Even though the little girl knew nothing about boy-girl relationships, she felt Xu Jinchen and Zi Beiying ought to be dating. Otherwise, it felt odd for them to hang out.

Xu Jinchen and Zi Beiying could not help feeling happy when the little girl said they looked like a good match.

"Don't tell me the guy is too cheap to even buy a flower? So what if he is good-looking? I didn't expect him to be so petty. No matter how handsome he is, I would never accept a man like him as my boyfriend," said a woman in disdain from nearby.

"Precisely! Who is he saving the money for if he is unwilling to spend it on his girl? Is he planning to use it on some other girl?"

"Uh huh. Men do this all the time. They are generous to outsiders while they are petty to their closest kin."

These words instantly left Xu Jinchen awkward. Of course, he could afford to buy a single stalk of flower! He could afford to buy hundreds and hundreds of flowers, so one flower was nothing.

However, he was worried that Zi Beiying would turn down his flower, so he wanted to pretend to get forced into buying the flowers and ask Zi Beiying to do him the favor of accepting them.

Although the women's gossip made him feel awkward, it made him even more determined to buy flowers.

Zi Beiying felt tickled. She wanted to see how Xu Jinchen would handle this matter, so she stood by leisurely waiting for the action.

"How much do your flowers cost? I will buy all of them, but you have to help me give them to that lady over there. I am worried she might not accept them," said Xu Jinchen. Not only would he be able to react in response to what the crowd was saying, Zi Beiying would not have the chance to reject them.

Zi Beiying instantly glared at Xu Jinchen. She knew exactly what he was trying to pull! Although she acted angry, she was happy in her heart.

"$10 per stalk. Since I have 20 stalks of flowers here, that makes $200." The girl was delighted to make the sale. She instantly handed the flowers to Zi Beiying. She was worried that Zi Beiying might refuse to take them, so she said sadly, "Miss, please accept them! I haven't sold anything all morning. I had such a hard time selling them…"

Just as Xu Jinchen expected, Zi Beiying was incapable of refusing the little girl, especially when she put on a sad face. If Zi Beiying did not accept those flowers, it would make her look like a bully.

Zi Beiying accepted those flowers as she glared at Xu Jinchen as though she was upset that he got her involved. However, Xu Jinchen kept looking at her innocently.

However, Xu Jinchen could not help worrying. Despite knowing it was impossible for Zi Beiying to turn down the little girl, he could not suppress his worry. The moment Zi Beiying accepted the flowers, he heaved a sigh of relief and immediately gave the girl the money.

"Thank you so much. I hope you two will live a long happy life together and have plenty of children." The little girl took the money and thanked them before she said a few nice things and left.

The little girl's words instantly left Xu Jinchen and Zi Beiying embarrassed.

"It was all your fault. Otherwise, she wouldn't have said all those strange things to us!" Zi Beiying glared at Xu Jinchen and spoke angrily, but in her heart, she liked the things she heard and certainly hoped so.

"She was just a kid, so she didn't know better. In any case, she was just being kind!" Xu Jinchen touched his nose as he averted eye contact with Zi Beiying as he felt guilty for harboring those thoughts in his mind.

"Humph! You were the one who bought these flowers, so I am returning them to you. I only accepted them out of pity for the little girl." Zi Beiying felt odd accepting the flowers, so she deliberately returned them to Xu Jinchen.

"Can't you just do me the favor and take them? How could you return them to me after accepting them in front of so many people? Are you trying to make me a laughingstock? Also, do you despise these flowers? Or do you hate me or something?" said Xu Jinchen with a hurt look on his face.

Zi Beiying did not dare to make eye contact with Xu Jinchen. "On account of driving me around town and hanging out with me, I will do you the favor!"

Whatever it was, Xu Jinchen was happy that Zi Beiying was willing to take them.

The auction commenced at 10:00 am. Since there were a lot of auction items, it was split into two parts and the bronze chimes were due to be auctioned in the afternoon, so Gu Ning and the others arrived in the morning.

The auction was held in hall one of the Huarong Auction House at 1 Wang Fu Street in the eastern district. Also, it was the largest auction house in the city. Since it was a nationally owned auction house, it had a high reputation.

Gu Ning arrived at the Huarong Auction House at 9:30am. By the time she arrived, most of the people had already gotten there, so the parking lot was filled with luxury cars. Would they be able to buy expensive items from an auction if they were not rich and powerful?

Chen Darong was already there when Gu Ning arrived. However, he did not go in right away and waited for Gu Ning at the auction house main hall.

A lot of people had approached Xiangyun Antique-store to ask about the bronze chimes, so most of the people were acquainted with Chen Darong. The moment they saw him, they came over to greet him or chat.

A lot of the people were rather friendly to him, but there were hostile people out there as well.

"Mr Chen, mind if I ask? Where did you get the bronze chimes from?" asked a rotund man who was around 1.7 meters tall.

Everyone was keenly aware that they obtained the bronze chimes through illegal means, but no one asked. Since the man brought it up so publicly, he was clearly here to make trouble.

No one asked about its source since they already knew it came through illegal means. However, Xiangyun Antique-store would not be held legally accountable if they dared to put it up on auction

The man knew this full well, but he could not help feeling jealous and resentful, so he could not resist making trouble.

The man was in the antique industry and produced imitation products as well. His company was an even bigger business than Xiangyun Antique-store in the past, but Xiangyun Antique-store surpassed him overwhelmingly after they branched into the business of producing imitations, so the man could not help feeling competitive. However, Xiangyun Antique-store had powerful people behind it, so he did not dare to blatantly attack them.

The moment he asked, everyone pricked their ears to listen. Despite knowing that the bronze chimes came through illegal means, they wanted to hear what Chen Darong had to say, but no one dared to do it on their own.

"I'm not sure either. My boss brought it over," replied Chen Darong unhurriedly in a candid manner. He neither appeared guilty nor annoyed by the question.

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