Mo Rutian winced in pain and was thus forced to let her go.
Hua Xiaomo quickly entered the Xinhui Building in front of her without looking back.
Mo Rutian watched her departing figure, his brown eyes sinking deeply.
"Hua Xiaomo... you will definitely regret this!" Mo Rutian’s long hair fell over the corner of his eye, but it could not sweep away the gloom and darkness lingering there.
On the top floor of the Xinhui Building, a Gasia auction was in progress. On display were world-class rare and unique treasures, while the audience consisted of billionaires and tycoons, each worth hundreds of millions. Indeed, anyone without such a fortune would likely feel too embarrassed to even enter Gasia’s auction venue.
"This treasure..." Jiang Shuying, the emcee on stage, delivered the promotional speech with passion, her gaze unconsciously sweeping towards the VIP seat in the third row from time to time.
Wasn’t that President Qi, Qi Longbing? He came too...
Dressed in a purple suit, he looked extremely handsome. His eyes held a streak of mysterious blue light, seeming capable of absorbing a person’s soul in an instant.
Jiang Shuying couldn’t help but smile as she looked at him. If he hadn’t spoken up for me with the manager last time, I probably wouldn’t be standing here now.
The people below listened; some raised their paddles, while others continued to observe.
Qi Longbing, seated in the VIP section in the third row, sipped his tea indifferently, as if he had come merely to enjoy it.
"Why isn’t it here yet? This is such a waste of my precious time. I’d rather be in the office teasing my Xiao Mo..." Qi Longbing grumbled with some impatience.
"President Qi, please be patient a little longer. The next item up for auction is the ’Blue Moon’," Yu Bao said softly beside him.
Qi Longbing didn’t reply but glanced at him. "Are you sure it’s authentic, not a fake?"
"Yes. I’ve checked; it’s definitely the real deal," Yu Bao answered cautiously.
"It better be, otherwise... you’re fired!" Qi Longbing said, his tone neutral yet menacing, his eyes glinting with arrogant coldness.
Hearing that, Yu Bao didn’t dare say another word. Serving him truly is like accompanying a tiger!
After a moment, Qi Longbing’s voice cut through the air. "How is the investigation into that night’s abduction progressing?"
"President Qi, I’m still looking into it, but I have a lead. It seems to be related to a criminal organization called King," Yu Bao said cautiously, afraid of offending the president and losing his coveted job.
Well, having been with Qi Longbing for five years, his error rate was practically one in a thousand. But that incident with Hua Xiaomo... he truly hadn’t seen it coming. How could she have been abducted right in front of her own home, tied to a telephone pole? Was the abductor too audacious, or was the incident itself just that peculiar? Or perhaps, what the abductor wanted wasn’t necessarily money?
"King?" Qi Longbing repeated, his eyes flashing with a pensive brilliance.
Doesn’t "King" in English mean "monarch," "crown," or "regal bearing"? A criminal organization?
Something stirred faintly within Qi Longbing. He spoke emotionlessly, "Investigate this thoroughly for me."
"Yes," Yu Bao replied, bowing his head.
Suddenly, a round of applause erupted.
"We congratulate this buyer! He has successfully won this treasure and obtained ownership rights," the beautiful emcee, Jiang Shuying, announced passionately. While her gaze was on the buyer, the corner of her eye kept glancing towards Qi Longbing, seated in the third row of the VIP section.
Yu Bao looked at the graceful and charming emcee on stage, then glanced at President Qi beside him, only to find Qi Longbing also smiling softly.
Yu Bao’s heart stirred. Observing keenly, he said, "President Qi, would you like me to arrange something with that woman up there?"
Qi Longbing shot him a sideways glance, his lips curling skeptically. "Arrange what?"
... Yu Bao was speechless. He clearly looked interested. Or had I misunderstood again?
"President Qi, I thought you seemed quite taken with that woman..." Yu Bao pressed on, bracing himself.
"She just reminds me of my Xiao Mo..." Qi Longbing took a light sip of tea, his thoughts seemingly drifting back.
The way Hua Xiaomo stood up for that woman... He still remembered it vividly! Beautiful, cute, loyal, straightforward—all her finest qualities were on full display. In a word, magnificent! When did this thorn lodge itself so deep in my heart that I can’t pull it out, no matter how I try...?
Thinking this, Qi Longbing’s lips curled into a smile once more, an even more captivating radiance spreading across his face, stunning and breathtaking.
Yu Bao, hearing this, was extremely puzzled. He couldn’t help but mentally roll his eyes at the beautiful emcee on stage. She bears not the slightest resemblance to Hua Xiaomo! How could the President possibly associate the two? Truly bizarre!
To Jiang Shuying, however, Qi Longbing’s expression suggested an entirely different meaning. Her heart couldn’t help but pound wildly.
Could President Qi be fond of me? President Qi...
Jiang Shuying’s cheeks flushed an even deeper red.
Soon, however, the next item was presented amidst the crowd’s anticipation.
A gigantic one-and-a-half-meter brocade mat supported a completely transparent, sealed box. In the center of the box lay a crescent-shaped blue diamond, roughly the size of an adult man’s fist. The exhibit was dazzling, instantly capturing everyone’s attention.
"This is one of the world’s largest and most perfect blue diamonds, the ’Blue Moon’ diamond, which recently began its exhibition at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County in the United States. The deep-sea blue, crescent-shaped ’Blue Moon’ weighs 1,500 carats."
"The ’Blue Moon’ is internally flawless, with no impurities. It took half a year to cut. The rough stone for the ’Blue Moon’ originated from South Africa’s most famous Cullinan Diamond Mine, the same mine where the largest diamond in history, weighing 3,106 carats, was discovered in 1905. This particular gem is the world’s largest top-grade blue diamond—truly one of a kind." ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵•𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒•𝙣𝙚𝙩
"The bidding starts at one hundred million US dollars."
Jiang Shuying smiled, delivering the introduction with excitement and passion.
As soon as her words fell, a considerable commotion rippled through the seated guests. One hundred million US dollars! That’s equivalent to over six hundred sixty million Renminbi!
Yu Bao looked at the ’Blue Moon’. To the wealthy, it’s probably just a luxurious showpiece, a mere tool for display, he thought.
His gaze involuntarily fell upon Qi Longbing’s face. He noticed Qi Longbing squinting slightly, remaining silent for a long moment.
With such a high starting price, no one placed a bid for quite some time, and the atmosphere grew somewhat awkward.
From a dark corner of the venue, a pair of cold, distant eyes also looked in this direction.
Her lips curved into a faintly eerie smile—now deep, now light, yet undeniably real.