Chapter 151: The Gift

She was dead set against taking the money.

It was even more impossible for anyone else to take it, including Li Run and his associates.

Zhou Ran was met with a blunt rebuff, and in the end, all he could do was...

Run away, looking resentful and utterly disheveled, pursued by waves of derisive jeers.

"If this punk still had a shred of manliness, keeping his word and running a few laps with his clothes off, I might have considered letting him off the hook. But now—" Old Tang shook his head, his expression both contemptuous and cruel.

Yu Quan offered a faint smile. "I've been waiting for you to say that!"

Zhou Ran seemed never to have truly understood that even if Nanxun wasn't entirely their domain, it was at least half of it. He had latched onto the Qian family as a towering tree of support, yet forgotten the most crucial point:

In the end, he was not a member of the Qian family.

Therefore, his fate was tragic—so tragic that in this region of Nanxun, it would be exceedingly difficult for him to find a job, since business circles here essentially watched each other's backs.

Over at the ATM, Sui Yi watched her account balance increase by ten million, then tilted her head slightly toward Old De. While withdrawing her bank card, she smiled at him. "Thank you for the trouble, Old De... This piece of jade is yours now."

Li Jingyan, who had been helping Sui Yi hold the jade, stepped forward to hand it over, and Old De's assistant hurried up to receive it.

"A pleasant cooperation," Old De nodded to Sui Yi, deliberately avoiding any mention of other matters, which made Sui Yi feel somewhat more at ease.

She had previously worried that Old De might be showing her preferential treatment for other reasons, but seeing his straightforward and generous demeanor, she realized she had been overthinking it.

"Miss Sui, I am a businessman..." Old De suddenly said to Sui Yi as he walked past her.

Hm? Sui Yi immediately understood. After a moment of thought, she replied, "So am I."

The two exchanged a knowing smile.

Behind them, Li Jingyan was still in a daze. He found it hard to fathom that ten million had been handed over so casually by the other party, and that Sui Yi had acquired it just as simply!

It felt like a dream...

In his trance, he recalled the dilapidated, desolate dangerous building in the outskirts two months ago, where the young girl in a school uniform had come and gone freely.

Two months later...

He looked at the girl, who remained just as calm and composed... and lowered his eyes.

It seemed he was the only one standing still.

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Li Yuan and his cohorts ultimately lacked the thick skin to stay, retreating in disarray. Whether they were heading straight home or continuing to purchase raw stones, the immediate crisis of the Cultural and Antiquities Convention had at least been resolved.

Many merchants from the Nanxun Chamber of Commerce were overjoyed. Because Old Tang had made a hefty profit, they urged him to treat everyone to a meal. Of course, the person who made the most was Sui Yi, but since she was a junior, they felt somewhat embarrassed to pounce on her, choosing instead to target Old Tang.

The group set off lively and noisily. Even Lin Chuxia was dragged along by Old Lin, who said she needed to meet people; after all, since she was in Nanxun, making more connections would help smooth her path in the future.

Sui Yi did not particularly enjoy such gatherings involving heavy food and alcohol, and she intended to decline. However, Old Tang mentioned that their destination was the Cultural and Antiquities Museum specially established for this convention. Many of the collections inside had been contributed by these very people, forming the core of the event. Dining would take place in a side hall over there, which was much quieter...

Hearing this, Sui Yi's interest was piqued. A Cultural and Antiquities Museum?

It sounded like it was worth a visit.

With that, she followed the group along.

——————

The Cultural and Antiquities Museum was originally an old library in Nanxun. Later, as Nanxun's economy grew and development zones expanded outward, the library was relocated, leaving behind the building. Because of its proximity to the ancient town, it had been repurposed as the Cultural and Antiquities Museum.

Stepping inside, one could see that the previous decay and dated appearance had been largely mitigated by fresh coats of paint and renovation. Upon entry, numerous glass cabinets set into recessed wall niches immediately came into view, displaying a wide array of artifacts.

A dazzling variety.

This was the main exhibition hall, with the dining area located in the side hall to the left. However, not everyone visiting the exhibition could dine there; in reality, only members of the Cultural and Antiquities Museum and distinguished guests of the Ghost Sect were permitted to eat in this section. To put it colloquially, only the bosses dined here. Sui Yi had not come for the food, so she bypassed the side hall and went straight to view the exhibitions...

Because the artifacts were sealed behind glass, Sui Yi could not touch them directly, forcing her to sense their magnetic fields through the barriers. To be honest,

She had not expected the genuine articles to be so few.

Among them, quite a few items put on display by Old Tang and the others turned out to be fake.

At this, Sui Yi could only offer a wry smile. The counterfeits were so convincing that even she had initially mistaken them for authentic pieces, only to realize they were fakes upon sensing their magnetic fields.

Fortunately, there were still some genuine items present. Though their magnetic fields were not particularly strong, she absorbed them all the same, boosting her overall magnetic energy by thirty percent.

It could be considered a substantial harvest.

After finishing the tour, Sui Yi realized it was already midday. Perhaps due to her martial arts practice and constitution, she rarely felt hungry. She exchanged a few words with Old Tang and the others who had finished dining, and shortly after, Su Ziyi mentioned he hadn't yet looked around outside and invited Sui Yi to join him...

"Alright," Sui Yi replied, heading out with Su Ziyi.

As soon as the two stepped outside, a man viewing the exhibits near the corner picked up his phone.

"Hello, they've gone out..."

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"Sui Yi, you are truly amazing." Although Su Ziyi came from a wealthy background and wasn't entirely unfazed by ten million, he understood all too well the difficulty of earning ten million entirely from scratch, which filled him with a peer's pure admiration and awe.

There was very little jealousy, no inferiority complex like Li Jingyan's, and no distorted mentality like Zhou Ran's.

Of course, his clean and upright disposition had a lot to do with that.

Spending time with someone like this felt quite comfortable to Sui Yi, so she smiled and said, "You'll be like this in the future too... I remember you like calligraphy and paintings; there are some over here."

With that single remark, Sui Yi led Su Ziyi to some of the shops she had browsed earlier, quickly turning into a calligraphy and painting store.

The artworks inside were quite decent. While there were no genuine masterpieces of exorbitant value, there were pieces Su Ziyi liked, and he purchased two of them.

Sui Yi took a look as well: one was a painting of mountain dwellings and pastoral scenery, and the other depicted Jiangnan small bridges, flowing water, and homes.

Both were quite pleasing to the eye.

Upon stepping out of the shop, Su Ziyi handed one of the bags to Sui Yi.

"Here, this one is for you."

Hm? Sui Yi paused in her steps, turning her head toward him with a slight tilt, looking somewhat puzzled.

Su Ziyi felt a bit awkward under Sui Yi's gaze. He pressed his lips together, looking somewhat embarrassed as he said, "Since we've become friends, I don't really have anything proper to give you... Although this painting isn't worth much, I figured you might like it, and it suits you quite well. I thought it was a nice choice... If you don't like it—"

Su Ziyi was a typical scholarly youth, usually composed and gentle. Seeing him stumble over his words and display a hurried, bashful expression at the moment actually amused Sui Yi.

So she genuinely laughed.

"No, I think it's lovely too. Thank you." Sui Yi did not refuse, because friendship among gentlemen is as pure as water, and overthinking things is unnecessary; sometimes, rejection can also be hurtful.

Besides, the painting was indeed to her liking, but since Su Ziyi had already bought it, she didn't say anything further.

She would just buy something else to give him in return later. Just as Sui Yi thought this and reached out to take the bag—

Suddenly, Sui Yi's brows knitted together. She redirected her hand that was about to grab the bag slightly upward, pulling Su Ziyi toward her just in time to let him narrowly dodge an incoming rush!

Crash!

The bag in Su Ziyi's hand swayed twice, making a rustling sound. Turning around, he saw more than a dozen fierce-looking men bearing down on them...

It was obvious that this had been premeditated by the other party.

Could it be that they found out about the ten million Sui Yi had made earlier?

He should have realized it sooner—wealth stirs the heart! And yet he had brought Sui Yi out all by himself...

Su Ziyi was filled with remorse!

Just as Sui Yi was about to step forward...

Su Ziyi had already grabbed her arm. "Sui Yi, run!"

Before Sui Yi could react, he began dragging her along in a frantic sprint forward...

"Chase them!"

A dozen big men pursued them at a dead run from behind.

"Ziyi, actually I..."

"Don't talk, just run!" Su Ziyi yelled back at Sui Yi...

"..."

Sui Yi was torn between laughter and tears. As the pursuers closed in and Su Ziyi's breathing grew increasingly ragged, she suddenly stopped in her tracks and gently tugged on Su Ziyi's arm.

Unable to run any further, Su Ziyi turned his head back in astonishment toward Sui Yi...

Right at that moment, one of the ruffians was within arm's reach, throwing out a large hand to grab them!

"Let's see you run now!"

At that instant, Su Ziyi wanted to shield Sui Yi behind him...

Only to watch her let go of his hand, shape her palm into a knife-hand, and lightly chop down on the ruffian's arm!

"Aah!!!"

A miserable scream shattered the air...

Following that, Sui Yi stepped forward, swoosh~~~

A fluid, spinning flying kick!

Thwack!

Another man's face twisted sideways, his entire body flying off to the side to crash heavily into a pillar.

Then, movements as flowing as clouds and water, as vigorous as racing dragons...

In less than ten breaths.

All dozen or so men were sprawled out on the ground.

The onlookers stared in dumbfounded shock, some only belatedly realizing they had forgotten to take out their phones to record...

Sui Yi walked up to the one who looked like the boss, stood before him for a moment,

Su Ziyi frowned. "Who knows who sent them? Should we interrogate them?"

"I imagine they have their own professional ethics and won't easily give away who hired them."

As she spoke, Sui Yi had already taken out her phone. "Let's call the police."

"I'll go find some rope and tie them up..."

"No need, they won't be moving anytime soon."

Ah. Su Ziyi indeed noticed that these men were either clutching their arms or their legs, wailing incessantly.

Did it hurt that much?

Not a single drop of blood was shed, for goodness' sake!

And yet they were all such big, strapping fellows—what a disgrace...

Upon receiving Sui Yi's emergency call, Zhang Xiao and the others gave a start and immediately declared they were on their way...

Sui Yi hung up the phone, turned to Su Ziyi, and said, "The painting from earlier... it seems to have been dropped over there. I'll go take a look for it. You wait here for the police to arrive and take a statement, alright?"

"Uh, sure... But you don't need to go back for it; since it's lost, we probably won't find it anymore."