Chapter 452 - 451: The Auction Concludes

Li Yuexing quickly clutched the lucky charm in his hand, the smile on his face becoming much more genuine.

Sheng Hao and Fu Ze watched his expression change as fast as one could flip through a book. They both pressed a hand to their foreheads—it was too cringey to watch.

Just then, someone knocked on the door of the private room. In a good mood, Li Yuexing went to open it himself.

"President Xiao Li, the Ice Tree and Fire Tree are too large and difficult to move.

We came to ask if you need us to send someone to help deliver the two trees to your home."

The auction house did offer a delivery service for its clients. Any item won at auction came with one complimentary delivery.

Requesting delivery at any other time would incur an additional fee.

"Yes, you can deliver them to my office. The office is closed for the day, so deliver them tomorrow. I’ll pay now."

As he spoke, Li Yuexing took a wallet from his pocket and pulled out a card.

Although it wasn’t a black card, its dazzling shine revealed it to be a diamond card from some bank.

Yun Zijin had a card like this too. Typically, after receiving a diamond card, the bank would also issue a black card.

The checkout process was over quickly, bringing today’s auction to a successful conclusion.

And the Lu Group’s auction house, thanks to the sale of the Ice Tree and Fire Tree, had successfully become the talk of the town within their circle.

After all, the Ice Tree and Fire Tree were truly just that magical.

If people hadn’t seen it with their own eyes, no amount of promotion from the Lu Family would have likely convinced anyone.

With the auction over, Yun Zijin and Lu Yunque also prepared to leave.

Since she had won quite a few items and couldn’t carry them all herself, Yun Zijin called Zero One and his men in. She then had them decide amongst themselves who would carry the items and who would be responsible for protection.

Wealth tempts the hearts of men. Yun Zijin had to ensure that both her people and her things made it home safely.

"Wait a minute!"

Li Yuexing called out to the group who was about to leave.

Yun Zijin and Lu Yunque both stopped and turned to look at Li Yuexing. "Is there something else?"

"I was just drinking, and I didn’t bring a driver today. Is anyone free to give me a ride?"

Li Yuexing pointed at the empty glass in front of him. They had indeed seen him drink several glasses of whiskey.

"You can ride with me. I brought a driver,"

Sheng Hao said, glancing at the others before gallantly stepping forward.

At this hour, Fu Ze had to go pick up his girlfriend, and Lu Yunque and Yun Zijin would definitely be going home together.

Yun Zijin’s bodyguards also needed to escort the items she and Lu Yunque had won today, so no one had time for him.

Li Yuexing glanced at Yun Zijin, but seeing her nod after Sheng Hao spoke, he ultimately didn’t say anything more.

"Alright, I’ll ride with you."

As for his own car, he could just have someone come and drive it back tomorrow.

With everyone’s arrangements settled, the group filed out of the private room one after another.

On the way from the private room to the auction house exit, they inevitably ran into other people. By the time she finally got into the car, Yun Zijin felt like her face had frozen from smiling.

You can’t hit a smiling face, as the saying goes, but smiling this much was no easy task.

"You’ll encounter many more situations like this at banquets in the future. You’ll have to get used to it."

Seeing Yun Zijin’s look of utter relief, Lu Yunque felt a mix of pity and amusement.

But since Yun Zijin had chosen to be with him, there would be many more such occasions in the future; they were impossible to avoid completely.

Even without him, given Yun Zijin’s wealth, she would sooner or later have to deal with these things anyway.

She couldn’t just turn down every banquet or have Mei Lin attend in her place.

That would give the other prominent families the impression that she was arrogant and condescending.

Yun Zijin might not care, but a reputation within their circle was still quite important.

Otherwise, if something came up, people wouldn’t want to include you, and you’d end up seeming out of place in the entire circle.

"I know, but it really is exhausting."

Yun Zijin didn’t have a sociable personality; otherwise, she wouldn’t still be content just living off her quarterly rental income.

"Well... how about I give you a massage?"

After speaking, Lu Yunque moved his hands, preparing to massage Yun Zijin’s shoulders.

Yun Zijin’s eyes lit up, and she even turned her body slightly. "Right here, right here. A little harder."

’You really don’t hold back, do you?’ Lu Yunque grumbled internally.

But despite his silent complaint, he still obediently massaged Yun Zijin’s shoulders.

It was already past 10 p.m. when they returned to Xingyu Mansion. Yun Zijin glanced at the inky blackness outside. "It’s getting late. Why don’t you stay the night here?"

It wouldn’t be the first time Lu Yunque had stayed over, and nothing had happened last time. Yun Zijin had great faith in Lu Yunque’s self-control and character.

Of course, Lu Yunque was more than happy to, and he agreed immediately.

Having had experience with Lu Yunque staying over before, Yun Zijin had long since asked Wang Minli to prepare a room for him.

It was stocked with clothes in Lu Yunque’s size, including but not limited to pajamas, loungewear, and custom-tailored suits.

Since Lu Yunque wore suits most of the time for work, Yun Zijin had added an order for him when she had custom suits made for Zero One and his men.

Of course, Yun Zijin had no intention of telling Lu Yunque this.

"Miss, here’s some sobering soup. You and Mr. Lu should drink it before you go wash up."

Although they were in a private room during the auction, Lu Yunque and the others had raised their glasses a few times when the mood struck.

They hadn’t drunk much, but the sobering soup was still necessary.

Even though Yun Zijin disliked the taste of the soup, she took it and downed it in one go with a frown.

"Thank you."

Lu Yunque took the sobering soup from Wang Minli’s hands, offered a word of thanks, and then tilted his head back to finish it.

"The kitchen has also prepared some late-night snacks. Miss, Mr. Lu, would you like to have some?"

Wang Minli knew Yun Zijin had attended the auction today and figured there might not have been much to eat, so she had the kitchen prepare a late-night meal.

It was all easily digestible congee and small pastries, at least enough to fill their stomachs.

"Bring it to the dining room. We’ll have a little."

Although there was food in the auction house’s private room, Yun Zijin had focused her entire attention on the auction and really hadn’t eaten much.

If Wang Minli hadn’t mentioned it, Yun Zijin wouldn’t have felt anything, but now that she had, she realized she was hungry.

Besides, the chefs at home were much more skilled than the ones outside. Usually, as long as her schedule permitted, Yun Zijin insisted on eating at home.

Of course, there was a slight difference in skill between the chefs at Jade Lake and the ones at Xingyu Mansion. The common factor, however, was that the food from both was delicious.

Lu Yunque himself didn’t mind either way, but since Yun Zijin wanted to eat, he followed her to the dining room.

From a table full of late-night snacks, Yun Zijin ultimately chose a bowl of millet congee, and Lu Yunque followed her lead, taking a bowl for himself.

"Is that enough to fill you up? Do you want anything else?"

A single bowl of millet congee was enough for Yun Zijin, but Lu Yunque was a man, and she was worried one bowl wouldn’t be enough for him.

"It’s enough. I’ll just eat a little and go to sleep soon. It’s fine."

Yun Zijin nodded. That made sense. She turned to Wang Minli. "Aunt Wang, see if anyone else in the house wants the rest of this. You can take it down and share it."