Chapter 336: The world is unpredictable
Huo Wendong sat in his chair.
On the table in front of him was an impressive collection of treasures: a Ming Dynasty teacup, a Qing Dynasty tea bowl, a Song Dynasty vase, a Tang Dynasty comb, and a Yuan Dynasty dagger...
Huo Wendong held a soft cloth, blew a breath on an item, and carefully wiped it while feeling utterly delighted.
Back in university, he already loved these ancient artifacts. He genuinely felt that these things—how could they be so beautiful?
How could they be so captivating?
Recently, after gaining some authority and building his little kingdom, he finally moved away from the family. No longer needing to fear being criticized for indulging in "toys that ruin ambition," he let loose completely.
He attended every auction without fail; he had all the connections in secondhand markets and antique bazaars; and he even had contacts with private furniture collectors...
In short: buy, buy, buy.
After all, he had money!
Antiques that most people would see as priceless treasures were, to him, beyond valuation—simply delightful!
This villa alone housed over a hundred antiques worth more than a hundred million yuan each. The pieces valued in the tens of millions or millions? He had long since lost count.
It could be said that the total value of the antiques here was easily two or three billion yuan.
But he didn't care about the money! He cared about the joy!
It was a genuine passion—an obsession, even. He loved them so much, he was fanatical about them. He adored them to the point where...
Let's put it this way: if someone had a rare and exquisite item, a truly unique and exceptional treasure, and asked him to stew his father in exchange, he wouldn't even hesitate.
He just loved them! He adored them!
Seeing these items was like gazing at his descendants: loving, cherishing, obsessing.
Bang Daomang, standing nearby, helped out: sometimes handing over a small brush, sometimes passing a bottle of cleaning spray. Watching his young master so happy, he couldn't help but smile along.
"Young Master, we've gathered quite a few treasures recently. They must be worth a fortune, right?"
"Bah!" Huo Wendong spat directly in his face. "Money? These are antiques! Cultural relics! They are culture, history—priceless treasures that cannot be replicated!"
"Yes, yes, yes, Young Master is indeed cultured."
"Every one of these treasures here might have been bought with a marked price, but each one is unique! Do you know how many years they've existed? How many hands they've passed through? How much history they've witnessed—betrayals, deaths, family ruins, tragedies of the human condition?"
Bang Daomang wiped his face. "Well, that doesn't sound very auspicious."
"Bah!"
The first spit hadn't dried yet, and now there was another one.
"These items only bear witness to history! Imagine—just take this teacup, for instance. Maybe Li Hongzhang used it to drink tea. Perhaps he held it when meeting foreign envoys or discussing matters of state with the Grand Council!"
Bang Daomang wiped his face again and chuckled. "The Young Master's world is beyond me. I'm just a simple man. Young Master, with so many treasures, you won't have time to care for them all yourself!"
"Bah!"
Bang Daomang looked frustrated. "Young Master, may I ask why this spit? I'd like to know what I did wrong so I can fix it."
Huo Wendong glanced at the artifact in his hand, speaking seriously: "No reason. I just had phlegm in my mouth."
"Oh, you startled me. Haha."
At that moment, a beautiful secretary pushed the door open and entered. "Young Master, Mr. Long is here to see you."
Huo Wendong froze. "Him? Clean it all up, now! Be careful! If you chip even the tiniest fragment, I'll break you into pieces and use you for firewood!"
Seven or eight young women in cheongsams quickly rushed over and carefully began putting everything away.
"Leave this one for me."
Huo Wendong kept the tea bowl in his hand, playing with it lovingly.
Long Aotian strode in confidently, his steps full of vigor. "Young Master Huo, it's been a while! Hahaha!"
Huo Wendong wore a stern expression. "Mr. Long, how's everything progressing? That undercover agent of yours, Xu Xuejiao—she seems to be getting pretty close to Lu Chengwen. Tell me, are they faking it, or have they actually fallen for each other? Don't let them end up playing both of us!"
"Hahaha! Absolutely not!" Long Aotian replied. "Aren't you going to offer me some tea?"
Huo Wendong said gruffly, "Serve the tea."
Long Aotian noticed the young girl bringing over the tea—so pretty! His thoughts wandered as he stared at her face, making her blush deeply.
The young girl shyly said, "Mr. Long, here's your tea."
"Oh, thank you, thank you."
Long Aotian accepted the teacup and casually brushed his hand against the girl's. Hmm, quite smooth.
Huo Wendong sneered.
"You like her? She's yours."
"What? Hahaha, no need. A gentleman doesn't steal another's love."
"Love? Hahaha, I've grown tired of women lately. If I wanted, I could organize a beauty pageant! Just recently, I heard about some nouveau riche guy hosting some ridiculous 'job fair.' A bunch of girls dressed to the nines, fighting tooth and nail to warm his bed."
"Sigh, the decline of morals in society."
"Wrong! It's not the decline of morals—it's been like this since ancient times!" Huo Wendong said. "If you have money, power, and influence, women are just playthings! No matter how beautiful they are, you don't even need much—throw a million at them, and their moral integrity and sense of shame will be completely shattered!"
Long Aotian didn't bother debating such matters with him. "What's caught your eye lately?"
Huo Wendong seemed reluctant to leave the topic:
"Even the so-called high-class women, the ones who think they're proud and reserved—if you're from a wealthy family and throw enough money at them, they'll still swoon. Every celebrity I've been with has wanted to marry into a rich family."
"But they don't understand one thing: to a rich family, they're just toys. Who would bring a toy home to keep? Those who marry celebrities—I'm telling you—they're fools. Celebrities can be played with anytime; why bring them home?"
"They think their petty scheming and short-sightedness, coupled with watching a few episodes of The Legend of Zhen Huan, will allow them to rule the upper class. In reality, even if they marry into a rich family, they're still just toys!"
Long Aotian forced a smile. "The business has made some progress recently."
"Good!" Huo Wendong clapped his hands. "Tell me, what progress?"
"Lu Chengwen has already signed a contract with Xu Xuejiao. Seventy billion has been transferred into their account, and the preparations for the design, planning, materials, and so on... have all been completed. Construction has already started."
Huo Wendong froze. "I haven't heard of that project breaking ground! With such a massive project starting, it's impossible for me not to know."
"Uh… it's just in the preparation phase right now. The scale of the start is relatively small, so Dasheng Group hasn't publicized it."
"Oh? How small?"
"Well… pretty small."
"Still, there's got to be a scale, right? Just tell me—how many machines are on-site? How many workers are at the site?"
Long Aotian hesitated awkwardly:
"Right now… there's nothing major on the site—no machines or anything. Just… three old men, three shovels, and a few decks of poker cards."
Huo Wendong stared at Long Aotian, dumbfounded. "That's it?"
"Uh-huh."
Huo Wendong opened and closed his mouth several times. He thought to himself, Should I curse him, or is he actually cursing me right now?
"You call this construction starting? This is just sending three old guys to play cards at the site!"
"Wait… Mr. Long, do we have some kind of misunderstanding about the word 'progress'? You're seriously calling this progress?"
"It's ready to start immediately! Really."
"Then start it! Start it now! Once you start, I can begin my moves too!"
"There's just one small step left, and then it can start."
"What small step?"
"You need to inject another seventy billion."
Huo Wendong's eyes widened. "You… you… say that again?"
"Seventy billion. And it needs to happen as soon as possible."
Huo Wendong's face turned pale with rage. "Long Aotian! Are you and Xu Xuejiao, along with Lu Chengwen, all conspiring to scam me? I've already poured over a hundred billion into this, and all I've gotten are three old men, three shovels, and not even a single hair beyond that! And now you're asking me for seventy billion more? Do you think my money grows on trees?!"
"Aiya, your dad is rich. Isn't your money basically as good as being swept in by the wind?"
"But that doesn't mean I'm stupid!"
"No one's saying you're stupid."
"But I feel like I'm an idiot right now."
"If you insist on thinking that way, I have no objections."
"Get lost! I've really had enough of you guys. Let me ask you—what's going on with Xu Xuejiao? According to the intel I've gathered, she's been all cozy with Lu Chengwen every day. Are you sure Xu Xuejiao is on your side?"
"I confirmed it just last night!"
"How did you confirm it?"
"Let's just say I confirmed it."
"Pouring another seventy billion in will probably just fund Xu Xuejiao's maternity leave, right?"
"Hahaha!" Long Aotian threw his head back in laughter. "You don't need to worry about that. Xu Xuejiao and Lu Chengwen? There's no way. Her heart is with me."
"But her chest and butt are with Lu Chengwen!"
"Xuejiao has her reasons. Let me put it this way: for now, Xuejiao is still pure and untouched."
"How do you know?"
Long Aotian smiled confidently. "I'm a doctor. I'm an expert in these matters. Whether she's untouched or not, I can tell just by the way she walks. Unless she's trained in a very specific kind of technique, she wouldn't be able to hide it from me."
"Unless?"
"Exactly. But I'm also a martial arts expert. If she knew that kind of technique, I'd spot it immediately. So… even though she's been with Lu Chengwen for so long, she's kept her body chaste. If it's not for me, who else could it be for?"
Huo Wendong sneered grimly. "Long Aotian, let me tell you, the real key here isn't Xu Xuejiao—it's you!"
"Me?!"
"That's right! First fifty billion, then seventy billion, and now you're asking for another seventy billion… are you scamming me?"
"I don't have a single penny in my account! It's all gone to Lu Chengwen, I swear!"
"Then why is there still no progress on this matter? And you're still asking me for money?!"
"With money, progress will happen immediately!"
"That's exactly what you said last time!"
"The way things develop is often unpredictable!"
"Cut the crap! What I want is accuracy—predictable, controllable results! Do you understand?"
"Predictable?!"
Long Aotian stood up abruptly, agitated. He glanced at the antique teacup on the table and grabbed it.
"What… what are you doing?! Put it down!"
"You think it's fine sitting there on the table, that nothing will happen to it, right?"
"Long Aotian! Calm down. That teacup is…"
Crash!
It shattered into tiny pieces!
Huo Wendong was stunned.
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Hey everyone! I'm super happy to finally share a new novel "Ma En's Daily Life "with you all! It took me quite a while to get it done, but it's finally up now—here, on Webnovel, and SOON on ScribbleHub!I really hope you'll check it out and support it. Looking forward to hearing what you think!