“Boss, you clearly agreed to sell this calligraphy painting to me. How can you turn around and sell it to someone else?”
“How can you do business like this without keeping your word?”
Lin Yi grew anxious and demanded an explanation.
“Damn it, are you teaching me how to do business?”
The stall owner frowned and pointed at Lin Yi’s indignant face. “It’s not that I’m not being honest. How about this? I won’t make the big money today. If you can take out 300 yuan, the painting is yours.”
“I…”
“What’s wrong? No money?”
The stall owner sneered.
“Didn’t we agree on 260 yuan?”
Lin Yi gritted his teeth.
“Are you joking? My cost price is 290 yuan. Do you think I’d sell it to you at a loss?”
The stall owner was shameless. The real cost was only 20 yuan, yet he dared to inflate it more than ten times.
“I only have 270 yuan on me in total. If I give you 260 yuan for the painting, I’ll have 10 yuan left. I still need to take a taxi back.”
Lin Yi took out the scattered bills from his pocket. After counting them, his pocket was emptier than his face.
“If you’ve got no money, why are you talking nonsense?”
The stall owner looked extremely disdainful. Then he switched to a smiling face and said to Ye Feng, “Little brother, this painting is yours.”
Just as the stall owner was about to hand the painting to Ye Feng, Lin Yi grew anxious again. He stepped forward and said, “Young Master Ye, your Ye Family is a wealthy household in Jinling. You can have anything you want. Do you really need to fight a poor student like me over this?”
“Lin Yi, have you misunderstood?”
“I bought this painting from the boss. I didn’t snatch it from you.”
Ye Feng said calmly.
“That’s right. I sold it to this little brother.”
The stall owner nodded repeatedly.
In front of 500 yuan, Lin Yi’s so-called god-tier charm had completely lost its effect.
But he still refused to give up. After taking a deep breath, Lin Yi softened his tone and said, “Young Master Ye, this painting is extremely important to me. Please give me some face and let me have it. I will definitely repay your kindness in the future.”
“Lin Yi, are you joking? What do I need your face for?”
“That thing isn’t even as good as toilet paper for wiping.”
Ye Feng smiled faintly.
Watching the scene, Gu Yunxiang finally understood why Ye Feng had come to the antique street.
It was clearly because of Lin Yi.
Although she had only recently returned to Jinling, because of Ye Feng, she had looked into many people.
This Lin Yi seemed to be very close to Bai Susu.
Brother Ye Feng must be getting back at him.
For a moment, Gu Yunsu felt a trace of disappointment rise in her heart, but she immediately shook her head.
What was she thinking? She was Ye Feng’s girlfriend. And Ye Feng had told her to stop watching so many romance dramas.
“You…”
Lin Yi was furious and said through clenched teeth, “Young Master Ye, don’t go too far!”
“What? Are you going to say thirty years on the east bank, thirty years on the west bank?”
Ye Feng chuckled, no longer paying attention to Lin Yi. He turned to Gu Yunxiang and said, “Do you have 500 yuan? I don’t have cash.”
“Yes.”
Gu Yunxiang took out five red banknotes from her wallet and handed them over.
“Deal.”
After putting away the painting, Ye Feng held Gu Yunxiang’s hand and left the antique street.
Lin Yi stood there helplessly. He looked over the stall again and pointed at a porcelain bowl. “Boss, how much for this?”
“270 yuan. Not a yuan less.”
The stall owner said bluntly.
“You…”
Lin Yi said angrily, “You clearly know I only have 270 yuan. Are you trying to take even my taxi fare?”
“Take it or leave it!”
The stall owner raised his chin and showed half his old face in defiance.
…
In front of the Bai Family villa, cars flowed endlessly and firecrackers sounded continuously.
Although the Bai Family was on the decline, many people still came to support Bai Jianhao’s fiftieth birthday.
Some came out of courtesy, while others came to curry favor with the Ye Family.
Everyone knew that Ye Feng had been pursuing Bai Susu for years. Although he had not succeeded, what if Bai Susu suddenly changed her mind and became the young madam of the Ye Family?
So even though the Bai Family was weakening, no one dared to underestimate them. Instead, they flattered them in hopes of gaining a future connection to the Ye Family.
“Young Master Ye is here.”
“Young Master Ye truly stands out among men. Handsome and elegant.”
“Hey, who is the girl beside Young Master Ye? Her looks don’t lose to CEO Bai’s daughter at all.”
“Isn’t it obvious? She must be Young Master Ye’s girlfriend.”
“Young Master Ye is approachable like he’s worth billions and still so handsome. If I were a woman, I’d give him a basket full of children.”
“Exactly. The line of women wanting to become the young madam of the Ye Family could stretch from one end of the Yangtze River to the other, longing day after day.”
“What poetic words!”
As Ye Feng walked in, the crowd showered him with praise.
Bai Jianhao’s face darkened. These people were such bootlickers.
Their flattery drowned out even his own efforts to please Ye Feng.
Even worse, the girl beside Ye Feng was a beauty who could rival his own daughter.
Judging by how intimate they looked, they might truly be a couple.
Bai Jianhao’s heart pounded. The Bai Family might still appear prosperous now, but without Ye Feng, half of that prosperity would collapse instantly.
“Young Master Ye, you’ve arrived.”
Bai Jianhao forced a smile and went forward to greet him, deliberately ignoring Gu Yunxiang at his side.
But someone tactlessly asked, “Young Master Ye, is this lady your wife? Please introduce her to us.”
Bai Jianhao’s face turned dark in an instant.
What an ill-timed question.
“Today’s birthday star is Boss Bai. I am merely here to offer my congratulations. Please do not cause a commotion because of me.”
After speaking, Ye Feng held Gu Yunxiang’s hand and walked straight into the villa.
The crowd was left embarrassed. It was obvious Ye Feng did not want to entertain them.
What was there to be arrogant about just because he was from the most powerful family in Jinling?
Bai Jianhao quickly smiled and said, “Everyone, please head inside and rest. The banquet will begin shortly.”
He had just carefully thought it through. Given how much Ye Feng had liked his daughter before, there was no way he would give up so easily.
If he truly had, he probably would not have attended the banquet at all.
Bringing another girl tonight was most likely to stir up a sense of crisis in his daughter.
With that explanation, everything made sense.
Thinking of this, Bai Jianhao finally smiled sincerely. As long as his daughter still had a chance, the Bai Family would rise again and perhaps even soar to greater heights.
After entering the villa, Ye Feng and Gu Yunxiang found a seat in a corner.
Ye Feng’s purpose tonight was not socializing.
Among the guests, the number of people he truly knew could be counted on one hand. Aside from the piano master Huang Jiaxiang, there were also Chen Family father and son from one of the four major families.
Huang Jiaxiang was the piano teacher Ye Feng had arranged for Bai Susu. He respected the Ye Family, and the Ye Family treated him as an honored guest.
The Chen Family belonged to the upper class of Jinling like the Ye Family. Ye Feng had often drunk with the Chen Family’s young master.
But the person Ye Feng truly cared about was the unassuming elderly man beside Chen Tianlei, the patriarch of the Chen Family.
This plain-looking elderly man, who would be impossible to pick out in a crowd, was the great opportunity Lin Yi would encounter in the original plotline.
He was the master of traditional Chinese painting, Yan Wenjing.