Unexpectedly, Shang Yin becomes more articulate the more he drinks. With every sip, he would respond to Su Ziceng, repeatedly emphasizing that he is a businessman and would not intervene in transactions without profit nor was he interested in investing.
Su Ziceng wasted much effort persuading him, but he parried all her attempts. In the end, Su Ziceng ran out of strategies and could only join him in drinking.
Under the sway of the waves, the liquor in the glass oscillated. Suddenly, the yacht rocked as if it had just met an exceptionally large wave. Even Shang Yin curiously looked outside. Su Ziceng also glanced out but could only see a blurry expanse of sea.
For some reason, after that "wave," Shang Yin suddenly became more interested. His gaze focused on Su Ziceng. If she wasn’t aware of Pello’s criteria for choosing women, she might have really thought she had become Shang Yin’s newfound favorite.
Compared to most of the women on the yacht, Su Ziceng was too thin. If he hadn’t seen the glimpse of her chest at her collar, Shang Yin might have doubted whether Pello would knock against bone when embracing her. However, she had a pair of beautiful legs, long and straight, that could arouse desires.
"Miss Su," Shang Yin put down his drink and took a few steps closer, his eyes carrying an obscure sparkle, "Perhaps I could consider making an investment in you." His hand landed on Su Ziceng’s shoulder, leisurely feeling the smoothness.
"Boss," just as Su Ziceng was at a loss for a reply, a man outside said: "Young Master Hang accidentally got injured on the aft deck from drunkenness."
It was an unfamiliar voice, not one of his security personnel, Pello reflected. Su Ziceng’s shoulder flinched as she wriggled out from his grip.
"Such a pity, Miss Su," Shang Yin opened the cabin door, not seeing the earlier speaking security personnel. He looked both ways only to find no one present, "It seems someone made an investment before me; it’s better for this out-of-touch person to leave." He spoke quickly and left even more swiftly.
"Serves him right," upon hearing that Hang Yishao was injured, Su Ziceng initially cursed, but then she felt somewhat downcast. She downed the wine in her glass and the cabin door was opened again; Pello walked in.
"How did it go?" The timing of his arrival was just perfect, right behind Shang Yin.
"It fell through. I was close to agreeing to an indecent proposal," Su Ziceng feigned a casual air, but her ears involuntarily perked up. There was a din of footsteps on the deck, along with the noisy voices of Fei Qing and Chang Chi and others.
"You might consider making such a proposal to me," Pello walked a few steps inside the cabin and found a clean glass.
"You?" Su Ziceng first mumbled the question ambiguously, then exclaimed: "You!" How much savings can a young teacher have? Even if he scrimped and saved, plus the benefits from Kelly Women’s College, it likely wouldn’t be much.
"Have I ever mentioned, I’m also considered a landlord in France." Pello found a term from Country Z that fit the bill.
The concept of a landlord in France is, of course, different from that in Country Z. Upon knowing that Pello could replace Shang Yin as a financier, Su Ziceng felt a sigh of relief.
Pello agreed to deliver the money to Shang Yin next week. But during a class on "Marriage Feng Shui," Teacher Fei Lin’s words made Su Ziceng contemplate seriously again.
"What did Teacher Fei Lin say?" Despite leaving Kelly Women’s College, Yan Wuxu still held an interest in those quirky lessons. Every Friday, when Su Ziceng returned home, he would pester her with questions.
"He said women shouldn’t use men’s money, especially when there’s no blood relation with that man," according to Fei Lin, blood ties can melt gold and diamonds, but a man having no kinship or physical relationship as a basis, one must not use his money.
Thinking of her past relationship with Fei Qing, Yan Wuxu nodded in agreement; had she not taken too many favors from Fei Qing, she wouldn’t have ended up in such a dire plight, losing both body and heart.
"Then it’s no-go again," Su Ziceng gestured with her hands.
"Maybe, I can shuffle some money," Yan Wuxu actually had some money on hand, allocated by Su Qingzhang to her for procurement of auction items. Despite enquiring throughout Mo City and the whole Country Z, Yan Wuxu hadn’t purchased much suitable for auctions. The money was just sitting idle, earning bank interest daily, and Yan Wuxu was beginning to worry about the year-end accounts.
"How could you be left to procure on your own, what about your subordinates, the Appraisers and buyers?" Su Ziceng had experience in various auction events and had seen many similar business models. Yan Wuxu had been running Su Bi for a while, and indeed there had been little action.
"I thought that once Su Bi’s preparations were complete, the staff would be in place, and I’d just need to take the lead. But once I stepped in, I realized just how deep and hot the waters are. Chang Mei’s words sounded pleasant, saying it was up to me to manage everything. Now indeed, I’m personally handling it," Yan Wuxu had wasted quite some time at home, with no school to attend or auctions to conduct.
"What’s going on?" Just as Su Ziceng was about to ask, she heard a servant knock and say, "Miss, Madam, the master is not coming home for dinner tonight."
Upon hearing this, Yan Wuxu’s anger found no outlet; she just threw a pillow out of frustration and felt it insufficient, so Su Ziceng, glancing at her, led her towards the main hall.
In these times, causing trouble is also a technical job. (To be continued. If you work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation ticket, monthly ticket, your support, is my greatest motivation.)