"You don't need to buy anything to enjoy looking around, right? Are you not curious about how much your painting can fetch at auction?" Zhang Qiuya asked curiously.
"Well," Hao Jian hesitated, seemingly persuaded by Zhang Qiuya. As a painter, he naturally hoped for his works to be recognized and appreciated and he was no exception.
"Let's go take a look, it's your property after all." Seeing Hao Jian hesitate, Zhang Qiuya hurriedly added fuel to the fire.
"Won't this trouble you?" Hao Jian asked with a wry smile.
"What trouble? It's just adding one more seat. Come with me!" Zhang Qiuya said, unable to hide her happiness when Hao Jian finally agreed to stay.
Hao Jian followed Zhang Qiuya into the auction hall and discovered that it was already full of guests who were looking at the stage, waiting for the auction to begin.
"That's your spot over there." Zhang Qiuya pointed to a seat near the stairs not far away.
Hao Jian looked in the direction she indicated and saw a woman sitting next to the seat Zhang Qiuya had pointed out. The woman wore her hair in a noble bun, dressed in a simple yet luxurious black dress, with pearl earrings dangling from her ears. Her back was glamorous, and even though he couldn't see her face, Hao Jian could tell that she was definitely a great beauty from her silhouette alone.
But Hao Jian wasn't staring at her because she was a beauty; it was her familiar silhouette that caught his attention, as if he had seen it somewhere before.
Hao Jian walked with Zhang Qiuya towards the woman, and at that moment, he finally saw her true face.
The woman was holding a bidding paddle, waiting for the auction to begin. She didn't pay much attention when she saw Zhang Qiuya bringing someone over, but when she saw Hao Jian, she couldn't help but be visibly astonished.
The woman let out a cry of surprise, seemingly not expecting to encounter Hao Jian here.
"Hi," Hao Jian greeted with a bitter smile, now he finally understood why the woman had looked familiar.
"Auntie, you know each other?" Zhang Qiuya zoned out, full of curiosity about the connection between Hao Jian and the woman before her.
Being addressed as 'auntie' by Zhang Qiuya meant the woman was naturally Che Xiaoxiao's mother, Guo Shuxian.
Guo Shuxian could be said to be one of the last people Hao Jian wanted to see, for a simple reason: the woman was always threatening to sue him for abducting an underage girl, putting Hao Jian on constant edge.
"Know each other?" Guo Shuxian snorted coldly and glared at Hao Jian, "More than that. You might say that we cannot coexist under the same sky!"
Hao Jian had dated her daughter and spied on her body, and she wished she could flay him alive!
Had it not been for Che Xiaoxiao threatening her with death and forbidding her to trouble Hao Jian, she might have actually used her connections to do something to him.
"Ah?" Hearing Guo Shuxian say this, Zhang Qiuya was utterly dumbfounded. Cannot coexist under the same sky? What did that mean?
"Long time no see, auntie. Your gaze has grown even colder," Hao Jian chuckled, thinking to himself how vengeful this woman was.
Zhang Qiuya was a bit spaced out; she didn't know how Hao Jian had managed to enrage Guo Shuxian.
"You should go take care of your things," Hao Jian said to Zhang Qiuya.
"You're okay, right?" Zhang Qiuya asked uncertainly, she could also see that the relationship between Hao Jian and Guo Shuxian wasn't harmonious; Guo Shuxian looked at Hao Jian as if she wanted to swallow him alive.
"Of course, I'm okay, there are so many people here, I believe Auntie won't make things difficult for me, right, Auntie?" Hao Jian asked Guo Shuxian with a smile.
Guo Shuxian snorted and turned her head away.
Zhang Qiuya also forced a smile and said to Hao Jian, "I'll come to find you after I finish up with my work. Just be careful on your own."
That last sentence was clearly a reminder to Hao Jian not to provoke Guo Shuxian anymore.
"Okay," Hao Jian agreed curtly.
When Zhang Qiuya left, Hao Jian took a seat right in front of Guo Shuxian.
At that moment, Guo Shuxian turned her head back solemnly and glared at Hao Jian, "Who said you could call me Auntie?"
"Doesn't Zhang Qiuya call you that?" Hao Jian was genuinely puzzled; why could Zhang Qiuya call her that but not him? Besides, he was friends with Che Xiaoxiao, and Guo Shuxian was Che Xiaoxiao's mother, calling her Auntie should be fine, right?
"Zhang Qiuya is my daughter's friend, and you?" Guo Shuxian scoffed.
"I'm also friends with Che Xiaoxiao!" Hao Jian protested, feeling discriminated against by Guo Shuxian.
"You? With the air of a hooligan, do you think you're worthy of being her friend? I warn you, stay away from my daughter. You should know who I am. If you keep pestering her, be careful, I'll make sure you spend the rest of your life in prison!" Guo Shuxian threatened bluntly.
Hao Jian really felt like crying now, putting on a sad face, "Auntie, oh no, Miss Guo, I remember I made it very clear to you last time, it's not that I'm pursuing your daughter, but that your daughter is clinging to me!"
"Bullshit!" Hearing these words, Guo Shuxian couldn't help but curse out loud.
Her curse rang out loudly in the quiet auction, causing everyone to involuntarily look over at Guo Shuxian.
Hao Jian quickly started whistling, looking around as if to appear uninvolved. Seeing everyone looking their way, he pointed at Guo Shuxian, then helplessly smiled and shook his head at the crowd, indicating that it was this ill-mannered person who was swearing.
Guo Shuxian also felt very embarrassed being stared at by so many people, but seeing Hao Jian's behavior, she was so angry she wished she could devour him!
Luckily, those people looked away after a glance, and then Guo Shuxian lowered her voice to growl at Hao Jian, "My daughter has never been in a relationship since she was born, pure as an untouched sheet of paper, do you think she would fancy you?"
"Pure as an untouched sheet of paper?" Hao Jian was gobsmacked. Was she really talking about Che Xiaoxiao?
Hao Jian leaned in close to Guo Shuxian and said earnestly, "Miss Guo, if that's what you say, then I really need to set things straight with you."
"Speak!" Guo Shuxian glared at him, curious to see how Hao Jian would refute her.
"The first time I met your daughter, she was driving without a license, pretending to be a taxi driver and playing 'Need for Speed' on the roads of Hua City. I was unfortunate enough to get into your daughter's car and even more unfortunate to experience a brush with Ghost Gate."
"That's impossible!" Guo Shuxian exclaimed in disbelief. Where would Che Xiaoxiao get a car from? Hao Jian was clearly making things up!
"If you don't believe it, just go look in the grove in your backyard; her Little Bumblebee has been parked there all the time to avoid you seeing it." Hao Jian said, raising his eyebrows, while thinking to himself: Xiaoxiao, oh Xiaoxiao, to vindicate myself, I have no choice but to betray you now.