Chapter 14: The Male Lead with X-Ray Vision vs. Five Female Leads (14)
“Two hundred million?” Huo Xian frowned slightly upon hearing Anna’s offer. “Isn’t that too much?”
Anna raised her wine glass. Seeing this, Huo Xian also raised his to gently clink with hers. Only after the clinking did she say, “Not at all. ‘Five Blessings at the Door’ is the rarest type of multicolored jade. It has auspicious meaning and high collectible value.”
To this, Huo Xian only said, “Color is the meaning people ascribe to it.”
“That’s why it’s valuable,” Anna naturally replied.
Huo Xian: … He didn’t know how to respond to that.
“So, Mr. Huo, are you willing to part with it?” Anna steered the conversation back to the jade.
“Of course,” Huo Xian readily agreed.
They clinked glasses again. Huo Xian drank his wine and began to concentrate on cutting his steak.
Anna put down her wine glass, her red-nailed fingers tapping lightly on the table. Huo Xian didn’t look at her; the steak seemed to hold more interest for him than her little gestures.
Therefore, Anna abandoned her plan to first attract his attention before asking and directly inquired, “May I presumptuously ask Mr. Huo why you chose the No. 3 rough stone?”
This question was within Huo Xian’s expectations. He put down his knife and replied with a smile, “My birthday is March 3rd. I don’t understand rough stones, so I just randomly picked one based on my birthdate.”
“March 3rd. Twenty days left,” Anna said.
Huo Xian: …
This beauty is acting strangely.
Anna seemed to realize that her words were too ambiguous. Slightly unnaturally, she lowered her eyelids, skipping over this awkward topic and asking instead, “I wonder if Mr. Huo knows my older brother?”
“Young Master An?” Huo Xian finally perked up, showing surprise on his face. He shook his head. “Never met him.”
He had checked An family information online, but there wasn’t much data on the An family members. Mrs. An had a name, but Young Master An didn’t even appear online. However, various news and rumors all said that Young Master An had been frail since childhood, his life sustained by medication, spending 360 days out of 365 in bed. If only one source said this, Huo Xian might not have believed it, but with all the sources saying the same thing, there must be some truth to it; after all, there’s no smoke without fire.
With a change of thought, he smoothly said, “The An family is a prominent family in City A. Our Huo family is merely an ordinary, nouveau riche family, a far cry from the An family. Before my family’s incident, I was a second-generation rich kid everyone despised, my circle of friends filled with spendthrift companions. Young Master An should not be in our circle.” To dispel any possible nascent affection Anna might have for him, he self-deprecatingly spoke without any pressure.
As expected, Anna frowned when he said he was “spendthrift.” Huo Xian’s past… didn’t appeal to her at all.
“Mr. Huo, you needn’t belittle yourself,” Anna said politely.
“I’m not belittling myself; I’m just a good-for-nothing,” Huo Xian continued to self-deprecate.
Anna couldn’t stand him talking about himself like that. Just as she was about to speak, Huo Xian cut her off, asking, “Why would Miss An ask me if I know Young Master An? Come to think of it, I don’t even know Young Master An’s name.”
His topic shift was so natural that Anna didn’t suspect anything and readily replied, “An Chun.”
It was him.
A flash of dark light quickly appeared in Huo Xian’s eyes, but his expression was one of surprise followed by an attempt to suppress laughter. Perhaps he tried too hard, his whole face contorting slightly.
Seeing his expression, Anna also reacted, clearing her throat and explaining, “‘An’ means quiet and peaceful. ‘Chun’ means simple, the same character with the water radical as ‘chun’ (醇), meaning mellow, my father loves fine wine.”
“Ahem…” Huo Xian couldn’t help but feel embarrassed. “Sorry, I was thinking too much.”
An Chun (鵪鶉) – quail.
Anna laughed, “It’s okay. My brother also often complains about his name and wants to change it.” Speaking of which, she remembered her brother who had just undergone another emergency rescue, and her heart sank.
From her conversation with Huo Xian, he truly doesn’t know her brother. So the problem still lies with her brother. Why does he keep mentioning someone completely unrelated to him and insist that Huo Xian has X-ray vision abilities? Shouldn’t abilities like that only exist in novels and TV dramas?
“Mr. Huo, do you know about X-ray vision?” Anna’s mind was hot; she blurted out what was on her mind.
Huo Xian almost choked on his steak. Luckily, he managed to hold it in and was also thankful that he wasn’t drinking, otherwise, Miss Anna would experience the real-world equivalent of being sprayed.
“X-ray vision?” Huo Xian looked at her with a surprised expression. “The kind of superpower in movies?”
His “Miss An, have you watched too many movies?” expression made Anna so embarrassed she wanted to disappear on the spot. Fortunately, she was a family heir raised from a young age, her composure excellent. Her mind quickly turned, and she came up with an explanation: “When my father took me to see jade stones, there was a gambler who lost everything. He was crying over the stone he had bought with all his money and cursed the heavens, asking why he wasn’t given X-ray vision. I originally felt sorry for him losing everything because of one wrong decision. But hearing his last words, I started to think, if every gambler who loses could be granted X-ray vision by Heaven, this entire jade gambling business could be abolished.”
Huo Xian very cooperatively nodded, “Indeed, if someone truly had X-ray vision, the jade stone gambling industry could shut down. And who knows what an X-ray vision person would use that vision to see besides stones?”
He didn’t mention it, but Anna suddenly felt uncomfortable. As he said, X-ray vision could see through jade stones, if it could see through people… Anna immediately got goosebumps.
Huo Xian seemed not to notice her abnormality and went on to say, “Therefore, what you see in movies is fiction; X-ray vision, it’s preposterous.”
=v=
Detention center.
“I remember something about Liu Chengpei, but I don’t know if it’s useful. If it is, I hope Mr. Huo will let me at least see the sky outside.” Fang Sheng was very nervous and cautious. After brief contact, he had found that Huo Xian was heartless and extremely vicious, and he could afford the best lawyers; he really could keep Fang Sheng in prison for life. He also heard that prisoners could be bought off. What if the vicious Mr. Huo bought a few more people…?
In this way, Fang Sheng scared himself with his own imagination, and while racking his brain, he really did remember something about Liu Chengpei.
Huo Xian didn’t readily agree; he only said indifferently, “Let me hear it first.”
Fang Sheng wanted to bargain with him, but firstly, time didn’t allow it, and secondly, Huo Xian didn’t look like the kind of person who would listen to bargaining; if he said too much, the person might just leave.
So he said, “When I hacked into Liu Chengpei’s computer, I found that he mentioned you when chatting with someone. However, the chat log was very short. I remember Liu Chengpei saying that there was only one person at your house, and that he had arranged for someone to succeed soon… He said the person he arranged should be me.”
The clue Fang Sheng recalled confirmed Huo Xian’s guess – someone was guiding Liu Chengpei from behind the scenes. Otherwise, with Liu Chengpei’s limited intelligence, he would have no way of knowing the situation at Huo’s villa.
So the question is, besides Huo’s father and mother, who else would know the secret of Huo’s villa?
This is worth investigating.
…
The appointment with Liu Xuxue was at an Italian restaurant.
[System, do you have to go to a Western restaurant to show your status when eating?] Huo Xian arrived before Liu Xuxue, so he chatted casually with the system.
The system naturally wouldn’t answer such a “boring” question, but instead said: [Host, the initial favorability of the two female leads, Liu Xuxue and Anna, towards you is high and has increased after several contacts. Please don’t spare your charm and actively complete the task.]
Huo Xian: [Since you are no longer hiding ‘favorability,’ why not elaborate? And what exactly is your system attribute?]
The system pretended to be dead again until Liu Xuxue entered the restaurant before popping up: [Liu Xuxue is different from the female leads Fang Manyun and Qiao Yirong. She is introverted, pure, devoted, and beautiful and kind-hearted. She is the type the host likes.]
Huo Xian: He suspected the system had taken money from Liu Xuxue.
“Sorry, I’m late. There was a traffic jam on the way,” Liu Xuxue apologized.
Huo Xian admired her cultivation and smiled, inviting her to sit down. “Not late; I arrived too early.”
After politely exchanging pleasantries, they ordered their meals. They very tacitly both ordered steaks. Huo Xian put the menu aside and casually chatted with the system: [People in this world seem to have a penchant for steak and wine.]
The system didn’t respond: [Eating steak is elegant.]
Is that the only reason? A hint of mockery flashed in Huo Xian’s eyes.
Italian cuisine is the ancestor of Western cuisine. Its characteristics are original flavor, rich taste, and the menu includes classic Italian dishes such as lasagna, seafood pasta, pizza, steak, and cheese rolls. To be honest, except for steak, the other few dishes would affect a lady’s image when eating.
But the system wasn’t wrong; Liu Xuxue was indeed very elegant while eating, her every move pleasing to the eye.
When they were almost finished eating, Liu Xuxue started the conversation. She didn’t beat around the bush: “Mr. Huo, I invited you today to understand how my second uncle gave you the room card that night and what he told you.” Her words were clear, and her expression calm; she didn’t feel ashamed or embarrassed because of the near “offense” that day.
Huo Xian put down his cutlery, wiped his mouth and hands, and sincerely said, “Sorry, Miss Liu, I actually lied to you that day.”
Liu Xuxue was slightly surprised: “Lied to me?”
“I was actually quite tempted by his proposal,” Huo Xian gave a strange smile.
Liu Xuxue subconsciously disliked his smile, but didn’t show it on her face; she only asked, “What was the proposal?”
Huo Xian didn’t answer, but took out a pen—actually, a recording pen—and pushed it in front of Liu Xuxue. “Although I’m not a good person, I wouldn’t take advantage of someone, especially since I’m very aware of the Liu family’s status in City A. Liu Chengpei probably thought I was stupid and waited for me to fall into the trap.” He paused and added, “Miss Liu, after listening to my conversation with Liu Chengpei, you’ll be very angry. I also sincerely apologize, but please believe that I didn’t intend to hurt you.”
Liu Xuxue was silent for a moment, not rushing to take the recording pen, but asking, “The wine in 1608, Mr. Huo, did you drink it?”
“Wine?” Huo Xian tilted his head and pondered for a moment before shaking his head. “The one Liu Chengpei poured for me? There were some impurities in it, so I didn’t drink it.” He paused and said, “I seem to have forgotten to clean it up that day; sorry.”
Liu Xuxue looked at his seemingly genuine expression and smiled faintly, “It’s okay.”
Liu Xuxue took the recording pen. Huo Xian didn’t explain or apologize again. After leaving the restaurant, the system came online again.
[Host, what did you record in the recording pen?]