CH 31

Chapter 31: This was kinda… interesting?

Qu Xiaoran took a deep breath and thought to himself: Looking at our friendship of drinking the same can of milk powder, this young master will listen to you tell me about the origin of this broken thermos!

He sat down on the sofa, crossed his long legs, and loosened his bright-colored tie, thinking that even if Xie You told him that the inner liner of this thermos was inlaid with three layers of diamonds, he would not be shocked. Then he said, “I’m ready; tell me.”

Xie You’s gaze slid to the gray thermos. He glanced at it for a moment and then moved away immediately, saying, “It’s a gift from Yu Nian, and it contains pork ribs and seaweed soup.”

Qu Xiaoran waited a while, but he didn’t have to wait until the next sentence to realize what this sentence meant!

“No more?”

Xie You was puzzled and repeated again, “This thermos was given to me by Yu Nian, and inside it was the ribs and seaweed soup he stewed.” 

Looking at the shadow cast by the floor lamp on the carpet, Qu Xiaoran’s eyes were blank.

Oh.

He rubbed his face and used his imagination, “Your NianNian has stewed pork ribs and seaweed soup, and then he packed it in a thermos and gave it to you to drink?” 

“Yeah!” 

Seeing that Xie You was wearing a silky black shirt and sitting behind the desk with his back straight, trying to restrain his happy emotions but still unable to hide the red tips of his ears, Qu Xiaoran’s mind was so messed up that he couldn’t describe it in words. His mood suddenly sank and became slightly sour for a moment.

It was like seeing Xie Xiaoyou, who sat quietly in front of the piano, a little shy, and whose eyes would brighten up after being praised by the piano teacher.

How long had he not seen Xie You like this? The current Xie You could scare his secretary to tears without saying a single word. His one glance could instantly quiet the entire noisy conference room.

Indifferent, unfathomable, decisive, aloof, and cold like an emotionless robot—this was the impression others had of Xie You.

But in fact, he knew very well that Xie You was not like this at all.

It was just that the mask he had to wear had been worn for a long time and had also grown into the flesh.

Then he heard Xie You continue to speak; his voice was a little soft, as if he was worried about alarming something: “The thermos is new; I like gray.”

This thermos bucket was specially bought for him by Yu Nian.

Hearing this sentence, Qu Xiaoran came back to his senses, feeling his teeth hurt!

Okay, okay, okay, you guys are awesome! He thought about it and found it amazing: “Although you only post those kinds of words on Weibo and hide your thoughts five kilometers underground, in the eyes of others, you are really blackening Yu Nian! This has already happened several times. Maybe Yu Nian just doesn’t want to hate you, but he decides to never have any contact with you?” 

While talking, Qu Xiaoran suddenly became nervous and swallowed his saliva, “I said, Xie Xiaoyou, You haven’t had that soup yet, have you? There…is there really no arsenic or anything in it?”

Xie You, “……”

Seeing Xie You’s indescribable expression, Qu Xiaoran stopped talking.

Okay, although he didn’t quite understand it, this was kinda… interesting?

Qu Xiaoran remembered again, “By the way, there is a meeting tomorrow. My brother directly called and asked me to attend the meeting. I can’t accompany you to the auction to pick out gifts for Auntie.” 

Xie You nodded, “Well, I will bring my assistant over.”

On the evening of the auction day, Yu Nian arrived early, and after showing the invitation letter, he was led into the hall.

The inner venue of the auction was set in an old villa built in the mountains. The villa occupied a large area, with pavilions and waterfalls, and the sound of rockeries and waterfalls can be faintly heard indoors.

The room was very spacious. It was still early, and there were not many people in the venue, and most of them were elderly people over fifty years old or successful people in suits and shoes. When Yu Nian, a young junior wearing a simple white cotton T-shirt and jeans, walked in, he immediately attracted a lot of attention.

He had a good temperament, was without any stage fright, and had a natural demeanor. But he had just taken two steps in when he was suddenly stopped: “Are you from the Yu family?”

Yu Nian stopped and looked over, meeting the gaze of an old man. He recalled carefully and bent his eyes, “Grandpa Gu?”

Gu Yiyan leaned on his walking stick and laughed, “It seems that the kid has a good memory. After all, you only met me once, nine years ago, and you still haven’t forgotten me!”

Yu Nian quickly walked up to Gu Yiyan, bowed slightly to match the old man’s slightly bent back, and said with a smile, “You are much better than me; I have grown up, and you even recognized me at a glance.”

Gu Yiyan looked at Yu Nian; his tone was slow and kind, with nostalgia, “Your eyes are very much like your grandmother’s, and your nose is very similar to your grandfather’s. I felt familiar as soon as I looked at you. Besides, isn’t the Yunfu Songhe vase going to be auctioned today? I had thought you would definitely come over.”

The two middle-aged people next to him heard Gu Yiyan mention the Yunfu Songhe vase and speak to the young man in a familiar tone. They looked at each other, and one of them asked doubtfully, “Gu Yiyan, who is this?”

“Look at me, just talking “Gu Yiyan introduced with a smile, “He is Yu Nian, a descendant of the Qingshan Yu family. He is still very young. You can’t bully him; otherwise, we old guys won’t follow!” 

Yu Nian knew that Gu Yiyan was supporting him, so he just smiled quietly without interrupting.

“He turns out to be the grandson of Mr. Xiu Ning!” The person who had asked the question suddenly realized this and quickly shook hands with Yu Nian, admiring, “Mr. Xiu Ning was a noble man, he often mentioned how good his descendent is!” 

Yu Nian politely exchanged greetings for a few words and then heard Gu Yiyan say, “We old people have agreed before that in this auction, we will do our best to keep as many treasures as we can in the country.” 

He said with a smile again, “Don’t worry; we also agreed that if someone from the Yu family comes, they won’t compete with you for the Yunfu Songhe vase. If your grandfather is still here, seeing you buy the bottle back, he would definitely be very proud”

“Thank you, Grandpa Gu,” Yu Nian suppressed the soreness in his heart and nodded in thanks.

“There’s nothing to be thankful for. It’s as it should be. Mr. Xiu Ning has devoted his whole life to this, and none of us will forget it.”

Gu Yiyan’s eyes were slightly cloudy, but his spirit was still strong, and he looked at Yu Nian, “I still remember that when Mr. Xiu Ning passed away, you were only twelve years old. You were just a small child kneeling in the mourning hall, and it made us feel worried. But time flies, and now you have grown up too.” 

He thought of something: “If I’m not mistaken, you bought the “Jiangshan Lian Yu 1Litrally, landscape with rain painting”, the “Shinu2Traditional Chinese painting of beautiful women painting”, and the “fishtail bottle with landscape patterns” that were sold in Europe in the past three years back to China, right?” 

Yu Nian’s attitude was respectful, and he replied a little embarrassedly, “Yes, you guessed right, and it was quite thrilling. There were a lot of people who robbed them, but luckily they were brought back in the end.” 

Gu Yiyan lightly patted him on the shoulder with his wrinkled hand, “It’s not easy at such a young age.”

After chatting for a few more words, Gu Yiyan was helped upstairs to the private room. After Yu Nian watched him go up, he turned around and went to the private seat separated by a screen to sit down and pour himself a cup of tea.

The venue was very elegantly furnished, and even the screens that separate the private space were embroidered on both sides.

He was curiously studying the embroidery methods and patterns that were being used when there was a sudden movement at the door. Yu Nian looked sideways and saw Xie You at a glance.

Unlike usual, Xie You was wearing a dark gray suit. He was tall and had long legs, and there was a ruby in his ​​tie clip that was shining brightly under the indoor lights. His expression was stern, and his lips were slightly thin and sharp. Entering through the gate, he didn’t even look at anyone next to him.

The staff led the way respectfully, and Xie You quickly went up to the second floor with two assistants and soon disappeared.

Countless people were left whispering.

“I didn’t expect that even President Xie would come to Mr. Widgery’s auction; it’s really showing respect.” 

“It should be that the two companies have a good working relationship, so he especially came here to show respect. But President Xie’s aura is really strong. It is said that his temperament is also very cold, and his methods are powerful. If it wasn’t known, no one would believe that he was only in his twenties.” 

“That’s right, but he must be a powerful person if he can support the Xie family company at that time!”

Xie You entered the box, and just as he sat down, the door was opened again by two bodyguards, and a young white man with brown hair walked in quickly, saying enthusiastically, “Thank you; I didn’t expect you to come!” 

Xie You got up and raised his hand, “Long time no see.”

Knowing Xie You’s temperament, Mr. Widgery quickly let go after shaking hands for two seconds, saying, “It’s an honor that you took the time to come here. There are a lot of good things in this auction; just ask if you want anything. I’ll leave for you”

Xie You shook his head and refused, “Thank you; don’t worry about it.” 

There was no one else in the box. Mr. Widgery lowered his voice and smiled a little, “I heard in the wind that you are going to start killing disturbing flies again.”

Xie You understood the meaning of his words and said bluntly, “It will not have any impact on our cooperation, Mr. Widgery; please rest assured.” 

Mr. Widgery took a small half step back and stood up straight, his smile widening, “That would be great. My dad and I can rest assured! If you need help, just let me know.”

Xie You nodded, “Okay.”

At 7:30, the auction started on time. Xie You was not very interested in the auction items. He only picked two pieces of collectible jewelry and a set of jade jewelry as gifts for his mother, then stopped and started working remotely.

The bidding for Yu Nian downstairs was also very smooth; because of Gu Yiyan’s instructions, he only had two rounds of bidding with a Canadian and an Australian, and he successfully won the Yunfu Songhe Vase.

After completing the formalities, it was confirmed that the purchase was successful. Yu Nian drank a sip of tea, and the tension in his heart that had been building for several days finally dissolved.

The ones auctioned after the Yunfu Songhe vase were a pair of cufflinks from the European royal family. Yu Nian took a look at them, by the way. They were very beautiful, with blue shimmer patterns and a rounded octagonal design, but the price was very high. After a round of bidding, it was bought by a buyer for 2 million yuan.

It didn’t take long for Yu Nian to notice that Xie You had left early. After another hour, the auction ended. Yu Nian waited for Gu Yiyan to come downstairs to thank him sincerely before leaving the auction venue.

In a very good mood, Yu Nian pulled out a set of celadon tea sets commonly used by his grandfather and carefully boiled water to make tea. Remembering what Meng Yuan said about updating Weibo more, Yu Nian took a picture of the tea he made and posted it on Weibo.

Before he could look through the reviews, the doorbell rang. Yu Nian’s hand holding the teacup paused, and the corners of his lips curled up—it wasn’t hard to guess who it could be.

He got up and opened the door, took the box and the silver-gray card, and read the words on the card first—”The soup was delicious, thank you.” 

The signature was that of Xie You.

While refolding the card, Yu Nian remembered, “Did you bring the thermos?” If he happened to make soup next time, he could still put some aside for Xie You.

The person standing opposite was startled. He did not answer and just turned around in silence and left.

Yu Nian didn’t care; he closed the door and opened the square box that was not much bigger than his palm. However, as soon as he saw the things inside, his breath was suffocated, and his footsteps stopped.

Inside the box was a pair of extremely delicate cufflinks with a blue shimmer pattern and a rounded octagonal design. There was also a small white triangular label next to it that said—¥200.