The Favored Heiress
Chapter 661: Simply Don’t Want to Let Them Off Easy

Chapter 661: Chapter 661: Simply Don’t Want to Let Them Off Easy

Li Qiao spent a rather long time in the collection room, and after half an hour, Shang Yu came upstairs to look for her.

At the door, the man was about to push it open when he happened to hear Li Qiao’s voice, "Is Mu’s Auction House the only remaining property of the Mu Family on the South Sea market?"

"..."

"Okay, I got it."

Li Qiao moved the phone away from her ear and looked back, crashing into Shang Yu’s deep, dark pupils. She raised an eyebrow, "Have Huo Mang and the others left?"

"Mm, didn’t pick a gift?" The man walked leisurely into the collection room, noticed her empty hands, and asked with a deep, thick chuckle.

Li Qiao turned back to lean against the windowsill, tugging at the corner of her mouth, "Didn’t find anything suitable. I just picked one out at Venus."

Shang Yu casually swept aside the red silk cloth covering the calligraphy and painting in the corner, "Why bother, he won’t care about these things."

Li Qiao also knew that she was making things harder for herself by avoiding what was near at hand and had merely thought of calling Uncle Zong on a whim.

Now, she actually didn’t feel it was a bother anymore.

Li Qiao gazed at the man’s dark figure, her fingers touching her chin, "Have you heard of Mu’s Auction House?"

Shang Yu’s movements paused, and he looked sideways at her, "Are the auction items at Mu’s?"

"A set of Acupuncture Gold Needles. The butler will have the insurance company deliver them to Mu’s," Li Qiao said steadily, stepping beside the man and lowering her gaze to the painting, her tone slow, "The current agent for Mu’s Auction House is from the Fan Family. Do you think it could be..."

At this, Shang Yu’s lips curved into a slight smile, "Fan Minli."

Li Qiao raised her eyebrows in surprise, "You know her?"

As she scrutinized Shang Yu’s eyes, she saw no deep, obscure meanings but instead a sense of understanding and calm.

The man idly fiddled with the picture frame, his Adam’s apple moving as he spoke in a deep murmur, "The head of the Fan Family."

Li Qiao narrowed her eyes, lost in thought, "The downfall of the Mu Family had nothing to do with them?"

Shang Yu dusted the dust off his fingers and pulled her toward the window, "Shouldn’t have any connection. The Mu’s Auction House was bought by the Fan Family and is the only Mu Family property that couldn’t be renamed."

"How so?"

The man looked at her sideways, "All the properties owned by the Mu Family have this sole auction house listing the entire family as shareholders. To change the company name, all shareholders must sign for confirmation. Signatures can be forged, but one of the shareholders’ recorded data was a fingerprint."

A spark flashed in Li Qiao’s mind, and she looked sharply at Shang Yu, her eyes brightening a bit.

Without waiting for her to speak, the man smiled and nodded, "It’s the child you’re thinking of. Probably because she was young at that time, so there’s no signature, just a fingerprint."

Li Qiao felt conflicting emotions, realizing that even if the Mu Family from the South Sea existed only in stories, the fact that an asset listed the entire family as shareholders at least proved that the family had harmonious relations.

After a moment, she tugged at the man’s shirt, "How do you know all this?"

Shang Yu draped his arm over Li Qiao’s shoulders and drew her into his embrace, looking out the window and murmuring low, "I heard about it. If you want to know the details, you can go back to the old house and ask our dad."

The only existing asset of the Mu Family from the South Sea, even after changing hands, still remained a testament to the Mu Family’s presence.

...

As evening approached, after confirming the auction items had been delivered, Uncle Zong called Li Qiao.

By then, Li Qiao and Luoyu had already arrived at Mu’s Auction House.

Shang Yu didn’t come; as the Young Master of Shang’s, his presence in Parma would be too conspicuous.

Mu’s Auction House was located in Parma Old Town, with the main building being an old-style foreign mansion from an earlier era.

The vertical signboard hung on the wall, and the heavy, dim light from the lamp posts flickered past, as if taking one fifty years back in time.

Li Qiao, dressed in a black long dress, got out of the Bentley and looked up to meticulously examine the auction house styled in archaic architecture.

At that moment, Luoyu cast a sidelong glance and noticed someone stepping down from the car beside them. She prompted Li Qiao, "Mrs. Li... that is Fan Minli. Next to him is his most esteemed daughter, Fan Mei."

Li Qiao diverted her gaze from the auction house and stealthily took a glance.

Fan Minli, in his fifties, had jet-black hair and showed no signs of aging, as middle-aged men in Parma seemed to prefer the simplicity of the Sun Yat-sen suit.

He walked towards the steps in front of the door, cane in hand and eyes straight ahead—Fan Mei, arm in arm with him, held her head high with a touch of arrogance.

"President Fan, Vice President Fan."

The manager respectfully greeted them as they entered the revolving door. During the encounter, his report could be heard, "The item has been delivered to the vault, and the appraiser is evaluating its value."

Fan Mei’s eyes slightly upturned, looking past Fan Minli towards the manager, her voice crisp, "Our auction house is not a subsidiary of Venus. Why should we provide convenience for their clients? No matter what the appraiser’s evaluation is, double the price before we talk."

The manager glanced around, rubbing his hands together with a sheepish smile, "Vice President Fan, this... might not be proper."

As both parties were in a strategic collaboration, it was only reasonable to grant each other conveniences.

Fan Mei, with a cold laugh, flicked her long hair, "What’s improper about that? Mu’s Auction House is ours, not Venus’s. Do as I say."

Seeing that Fan Minli did not intervene, the manager reluctantly headed towards the vault.

Li Qiao, standing at the bottom of the steps, heard the entire conversation clearly. She lifted her eyes to the sign of Mu’s Auction House and said, "Let’s go."

Luoyu: "???"

"Madam?" She watched in disbelief as Li Qiao turned to leave with impatience, completely missing her intention.

They hadn’t even entered the auction house—why were they leaving so abruptly?!

Li Qiao bent down to get into the passenger seat and, once Luoyu got into the car, she gestured towards the road ahead, "To the mall."

"What about the item you wanted..."

Li Qiao didn’t answer her but instead took out her phone and called Uncle Zong, "Withdraw the item."

"..."

"You will auction it off for me in ten days. Deduct all of today’s expenses from my funds." Li Qiao didn’t wait for Uncle Zong’s reaction and before ending the call, she added, "Mu’s Auction House, unreliable."

Uncle Zong, far away in the South Sea, hung up the phone with a grave expression and without another word began arranging for the Acupuncture Gold Needles to be withdrawn. Under the pretext of dissatisfaction from a top-tier member, he reported to Venus’s higher-ups overnight.

Luoyu, behind the wheel, was stunned by Li Qiao’s series of bold moves.

Her hands on the steering wheel, she sneakily glanced at Li Qiao out of the corner of her eye.

"If you want to ask something, just ask," Li Qiao, catching her sidelong stares, leaned back against the seat, tugging at her skirt, her tone half teasing.

Luoyu touched her nose, "Is it because they doubled the price that you don’t want to bid anymore?"

It couldn’t really be that, could it?

Based on her understanding of Li Qiao, it didn’t matter how expensive something was; no matter if the price was doubled or even increased two hundredfold, she could afford it.

Li Qiao, tilting her neck to find a comfortable position, said nonchalantly, "No, I just don’t want to make things easy for them."

Luoyu: "..."

You’re quite forthright.

Li Qiao couldn’t say why she did it either, as the doubling of the price really didn’t bother her.

But she very much disliked that sentence spoken by Fan Mei.

Mu’s Auction House is theirs?