Chapter 1: So Can't You Just Let Me Have It?

"Sixty million."

A crisp female voice, carrying a hint of careless languor, rang out in the auction hall.

The person holding the paddle was an extremely young girl, sitting in the very center of the front row.

She wore a crimson velvet dress, her skin so fair it was dazzling.

She did not look at the Jade Holding Lotus Guanyin on the stage, which had been praised to the skies; instead, she tilted her head slightly, playing with a strand of curly hair hanging by her cheek with her fingertips.

The entire room's gaze snapped toward her.

There were faint gasps and whispers.

She was crazy.

That Guanyin had decent luster, but it was absolutely not worth sixty million. Twenty million would be the absolute limit.

The auctioneer's forehead broke into a sweat, his voice a bit dry: "... Number 66, six, sixty million! Are there any higher bids?"

On the second floor, in the central private box.

Behind the one-way glass, a man leaned back into the wide velvet chair, a black fountain pen in his fingertips, slowly rotating at an angle.

The pen tip paused.

"Investigate."

The voice was not loud, calm and without ripples.

The person behind him, who looked like an assistant, immediately bowed and exited the door silently.

The auctioneer began the countdown.

"Sixty million, going once..."

Down in the hall, Gu Yan gave a small, light yawn.

A bit of physiological moisture seeped from the corners of her eyes, blurring the tiny tear mole at the corner of her eye, making her look even more delicate and charming.

How boring.

If it weren't for being stubborn with the old man at home, complaining that all the blind-date candidates he picked were dull and uninteresting, she wouldn't have come to a place like this.

This Guanyin... tsk, the carving is passable; I'll buy it to put by the garden pond and look at it while feeding the fish.

"Sixty million, going twice..."

Chang Su returned silently and leaned down close to the man's ear.

"Sir, it is the eldest daughter of the Gu Family, Gu Yan. The youngest granddaughter of Old Gu, she just returned from abroad not long ago."

The man lowered his gaze.

It passed through the one-way glass and landed on that patch of dazzling red.

The girl was tilting her head, whispering to the helpless-looking female assistant beside her, her red lips moving; she was probably complaining that it was taking too long.

Her side profile was exquisite to the point of being flamboyant, her brows and eyes vivid—it was a brightness that had never been worn down by the world.

Like the most delicate rose in a greenhouse, carrying stinging thorns, and also carrying crystalline dew.

The tip of the fountain pen tapped lightly on the thick velvet-covered tabletop.

A very light "tap."

Chang Su held his breath.

The auctioneer raised the gavel, his voice rising: "Sixty million, goin—"

"One hundred million."

A low male voice, transmitted through the box's audio equipment, fell clearly into every corner of the auction hall.

Steady.

Without a ripple.

As if talking about today's weather.

"Boom—!"

After a brief, deathly silence, the whole room was in an uproar!

Every head turned in unison toward that mysterious private box on the second floor that had never been opened.

The glass reflected the light, and nothing could be seen.

Who?

One hundred million? To buy this?

Gu Yan was also stunned, her fingertips winding her hair stopping.

She looked up, her clear eyes filled with astonishment and a trace of annoyance at being intercepted, glaring straight at the second floor.

It seemed there was a gaze, through the glass, landing on her face.

Heavy.

She could not see the person inside, yet she could inexplicably feel that gaze, slowly, from head to toe, sweeping over her.

Like being quietly stared at by some large beast from behind a cage.

A shiver ran up her spine for no reason.

Just then, behind the box glass, the silhouette of a tall and upright figure was vaguely visible, seemingly raising the wine glass in his hand toward her.

A very casual gesture.

Yet it carried absolute control and a hint of... amusement?

Gu Yan felt a breath stuck in her chest.

"Miss, let it go, let it go..." Xu Yuan beside her hurriedly whispered to persuade her, cold sweat already breaking out.

The person who could sit there and make this bid was absolutely not someone to be trifled with.

The sound of the gavel fell.

"Sold! Congratulations to the gentleman in private room number one on the second floor!"

Gu Yan withdrew her gaze, pressed her red lips tight, and threw the number plate in her hand to Xu Yuan.

"Boring."

She picked up her handbag, stood up, and left.

Her thin high heels clicked crisply against the marble floor, and she moved with a gust of wind.

Xu Yuan trotted to keep up, but just as she reached two steps behind her, she saw the person in front suddenly change direction.

"Hey, Miss, where are you going? The main entrance isn't that way!"

Gu Yan said lazily, "Going to see who intercepted my Guanyin."

The second-floor corridor was extremely quiet; the thick carpet swallowed all sound.

People were guarding the door at the end—dressed in black, silent, like two statues without warmth.

Gu Yan walked straight over.

The two moved their feet slightly, stepping aside.

She stopped, tilted her face up slightly, and her gaze swept past their shoulders, landing on the texture of the dark wooden door.

"Miss Gu." The bodyguard on the left spoke, actually recognizing her, "The gentleman is waiting for you inside."

Gu Yan raised an eyebrow.

The other party seemed to have known she would come all along.

The next second, the dark wooden door opened, and light spilled out from within.

A man stood at the boundary between light and shadow.

His figure was tall, and his exquisitely tailored black suit accentuated his broad shoulders and narrow waist. He held a glass of wine in his hand; ice cubes tapped against the glass wall, emitting a faint, crisp sound.

He raised his eyes.

Their gazes met.

Gu Yan's heartbeat skipped a beat, very lightly.

This face was born exceptionally well—not the delicate and handsome type popular nowadays, but the more quiet and profound kind.

The lines of his brow bone and nose bridge were sharp and distinct, his lips were thin, and his jawline was clean and clear. Especially those eyes, bottomless, looking at her quietly as if they could absorb all light.

Gu Yan thought, he was countless times better than those the old man at home shoved at her.

"Miss Gu." Shen Yanhui spoke.

He turned sideways, yielding space. A casual movement, yet done by him, it was elegant and noble.

Gu Yan walked in.

The door closed behind her, cutting off everything.

The light inside the private room was ambiguous, and the air was filled with an intertwined scent of cigars, whiskey, and some kind of crisp woody fragrance.

That Jade Guanyin was placed casually on the side table, glowing with a gentle luster.

Shen Yanhui walked to the small bar and took another glass. Ice cubes fell in, and amber liquid was poured in slowly.

He didn't speak, nor did he turn around immediately.

Gu Yan wasn't in a hurry either. She walked to the sofa on her own and sat down. Her crimson skirt spread out like a blooming flower.

Only then did she raise her eyes to meet his gaze as he turned around.

His gaze was very quiet.

From her slightly curled hair tips to her fair shoulders and neck, then to the fine pleats at her waist. Finally, it stopped on her face, on the tiny tear mole at the corner of her eye.

It carried a kind of pure scrutiny and undisguised interest.

"Angry?" He walked over with two glasses of wine and handed one to her.

Gu Yan didn't take it; she just looked up at him, her eyes shimmering.

"Do I look like someone who would get angry over such a small matter?" she countered, the tail of her voice rising slightly with a hint of coquettish nasality.

The corners of Shen Yanhui's lips seemed to curve, very faintly.

He placed one of the glasses on the coffee table in front of her and sat down in the single sofa diagonally opposite her.

His long legs were crossed, his posture relaxed.

"Doesn't look like it." He took a sip of wine, "But there should be a reason for you to come up."

"Curiosity." Gu Yan finally reached out and picked up the glass of wine. Her fingertips pressed against the cold glass wall, shaking it gently, "Wanted to see who is so... disrespectful to me."

She said it as a matter of course. As if the whole world should give her face.

Shen Yanhui watched her movement of shaking the wine glass. Her wrists were so thin, so white, as if they would break with a snap.

"Now you see." He said, "What do you think?"

Gu Yan brought the wine glass to her lips and took a small sip. The strong liquor slid down her throat; she frowned slightly, then immediately smoothed it out.

"Not bad." She put down the glass, leaned forward slightly, rested her elbows on her knees, and propped her chin up to look at him, "More pleasing to the eye than I thought. So, why snatch my Guanyin?"

She used "my".

As a matter of course, without any logic.

Shen Yanhui's gaze landed on her opening and closing lips. The color was crimson, stained with a bit of liquor, bright and glistening.

"The rules of the auction house: the highest bidder wins." His tone was flat, "It can't be called 'snatching'."

"But I saw it first." Gu Yan blinked, "Doesn't the gentleman understand, first come, first served?"

She tilted her head, her expression innocent and spoiled. Like a spoiled cat, extending its claws to scratch you lightly.

It didn't hurt, but it itched.

Shen Yanhui was silent for a moment, then suddenly leaned forward.

The distance closed instantly; his aura enveloped her, the crisp scent of cedar mixed with a faint smell of alcohol, full of aggression.

Gu Yan did not retreat. She did not even tremble a single eyelash.

She continued to rest her chin in her hand, looking straight into his eyes that were mere inches away.

"Miss Gu," he began, his voice kept very low, audible only to the two of them, "some things do not belong to whoever sees them first."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over her slightly upturned lips.

"It depends on who is more qualified to take them."

The air stagnated.

Gu Yan could hear the sound of her own heartbeat. Thump, thump, colliding within her chest.

She suddenly laughed. Her eyes curved into crescent moons, and that tear mole became vivid along with them.

"Then can't you just let me have it?"

The young girl reached out to hook the man's tie, pulling it lightly to draw the distance between them closer, until their breathing could be heard.

Reading Tips:

1. The heroine is truly spoiled and willful; she does not have a perfect personality, has many little temperaments, and is not a moral paragon.

2. The hero dotes on her with his eyes closed; a single glance at her disrupted his heart's melody, and for our Yan-Yan, it was love at first sight for ten thousand years.

3. Both are pure; the author does not allow the hero to have any exes or flings; our baby heroine must have the best.

4. Welcome to the world of "Swallows Returning to Their Nest," wishing every Fairy reading this story great wealth~