The Tycoon's Enchanted Mermaid

Chapter 158: Chapter 158: The End of a Phase

Qin Yu sighed helplessly, “I don’t have it.”

“You don’t admit it, but I know.” Ah Da leaned on his shoulder, not caring at all, blaming him regardless.

Qin Yu hugged her tightly and didn’t argue back. Tonight had been perilous yet safe. Lu Yuan’s appearance suggested that someone in the dark was coveting her, perhaps already aware of her real identity.

Fortunately, the blood on her wasn’t hers; otherwise, he didn’t know what he might have done.

Qin Yu’s eyes darkened, unfathomably deep.

Whatever the opponent’s purpose, they had already made their move against her. They would have to be more careful in the future.

…

When Tang Bufan and Wei Lan came downstairs, they saw Zhong Xiao’ai being blocked at the stairwell, looking upset, even arguing with the bodyguard.

“What’s going on?”

Wei Lan spoke, standing on the stairs beside Tang Bufan, with Long Jiu and Long Qi behind them.

The bodyguard hastily backed away, “Mr. Wei, Mr. Tang.”

Zhong Xiao’ai did not see Qin Yu and was puzzled. She had planned to tell Qin Yu her location to afford him some face.

She hadn’t expected Qin Yu to have the stairwell blocked. The bodyguard acted like a robot, completely disregarding who she was, coldly stating that without Qin Yu’s orders, they would not let her pass.

She, the esteemed Miss Zhong, couldn’t even go upstairs here. How could she bear this?

Not to mention her embarrassment observed by Wei Lan and Tang Bufan. Zhong Xiao’ai felt her face burning, her fingernails digging into her palm as she stubbornly upheld the pride of the Zhong Family.

“Where is Qin Yu?”

Tang Bufan snorted with laughter, with his arms crossed leaning against the stair railing, languidly said, “Miss Zhong, I don’t think you have the right to ask about our Third Young Master’s whereabouts.”

The statement hit her like a slap in the face.

Zhong Xiao’ai couldn’t bear it, but she couldn’t lash out at Tang Bufan. This guy wasn’t easy to deal with either. She took a deep breath and said, “I have important matters to discuss with him.”

Meaning she hoped they would be accommodating.

Wei Lan sauntered down, “The Third Young Master has already left, but if you have important matters, you can talk to me.”

“He’s gone?” Zhong Xiao’ai hadn’t expected Qin Yu to have already left. She’d been at the stairwell the whole time and hadn’t seen anyone leave. Did Qin Yu leave through the back door?

Had he already found someone? Zhong Xiao’ai didn’t believe it and asked again, “When did he leave?”

“Just now,” Wei Lan informed truthfully.

Zhong Xiao’ai frowned. It seemed Qin Yu had already found ‘her,’ catching her in the act? And he hadn’t even stayed to handle the situation.

“Excuse me.”

Zhong Xiao’ai nodded in apology, then turned and left.

Tang Bufan ran and leapt next to Wei Lan, resting his hand on his shoulder while watching Zhong Xiao’ai’s departing figure.

“Hey, brother, do you think she really has important matters with the Third Young Master, or is it fake?”

Wei Lan turned, speaking disdainfully, “How would I know? Aren’t you the expert on matters of the heart?”

Tang Bufan grinned cheekily, “I do have some experience. Since you say so, let me boldly guess.”

“It’s likely she just wanted to use the pretense of having matters to discuss to foster a connection with the Third Young Master. Speaking of which, the Beijing Circle had been buzzing about how Miss Zhong was favored by Old Mrs. Qin, described very convincetly. If Ah Da hadn’t appeared out of nowhere, Zhong Xiao’ai might have been a candidate for the future Qin Family Matriarch.”

Wei Lan scoffed, “Even if the old lady agreed, it would be useless. Qin Yu will not listen to her arrangements.”

The candidate was a joke.

“I know.” Tang Bufan clicked his tongue, suddenly noticing Wei Lan holding a pearl and his eyes widened as he reached to take it. Wei Lan agilely dodged.

“Damn, when did you pick that up?”

Wei Lan gathered the pearl in his hand with a tightening grip and smiled towards him, “You saw it too?”

Tang Bufan choked on his words, “Please, I’m not blind.”

At that time, when Qin Yu and Ah Da embraced, at least a dozen pearls had fallen, which clearly wasn’t normal.

“I should have picked some up too,” Tang Bufan regretted deeply. He hadn’t thought too deeply initially, assuming it was just a pearl necklace or something, only to find pearls of varying sizes scattered around the room, importantly, the pearls weren’t drilled.

The situation was too eerie, chilling upon deeper thought.

“So what’s really going on?”

“Could these actually have appeared out of nowhere?”

Wei Lan shook his head, looking at the pearl in his hand, “Before, Qin Yu had me appraise these pearls. I sensed something was off but couldn’t quite figure out what.”

“Maybe…”

Wei Lan spoke, turning his head to look at Long Jiu and Long Qi, “Do you two know something?”

Long Jiu and Long Qi dared not reveal anything, and quickly pretended to be nonchalant while asking their subordinates, “What about… Wan Jinlong?”

“He’s tied up.”

“Good, let’s go see if we can extract some useful information from him. I don’t believe he knows nothing.”

A group of people marched toward the auction site.

Wei Lan and Tang Bufan exchanged looks, silently chuckling in agreement, both seeing helplessness in each other’s eyes.

The situation came to a pause.

Before they left, they had to take care of the closing tasks, finding a suitable reason to appease the people in the banquet hall, thereby dispersing the crowd.

Meanwhile, on her way to the banquet hall, Zhong Xiao’ai encountered Wang Qingyi and Shi Mingfang, intending to pass between them as if she saw no one, but Wang Qingyi wouldn’t let her.

“Wait a minute. Why are you in such a hurry to leave?”

Zhong Xiao’ai, already frustrated, retorted, “Wang Qingyi, what right do you have to question me?”

Wang Qingyi, who was naturally hot-tempered, raised her hand to slap her, but the other woman grabbed her wrist instantly.

“Let go!”

Zhong Xiao’ai coldly gazed at her, “You should feel lucky you’re from the Wang family, lucky that your parents haven’t gone bankrupt. Otherwise, with your kind, you’d end up worse off than any woman here tonight.”

“Wang Qingyi, you dare insult me?” Wang Qingyi fumed, and Shi Mingfang held her back.

Zhong Xiao’ai, already in a bad mood, was unrelenting, “You’re asking for it, always opposing me, thinking you’re showing off like a clown.”

“Wang Qingyi, just admit it, you’re nothing, and you’ll never beat me. You’ve been living in my shadow from school till now, including in the future.”

Wang Qingyi’s chest heaved in anger, resentfully blurting out, “I might be a clown, but aren’t you one too? Weren’t you just trying to curry favor a moment ago? Seeing your pitiful, drenched-chicken appearance, looks like you were unsuccessful.”

Zhong Xiao’ai’s face darkened. She didn’t want to deal with Wang Qingyi, the madwoman, sticky like a plaster that couldn’t be shaken off.

Watching Zhong Xiao’ai’s retreating figure, Wang Qingyi stomped her foot in frustration, “Why does she always act so high and mighty?”

Shi Mingfang released her arm, “She’s always been like this since we were kids; you know this isn’t new. Honestly, I don’t know what you’re so mad about.”

“I just can’t stand her, is it wrong to want to see her embarrassed?” Wang Qingyi rolled her eyes.

“Didn’t you see it just now?” Zhong Xiao’ai was blocked at the staircase entrance by bodyguards, clearly visible to them.

“I saw, but Zhong Xiao’ai is still as defiant as ever. Never mind, as long as Qin Yu doesn’t treat her differently, it’s good enough for me.” Wang Qingyi felt somewhat pacified.

Shi Mingfang sighed. Now that Zhong Xiao’ai had returned to the country, she wouldn’t likely miss any grand dinners or banquets in the Beijing Circle, and Wang Qingyi’s confrontations with her would only grow.

Fortunately, Qin Yu, wrapped up in his new romance, had no interest in getting involved; otherwise, Wang Qingyi would be even more unhinged.