Although Yun Xie had snapped at Nan Xin, he hadn’t denied the claim that they were brothers in life and death, which meant they really did know each other.

Once she confirmed that he was indeed a good friend of her mate, Jiang Qin’s attitude softened a bit.

"Mr. Nan, please come in and have a seat. Yun Xie, you entertain our guest. I’m a bit tired, so I’m going to my room to rest."

"Okay. I’ll have Shi Lichuan give you a leg massage."

After Jiang Qin and Shi Lichuan went into the room, Long Hao suddenly felt things were dull and returned to his own room as well.

As for Yuan Ling, he spent most of his time in his room, tinkering with his machines.

The last time they had secretly gone to teach Lina’s mates a lesson, he had done something to the hospital’s machines—no one knew exactly what—which subsequently caused her Spirit Sea to go berserk.

However, Yun Xie didn’t think they had gone too far, because that female had been specifically trying to attack Jiang Qin’s Spirit Sea.

The only reason she wasn’t harmed was that Jiang Qin’s own power was strong enough, not because that female had shown any mercy.

Therefore, it was only natural for their retaliation to be an eye for an eye.

As for why they beat up her mates, that was, of course, because they had loudly demanded to know what Jiang Qin had done.

If Jiang Qin had been a timid female, she might have been terrified by this string of attacks.

This was something they couldn’t tolerate. Since they were going to retaliate anyway, they took the opportunity to take care of those males too.

The males who got beaten up also knew they were in the wrong, so they didn’t make a fuss after the fact.

Especially after Lina’s Spirit Sea suddenly went berserk, they were even more afraid to report it. After all, even if they did, the Female Protection Association wouldn’t side with them.

Lina’s berserk Spirit Sea required intervention from the Association, so they didn’t want to incur any more disgust from the Association’s higher-ups.

Regardless of their reasons, it was a fact that they had shouted at a pregnant, High-level female.

However, it was also because of this incident that Yuan Ling completely integrated into the family.

Yun Xie and the others had all accepted him.

After all, if this matter were ever discovered, Yuan Ling would genuinely lose his life.

So when Yuan Ling said he was willing to trade his life for her happiness, he was being serious.

***

Seeing that it was just the two of them left in the living room, Nan Xin once again brought up his idea of having Yun Xie help him pull some strings.

"Finish your water and get lost."

"Hey, come on, Yun Xie. That’s so not cool of you."

"Hmph. Let’s just stop being friends then." Yun Xie rolled his eyes at him.

"Bro, my bad, I was just kidding. But you’ve got to at least give me a reason, right? This is clearly a win-win situation.

Besides, do you really think it’s hard for an SS-level male like me to find a female? The only reason I want to join you is so we can look out for each other.

If it were anyone else, I wouldn’t even deign to ask."

Yun Xie scoffed. "You’re trying to steal my female master. What other reason do I need?

Now hurry up and get out before I get angry."

Nan Xin: ...

After being thrown out, he didn’t leave right away. Instead, he squatted down right by the door.

’Hmph. He won’t let me join? Well, I’m going to join no matter what.’

***

「The next afternoon」 Jiang Qin attended the auction, accompanied by all her mates.

There were quite a few items up for auction today, and each of them had something they wanted to bid on.

She, on the other hand, didn’t have her eye on anything in particular. She was just planning to accompany her mates while they bid on what they wanted and see what the market had to offer.

The auction began shortly thereafter.

The first few items were mostly things from luxury brands.

For example, high-priced jewelry or antique-type lots.

After all, most of the people present today were High-level females, so the auction house naturally catered to their preferences first.

The first two items were very ordinary; Jiang Qin wasn’t interested.

The third one, however, was a bit interesting.

"This item was acquired from a Hidden Clan. I believe everyone here should be somewhat familiar with it.

That’s right, this is an accessory from three thousand years ago, and it’s even possible that its history can be traced back much further.

This is a Jade Hairpin. Judging by the craftsmanship, it likely comes from a primordial era. Of course, it could also be a replica from a later historical period.

After all, many forgeries mimicking primordial works were produced during that later period. But even if the craftsmanship is from the later period, for us, it is still an object with significant collection value.

Therefore, the starting bid is 100,000 Star Coins, and each raise must be no less than 10,000."

Jiang Qin didn’t know much about antiques, but the craftsmanship of this hairpin really appealed to her.

It was a carving of a koi fish entwined with branches.

"Three hundred thousand."

"Five hundred fifty thousand."

"..."

"One million five hundred thousand."

"The current price is one million five hundred thousand. Are there any other guests who wish to bid?"

Jiang Qin pressed the light to raise the bid.

"Alright, the guest on the third floor bids one million six hundred thousand. Is there anything higher?"

"One million eight hundred thousand..."

The bidding for the hairpin continued until it reached 3.8 million, at which point Jiang Qin finally won it.

The number of Interstellar females who liked Jade Hairpins was still small, so most people were bidding for its collection value.

Once they realized they were investing too much in an item that wasn’t easy to resell, they decisively gave up.

As for males bidding, the auction house had another rule: even if a male won an item, as long as the next highest bidder was a female who was willing to match his price, the auction house could, even after the gavel had fallen, still give the item to the female as a priority.

This was because this grand event was fundamentally a benefit provided by the Female Protection Association for High-level females.

Therefore, this auction would prioritize letting females win the items.

As for the males, they could snap up a bargain if they were lucky, but if not, they could only give up.

This was also why Jiang Qin had insisted on coming to accompany her mates while they bid on things.

It was to prevent someone from using this rule to take away their items at the last minute.

"This next lot is also an item excavated from the primordial era. It was found by archaeologists in an ordinary tomb on the home planet."

It was a watch, its surface mottled with age.

The baby-pink strap had a childish rabbit pattern on it, looking like something that belonged to a child.

"According to the archaeologists’ speculations, the owner of the tomb was likely just an ordinary citizen from a bygone era, and this watch is just a very common item.

Its materials are all very cheap. Even though special preservation methods were used during the burial, it is still severely damaged. Thus, its only value is for collection.

The starting bid is still 100,000, with each raise no less than 10,000."

***

Seeing that watch, Jiang Qin felt as if all the blood in her body had frozen.

’Is it... a coincidence?’

She once had an identical watch. It was a birthday gift from An Xin, who had bought it for her by collecting and selling lots of bottles before she got sick.

It wasn’t expensive, costing only 15 yuan.

But to her, it was precious—so precious that she couldn’t bear to wear it on her wrist, keeping it stored in a box instead.

’It couldn’t possibly be such a coincidence, right?’

Although she knew it was impossible, Jiang Qin still made a bid.

There was no particular reason. She just really, really wanted to win it.

Fortunately, not many people had their eye on it. The bidding was even less intense than for the hairpin just now, so she managed to win it for only 800,000 Star Coins.

And after winning it, she was so eager to get her hands on it that she sent Shi Lichuan to go and retrieve it for her immediately.