CHAPTER 121: CHAPTER 16: A FIRST SINCE THE BEGINNING OF TIME

The news came suddenly, Su Ziceng did not expect the Su Family to start engaging with the auction house business at this time.

Auction houses, introduced from abroad, saw institutions including Sotheby’s and Christie’s monopolizing domestic and international auctions until the late 90s when Z country gradually established its own auction houses. Back then, Su Qingzhang adopted the Su surname, named it Subi, intending to rival Sotheby’s, also showcasing Su Family’s determination to venture into the international realm.

"Is it Subi Auction House?" To be precise, Su Ziceng wasn’t clear about when the Su Family really started venturing into the auction business, but from what she understood from Secretary Wang, "Shengshi Huasha" had just been completed, and the vast capital invested by the Su Family hadn’t been recouped yet. There shouldn’t be funds available to operate the auction business yet, and even if it’s handed over to the Chang Family and her daughter, they couldn’t stir up much trouble.

"The name might not have been decided yet, but shouldn’t you be a bit more cautious, after all..." Qiu Zhi stopped speaking, his gaze shifting to the other side.

Hang Yishao and Fei Qing walked in, and without waiting for Qiu Zhi to signal, Su Ziceng had already turned her head, slightly startled. It had been nearly a month since they last met, dating back to the last café incident.

The issue with Deng Jiani had come to a close, and the previous misunderstandings should have been cleared up as well. Su Ziceng was feeling uneasy, not knowing what to do when Hang Yishao didn’t take the initiative to greet her but thoughtfully stared at the closely positioned heads of Qiu Zhi and Su Ziceng.

"Su Ziceng you’re really getting somewhere," Fei Qing said sarcastically, "I better be careful, or I might end up like Deng Jiani if I offend you accidentally."

Qiu Zhi glanced at Su Ziceng but saw no comeback from her. Su Ziceng was pondering over the meaning behind Fei Qing’s words. Her involvement with Deng Jiani was merely using his name to stand up "Jinya" a few times, and other subsequent matters including the nuisance at the doorstep and the car accident were beyond her expectations. Fei Qing really held grudges over trivial things, still bearing a grudge over that slap till now.

Seeing that Su Ziceng kept silent, Hang Yishao became even more convinced that she was behind these, and the last bit of hesitation in his heart dissipated.

Hang Yishao headed towards the café bar, no longer paying any attention to Su Ziceng, even avoiding eye contact.

Observing Hang Yishao giving her the "cold shoulder", Su Ziceng was also quite dissatisfied. Compared to what Deng Jiani had done to her, her form of retaliation was minor. She has her temper too, having endured injustice for over a decade in her previous life, she can’t pamper him anymore in this lifetime.

"Come visit my shop and give me some advice," Su Ziceng suppressed the resentment in her heart, having become accustomed to controlling her emotions with repeated suppression by "Red Love."

"Not this time, it’s almost finals. I’ve taken quite a few courses recently, and same at Kelly Women’s College, right? Have you seen Mai Mai lately?" Qiu Zhi, true to his nature, never strayed from talking about Wen Maixue.

"Kelly follows a rolling exam pattern, exams right after lessons, to avoid last-minute cramming. Most classes are staggered. Last day your Mai Mai just completed our baking course assessment, reluctantly scored a pass," Su Ziceng mentioned the baking class assessment from yesterday with displeasure. Black Forest Cake was the content, her first hands-on dough-kneading experience. Mai Xue wouldn’t even taste it, leaving a ’P’ on the evaluation and claiming she had an important dinner that evening, not wanting to upset her stomach with poor food.

"Mai Mai really knows both, the drawing rooms and the kitchen, grandma was indeed right," Qiu Zhi’s expression was like a melted cream cake, only overly sugary.

Su Ziceng’s hand reached for his cuff, "Are you sure that cufflink stone really carries some ’independent’ blessing from the Lover’s Stone? Constantly mentioning grandma, I think it’s just a worthless stone."

"Don’t joke about my family’s ancestor," the cream cake was now veering towards becoming a molasses cake.

"Alright, alright, remember to bring more gifts on my opening day, or better yet, cash, as Ms. Money says only cash is the truly unchanging truth," Su Ziceng spoke a bit loudly then faked a glance at Hang Yishao’s back, not believing for a second that he was oblivious.