Chapter 212

Chapter 212: What Is Your Master’s Surname?

The two of them were both amused by Du An Rao’s shameless bragging, but Xi Jing Yue soon noticed that she did not plan to give all the finished jade pieces to Du De Sheng and his wife, and he could not help feeling a bit of hope in his heart.

“This side is all waste. Do you still want to keep cutting down?”

The master craftsman looked at the piece of jadeite rough he had opened and was excited too. Cutting out such a treasure made the owner of the stone happy, and it also made him, the one in charge of cutting, look good.

Treasure is called treasure precisely because it is rare and hard to get.

In the master craftsman’s many years of stone cutting experience, for this stone to yield a single piece with the pattern of the Gods of Blessing, Rank, Longevity, and Joy was already a sign of favor from Heaven Above.

The large remaining chunk of uncut rough was, in all likelihood, just worthless stone, so that was why he asked.

Du An Rao did not answer right away, but turned to look at Old Master Wen and asked: “Do you still want to keep watching?”

Old Master Wen snapped out of his daze. His gaze on Du An Rao grew even softer as he said: “No need. You can handle the rest on your own.”

“Then we won’t cut it. It so happens this leftover piece has a pretty special shape. I’ll take it back and put it in my grandfather’s garden as a fake rock. It will blend in perfectly, and no one will see a trace of anything.”

As soon as Du An Rao finished, Old Master Wen could not hold back and burst out laughing: “Hahaha, you girl, the way you talk is really funny. I heard you also bid on the last lot that was added at the last minute in this auction. Come on, I’ll walk with you again and help you handle the paperwork.”

Du An Rao could feel that this old grandfather did not have any bad intentions toward her. Instead, he had a kind, family-like affection for her, like she was a junior of his own, so she was happy to joke with him.

“You’re worried I don’t have money to pay, so you want to come in person and keep an eye on me?”

“Hahaha, you girl, can’t you think of something nicer to say? You spent so much money at our auction house. You are our most honored guest. I, this old man, am serving you personally, and you’re still not satisfied?”

“I wouldn’t dare, I wouldn’t dare. Having you serve me personally is my honor. Let’s hurry over.”

The people around had still been crowding around the piece with the Gods of Blessing, Rank, Longevity, and Joy, clicking their tongues in praise. When they turned and saw Du An Rao and Old Master Wen chatting and laughing so happily, they were even more shocked.

“This is the first time I’ve seen the old man be so kind and gentle to a junior who is even younger than his grandson.”

“The old man knows Ninth Master, right? It’s not impossible that he’s being nice to that kid to give Ninth Master some face.”

“That may be true, but there’s still a difference between polite show and real liking. Even if he is trying to please Ninth Master, the fact that the girl can catch such a windfall is her own skill.”

“When you put it that way, it does make sense…”

People really do love watching drama. After they watch something exciting, they just cannot help gathering together to talk about it.

Most people felt envy mixed with a bit of jealous heat when they thought about Du An Rao’s luck. They might be jealous, but they did not truly hate her. Du Tian Ci and the others were different.

They had always called themselves Du De Sheng’s direct relatives and had long treated his business as their own money in the bag.

Who could have guessed that halfway through, a Du An Rao would appear, spending money that “should have belonged” to them, and even gaining Old Master Wen’s favor!

Du Tian Ci was so angry he kicked the wall next to him. He bit down so hard his gums were almost bleeding.

If… if his father had not stopped him, if he had not been so afraid of the confidence Du De Sheng gave Du An Rao and backed down from raising the bid, wouldn’t this treasure worth several hundred million have ended up in his hands? Wouldn’t Old Master Wen’s favor have landed on him instead?

Then he would have had hundreds of millions in his own hands. Why would he still need to wag his tail and beg for scraps in front of that so-called Lord his dad served?

One wrong step, and every step after was wrong.

Feeling he had missed his chance to change his fate, Du Tian Ci now not only hated Du An Rao, he also hated Du Wei Shuai for stopping him from bidding. He completely forgot how frightened and regretful he had been earlier when Du An Rao deliberately baited him into not raising the price.

Du An Rao did not care about what these people thought at all. Very soon, she followed Old Master Wen back to the original exhibition hall.

By then, most of the guests had already received their lots. Du An Rao should have been the only guest left who had not finished paying.

As soon as the two of them appeared, they drew every eye in the hall at once. The two people following behind them, Xi Jing Yue and the other, turned into background decoration.

The young lady in charge of collecting payment saw Du An Rao and immediately put on her professional smile: “Hello, Miss Du. The eighteenth and nineteenth lots you bid on have a total price set by the president at one billion five hundred and two million and fifty thousand. In addition to paying this auction price, you also need to pay the taxes on both items. Because the two lots are different in nature, one is a trade good and the other is a land-use right, the types of taxes you owe are different as well. They are…”

This was exactly the kind of thing that hit Du An Rao’s blind spot. She listened for a long time in a fog and only caught one key point.

Besides the one billion five hundred and two million and fifty thousand that she had bid for the two items, she also had to pay tax on them. And the tax was extremely high. Roughly adding it up, it might be two to three hundred million?!

[Got up too high this morning and forgot about the whole paying taxes part. Good thing I still have extra money in my card, or I really wouldn’t be able to walk out of this auction house today!]

After feeling lucky, Du An Rao could not help covering her chest, her expression full of pain.

[But these taxes are way too expensive, right? Two to three hundred million is enough to buy dozens of my family’s shabby little temples! If my Master finds out, he’ll definitely say I’m a money-waster again, sob sob sob…]

Xi Jing Yue was amused by Du An Rao’s heartfelt complaining. It was not hard to tell that this girl’s heart was dripping blood right now.

It made sense. When she bid for that stone earlier, thanks to Du Tian Ci stirring things up, she had already spent one million more than she planned, and that alone hurt enough. Now she had to suddenly cough up another two to three hundred million. It was like someone was digging into her chest.

But pain was pain. Du An Rao also knew this money had to be paid. After the young lady finished calculating all the fees, she obediently took out the small card holder she used for her cards and pulled out the black card inside, unwillingly handing it over.

She had barely passed the card out when someone grabbed her hand.

“Grandfather Wen…?”

The white-haired elder’s eyes were blazing bright. His gaze on Du An Rao was so hot it felt like he was about to burn right through her.

Xi Jing Yue and the other person had not expected such a sudden change. Their faces shifted, and they moved at once, ready to step in and help, when they heard the old man suddenly ask: “Where did you get this string of copper coins?”

Copper coins? Everyone around them lowered their heads at the same time to look at the string of Great Five Emperor Coins hanging off the corner of Du An Rao’s card holder.

“Th-this one? It was my Master’s gift to me for my eighteenth birthday.”

“Master? What is your Master’s surname?”

“Yuan. The same Yuan as in Yuan Tian Gang.”

“Yuan as in Yuan Tian Gang? Hahaha, then there’s no mistake. It’s you, it really is you. I never thought this old man would live to see you appear. Heaven Above is truly watching over our Wen family, watching over this old man, hahaha…”