Chapter 148

Xiyuanji Qilai immediately clapped her hands happily:

"That's great! Let's have lunch together, the three of us!"

Xuecun Lingyin remained silent for a moment, but eventually moved her desk and chair over as well.

The sight of the three of them sitting together for lunch made the other students in the class both envious and helpless.

Their respective crushes were among them; who wouldn't want to join?

If it were just one person, they might have mustered the courage to go up and invite them.

But at this moment, the three school idols were sitting together, seemingly forming an invisible barrier that made people shrink back, leaving them no choice but to find other lunch companions dejectedly.

Xiyuanji Qilai opened her bento box, looked at Natsume Chikage, and cut to the chase:

"My father asked me to ask you... are you aware that your house in Shoto is about to be auctioned?"

Natsume Chikage remained silent for a moment, then nodded:

"I know. So... is it already prepared for auction?"

Xiyuanji Qilai shook her head gently, her tone carrying a degree of caution:

"Not yet; it's currently in the preparation stage."

"After all, your house has a large area and is located in an area like Shoto; the price is quite expensive, so it takes time to auction it off."

Natsume Chikage fell into deep thought.

Shoto—the top wealthy district in Shibuya; the residences there were mostly villas and mansions, and the prices were indeed staggering.

The average price of second-hand houses in that area was as high as 1.6 million yen per square meter, and the starting bid for an entire villa was even 300-400 million yen.

He remembered that his family's mansion had been valued by the bank at around 500 million yen previously.

After it was mortgaged to the bank, he wasn't very clear about the subsequent situation.

Since it was an auction, the price would inevitably fluctuate.

Natsume Chikage raised his eyes and asked:

"How do you know the house is still waiting for auction? Is this auction being hosted by your family?"

He remembered that the Xiyuanji family was the largest auction house in Japan, which was why he asked.

Xiyuanji Qilai stroked her cheek somewhat embarrassedly:

"Yes, would you... mind?"

Natsume Chikage's tone was calm:

"No. Since the house has already been mortgaged, there's nothing to mind."

His composure made Xiyuanji Qilai's expression complex.

With his family's decline, he could actually be this indifferent?

He must have experienced quite a lot during this time to have honed such a state of mind...

Natsume Chikage remained silent for a moment, then spoke again:

"What is the current starting bid?"

Xiyuanji Qilai recalled:

"I heard from my father that the starting bid is set at around 400 million yen, and the estimated final transaction price might be between 600 million and 800 million yen."

Natsume Chikage's silence lasted longer. Although he felt the price would be suppressed when mortgaged to the bank, he hadn't expected it to be suppressed by this much.

"When does the auction start?"

Xiyuanji Qilai's voice lowered:

"It's April now... it's expected to be auctioned around mid-June..."

"He said that if your relatives have any intention of redeeming it, he can hold the house back and not proceed with the auction."

After pondering for a moment, Natsume Chikage thanked her:

"Please convey my thanks to your father, and thank him for informing me of this."

"This is very important to me."

Xiyuanji Qilai nodded:

"Mm... he also said that if you have time, he hopes you can come to my house; he has some things he wants to say to you in person..."

Natsume Chikage thought about it but didn't agree immediately, only smiling indifferently:

"If there's an opportunity, I will definitely pay a visit."

Xuecun Lingyin, who was beside them, had been eating her lunch quietly, but their conversation reached her ears word for word.

She hadn't known about Natsume Chikage's family background before, but from this brief conversation, she realized his family had already fallen...

Xiyuanji Qilai also felt it wasn't appropriate to delve deeper into this heavy topic, so she turned to Xuecun Lingyin, her tone becoming light again:

"Lingyin, didn't you say you were writing a new book before? How is the progress?"

As she spoke, she picked up a piece of saury from her bento, carefully placed it into Xuecun Lingyin's lunch box, traded it for a piece of golden rolled omelet, and took a satisfying bite.

Xuecun Lingyin looked at the extra saury in her lunch box and answered softly:

"The first draft of the new book is about 90% complete. Now I'm mainly thinking about how to wrap it up and do some text polishing."

Xiyuanji Qilai swallowed the food in her mouth quickly and said excitedly:

"When the time comes, please be sure to let me be your first reader!"

Xuecun Lingyin gently tucked her long, straight black hair that hung on the left side behind her ear and responded faintly:

"Sure."

After finishing, she picked up the piece of saury with her chopsticks, parted her cherry lips slightly, took a small bite, and closed her eyes to savor the perfect fusion of the fish's freshness and the sauce.

Xiyuanji Qilai's gaze fell on Natsume Chikage's bento again, attracted by the uniquely shaped octopus sausage inside:

"Natsume-kun, this octopus sausage is so cute! Did you make it yourself?"

Natsume Chikage smiled and shook his head, his tone carrying a hint of imperceptible tenderness:

"Not me, my younger sister made it."

Xuecun Lingyin's chewing motion paused imperceptibly for a moment.

Younger sister?

The figure of the cute girl who waved goodbye to Natsume Chikage at the Shibuya platform this morning instantly surfaced in her mind.

Could it be... that was his younger sister?

Or was it...

This thought quietly crossed Xuecun Lingyin's heart.

As for Xiyuanji Qilai, upon learning that this bento was made by Natsume Chikage's younger sister, her eyes lit up instantly.

Her memory had always been good; she clearly remembered seeing Natsume Chikage's younger sister—Natsume Ruri—many years ago!

At that time, Natsume Ruri was still a little tot, so cute that one couldn't help but want to give her a hug. ===== CHAPTER 149 =====