Chapter 231

Chapter 231: Such a Vicious Curse

Du An Rao held onto Xi Jing Yue’s arm and walked out of the Gourmet Pavilion without daring to look back. Only after she was sure they were completely out of the Fu family’s sight did she finally breathe out, pressing a hand over her chest like someone who had just survived a life or death tribulation.

Seeing this, Xi Jing Yue felt helpless and amused. He said: “Are you really that scared? It’s not like she will eat you.”

“She won’t eat me, but she will swallow me alive.” Du An Rao gave Xi Jing Yue a bitter look. “Mr. Xi, have you ever heard of the three big New Year curses?”

“What three curses?”

“So, you’re working now. How much do you make every month?”

Xi Jing Yue: “???”

“Your child is in school, right? How are their grades?”

Xi Jing Yue: “…”

“You’re this age already. Do you have a partner yet?”

“…Is that not too much?”

“Not exaggerating at all!” Du An Rao was very unhappy with Xi Jing Yue’s attitude. She grabbed Du Bi Xiao and pushed her forward. “This cousin has experience. Ask my cousin!”

Du Bi Xiao: “???” [You two can talk to each other. Why are you dragging me into this?]

But when she met Du An Rao’s hopeful little eyes, her heart softened right away.

“Mm, I can confirm, it’s really scary. And most of the time it’s not one person asking, but a whole group asking, or one after another, like a wheel battle.”

Xi Jing Yue: “…” [Enough, stop talking. The more I listen, the more it sounds like a zombie siege!]

“Anyway, Mr. Xi, at your age, it’s only a matter of time before you run into this too. I hope you can still be as…” Holding the thought of “come on, let us hurt each other,” Du Bi Xiao looked Xi Jing Yue up and down and said, gloating a little, “Calm as this.”

Xi Jing Yue: “…” [What a vicious curse! So that is what that girl meant by a curse!]

The poor President Xi felt, for the first time in his life, how harsh the world could be. He quietly closed his mouth and did not dare say another word.

Seeing this, Du An Rao wanted to laugh but had to hold it in. She gently changed the subject: “Sorry. I had wanted to treat you to a meal today to thank you for helping me out last night and solving my urgent problem, and to ask about the handover of the auction house…”

Who would have thought that so many things would happen halfway through. They had eaten plenty, but had not talked about business at all!

Xi Jing Yue did not mind it at all. He said: “It’s fine. These were all sudden things. You couldn’t have known ahead of time, so I can’t blame you. And you did treat me to a meal. I really ate happily today. The food here is indeed very good. The rumors did not exaggerate.”

“As for the handover, have you already decided to take over the auction house?”

Seeing that Xi Jing Yue’s mood was not affected by what happened today, Du An Rao quietly let out a breath of relief.

“Yes. I checked with my master last night. That auction house really is a property he had someone set up for me, and he also thinks I should take it back now.”

In fact, her master’s original words were: When you’re eighteen and an adult, you can’t keep living off me. It costs a lot to live away from home, so I set up a business for you ahead of time so you can support yourself. That way you won’t see the fancy world outside, spend money like water, and starve yourself to death. Otherwise, would that not make me, your master, lose face?

Xi Jing Yue and Du Bi Xiao: “…” [No wonder this girl, that little cousin, said her master was not reliable. This was really…]

Still, even though that person’s mouth was a bit sharp, his heart for his disciple was something to be praised. After all, not everyone could casually give a junior a fixed asset worth over a hundred million that took up more than half a mountainside.

In some ways, her master was really a very impressive person!

Du Bi Xiao listened to the gossip for a while before finally reacting: “Your master? And an auction house? Is it that Duo Bao Pavilion Auction House from yesterday? You’re taking over the auction house? Then what about the Wen family…”

Messages between Du Bi Xiao and Du De Sheng only went one way. Last night, after Du An Rao paid, she followed the Wen father and son into a private room. Du Bi Xiao had gone out early to get the car, so she had missed that part. Later, Du De Sheng had not told her about it either…

“Uh… This is a long story. Simply put, my master knows the Wen family and helped their family a lot many years ago, so they owed him a favor. To pay back that favor, the Wen family started the current auction house and have managed it for many years, waiting to transfer it to my name when I became an adult.”

After hearing this, Du Bi Xiao froze in place and did not speak for a long time.

Seeing this, Du An Rao reached out and waved a hand in front of her: “Sis…”

“Wait, let me slow down. You’re saying your master made the Wen family owe him a favor. To pay back that favor, the Wen family opened Duo Bao Pavilion Auction House, ran it for so many years, and made it big and strong, all just to transfer it to your name when you turned eighteen.”

“Yes.”

“…How big of a favor must that have been?”

“Probably something like… a life-saving grace?” Du An Rao thought for a moment and added: “And it counts as saving their whole family.”

Du Bi Xiao: “…” [All right. If the favor was really that big, then this does make sense.]

“So you treated him to dinner just so you could borrow his people to help you take over the auction house.”

“Just to sort out the auction house’s accounts from these years and go through the proper procedures. I’ve never done something like this before.”

“It’s true that asset transfers should be handled carefully. But…” Du Bi Xiao’s gaze moved between the two of them. “You really do trust him.”

Du An Rao paused and turned her head to look at Xi Jing Yue without thinking. Yes, there were clearly other choices, but whenever something happened, her first reaction seemed to be to ask him for help, and she naturally believed he would help her. It had been that way at the auction house and now too. Why was that?

After thinking for a long time, Du An Rao finally came up with a somewhat reliable answer: “Mr. Xi is a good person.”

Xi Jing Yue: “…” [Did I just get the good-guy card?]

Du Bi Xiao also choked on her words. The corner of her mouth twitched as she wanted to say more but held back. In the end she only squeezed out one sentence: “I hope you can live up to An An’s trust. Otherwise…”

[Otherwise, your whole family will join together, tie me up, and throw me into the sea to feed the fish.]

Xi Jing Yue had already seen how much influence Du An Rao had in her family, so he quietly finished her sentence in his heart, but his face stayed calm. He said: “Miss Du, don’t worry. Since An An trusts me, I won’t let her down. I’ve already asked my company’s finance and lawyer teams to come over. The two places are far apart, so they might only arrive tomorrow. Once they’re here, I’ll introduce them to you.”

Du An Rao was a bit surprised. She had thought the finance and lawyer teams Xi Jing Yue mentioned were local. She had not expected them to rush over from another city just for this.

“It really doesn’t have to be this much trouble. My granduncle also has people.”

“Too late. They should already be on the plane now.”

Du An Rao: “???” [Are the people in your company always this efficient?]