Chapter 221
Chapter 221: The Real Coming-of-Age Ceremony
“Exactly!” Du De Sheng suddenly came back to life, full of energy and a strong sense of duty.
“These days, if you lean on a mountain, it might fall. If you rely on people, they might run. As for men, nine out of ten are unreliable, and the last one is even worse. Even if he looks fine right now, who can promise he won’t change later? Your own family still has to keep an eye on things!”
Qin Yan Qing: “…” [Did you forget that you’re also a man? Some people really are harsh enough to curse even themselves.]
But in some ways, this old man really was easy to coax.
Xi Jing Yue’s five hundred million in funding did not go through after all. When Du De Sheng walked him out, his face clearly said: “Only this once, don’t expect it again, now hurry up and get lost.”
Xi Jing Yue did not mind. He only reminded Du An Rao: “About the auction house, you should confirm it with your Master as soon as you can. My advice is, if what they said is really true, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to take over this auction house.”
Then Xi Jing Yue changed the topic and said: “But before you take it over, you should find some professional accountants and lawyers to carefully go through the accounts from all these years, in case there are any uncontrollable problems inside the auction house. My company has a professional team of accountants and lawyers who handle this kind of thing all year round. If you need help, you can contact me anytime.”
Xi Jing Yue had basically thought of everything for her. Du An Rao felt a bit moved.
“Yeah, if I need anything, I’ll give you a call.”
Listening to the two of them talk, Du De Sheng frowned tightly. But because he was thinking about the Master Xi Jing Yue mentioned and about taking over the auction house, he held himself back and did not say anything.
As soon as Xi Jing Yue left, he immediately asked: “What’s this about taking over an auction house? Is it that auction house run by the Wen Family? What kind of relationship do you have with the Wen Family now? Why would their auction house be handed over to you?”
He was afraid there was some huge hole inside that could not be filled, and they wanted to trick his precious granddaughter into being the scapegoat.
Clearly, Du De Sheng and Du An Rao had the same worry. Pies do not just fall from the sky, especially pies this big. If you are not careful, who knows if that thing dropping from the sky will smash you to death.
Du An Rao briefly repeated what the Wen Family father and son had said in the private room. After listening, Du De Sheng was very shocked, both by the connection between the Wen Family and Du An Rao’s Master, and even more by that Master’s Peerless Divination.
“So you’re saying this auction house was a business your Master set up for you a long time ago.”
“That’s what they said, but I’m not sure in my heart. So I didn’t agree to take over the auction house on the spot. I only said I would go back and confirm it with my Master first, then give them an answer.”
“You did the right thing. This whole thing is strange to begin with, not to mention so much time has passed. Things are bound to have changed. It never hurts to stay cautious. Go talk to your Master with an easy mind. If it really is like they said, Grandfather will back you up. What belongs to you should be taken back. No one is allowed to play tricks in this matter!”
Du An Rao felt like her Four Pillars of Destiny had not even been written down yet, but she still nodded obediently and said: “Thank you, Grandfather.”
After attending the auction and then chatting with the two elders for a while, it was already late at night.
Du An Rao glanced at the time, which had already turned into the early hours of the next day. Thinking about her Master Tian Tian’s usual Immortal Cultivation schedule in the middle of the night, she ran off happily to poke at him.
Spare Others When You Can: “Master, Master, are you there? Are you still alive? Are you still breathing? Are you still warm?”
The person who liked to be obsessed with Immortal Cultivation in the middle of the night really did reply in seconds.
Heart Like Still Water: “It’s the middle of the night. Why are you calling to my soul?!”
Heart Like Still Water: “I am already dead. If you need something, burn paper offerings. Small matters can be handled with Spirit Summoning, big matters require digging up my grave. [Playing dead.jpg]”
Spare Others When You Can: “Masteeer~~~ [Grabbing your shoulders and shaking hard.jpg] Do you know a father and son with the surname Wen?”
Heart Like Still Water: “[Sits up from coffin.jpg] You went to the auction, huh? Did you manage to win back the precious inheritance your Master left you?”
Du An Rao felt embarrassed. [Master, you are very much alive, and you’re already calling it an inheritance!]
Spare Others When You Can: “That stone with spiritual marrow, right? I bought it.”
Heart Like Still Water: “I knew it, my disciple is the fattest one of all! [Old father wiping tears of emotion.jpg]”
Spare Others When You Can: “You’re the fat one. Your whole family is fat. Wait, your whole family includes me!”
Spare Others When You Can: “Be serious! Let’s talk business! Old Master Wen said the auction house was opened because you told them to. Now they want to transfer it to me, and they also want to give me all the profits the auction house has earned over the years in one go. Is that true?”
Heart Like Still Water: “Of course it’s true. You didn’t think the only coming-of-age ceremony gift your Master gave you was that string of old copper coins, did you?”
Du An Rao froze. A spark flashed in her mind, and her face showed clear surprise.
Spare Others When You Can: “So this auction house is actually the eighteenth birthday gift you prepared for me?”
That string of Great Five Emperor Coins that had been delivered into her hands on her birthday was the token agreed on by her Master and Old Master Wen. Whoever showed up at the auction house with that token would be the future host of the auction house.
So the Great Five Emperor Coins were only the key to open the gift. The real birthday present was this auction house.
It was just that, at the time, her second cousin had an accident on the same day, so she naturally thought her Master had predicted that event and had specially asked Little Bai to send the Five Emperor Coins over as her birthday gift.
Spare Others When You Can: “Master, you hid this way too well. Weren’t you afraid that I might never come here in my whole life, and this gift behind the scenes would go to waste?”
Heart Like Still Water: “What is meant to be yours will eventually be yours. What is not meant to be yours, you should not force. What belongs to you will come find you, even if you don’t go to it.”
Du An Rao’s heart moved a little. She thought of that stone that had chased after her, and her feelings became a bit complicated.
Even so, suddenly gaining a business everyone envied, and having it handed to her by strangers, still made Du An Rao feel unsure.
As if seeing what she was thinking, her usually unreliable Master was finally reliable for once.
Heart Like Still Water: “Don’t feel pressured. The money used to build the auction house at the beginning was actually the thanks the Wen Family agreed to pay me. And do you really think no one in the Wen Family has had any greedy thoughts toward the auction house in the last twenty years? It’s not that they don’t want this auction house. They don’t dare to want it.”
Spare Others When You Can: “They don’t dare to want it? What do you mean?”
It turned out that from the day the auction house was founded, everything went smoothly. It grew at an amazing speed.
As it got bigger, more famous, and made more and more money, the hearts of the Wen Family members naturally grew restless.
Just like Du An Rao had worried, many relatives of the Wen Family who saw themselves as veteran staff of the auction house felt that after all these years of hard work, even if they had no big achievements, they at least had bitter toil. By now, they had already done more than that so-called boss behind the scenes who only paid the startup funds and never showed up or managed anything.
Even with the Wen Family father and son pressing down from above, they still could not stop these people from secretly wanting a share of the auction house.
But very soon, these people discovered that as soon as they had crooked thoughts about the auction house, their own businesses outside would be affected. However much they grabbed from the auction house, they would lose double when it came back around.