63: Chapter 63 Dinner – The Exotic Stone 63: Chapter 63 Dinner – The Exotic Stone “Could it be that Miss Su is very bothered by my relationship with him?” Luo Shiqi stretched out her fair fingers, propping her chin, giving off an unfathomable look, her gaze towards Su Qingyu carried a hint of scorn.
“I…” Su Qingyu hesitated to speak, feeling very conflicted now.
If she were to say she minded, on what grounds should she care?
Was it just because she was his boss?
Unless Su Qingyu disclosed their relationship, but would she?
But if she said she didn’t mind, wouldn’t that be like pushing her own husband into the arms of another woman?
“I mind.” At that moment, Su Ziqing stepped forward.
She had been unable to stand by and watch Luo Shiqi flirt with Ye Shikai.
If it weren’t for Su Qingyu repeatedly instructing her not to reveal their identities, Su Ziqing would have walked over to Ye Shikai’s side and grabbed his arm.
“He is my boyfriend.” Su Ziqing pulled Ye Shikai behind her, glaring at Luo Shiqi with eyes that seemed to spit fire.
Ye Shikai was shocked by Su Ziqing’s action, thinking to himself, what trouble is this young lady stirring up now?
But seeing Luo Shiqi’s startled expression, it seemed that the young girl’s meddling was quite effective.
“So he’s sister Ziqing’s boyfriend; no wonder Miss Su is not happy.” Luo Shiqi smiled slightly, defusing the awkwardness.
She, of course, knew that Su Ziqing was deceiving her, but she didn’t expose her.
After all, she had already promised Ye Shikai to keep their relationship a secret.
“Good that you know, Miss Luo.
However, giving my boyfriend a token of love might not be very appropriate, right?” Su Ziqing looked at the jade pendant on Ye Shikai’s neck and stared at Luo Shiqi with displeasure.
“Sister Ziqing, but I like him very~ much.
How about you let him be mine?” At these words, both Su Qingyu and Su Ziqing showed surprised expressions.
If Luo Shiqi and Ye Shikai had merely an ambiguous relationship before, now it could almost be considered brazenly stealing someone’s beau.
Su Ziqing’s face turned from green to white.
There were no women in the world who would willingly give away their boyfriends, Luo Shiqi’s words indeed sounded rather shameless.
“Qingqing, Miss Luo is just joking with you.
I wanted to take a look at this jade pendant; that’s why she showed it to me.” Ye Shikai said to Su Ziqing, giving Luo Shiqi a threatening glare, clearly telling her to stop making trouble.
During the conversation, he even took off the pendant from his neck and handed it to Luo Shiqi.
“Miss Luo, the pendant is lovely, but I’m just a minor employee.
If I accidentally damage it, there’s no way I can afford it.” Ye Shikai’s words were joking, also easing the awkward atmosphere.
He turned to look at Su Ziqing’s face filled with grievances and said, “Qingqing, it’s okay.
How could Miss Luo take a fancy to me?
She’s just kidding.” Since Su Ziqing said he was her boyfriend, he felt obliged to look after her feelings.
“You keep the pendant, as a memoir…” Much to Ye Shikai’s surprise, Luo Shiqi did not accept the pendant back but instead, gave him a bewitching smile.
Ye Shikai was speechless; what memoir?
It was clearly a reminder that he should always think of her.
But hearing these words would surely stir feelings in both Su Qingyu and Su Ziqing…
Ye Shikai tried multiple times to return the pendant to Luo Shiqi, but she gracefully declined each time.
It seemed that she was determined to gift the pendant to him.
Su Qingyu and Su Ziqing had also tried to persuade her, but Luo Shiqi didn’t agree, leaving Ye Shikai with no choice but to keep the pendant.
The four of them took their seats again, as the auction was still ongoing and it was inconvenient to leave early.
However, after this incident, Su Qingyu was no longer interested in the auction; her attention was mostly on Ye Shikai beside her.
Suddenly, a phrase that Su Pengzhan had once said echoed in Su Qingyu’s mind.
Su Qingyu felt a sense of crisis for the first time.
He had thought Ye Shikai was just an ordinary man living off a woman, unworthy of anyone’s attention, but now even the queen of Yanjing’s Underworld had fallen for him.
What charm did he possess that even the female King Yan could be attracted to him?
Su Qingyu looked at Ye Shikai’s profile with complex emotions, feeling even more conflicted inside.
In truth, he didn’t seem that detestable; perhaps his own revulsion was more about the unfairness of the marriage his father had arranged for him.
Hating the arranged marriage, he thus projected his feelings onto Ye Shikai, the groom.
Otherwise, having never met before, how could there be such dislike?
The auction proceeded methodically according to schedule, with one treasure after another being presented.
Of course, none of these items caught his interest.
There were many rare and exotic treasures in the Netherworld Palace; if he had to look at each one , he would suffer from aesthetic fatigue.
“The next lot is a peculiar rock unearthed in Europe.
This rock is incredibly hard and is said to be related to Western myths.
The starting bid is five hundred thousand, with each increment of fifty thousand.” When introducing this item, the host did not seem excited, and his brief introduction glossed over it.
Probably, this was the cheapest item at the auction, and who knew who had brought it in to sell.
Ye Shikai stared intently at the stone.
It wasn’t very big, about the size of half a fist, and could be held in the palm.
Its surface was a pale purple and hadn’t been intentionally carved.
Presumably, as the host said, it was extremely hard, so it didn’t have much aesthetic value.
Plus, the sparse introduction did little to stir interest among the audience.
It was just a broken stone, after all; what was so mystical about it being related to Western myths?
But Ye Shikai didn’t think so.
Ever since he laid eyes on that stone, he felt like a magnet drawn to it.
His heart burned with a desire to possess it, and without it, he felt distressed.
This puzzled Ye Shikai—as though his liking for the stone was something subconscious within him.
His body trembled slightly, and he began to sweat on his forehead, as if he were addicted to a drug, and the stone in front of him was the coveted substance.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“What’s wrong with you?”
Two voices sounded simultaneously, one from Luo Shiqi, and one from Su Qingyu.
Both looked at each other, and the atmosphere turned somewhat awkward.
Luo Shiqi had been paying attention to Ye Shikai and, noting his pale complexion, asked with concern.
As for Su Qingyu, she was worried that Luo Shiqi might do something inappropriate, so she also kept her eyes on Ye Shikai.
I’m fine, I just really…
really want that stone.” Ye Shikai’s chest ached, and he spoke with difficulty.
Why was it so painful not to have the stone?
Ye Shikai fixed his gaze on the stone on stage, his eyes filled with desire.
Upon closer inspection, one might notice that Ye Shikai’s eyes had started to turn slightly bloodshot.