Chapter 671: A Million Times for You (33)

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

As soon as he answered, everyone turned to stare at him in bewilderment, as if he were a bizarre object. An Xiaoning stared at the handsome young man who was standing at a towering 1.8 meters and who had broad shoulders and a narrow waist. He was the best-looking one out of all of them.

She kept quiet as a strange silence filled the room.

“Master, do you doubt my words…?” No. 8 asked, not daring to make eye contact with her.

“I do believe you. Did you use to be a boy toy of a female gangster? Or were you a gigolo at a nightclub?” An Xiaoning asked.

It was hard not to guess that that was his previous profession, given his dashing good looks as well as his confession about his impotence.

“Yes, I used to be a female gangster’s plaything. She abandoned me after I became impotent,” he admitted.

An Xiaoning felt that he sounded as if he had already given up on himself.

“It’s fine, I’ll send you for treatment.” She continued, “I’ll do my best to get the eight of you treated. Even if you can’t fully recover, I’ll ensure that your health is stabilized. However, those of you who have heart disease, asthma, and a crippled leg, you’ll have to stay at home to clean the house and cook our meals. You don’t have to worry about the rest. Just focus on keeping the house neat and tidy.”

Shock was written all over their faces, thinking to themselves that she could have easily just hired maids and cooks to tend to the housekeeping affairs of her home, which was a much cheaper option.

Seemingly having guessed what they were thinking, An Xiaoning explained, “Everyone that I hire has to be proficient in combat defense skills, regardless of whether you’re in charge of security or housekeeping. Also, I need my people to be loyal to me. You shall face the consequences if you ever dare to betray me. All of you have undergone training since you were children. I believe you should understand what I’m talking about. I won’t explain further, then.”

“Rest assured, Master. We definitely wouldn’t do anything to betray you. Since you’ve bought us, we belong to you forever.”

“Each room is to be shared between two of you. Collect your key cards and go get some rest. Gather at the lobby at seven o’clock tomorrow morning.”

Everyone nodded and exited the room with their respective key cards.

An Xiaoning then received a call from Gu Beicheng.

She hurried out of the hotel after answering.

Minutes later, a car appeared before her. She opened the door and got into the car.

“Why are you here?”

“I came by to take a look. There’s said to be a special auction going on tonight in the building where you bought your servants. Can you guess what kind of an auction it is?” Gu Beicheng asked while driving.

“How am I supposed to know?” She removed the mask on her head.

“It’s for a painting. It’s said to be a legendary treasure map,” Gu Beicheng answered, staring at her.

“People still believe such legends and rumors in today’s society? A treasure map? What kind of a treasure map is it?” An Xiaoning asked apprehensively.

“There’s no way to authenticate it, but why would a treasure map be put up for auction? The person who found the map probably decided to auction it off because he or she couldn’t find any of the treasures or got lost while following the map. Rumor has it that the map is invaluable and highly coveted by every country.”

“Sounds ridiculous. All of these people are already wealthy enough, yet they’re still wasting their time and efforts on something so far-fetched.”

Seeing how indifferent and skeptical she was, Gu Beicheng said, “They’re probably just very curious. Not everyone is after the map. The rumors might not be real either. Jin Qingyan has been searching for it every year too. I wonder if he’ll be there tonight.”

“Are you going alone?”

“You’re here with me, aren’t you?”

An Xiaoning shot him a glance and refuted, “I don’t want to take part in such an absurd activity.”

“I’m not asking you to partake, I’m just taking you along to broaden your knowledge.”

After parking the car at a spot near the building, the pair alighted and walked inside the building, side by side.

The auction was to be held on the fourth floor of the basement.

They thought that it would be freezing since it was so deep below the ground. To their surprise, they were greeted with a warm stream of air the moment the elevator doors opened.

It was rather warm and comfortable in the basement.

Most of the guests were already seated. An Xiaoning did not expect there to really be so many business magnates from all across the globe.

Gu Beicheng took the lead and brought her to a seat beside Ye Xiaotian. Upon the sight of her, Ye Xiaotian looked up to take a glance and asked, “What brings you here, Ms. An?”

She smiled and answered, “I’m here to have an eye-opener and to broaden my knowledge with my brother. Am I not allowed to?”

Ye Xiaotian did not say anything else and instead leaned his head against Gu Beicheng’s while they murmured something to each other softly.

Soon, all the seats were filled as guests continued to enter. However, there was an empty seat beside An Xiaoning.

“The auction is about to begin soon?”

“Why isn’t Jin Qingyan here yet? Is he too high and mighty to bother playing such games with us?” Ye Xiaotian remarked sarcastically.

“No idea,” Gu Beicheng answered calmly.

“Speak of the devil, here he comes,” said Ye Xiaotian, turning around to take a look.

Gu Beicheng and An Xiaoning looked over in his direction, only to see Jin Qingyan rushing over hastily.

He was approaching them gradually.

Finally, he took a seat beside An Xiaoning.

Jin Qingyan turned to face her and said, right in front of Gu Beicheng and Ye Xiaotian, “I knew you’d be here.”

An Xiaoning ignored him, as if she did not hear him at all.

However, he did not feel awkward or embarrassed at all and eased himself into a comfortable position.

They were facing the stage, and the auction finally commenced.

A man stepped forward and walked toward the table, where he stood and spoke into the microphone. “To all the guests, thank you for making the effort to come all the way here from abroad. We just found this treasure map recently, and we can’t decipher the writings on it. After some serious consideration, we’ve decided to let someone else have it instead. That’s why we brought it here to be auctioned.”

He then clapped his hands, after which a beautiful lady walked onto the stage with a wooden box in hand, causing an uproar amongst the seated guests as they craned their necks to take a look.

“Silence, please. Let us follow the standard protocol of an auction. This box contains the item for today’s auction. The starting bid is fifty million dollars. Please place your bids now.”

“One hundred million!”

“One hundred fifty million!”

“Two hundred million!”

“…”

An Xiaoning and the people beside her kept quiet while the other guests were thrown into a state of frenzy.

She took a look to her left and right to see that they were perfectly calm and composed.

The crowd finally quieted down.

At last, the auction ended when the map was sold to an overseas corporation, which placed the final, winning bid of eight hundred million dollars.

No one wanted to call for a higher bid because it was way too expensive. Besides, they had also noticed that there was a minority who remained silent throughout, including Gu Beicheng and Jin Qingyan, who were just there to watch a show. They had no interest in bidding for the map at all.

The enthusiasm of the other guests soon died down.

Once the hammer was struck for the last time, the beautiful assistant of the auctioneer proceeded to carry the wooden box to the winner of the auction.

At this very moment, Jin Qingyan grabbed An Xiaoning’s wrist and said, “Let’s leave immediately.”

An Xiaoning broke free from his grip. “I can walk on my own.”

Gu Beicheng and Ye Xiaotian stood up immediately and proceeded to enter the elevator.

At the instant that the doors closed, the winner of the auction smashed the wooden box onto the ground furiously, causing chaos to break out immediately.

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