The drowned ghost felt terribly wronged and immediately began protesting.
“I thought he wanted me to guide him here! I kindly showed him the way, and then he tied me up!”
He had only just found someone to replace him, only to be captured.
He had thought that helping with directions might spare him.
Instead, the other party had immediately restrained him, discarding him the moment he had outlived his usefulness.
Qin Su looked at the black aura surrounding him and didn’t think he was wronged at all.
She simply fed him to Qianjin.
Qianjin had been eating exceptionally well over the past two days.
She had already become noticeably rounder.
Scratching under her chin, she said,
“My little subordinate is quite sensible.”
She had completely accepted Yan Zhi as her subordinate and was happily looking forward to his future tributes.
As Qin Su’s natal treasure, the stronger Qianjin became, the greater the benefits Qin Su would receive.
Naturally, she was pleased to see it.
Smiling faintly, she packed up with the newly awakened Tu Qing before heading downstairs to meet Cui Mingyu.
Although Cui Mingyu had stayed awake the entire night, he still looked full of energy.
All the rough stones he had purchased had already been cut.
From rough stones worth one hundred million, he had obtained jadeite worth one hundred and fifty million.
That was already considered a very profitable result.
His only regret was that none of them could compare with the icy jadeite Qin Su had uncovered.
He immediately had his subordinates transport all the jadeite back.
The Cui family naturally had its own shipping channels.
Meanwhile, they also headed to the jadeite public auction.
Entry required a fee of ten thousand euros, plus a twenty-thousand-euro security deposit.
Cui Mingyu paid both Qin Su’s and Tu Qing’s fees without hesitation.
The fact that Cui Hang, the head of the Cui family, valued him was no accident.
At the very least, he handled social relationships with remarkable thoughtfulness and generosity.
Qin Su was the type of person who responded better to kindness than pressure. Seeing this, she said,
“If I’m lucky enough to buy some good jadeite at the auction, I’ll give the Cui family first priority.”
Had this been before, Cui Mingyu would probably have thought she was boasting.
But after what had happened the previous night, he no longer dared underestimate Qin Su.
She might not be a professional, but extraordinary luck alone was enough.
Exceptional judgment was no match for exceptional luck.
“Thank you very much, Master Qin.”
Without lingering any longer, they got into the car and headed for the jadeite public auction.
Cui Mingyu bought some bread and drinks for breakfast, and they ate slowly during the journey.
The road remained rough and bumpy.
Seeing that Tu Qing looked rather pale, Qin Su curled her fingers slightly.
A stream of clear light, invisible to everyone else, landed on Tu Qing.
A trace of color returned to Tu Qing’s pale face.
She tilted her head and smiled at Qin Su.
From the front passenger seat, Cui Mingyu happened to witness the scene.
For some reason, he suddenly felt that both he and the driver were rather unnecessary in the car.
By the time they arrived at the jadeite public auction venue, it was already July 22.
Qin Su wasn’t worried.
From July 20 to July 24 was merely the inspection period.
The bidding period ran from July 25 to July 29.
The entire event lasted ten days.
Cui Mingyu handed her a mobile phone.
“If you want to go online, you can use this one. Domestic SIM cards don’t work here, so yours is probably only useful as a watch.”
Qin Su thanked him.
At least now she could browse the internet when she had nothing else to do.
Cui Mingyu explained,
“About four-fifths of this year’s auction consists of sealed bidding, while the remaining one-fifth is open bidding.”
He went on to explain the difference between the two.
Open bidding meant a live auction where the highest bidder won.
With sealed bidding, bidders filled out a form provided by the organizing committee with their bidder number, name, lot number, and bid price, then placed it into a sealed ballot box.
He continued,
“High-grade jadeite rough stones are becoming increasingly scarce, so they often sell for more than ten times their reserve price.”
Especially with sealed bidding, the competition became even fiercer.
Anyone determined to win a particular lot had little choice but to bid aggressively.
Qin Su nodded thoughtfully.
“If the rough stones I win turn out to be good, I’ll sell them to your family.”
Cui Mingyu smiled.
“We’d welcome that anytime.”
They would be more than happy to buy them.
After entering the venue, Qin Su headed straight for the open bidding section.
If she found anything she liked, she could simply bid on it directly.
She had heard that 10% of each transaction went to the Jewelry Association, while another 5% went to Myanmar’s Central Committee for Jewelry Exhibitions.
All reserve prices were listed in euros.
Qin Su and Tu Qing separated from Cui Mingyu and slowly browsed the venue by themselves.
Now that the Cui family had transferred one hundred million yuan to her account, Qin Su suddenly felt like a rich woman.
She had an overwhelming urge to buy, buy, buy.
Most of the rough stones in the open bidding section were relatively small and inexpensive.
Of course, “inexpensive” was only relative.
After all, they had all been specially transported from various mining areas.
Unlike everyone else, who practically examined every stone with a magnifying glass, Qin Su merely glanced over each one.
She relied entirely on her spiritual senses to search for the stone containing the richest spiritual energy.
Suddenly, she stopped in front of Lot No. 2125.
The rough stone weighed about one ton.
Its reserve price was six hundred and eighty thousand euros, making it one of the more expensive lots in the open bidding section.
Among all the open bidding lots, this stone possessed by far the richest spiritual energy.
Compared with the others, it completely outshone them.
I’d be doing myself a disservice if I didn’t buy it.
She silently memorized the lot number.
She would come back on the twenty-fifth and bid on it.
Tu Qing also found several stones she liked and carefully noted down their lot numbers.
There weren’t many outstanding stones in the open bidding area.
After recording the numbers of five promising stones, Qin Su moved on to inspect the sealed bidding section.
Before she even entered, she sensed an overwhelming concentration of baleful energy hanging over the exhibition hall.
Following the source of the resentment, she noticed that an unusually large crowd had gathered around a particular rough stone.
She and Tu Qing walked over together.
There, they saw a rough stone weighing nearly two hundred kilograms, radiating a dazzling crimson glow.
But in Qin Su’s eyes, all she saw was baleful energy that seemed capable of devouring everything.
It was even denser than the one she had seen in Lin Hongjin’s possession a few days earlier.
At least ten times denser.
Meanwhile, the surrounding merchants stared at it in fascination, clicking their tongues in amazement.
“This has to be this year’s king of the auction. Just look at that quality. I’ve never seen such beautiful red jadeite.”
“The reserve price alone is ten million euros. By the time bidding ends, it’ll probably sell for dozens of times that amount. It might even break the auction record from the past decade.”
“I wonder which major jewelry company will end up buying it. Then again, several big companies might join forces. A stone like this would be difficult for a single company to swallow.”
“I wonder which mining area produced it. They’ve really struck it rich.”
“I heard it didn’t come from any of the major mines. Someone supposedly discovered it by sheer luck deep in the mountains.”
“That kind of luck is unbelievable.”
Everyone was filled with envy.
This was the very definition of becoming rich overnight.
Tu Qing edged closer to Qin Su and frowned.
“Qin Su, I don’t feel well. I’m feeling a little nauseous.”
Ever since her soul had left her body, Tu Qing had become especially sensitive to these things.
With such dense baleful energy filling the place, it was no wonder she felt uncomfortable.
Qin Su felt that the entire exhibition hall had been contaminated by the baleful energy.
How is anyone supposed to properly inspect rough stones in an environment like this?
She swept her gaze across the hall.
To her surprise, it wasn’t just that one stone.
There were two other pieces of red jadeite giving off exactly the same kind of baleful energy.
They were simply smaller, so they had attracted less attention.
Lowering her eyes, she said,
“I’ll take you back to the hotel to rest first.”
As for the baleful energy, she wasn’t in a hurry to have Qianjin devour it.
She intended to leave it there for now, hoping to lure out the bigger fish behind all of this.
Tu Qing nodded.
She leaned half her weight against Qin Su, looking so delicate that she seemed barely able to support herself.
Qin Su helped her back toward the nearby hotel they had booked.
Just then, her eyelid twitched.
Parked in front of the hotel was a car that looked strangely familiar.
She quickly searched her memory.
Xu Xiao?
Is he staying at this hotel too?
Although this was the best hotel in the area, there were so many hotels around. The fact that he had chosen to stay here as well inevitably made her wonder.
Forget it. He’s an ex-boyfriend now anyway.
She continued helping Tu Qing inside.
As soon as the elevator doors opened, she found two familiar faces inside.
Xu Xiao and Xia Jiayi.
Although Xia Jiayi was wearing sunglasses, her signature curly hair immediately gave her away.
Qin Su calmly prepared to wait for the next elevator.
However, Xu Xiao suddenly pressed the button for the fifth floor again and said indifferently,
“I just remembered I forgot a document.”
Xia Jiayi immediately replied,
“I’ll go back with you.”
As she spoke, her gaze lingered on Qin Su for a few brief seconds.
Qin Su had originally intended to wait for the next elevator.
Instead, Xu Xiao pressed and held the “Open Door” button, clearly prepared to remain locked in a standoff with her.
Her brows knitted together slightly.
In the end, she helped Tu Qing into the elevator.
Once inside, Tu Qing rested her head against Qin Su’s shoulder.
Xu Xiao’s expression was as cold as the frozen surface of a lake.
The way he looked at Tu Qing was distinctly unfriendly, practically screaming, You little temptress.
Tu Qing trembled slightly, her voice becoming even softer.
“Qin Su, I’m scared. President Xu looks so fierce.”
If anyone else had acted so pitifully, it would have looked fake and affected.
But when Tu Qing did it, people only wanted to cherish her even more.
With all the bearing of a heroic protector, Qin Su declared,
“Don’t be afraid. I’ll protect you.”
Xu Xiao looked at Qin Su as though she were a foolish emperor bewitched by the beauty of a seductive consort.
He looked utterly exasperated.
As for Tu Qing, his gaze evolved from icy coldness into blades of ice, as if he wanted to stab this “seductive consort” full of holes with his eyes alone.
Qin Su coughed lightly.
“If you keep staring at my girlfriend, I’ll start thinking you’ve fallen for her.”
Xu Xiao’s brows drew tightly together.
“Your girlfriend?”
Qin Su smiled brightly.
A female friend, shortened to girlfriend. Nothing wrong with that.
Tu Qing said sweetly,
“That’s right. So stop looking at me, or Qin Su will get jealous.”
Xu Xiao let out a cold laugh.
He had been right all along.
Tu Qing hadn’t lost her memory at all.
She had returned simply to make his life miserable and take revenge.
Watching Tu Qing snuggle even closer to Qin Su, he felt as though his insides had twisted themselves into knots.
It was an intensely unpleasant feeling.
He drew a deep breath, using tremendous self-control to soften his icy expression.
“Qin Su, don’t let her innocent act fool you. Be careful she doesn’t stab you in the back.”
In Xu Xiao’s mind, there were only two possible reasons why Qin Su, who had once despised Tu Qing so much, had undergone such a complete change in attitude.
One possibility was that breaking up with him had dealt her too great a blow.
The other was that Tu Qing had somehow bewitched her.
His attitude resembled those inexplicably confident parents who always insisted, My child only did bad things because those bad friends led them astray.
Qin Su replied firmly,
“I trust Qingqing.”
Besides, if Tu Qing really did betray her, considering how much she knew, Qin Su would simply erase part of her memory.
To Xu Xiao, however, Qin Su’s stubborn confidence only made him dislike Tu Qing even more.
Before he could say anything cutting, Xia Jiayi suddenly exclaimed in exasperation,
“Have none of you noticed we’ve been stuck on the fourth floor for ages?”
At a time like this, you’re still jealous of each other?
Author’s Note:
The only normal person here, Xia Jiayi, is mentally exhausted.