Chapter 77: Bending Down to Lift Her Skirt

Lin Xi no longer knew what words could possibly describe her feelings at this moment; in short, it was too complicated for words. If there were a time machine, she would not hesitate to return to that day at the racetrack when she made that bet. She would rush in before she agreed to White Xu's reckless proposal, slap herself twice, and force herself to wake up.

Now, she truly felt as if she had returned to her childhood. Back then, White Xu was closest to her in age, and when they were both still young, they could play together. Even then, White Xu was full of mischief and always up to no good. She, knowing nothing, had foolishly followed along. In the end, she would get scolded with him and then be lectured by her brother at home. The few “heroic deeds” she managed in the old compound were almost always because White Xu dragged her into trouble. Thinking back now, she could only admit that she must have been out of her mind.

Lin Xi tried to keep up with his way of thinking. “I still don’t understand,” she said.

“Is there any need to?” White Xu, as the mastermind behind this escapade, was even more nonchalant than she was. He spread his hands and said carelessly, “Don’t they all say I’m crazy? If you could understand what a madman thinks, wouldn’t that make you just as mad?”

Lin Xi was speechless. It sounded absurd, but when she thought about it, it made a certain sense.

She gave him a once-over. “So you do know what people say about you.”

“I’ve always known,” White Xu replied with a light laugh, still projecting that detached, unaffected air, as if the discussion had nothing to do with him. “And they’re not wrong.”

He really was a madman—always chasing excitement, acting on impulse without reason, most of his astonishing acts having no plan, purely spur-of-the-moment decisions. For him, there was never an absolute right or wrong. Every idea sprang up in a single thought.

Lin Xi still couldn’t understand how someone so lacking in a sense of morality could become a lawyer. She couldn’t help herself and asked again.

“There aren’t that many reasons,” he replied, as if he hadn’t found the answer himself. He stroked his chin and, after a moment’s thought, ventured, “Because the old man liked it?”

“How should I know? I’m asking you,” Lin Xi said with a slight tug at her lips.

White Xu shrugged, indicating that he didn’t know either. Still, Lin Xi had heard that he was serious and reliable at work, completely different from his private self, and had never done anything out of line.

At least he had some conscience.

——

With Qin Yu taking his seat, the auction officially began.

Qin Yu’s seat was also on the second floor, but not in the same section as Lin Xi and White Xu. Lin Xi and White Xu sat at the side of the second floor, while Qin Yu occupied the central private box. Stepping out of the box and leaning against the railing, one had a direct view of the auction stage below. This seat was significant—not just anyone was entitled to sit there.

Qin Yu had come up via the spiral staircase on the other side and had not passed by Lin Xi’s section. With a pillar in the way, he hadn’t noticed their presence at first glance. But that was hardly an issue—Qin Yu only had to ask to find out where they sat.

The chess painting Lin Xi was interested in was scheduled for later; the few earlier items didn’t catch her interest, but she nonetheless remained in her seat throughout, sitting upright and attentive.

Many below kept glancing up at her, whispering among themselves.

“The young lady sitting next to Master White upstairs—whose family is she from?”

“She looks like some actress.”

“Don’t talk nonsense. Anyone who can sit with Master White isn’t some performer.”

“Just look at her bearing—she’s clearly not from an ordinary family.”

“She must have quite a background. Someone said they saw Master White bending down to lift her dress for her at the entrance.”

“Really? That’s White Xu! Who in the capital’s high society could command such respect?”

“Well, actually, there’s one.”

“Which family?”

“Don’t you remember? As the old saying goes: South Zhou, North Qin, East Cheng, West White, and at the center, the Lin family.”

“The Lin family? Haven’t heard that name in years.”

“That’s right. The Lin family has always been known for its loyalty and sacrifice. Now, aside from the old patriarch, there’s only the eldest son and his wife left. Oh, and the youngest daughter from the second branch.”

“The youngest daughter…”

At once, everyone fell silent and looked up to the second floor.

There, by the railing, the woman sat with her legs naturally crossed, one foot gently tapping the air. Her back was straight, head lowered as she gazed at the auction stage ahead. A lock of wavy hair draped over her shoulder, a light shawl covering her exposed skin.

Perhaps sensing the stares, her fair neck turned just slightly, and she looked down with the aloofness of a goddess surveying the world, her face impassive, her glance gentle yet cold.

In that instant of eye contact, a pressure seemed to descend from above, and a faint hiss of inhaled breath swept through those below.

Realizing they’d been caught staring, the onlookers became awkward, unsure whether to look away or acknowledge her. Then the figure on the second floor nodded slightly in their direction, offering a polite greeting.

——

That small, unintentional gesture left the group below both startled and flattered, and they quickly nodded in response.

Soon, the woman upstairs looked away and turned her attention back to the auction stage.

“Did she just… greet us?”

“I think… she did?”

——

Upstairs, White Xu had caught the scene and scoffed, “You don’t even know them. Why bother?”

“What does knowing them have to do with it?” Lin Xi turned the sandalwood prayer beads in her hand. “It’s just courtesy.”

White Xu clicked his tongue in displeasure.

At the sound, Lin Xi glanced back at him and smiled. “I forgot—you don’t have that quality.”

Anyone else might have been stung by her words, but White Xu felt not the least bit ashamed. In fact, he seemed rather pleased, his shoulders shaking with delight.

He didn’t argue; he actually agreed. He was indeed uncouth and impolite—always had been. He had never been able to stand these stifling rules. All those so-called norms were meaningless to him.

Which was why Lin Xi had often marveled that he had become a lawyer at all.

What a contradictory man.

Lin Xi couldn’t help her curiosity. “Do you ever find your left and right hands fighting each other every day?”

Do your left and right brains ever clash?

She meant no mockery—White Xu could tell. So he answered her seriously, “Occasionally.”

But certainly not in the literal sense of left hand battling the right.

Most of the time, his rational mind was on the losing side. Because he rarely needed reason, except at work, his rationality almost always came up short.

Lin Xi nodded. That was about what she’d expected.

The two were so absorbed in their conversation that they failed to notice someone had stepped out from the central box. That person paused at the door, scanning the room, before finally fixing their gaze on the two of them, then turned back inside to report.