Chapter 669: A Million Times for You (31)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
s.h.i.+ Xiaoyu b.u.mped into her elder son, Tuoba Hancheng, the moment she made her way downstairs.
“Are you looking for your father?” she asked.
“Yes. Mother, I’d like to move out of the Autumn Palace,” said Tuoba Hancheng, who seemed to be in low spirits. He felt that there was no longer a need to be trapped in this palace since there was no chance of him becoming the president anyway.
“Where are you moving to?”
“Anywhere but here.”
s.h.i.+ Xiaoyu could not be bothered to intervene and said simply, “Go inform your father about it. I’m staying out of your decision.”
Tuoba Hancheng headed upstairs and soon disappeared out of sight.
s.h.i.+ Xiaoyu was troubled and plagued with woes. Decades have pa.s.sed since she married Tuoba Rui. Yet, they had slept on the same bed for only a pathetically small number of times.
Surprisingly, they actually gave birth to three children.
She had never once in her life managed to win his heart.
There were barely any feelings of love and graciousness, which a married couple ought to have, between them at all.
s.h.i.+ Qingzhou was undeniably a huge thorn in s.h.i.+ Xiaoyu’s flesh that would forever bring her pain, anger, and misery. She initially thought that s.h.i.+ Qingzhou would never be able to escape her clutches for the rest of her life, yet…
Had she known earlier, she would have just killed s.h.i.+ Qingzhou right away, instead of putting her through years of physical and mental torment.
Seems like she had overestimated her own abilities.
Since s.h.i.+ Qingzhou had already escaped, it would be difficult to nab her again.
s.h.i.+ Xiaoyu was incredibly frustrated and perturbed.
——
When he followed him to the office in the morning, Fan s.h.i.+xin discovered that Jin Qingyan was behaving differently than before.
He was different in the sense that he seemed to be extremely focused and preoccupied with something.
In Fan s.h.i.+xin’s memory, there was only one person who could manage to become such a great distraction to Jin Qingyan.
“Young Sir…”
Jin Qingyan looked at him and asked, “What’s the matter?”
“Are you thinking of Ms. An?”
“Do you really think I’ll be distracted by an irrelevant person during work hours?” Jin Qingyan asked.
“Of course not. Young Sir, you’ve always been attentive and focused when it comes to work. You’re definitely not one to be distracted.”
“Has there been any progress in the matter I told you to check up on?” Jin Qingyan asked, keeping his eyes fixed on the computer screen while punching his fingers on the keyboard furiously.
“Yes. I was planning to report to you after getting all the details.”
“It’s fine, just tell me everything you know now.”
“The auction is to be held in D City tonight, though the authenticity of the auctioned items is still unknown. However, this piece of news has already managed to entice a huge bunch of people. I believe there’ll be a bloodbath in D City tonight. Young Sir, would you like to make a trip there?”
“It’s unlikely that the items would be authentic. Those stuff are priceless items that money can’t buy. We’ll just watch them make a fool of themselves,” Jin Qingyan said calmly, not at all tempted by the news.
“Maybe it’s genuine?”
“It couldn’t be found despite years of searching, and yet they claim to have found it so out of the blue. I doubt it’d be genuine. Now that I think about it, the truth could really be just baseless. I’m almost losing all my interest in this matter.”
Fan s.h.i.+xin received an incoming call from his subordinate, after which he frantically reported to Jin Qingyan, “Ms. An has booked a flight to D City.”
Jin Qingyan stopped what he was doing and asked, “Are you sure it’s D City?”
“Yes. But I don’t think she’s there for the auction. Besides, even if it’s real, I doubt Ms. An would be able to buy it. After all, she can’t afford such priceless items anyway. I reckon she must have something else to attend to in D City.”
“Don’t tell me Ji Yu is in D City too?”
Stunned by his random question, Fan s.h.i.+xin answered, “No, he’s not. I’ve already checked, Major Ji is currently on a mission elsewhere.”
“Continue to tail her and see if she wears a mask to D City.”
“Got it.”
“Young Sir… why didn’t you make Ms. An stay after your tea session with her last night?” Fan s.h.i.+xin asked curiously.
“It’s not like you don’t know what her temper is like. She’s so sharp and obstinate. I’ll only be making her detest me more by forcing her to stay. Don’t they always say that absence makes the heart grow fonder? Hmm, don’t you think I’ve gotten much better at curbing my urges and controlling my emotions?”
Although he thought otherwise, Fan s.h.i.+xin had no choice but to agree with his employer, “Yes.”
“s.h.i.+xin, you’ve been working for me for so many years. In your eyes, how do I compare to other men?”
“Well, other men can’t be compared to you at all, Young Sir. You’re a G.o.dly existence to me.”
“Is that so?” Jin Qingyan asked, filled with delight.
“Yes.”
“If only she thought the same as you.”
However, Jin Qingyan felt a little as if he was deceiving himself. He rose from his seat and put on his blazer, which was hanging from the coat hanger.
Noticing what he was doing, Fan s.h.i.+xin asked, “Young Sir, aren’t you going to continue working?”
“I’d like to go out for a walk alone.”
“I’ll go back to Wei Ni Estate first then.”
“Mmm-hmm.”
Jin Qingyan got inside his car and headed to a luxury cosmetic store alone.
The store a.s.sistants did a double take the moment they saw him, only to realize that it was indeed Jin Qingyan.
It was only normal for men to use cosmetic products that were specially designed for males.
There was nothing too peculiar about that.
“Mr. Jin, is there anything you’re looking for?”
“Facial masks.”
Upon hearing his answer, the store a.s.sistant immediately led him to a counter, which had on display a wide range of facial masks specially meant for men. “These are all products designed for men. Mr. Jin, are you looking for a refres.h.i.+ng facial mask or a skin-whitening one?”
“I’m looking for those meant for ladies,” he answered briefly.
The store a.s.sistant immediately understood what he meant and said, “The products for ladies are over here.”
Jin Qingyan stared at the plethora of facial masks from various brands and took his pick carefully while the store a.s.sistant continuously explained the products to him.
At last, he picked out five boxes of masks that were the most expensive and of the best quality.
He swiftly made his way back to his car with the shopping bag in his hand.
——
The only reason An Xiaoning decided to make a trip to D City was that she heard from Gu Beicheng that there was a place in the city where the upper-cla.s.s folks would often make business deals.
It was a shady place that was akin to the black market in A City.
She heard that it was a good location to buy some capable bodyguards.
She planned to buy a few people who would be fiercely loyal to her. She initially thought that the bodyguards and servants she had bought previously would leave her home after her “death.” However, it turned out that they ended up settling down in Jin Qingyan’s home. Thus, she decided to leave them be.
Now that she had bought a new mansion in Sanqiao Estate, it was only necessary to have some bodyguards and servants to guard and upkeep the house.
Besides, she had also wanted to have two able a.s.sistants. Thus, she obviously had to carefully handpick every single person she was going to buy.
It was already past five o’clock in the afternoon by the time she arrived in D City.
She managed to s.h.i.+rk off s.h.i.+ Xiaoyu’s people by wearing the human skin mask, thus allowing her to get around freely with no qualms or worry.
Days were shorter while nights were longer in the winter. The sky had already turned dark by six o’clock.
An Xiaoning proceeded to her desired destination.
It was inside a tall building.
She had heard from Gu Beicheng that the building was a transaction hub well known amongst the business community. Several black markets and auctions were often held in the said building.
He had also reminded her to wait a few days before heading there, though he did not explain the reason. However, An Xiaoning did not think much of it and decided to head to the city straight since she was a little bored and did not have much to do anyway.
It was not a fair weather day in D City, for the gloomy skies had begun drizzling when she alighted from the taxi.
Although the rain was not heavy at all, it added to the biting cold of the winter.
An Xiaoning walked inside the building and boarded the elevator to the third floor.
As soon as the elevator doors opened, An Xiaoning entered to see that the elevator was almost full. What a crowd , she thought to herself.