SIATOWITF Chapter 24
by VolareChapter 24: Everyone is Forcing Him to Bring Xuan Bai Home. I’m Old, I Can’t…
Walking into the magnificent auction house, Xuan Bai touched the black mask covering his face.
Emotions…
The air was thick with extremely active emotions, as rich and intoxicating as fine wine.
“Xuan Bai,” Ji Mo An called him softly. The auction staff was already in place, standing by with smiles, waiting for the guests to enter.
“Sir, the auction hasn’t started yet. You can rest in a private room first, or…” The staff member gestured in one direction with their palm, “You can preview the lots you’re interested in.”
“Let’s take a look then.” Ji Mo An took the auction catalog. He should have looked at it during the pre-auction exhibition a few days ago, but his schedule was too tight and he couldn’t make it.
“Sir, this way, please.” The staff led them into a 360-degree padded room, filled with countless glass cases. Each case held a treasure, reflecting beautiful light under the spotlights.
“Sir, I apologize. It’s not preview time, so we can’t open the cases for you to view at the moment.” The staff member standing by the display cases stepped aside slightly, clearing the way.
“It’s fine.” Ji Mo An’s goal was clear. He walked past countless pieces of jewelry and stopped in the center of the room.
Inside a huge bulletproof glass case were two diamonds.
One was smaller, a pink teardrop-shaped gem. The other was several times larger, radiating a dazzling golden light.
“Sir, the pink diamond on your left is called ‘Pink Rose,’ 13.35 carats, internally flawless fancy vivid, VVSI clarity, and is the final work of the famous designer Serana.”
“And the yellow diamond on your right is called ‘Radiant Morning Star,’ a 103.97-carat fancy vivid yellow diamond, reaching the world’s rare IF internally flawless grade. It comes from the Masoala mine in southern Africa and was discovered by Will. Mart in 1977…”
The staff member’s introduction to the yellow diamond was extremely detailed, clearly knowing the customer’s desired lot.
“Beautiful.” Ji Mo An gazed at the yellow diamond, but a pair of golden eyes flashed through his mind.
Xuan Bai’s eyes were even more beautiful than the fancy vivid yellow diamond.
“Thank you, you’ve been very helpful.” Coming back to his senses, he smiled and thanked the staff member.
“You’re welcome, it’s my job. I wish you success in bidding on your desired lot.” The staff member bowed slightly, the smile on their lips even more genuine.
Leaving the exhibition hall, Ji Mo An took Special Assistant Bai and Xuan Bai, who were waiting outside, to the private room.
The room was very clean. The most striking feature was a screen covering an entire wall, and the images projected on it showed that most of the clients and customers had already taken their seats.
“I’ll make a video call.” Ji Mo An gestured to Xuan Bai, “Stay out of the frame.”
“Baby!” The video connected after three seconds, and a cheerful female voice came from the phone.
“Mom, don’t call me that.” Ji Mo An quickly lowered the volume. It was embarrassing.
“Alright, alright, have you arrived? This background doesn’t look quite right? Is Little Bai there?”
“Auntie, hello.” Special Assistant Bai, hearing his name, quickly suppressed the smile on his lips.
Just a few seconds ago, he had witnessed his Bro Xuan’s entire process of going from flustered to docile.
“Arrived, upstairs. The auction hasn’t started yet, the phone clients are already in place…”
“Clients?!” The voice in the video suddenly increased. “Did Mom say that this auction must be personally supervised from start to finish? What if someone else snatches it?”
“It shouldn’t…”
“Ji Mo An!”
“I’m going down.” Ji Mo An rubbed his brow in annoyance. He had been most afraid of his mother calling him by his full name since he was a child.
“Good boy.” The woman in the video smiled and sat back in the soft chair, propping her chin up with one hand.
“An An, I heard from Ji Mo Xin that you’re raising a snake? It’s quite pretty.”
Xuan Bai outside the camera immediately perked up his ears.
“Found it, it’s okay.” Ji Mo An was a little nervous, he didn’t want his mother to know about Xuan Bai.
“Oh, have Lin Mo bring the snake over when he picks up Ji Mo Xin tomorrow. Anyway, it’s just in the next city. It’s my first time hearing about a black king with golden eyes, I feel like it would be a very spiritual being.”
“…” Mom, one sentence shattered all my defenses.
“No.” Ji Mo An tried to refuse.
“Why not?”
“That snake is… very fierce, it bites people.”
‘Didn’t bite people.’ Xuan Bai, eavesdropping, touched his teeth through the mask in frustration. ‘Slander, pure slander!’
“A snake that bites is a good snake, ah, your father’s here, I’m not chatting anymore. In short, after the gala I’m going to your grandmother’s, remember to bring the snake over to play.” The person on the other end dropped a sentence and hung up the video.
“…” The snake is with him on a business trip in Xuan An, how can he bring it?
Forget it, he’ll muddle through it when the time comes.
“Xuan Bai, you come down with me. Bai Yan, you wait for me here.”
“Yes, President Ji.”
“Are we going to bid?” Xuan Bai was obviously a little happy.
“Yes. Mask, hat, bring them all.” Ji Mo An nodded.
The bad snake can sense emotions, a top-notch detector, no need to waste it.
Entering the venue, Ji Mo An unexpectedly received another call.
“Grandfather?” Looking at the caller ID, he was a little puzzled. The old man was old-fashioned and never called them proactively if there was nothing wrong.
“Your second uncle intercepted a set of photos from the paparazzi.” The old man got straight to the point.
Photos? Ji Mo An was shocked.
“Why not bring the person over to see tomorrow and see what kind of person can catch your eye.”
“This… Grandfather, it was just a coincidence.” Ji Mo An immediately understood the content of the photos. It was probably Xuan Bai who was photographed.
“You’re twenty-six years old this year, it’s time to bring someone home.” The old man only said one sentence.
“…”
A sentence that couldn’t be refused, and didn’t allow refusal.
“I’ll take him there.” Ji Mo An kicked Xuan Bai. Why did everyone in the world think there was something going on between him and Xuan Bai?
“Good child.” The old man hung up the phone.
“An An, your Vice Guild Leader also asked me to meet offline just now.” Xuan Bai tilted his head, revealing an inscrutable expression.
“Meet?”
“Uh-huh, he said, I got some tickets for the comic convention the day after tomorrow, but unfortunately, a friend ditched me, would you and Grand Overseer Brother want to come and play together? The location is in Haihe District, Cangzhou City.”
“…” The charity gala’s cruise ship is docked in the port of Haihe District.
In this short half hour, Mom, Grandfather, and this chuunibyou Vice Guild Leader.
Taking them out individually doesn’t seem to be a problem… but they all came together and even seamlessly connected.
How could it be such a coincidence…
Is this really a coincidence?
Ji Mo An tapped the now-black screen, countless thoughts flashing through his mind.
This is definitely not curiosity, but rather… they are using all means to make him bring Xuan Bai home.
They even picked a time when the auction is about to begin, the most emotionally charged and chaotic moment.
But why?
And… assuming these are reasonable, assuming Grandfather really wants to see Xuan Bai, then there is still a huge problem in the middle.
Ji Mo An tugged at Xuan Bai’s scattered long hair, how is it growing so fast?
Could it be…
What angle were the photos that his second uncle intercepted taken from!
–
Cangzhou, villa district
“Sir.” A man in uniform stepped forward and handed a stack of papers to the old man.
“Orphan.” The old man flipped through the pages, his frown deepening.
“Yes, all his information is being verified, and so far, no false information has appeared.”
“In other words, this person does exist and didn’t appear out of thin air. But An An told you that he’s an unregistered person.”
“Yes, our people visited the local residents, and their memories do have that person’s existence. But… sir, memories can be tampered with. Residents can’t say too many details, which fits our understanding of Him.”
“Ah.” The old man sighed, he took out a yellowed photo, which showed a black snake with golden eyes.
“Too similar. Lin Mo, I’m old, I can’t lose my child again.”
“Sir, please believe us.” Lin Mo took a step back and placed his right hand on his chest. “The Central Control Seventh Bureau will never fear the unknown.”
“Of course, I trust you.” The old man showed a bitter smile, “Six years, I must not let my child be harmed again.”
“Then the cruise ship, I’ll leave it to you.”
“Thank you for your trust, sir. During this time, please be wary of third-party organizations, some of them are getting restless.”