique auction.”
Gu Mang, who wasn’t well-versed in antiques, was rendered speechless.
Lu Chengzhou put an arm around Gu Mang’s shoulders. “These gifts should be presentable enough.”
Gu Mang didn’t respond to him.
The others, on the other hand, were filled with mixed emotions. These gifts are more than just presentable! The other party will be overwhelmed by them!
After watching Gu Mang’s car drive out of the villa to head to the Elders’ Association Council House, Lu Chengzhou made his way to the airport to take a private plane to Mingyu Island.