Chapter 56 It Has Value Only Because You Like It

Pei Baoyuan ran into Ke Yicheng at an auction, which happened quite by chance.

Because her skirt was too long, Su Ronghe had stepped on the hem with her high heels while walking, causing her to lose her balance and almost fall backward right at the entrance of the restroom. Fortunately, Pei Baoyuan had caught her by the back just in time.

The two had never met before and were complete strangers. Pei Baoyuan simply assumed she was helping out some wealthy socialite from Hong Kong and never once connected her to Ke Yicheng's wife.

It wasn't until the auction began that the two brothers sat facing each other across the central atrium, bidding aggressively against one another over a piece of jewelry.

The auction item was a 12-carat cushion-cut pink diamond.

The opening bid was 120 million Hong Kong dollars.

When the pink diamond was presented, Pei Baoyuan straightened up in her seat. Having bought a fair share of jewelry over the years, she had acquired a discerning eye. The diamond was top-tier in both clarity and brilliance, and given its massive carat weight, it was a rare sight at any auction house.

Had she been back in Beijing, she might have actually acted on impulse and placed a bid.

What a pity.

Pei Baoyuan leaned back against her chair, while Ke Xianbai, sitting right beside her, caught every single one of her subtle movements.

There were plenty of wealthy tycoons in Hong Kong, but most of them merely followed the crowd, and as the bidding escalated, their voices gradually faded away.

"200 million, any further bids?"

"220 million," Ke Xianbai’s voice echoed through the auction venue.

Immediately following his bid came a voice from the opposite box: "230 million."

"240 million," Ke Xianbai said casually.

Pei Baoyuan: "!!"

"Are you planning to buy this diamond?"

"Don't you like it?" Ke Xianbai turned his head, his gaze entirely earnest.

Pei Baoyuan swallowed hard. Faced with a gem of this caliber, she found herself unable to say she didn't like it against her true feelings.

Her hesitation gave him the answer.

"It only has value if you like it."

For a moment, Pei Baoyuan was rendered speechless.

Her heart beat frantically, and her hand instinctively moved to touch her chest.

Could Ke Xianbai possibly feel the same way about her...

[One sentence prompts a man to spend hundreds of millions.]

[It's at 280 million now. The box across from them belongs to Ke Yicheng. He definitely knew Ke Xianbai wanted to buy it, so he's deliberately driving up the price.]

[His wife is right beside him, so he must be buying it for her. Oh, wait, his wife is actually that pretty young lady Yuanyuan helped out at the restroom entrance earlier!]

Pei Baoyuan paused for a second upon seeing the floating comment stream. She bypassed the decorative screen at the front of the box and stepped out onto the balcony. The distance wasn't too far; while the screen obscured their actual faces, it couldn't hide their figures. She clearly saw a man and a woman sitting right in the middle of the opposite box, and the woman's silhouette matched the one from the restroom entrance.

Returning to the interior of the box, Pei Baoyuan stopped Ke Xianbai just as he was about to bid again. "Su Ronghe is Ke Yicheng's wife."

Although confused, Ke Xianbai answered her anyway.

"I accidentally ran into her outside the restroom, and that box opposite us belongs to Ke Yicheng. You knew that, didn't you?"

"Mhm."

"Then why were you bidding against him?"

"..."

The box fell silent for a fraction of a second, and Pei Baoyuan read the answer straight in Ke Xianbai's eyes.

Faced with his restless eagerness to raise the bid further, Pei Baoyuan reached out and grabbed his face, forcing him to look directly at her.

"You are not allowed to bid anymore. I don't like this diamond."

At this point, the bidding had already reached 310 million Hong Kong dollars.

Ke Xianbai opened his mouth to say something, but Pei Baoyuan preemptively reached out and covered his lips with her hand.

"When I say I don't like it, I mean I don't like it. Besides, even if you actually bought it and gave it to me, I wouldn't accept it." Ke Xianbai's lips seemed to possess some sort of magical pull, nearly drawing Pei Baoyuan's thoughts wandering off. She steadied her focus and continued, "Unearned rewards are to be feared, and given our current relationship, how could I possibly accept something worth hundreds of millions from you?"

Haughtily, Pei Baoyuan declared, "Our Pei family is not short of money!"

A sudden smile bloomed across Ke Xianbai's face.

Watching her stand with her hands on her hips, puffing out her chest with a hint of pride as she announced that the Pei family wasn't short of money, his heart suddenly softened.

Adorable.

When she covered his mouth earlier and forcibly stopped him from bidding, she had been just as adorable.

There was a smiling undertone in Ke Xianbai's voice as he asked, "But I just want to spend my money on you. What should I do?"

Pei Baoyuan choked on her words.

Do all young scions of capitalist families treat money like it's nothing?

They casually throw around hundreds of millions without a second thought.

Seeing Pei Baoyuan stumped, Ke Xianbai smiled and added, "This is my money, and how I spend it doesn't seem to be illegal—unless..."

"Unless what?"

"Unless... Yuanyuan is willing to marry me. All the assets under my name will become yours entirely, and you will have absolute authority over how the money is spent."

"You... in your dreams!"

Suddenly feeling somewhat exasperated, Pei Baoyuan glared at Ke Xianbai and completely ignored him.

While they were talking, the pink diamond was ultimately won by Ke Yicheng for 310 million Hong Kong dollars.

For the rest of the auction, Pei Baoyuan refused to pay any attention to Ke Xianbai until the event neared its end and the two of them left early.

The drive from the auction house to the mountainside villa took nearly forty minutes, and the interior of the car was chillingly quiet.

Tang Huan hadn't been inside the private box and had no idea what had transpired between the two of them. Even sitting in the driver's seat up front, he felt as though his seat was on fire, stealing frequent glances in the rearview mirror.

Pei Baoyuan was visibly unhappy, and Ke Xianbai—who usually guarded Pei Baoyuan like the apple of his eye—was also sitting in absolute silence.

Upon arrival, Pei Baoyuan was the first to push open the car door, lifting the hem of her dress and walking into the villa on her own.

Tang Huan offered a suggestion: "Boss, maybe you should go comfort Miss Pei?"

Ke Xianbai shot him a sidelong glance.

Tang Huan silently lowered his head.

Stupid mouth.

He shouldn't have said anything.

He vividly remembered back when his boss first found out that Miss Pei was dating his big-chested and brainless—no, brainless and chestless—cousin, he and several other brothers had taken turns accompanying the boss to spar at the boxing gym...

At the mere memory of that scene, Tang Huan shuddered.

He desperately hoped the boss and Miss Pei would make up quickly; he never wanted to go through that experience again.

-

Pei Baoyuan kicked off her high heels and threw herself onto the soft, oversized bed.

In truth, she couldn't quite figure out her own feelings either, having inexplicably lost her temper at Ke Xianbai.

She should have been happy, but... there was a persistent, heavy feeling in her chest, an inexplicable emotion weighing her down.

An hour later.

After asking the housekeeper about his whereabouts, Pei Baoyuan walked over and knocked on Ke Xianbai's study door.

Ke Xianbai seemed to be tinkering with something in the study. When he opened the door and saw Pei Baoyuan standing there, he looked momentarily caught off guard.

Pei Baoyuan: "?"

After staring at each other in mutual bewilderment for a few seconds, Pei Baoyuan asked, "Can I come in?"

"Yes, but..."

Before Ke Xianbai could finish, Pei Baoyuan had already slipped past him into the room.

It was the first time Pei Baoyuan had ever stepped inside Ke Xianbai's study. She looked around, noting that the bookshelves held various books alongside a collection of trophies from his childhood to adulthood. The desk held nothing except a computer; the study was impeccably clean.

Only after finishing her inspection did she realize Ke Xianbai hadn't followed her in.

He had vanished.

Frowning, Pei Baoyuan looked toward the doorway.

Did he run away?

Was she really that terrifying?

It wasn't until Ke Xianbai reappeared, carrying the pair of slippers she had kicked off earlier in her bedroom...

That Pei Baoyuan abruptly realized she had been walking around barefoot the entire time.

No wonder the housekeeper had looked at her with a hesitation-filled expression when she asked where he was earlier.

No.

She had to seize the initiative; she couldn't let herself lose to him in terms of momentum.

"Ke Xianbai, you said you want me to marry you, but people in a marriage should be completely honest with each other."

"Tell me, exactly what have you and my family been keeping from me?"