Chapter 99: Chapter 99: Sister, Pamper Me Too

The moment he spoke, the entire venue fell silent.

The VIPs in the audience all sighed at how bidder 011 had lost their head.

He was just a plaything, after all. He was beautiful, yes, but his status was low and his Superpower Level was pathetic. Twenty million would have been a generous price.

But who would have thought that bidder 011 would actually offer fifty million!

Last year, a Beastman with an S Level Superpower had only sold for fifty million!

"Fifty million going once, fifty million twice, fifty million three times..."

The auctioneer seemed terrified that Jiang Qingli would change her mind. He rattled off the count at lightning speed, giving bidder 017 no chance to raise the price before bringing the gavel down with a final CRACK.

Finally, with a grand wave of his hand, he announced in a triumphant tone, as if he had just completed a great mission, "Congratulations to bidder 011! We will have rooms prepared for all of you this evening! Please, feel free to enjoy your prize!"

Jiang Qingli couldn’t help but marvel at how thorough the arrangements were at this place.

At her side, Ye Linyuan frowned.

’Arranging rooms?’

’That wasn’t part of the deal before.’

He looked up at the stage.

The auction had paused for a short break. Four attendants were now working together to lift the cage holding Gu Nian and carry it offstage.

Gu Nian knelt on a white velvet carpet, his delicate and beautiful face looking a little pale under the bright lights.

He looked as if he didn’t understand a thing—weak, pitiful, and helpless.

Ye Linyuan’s frown deepened. His cold eyes stared intently, as if searching for a crack in Gu Nian’s facade.

He felt a pinch on his arm. Jiang Qingli was waving a hand in front of his face. "What are you spacing out for?"

Ye Linyuan snapped out of it and looked at her. "What is it?"

"I wanted to ask, how should I pay you back? If I do a bank transfer, won’t that expose your undocumented status?"

Fifty million was no small sum. Besides, he had already helped her so much. Jiang Qingli felt it was only right to pay him back.

Ye Linyuan wasn’t in the mood to think about some rabbit or whatever. He reached out, gently taking Jiang Qingli’s chin in his hand and tilting her head up to face him.

His golden, slitted pupils stared at her coldly until she started to feel intimidated. Only then did he sneer, "With the allowance that moron gives you?"

Jiang Qingli had to think for a moment to realize the "moron" he was referring to was Qin Muye.

She was at a loss for words. "I have my own money, you know."

She had checked her accounts before. The Jiang Family deposited money for her every month, and Jiang Youchen was even more extravagant. He never contacted her but would randomly transfer her enormous sums of money.

As a result, the number of zeroes in Jiang Qingli’s bank account was dizzying.

"So you can’t use my money just because you have your own?" Ye Linyuan’s voice turned a few degrees colder. "Do you think I’m hurting for fifty million?"

Jiang Qingli: ?

’This snake is so weird,’ she thought. ’A moment ago, he whined and complained when I used one of his chips just to scare me. Now I spend fifty million of his money, and he won’t let me pay him back.’

But who was she to turn down a freebie?

Jiang Qingli quickly caught on and laid on the praise. "Thank you, hubby, you’re so generous~ From now on, I’ll do my best to spend all your money!"

Hearing her call him that, the tension in Ye Linyuan’s expression eased. He looked away. "Mm."

As the two of them huddled together, whispering intimately, neither noticed the white rabbit boy in the distance. He had lifted his head and was staring fixedly in Jiang Qingli’s direction, his pink eyes swirling with a fanatical, twisted covetousness.

His fingers, wrapped around the bars of the cage, tightened, digging red marks into his palm.

He felt no pain. Instead, he pressed his face against the bars, his gaze transfixed on the girl who was practically plastered to the side of another male.

The rims of his eyes were so red they looked ready to bleed. He murmured as if to himself, "Big Sister..."

"Don’t pay any attention to him..."

"Give me some affection, too..."

-

「The cage was moved into a luxurious suite.」

The attendants opened the cage and let Gu Nian out, fastening the end of the chain around his neck to the bedpost.

They snarled a warning at him to serve his new master well before telling him to wait there and leaving.

The locks on the door went CLICK, CLACK. From the sound of it, there were five of them.

With a deft flick of his wrists, the handcuffs binding the boy fell away effortlessly.

He unfastened the chain from his ankle and stood up. Surveying his surroundings, he frowned.

His gaze landed on the large bed, and Gu Nian’s frown deepened.

A few seconds later, he hurried over and smoothed out the wrinkles on the bedspread.

He muttered under his breath, "It’s all wrinkled. Big Sister will think someone has already used it..."

Gu Nian sniffed the air, then extinguished the incense burner. He aired out the room before finding and lighting a different stick of incense.

"This is the scent Big Sister likes..."

Just as he finished lighting the incense, the terminal in his pocket vibrated.

He answered the call, his voice cold. "Speak."

"Um... Boss, are you in the room? Those clumsy attendants didn’t upset you, did they? Also, when should we notify VIP guest 011?" the auctioneer asked timidly from the other end of the video call.

Gu Nian patted the curtains. "Give it another half hour. I need to rearrange things in here."

The auctioneer panicked. "Y-You’re taking care of it yourself?! I can send someone over—"

"What can a bunch of incompetents like you possibly do right?"

Gu Nian hung up indifferently without waiting for a reply.

He surveyed the room once more, then strode into the bathroom and turned on the water.

He sprinkled rose petals into the tub. As the boy rested his head on the edge of the bath, the snow-white rabbit ears atop his head swayed back and forth cheerfully.

A sweet, smiling tone filled his voice as his lips curved upward.

"I’m so looking forward to it."

"My first night with Big Sister..."

-

「Back in the auction hall, the short break ended, and the auctioneer hurried back onto the stage.」

A sheen of sweat covered his face, despite the air conditioning.

Wiping his brow with a silk handkerchief, the auctioneer said, "Thank you for your patience, everyone. Next up is our second lot—"

Jiang Qingli had no interest in the next few lots. She nibbled on her dessert and made idle conversation with Ye Linyuan.

Her screen vibrated twice.

Jiang Qingli saw an envelope icon. Tapping it open, she saw a private message from bidder 017, sent through the venue’s internal network.

017: [Hello, would you be willing to resell lot 001 to me?]

[The auctioneer was too fast just now, and I didn’t get a chance to bid. Don’t worry, I’ll make it worth your while. How about I add ten million to the price?]

Jiang Qingli: "..."

Ye Linyuan raised an eyebrow, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "He’s already stirring up trouble while he’s still in the cage. You’ve really bought yourself something special."

"Oh, stop with the sarcastic comments." Jiang Qingli reached out and pinched his lips shut. "He’s not a ’something.’ Once we get back, he’ll be your brother."

Ye Linyuan: "..."

He wanted to make a few more snide remarks, but with his lips pinched shut, he couldn’t get a word out.

"No more talking nonsense," Jiang Qingli warned, releasing him. She then typed out a refusal to 017.

Unexpectedly, 017 was persistent: [To be honest, I don’t intend to do anything to him. I was asked by someone to rescue him. You don’t need to worry that I would mistreat him.]

[How about this? I can add another twenty million.]

Jiang Qingli was a little stunned by how casually they were throwing money around.

’Wait, asked by someone to rescue him?’

Jiang Qingli stood up and glanced over at bidder 017’s seat not far away. She saw the back of a black-haired male sitting at the edge of the row.

Jiang Qingli tentatively asked: [Shiyao?]

She only sent one word because all the VIPs here were concealing their identities; the less information she revealed, the better.

On the other side of the screen.

When Yuan Shiyao saw the word, his breath caught in his throat.

’She... said it so affectionately.’

’Does this mean she feels we’re already close?’

His heart pounded wildly at the thought.

But in the next second, the black cat boy frowned.

’Does she call Yuan Shimo that in private, too?’

A sour feeling welled up in his chest again.

A companion beside him glanced at the dazed Yuan Shiyao, looking puzzled. "Secretary-General? Is something wrong?"

He had a feeling their cool and aloof Secretary-General had been on edge lately.

"It’s nothing," Yuan Shiyao said flatly.

Tapping the screen with a fingertip, the boy pursed his thin lips and slowly sent two lines of text—

[It’s too dangerous here. I’m coming to protect you.]

[Sister-in-law.]