The Rebirth of the Socialite's Glory (GL) - Chapter 21

Choking on Feng Hua’s words and feeling like he wanted to vomit bl00d, An Ye could only stare at Feng Hua with eyes wide open, as if he could penetrate Feng Hua with a laser-like beam. But in reality, Feng Hua did not continue to pay attention to An Ye. Instead, she called Shi Kexuan over and said, “I want this necklace.”

Shi Kexuan looked at the necklace, a hint of difficulty on her face. “Hua, this is my store’s treasure…” If this necklace were meant to be sold, it would have been long ago. Although its price was exorbitant, the world would never lack big tycoons who would spend a fortune. The value of this necklace was rarer than its price. Shi Kexuan displayed it only as a store-corner treasure, serving as a live advertisement, with no intention of selling it.

Ye Qiu’s gaze swept from Feng Hua to Shi Kexuan, as if taking a casual glance.

“I like it very much,” Feng Hua said. “It has to be this one.”

Shi Kexuan was in a difficult position. She looked at the necklace, then at Feng Hua, greatly torn inside. The thought of selling the necklace made her heart ache and she was extremely reluctant.

“It looks like you can’t buy it even with money,” An Ye said without hesitation, making a sarcastic remark.

Feng Hua didn’t speak, just looked at Shi Kexuan with an eager expression.

Shi Kexuan’s principles gradually began to crumble under Feng Hua’s gaze. “Since you like it, then I…”

Ye Qiu, who had been silent all this time, suddenly interjected, “I saw this first. As long as I can afford the price, this necklace should belong to me.”

Shi Kexuan felt torn again. Theoretically, this was correct. Although her store was well-established, if she cheated a customer, her reputation in the industry would likely be ruined. Doing business in the upper circles, reputation was more important than the goods themselves.

“Before she actually bought it, the ownership of this necklace was not decided. That is to say, I still have a chance to compete.” Feng Hua glanced at Ye Qiu, noticing that the other party was not looking at her, but staring intently at the necklace, as if looking at… a lover with deep affection.

A flicker of an unusual expression crossed Feng Hua’s eyes, followed by a surge of annoyance. Greedy! She had just given that equally priceless necklace to Ye Qiu, and now Ye Qiu was trying to snatch something from her. The ingrate! [Literally: “White-eyed wolf”]

Shi Kexuan was not familiar with Ye Qiu, but Feng Hua was someone she recognized. Naturally, there was no need to think about who to favor. She immediately came up with a solution that leaned toward Feng Hua. “You two can bid for it. I am a businesswoman. I’ll sell it to whoever offers the highest price. I don’t think there’s anything inappropriate about that.”

An Ye was truly speechless at Shi Kexuan’s suggestion, but if he actually agreed, he felt he might not be able to compete with Feng Hua. Because Feng Hua was the legitimate daughter of the Feng family, the disposable funds she could use would certainly be more than his, a younger son without inheritance rights who only got pocket money. Furthermore, the money Feng Hua had earned during the competition was rumored to be ten billion. If Feng Hua went crazy, what chance would he have?

Feng Hua naturally knew An Ye couldn’t outbid her. As for Ye Qiu, she didn’t take her seriously.

“The reserve price for this necklace is eighteen million eight hundred and eighty-eight thousand. Each bid must not be less than five hundred thousand,” Shi Kexuan announced with a smile, embracing her merchant nature.

An Ye’s heart ached at the price, but for the sake of appearances, he felt competing was better than conceding defeat immediately. “Twenty million!”

Feng Hua casually raised the bid, saying, “Thirty million.”

An Ye, “…How can you add so much at once?”

Feng Hua felt An Ye’s brain was probably genuinely not very sharp. Her understanding of Feng Heng’s intention became clearer: it seemed Feng Heng thought the same way as her—someone as unintelligent as An Ye would be easier to control. The Feng family’s assets would forever belong to the Feng family, not the An family. “If you can’t afford it, just give up quickly.”

An Ye gritted his teeth. “Thirty-one million.”

“Fifty million.”

An Ye, “…”

Ye Qiu suddenly spoke, “One hundred million.”

An Ye & Shi Kexuan: …

Feng Hua also raised her eyelids to look into Ye Qiu’s eyes. Ye Qiu met Feng Hua’s gaze, her eyes brimming with a sense of grievance and pleading, and those pretend tears were already pooling at the edges of her eyes.

Feng Hua felt somewhat irritated watching this. She thought, if crying worked, she wouldn’t have needed to be reborn.

However, the bid that was about to leave Feng Hua’s mouth was swallowed back. “If you can genuinely produce one hundred million, I will let you have this necklace.”

Feng Hua’s liquid assets exceeded one and a half billion. She wouldn’t feel bad even if she spent all that money on one thing she liked. Therefore, if Feng Hua truly didn’t relent, there would be very few people in the entire Z-country with the audacity and financial means to continue bidding against Feng Hua.

After saying she would let Ye Qiu have the necklace, Feng Hua felt a little regretful. She genuinely liked this necklace very much…

An Ye looked at Ye Qiu with covert worry. He was even less convinced than Feng Hua that Ye Qiu could produce so much money. He thought the bidding war was merely Ye Qiu’s impulsiveness due to her competitiveness.

“Good.” Ye Qiu lowered her head to search for a card in her bag, her eyes holding a look of complete satisfaction, a mix of tenderness and sweetness.

“Can I transfer it directly to your account?” Ye Qiu asked Shi Kexuan.

“Yes,” Shi Kexuan nodded, giving Ye Qiu her account number.

Ye Qiu first took out her phone and made a call, then handed over a card. “The money has been transferred to you. You should receive the remittance notification soon. You can verify the card number.”

After waiting three minutes, Shi Kexuan indeed received the transfer notification—a transfer of exactly one hundred million. Even Shi Kexuan felt a little dazed. After confirming that the account number matched the number on the card Ye Qiu presented, she returned the card to Ye Qiu with slightly trembling fingers.

An Ye, seeing that Ye Qiu actually produced one hundred million, looked at Ye Qiu as if she were a stranger. Was the Ye Qiu who could produce so much money the same Ye Qiu who had always been keen on working various part-time jobs? Was she the same Ye Qiu whose parents were dead and who relied on scholarships and work earnings for tuition and living expenses? He thought he had understood Ye Qiu, but today he discovered he didn’t understand Ye Qiu at all.

Feng Hua also felt that she suddenly couldn’t see through Ye Qiu, her eyes holding three parts of vigilance and a few parts of suspicion.

How could she have forgotten? How could Ye Qiu be a simple person? She was actually underestimating Ye Qiu again, just like in her previous life. Truly foolish.

Ye Qiu, whose secret was exposed because of a necklace, showed no sign of awkwardness under their gazes. She casually explained, “This was a huge sum of money left to me by my relative previously. I couldn’t bear to use it, so I invested it all. It has multiplied many times over now, but I still couldn’t bear to use it. However, this necklace is more important than this money.”

Although An Ye didn’t know why Ye Qiu considered this necklace, which in his opinion had no practical value beyond admiration, to be so important, he chose to believe the explanation Ye Qiu gave. Or rather, deep down, he felt Ye Qiu was trustworthy.

Feng Hua, however, was not as easily fooled as An Ye. Relative? Where did Ye Qiu get a relative? Her mother? That was impossible; her family was so poor that even a hundred yuan had to be earned by Ye Qiu doing odd jobs.

Seeing the distrust and suspicion in Feng Hua’s eyes, Ye Qiu’s gaze dimmed for a moment. Looking at Feng Hua, she said, “Did you forget?”

Feng Hua raised an eyebrow. “What should I remember?”

Ye Qiu didn’t answer. Instead, tears started welling up in her eyes again, making her look so aggrieved that Feng Hua wondered if she had done something incredibly wrong to Ye Qiu.

“Even if you are a woman, don’t be so prone to crying,” Feng Hua said dryly. She felt a burning sensation in her heart whenever she saw Ye Qiu’s tears.

She had never seen Ye Qiu cry in her previous life. Why had Ye Qiu become such a crybaby in this life?

“En, en.” Ye Qiu didn’t miss the awkward concern in Feng Hua’s eyes and immediately nodded obediently.

Shi Kexuan packaged the necklace and handed it to Ye Qiu. “The box for the necklace protects and nourishes the gemstone. You can place it inside when you are not wearing it.”

“Thank you.” Ye Qiu took the bag and glanced at Feng Hua, unable to hide the smile on her face.

Feng Hua felt internal damage instantly. This ingrate, was that a boast just now?

Feng Hua felt her spirits drop, angry at Ye Qiu and also angry at herself. She turned to leave.

Seeing Feng Hua just walk away, An Ye hurriedly called out to her. “Stop right there! I have something to say to you!”

“I’ll be honest with you. I don’t like you, and I certainly don’t want to get engaged to you. I already have someone I like. You should talk to your father and cancel the engagement plan. Otherwise, if I don’t show up at the engagement banquet, it will be your face that is slapped. Think about it carefully,” An Ye said to Feng Hua.

Feng Hua couldn’t help but examine An Ye. He had a not-very-strong physique, a pretty face that was too delicate and not masculine enough, and limbs like sticks. His temperament and demeanor were also highly unqualified. The only thing that made him appealing to her and Feng Heng was perhaps his family background. Although a younger son had no inheritance rights, he did have shares in the family company and was a part of the An family. Future cooperation with the An family would be a strong alliance.

“You wouldn’t dare not come,” Feng Hua said mockingly, not following An Ye’s line of thought. “If you had someone you liked, and you told your father, there wouldn’t be this engagement with me.”

The person An Ye liked must have a family background that the An family wouldn’t approve of. Otherwise, An Ye would have already told the An family his feelings, and the An family was not like Feng Heng, who would completely disregard his child’s wishes in deciding their lifelong matters. Feng Hua glanced at Ye Qiu again.

The person An Ye mentioned liking must be Ye Qiu.

An Ye’s eyes turned red from Feng Hua’s words. A hint of malice and viciousness appeared on his usually gentle face. “I won’t marry you. A woman like you—even if you stripped naked and got into my bed, I wouldn’t get an erection. My father making me marry you isn’t afraid of me having no one to succeed me!”

Hearing this, Feng Hua narrowed her eyes, her perception of An Ye shifting somewhat. She had thought he was a simple narcissus, but it turned out he was a mutated narcissus planted in black mud.

Shi Kexuan looked over, feeling intense disgust and aversion. What An Ye didn’t notice was that Ye Qiu’s gaze had also changed. The sudden burst of viciousness looked like she wanted to instantly strangle An Ye.

“If you have the ability, then break off our relationship. I won’t step in to stop or interfere,” Feng Hua said indifferently.

“Fine! Best two out of three. I’ll set the challenges. If I win, you’re responsible for dissolving the engagement,” An Ye immediately said. “I know you can do it! Also, you need to compensate Ye Qiu for the loss she incurred just now because you drove up the price.”

Disregarding An Ye’s shameless suggestion for the competition rules, Feng Hua asked, “What if I win?”

“Then the engagement won’t be canceled, and I won’t bring this matter up again in the future,” An Ye said with a look of revulsion.

“Although I have no use for you, I am still somewhat interested in this competition.” Feng Hua sat down on the high chair behind her, her slender fingers sliding a glass box on the glass counter. The box spun in circles in Feng Hua’s hand, full of rhythm, as if it had a life of its own, deftly turning between her fingers. Feng Hua’s voice was faint, “The rules of the competition must be changed. You can set the challenges, but they must be relatively fair and reasonable. If I lose, I will do as you said, but if you lose… I can still fulfill your request to cancel the engagement banquet, but after that, you will have to become my dog. You will bite where I point, remain loyal, and be available at my beck and call.”

An Ye abruptly lifted his head, his eyes glaring at Feng Hua as if he wanted to fiercely tear her apart. The veins in his forehead and neck bulged.

This woman actually wanted him to be a dog!