Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 1932: Chapter 1835: Following Me?

Alas, no matter how much he hated iron for not turning into steel, she was still his own disciple. He only had himself to blame for being blind back then, for not being able to put down his pride and face when he first met that Huo girl, for not shamelessly clinging to her—so in the end someone else picked up that bargain, and he missed out on such a good seedling.

Xie Daoyuan was both annoyed and regretful inside. He glanced at this disciple with her head bowed as if in guilty repentance, and couldn’t help but soften again, letting out a long sigh.

After all, he had raised her for several years and grown attached. Xie Daoyuan treated Su Qingqing like his own daughter. Though he did hope this girl could make something of herself and stand on her own one day, what he felt even more was fondness and pity.

Su Qingqing might be only average in talent when it came to antique appraisal, but she did have a bit of cleverness. She couldn’t compare to other people’s disciples, yet she was still barely presentable.

Besides, Xie Daoyuan wasn’t worried that this girl wouldn’t be able to get by in the future. Even though she was always skipping class, she was blessed with good luck—she’d run into that Huo girl from the Huo family. Whenever something good turned up, that Huo girl wouldn’t forget this little disciple of his. With Huo Sining backing her, his little disciple definitely wouldn’t starve to death anyway.

Thinking of this, Xie Daoyuan felt somewhat comforted, but he still couldn’t help feeling a bit unwilling. Every time he looked at Zhou Shitao, his eyes unconsciously showed envy.

Heaven knew he also wanted to meet such a good seedling to inherit his mantle. But after missing out once on such a stroke of luck, could it really drop on his head a second time? Xie Daoyuan very much doubted it.

On the other side, when Huang Zhenlong and Qin Lianshan saw Huo Sining, they came over together and said to her:

”Huo girl, where did you run off to? None of your phones got through. You scared us old men half to death. If your master hadn’t told us not to panic, we would’ve gone to kick up a fuss at the embassy already!”

As soon as Huo Sining heard Huang Zhenlong’s words, she almost broke out in waterfall sweat. Just imagining the Director of the Forbidden City Museum and the president of the China Jade Association, plus her own master—who could make the entire Huaxia antique appraisal circle tremble three times with one stomp—storming the embassy and forcing both sides’ diplomats to intervene, made her shiver with a wave of goosebumps.

”Uh... Grandpa Huang, Grandpa Qin, we just went out to play for two days, nothing serious. We went out to relax and didn’t want outsiders disturbing us, so we turned off our phones. I didn’t expect you all to come such a long way for us and worry along the way. I’m sorry!”

When Qin Lianshan heard that Huo Sining and the others had gone out to play, he waved his hand and said, ”It’s fine, as long as you’re safe. We came on a whim ourselves, just flew straight over. It’s our fault for not telling you in advance—we originally wanted to surprise you, but who knew we’d miss each other by pure bad luck.”

Huang Zhenlong, however, was a bit curious: ”The auction is today. I heard from your master that the finale lot this time is that item. With such a big deal on the line, you still had the leisure to go have fun? You kids are something! Let me tell you, ever since your master told me about it, I haven’t shut my eyes properly for the past two nights—I literally couldn’t sleep!”

Even Xie Daoyuan kept chiming in, ”Exactly. You youngsters are nothing like us old men—your hearts are way too big! Where did you all go these past two days? What did you play?”

Everyone fell silent and all turned their eyes to Huo Sining in unison. Even Gu Xu was looking at her teasingly, a ”can’t help you” look on his face.

Huo Sining let out two dry laughs and mumbled, ”Uh, nothing much. We just went to Oregon, dug holes for two days, worked out a bit, you know—stress relief, stress relief, haha.”

As she spoke, afraid that Huang Zhenlong and Xie Daoyuan would keep asking, she hurriedly scooted over to stand in front of her own master and called respectfully, ”Master.”

”Mm.”

Zhou Shitao gave a light response, only now putting down the book in his hand. He raised his head to look at Huo Sining. ”You’re back?”

Huo Sining nodded.

Zhou Shitao took out his phone, checked the time, and said, ”Then hurry up and put your luggage in the room, tidy up a bit—we’re heading to the auction soon!”

Only then did Huo Sining remember the auction started at ten. If they were late, their entry slots might be canceled, and those two Beast Heads could very well end up in someone else’s hands.

”Right, right, hurry, go drop off the luggage first!”

Everyone snapped out of it, slapped their foreheads, and followed Huo Sining toward the elevator. Once they got upstairs, it suddenly hit Huo Sining that four more old gentlemen had shown up. Knowing her master and Director Huang’s temperaments, since they’d come all the way from Huaxia, there was no way they’d be willing to just watch from outside; they’d definitely want to enter the Black Market Building and personally take part in the bidding.

But to enter the black market auction hall, someone had to take you in. With these venerable old gentlemen springing a surprise visit, where was she supposed to rustle up that many entry slots on such short notice?

Huo Sining frowned, hesitated for a moment, and finally picked up her phone and dialed a number.

The call rang a few times before it was finally picked up. ”Miss Huo Sining, you’re finally willing to turn your phone on.”

When Huo Sining recalled the Clayflo missed call she’d seen when she first turned her phone back on, she was a bit puzzled.

”Mr. Duke, you called me before? Sorry, my phone’s been off these past two days, so I didn’t get it. May I ask what you needed from me?”

Clayflo chuckled. ”It was nothing serious. I originally wanted to chat with Miss Huo, see what you thought of the exhibits in my building. But seeing how busy you seemed, I didn’t want to bother you, so I stopped calling. By the way, I heard Miss Huo went to Oregon. I wonder if your trip the past two days was pleasant?”

Huo Sining froze, then her heart tightened and a flicker of anger flashed in her eyes. ”You had someone follow me?”

Clayflo found her question quite amusing. ”Follow you? No, no, no. I think you’ve really misunderstood, Miss Huo. In the Rothschild Family’s educational creed, there are only gentlemen and courtesy—never such sleazy behavior.”

”I did send people over, but it wasn’t to tail or monitor you. It was to protect you and your companions. You must know, there are plenty of opportunists around Philadelphia, and you’re all unfamiliar faces. It’s inevitable some blind fools might try to pull something on the wrong person. So to avoid unnecessary trouble, I had my men keep an eye on your safety, that’s all.”