"Ah, so that’s what it was." Li Yang smiled and nodded. After a moment’s thought, he said, "You asked if I was at the auction house on purpose earlier, didn’t you?"

Zhou Yao had asked him earlier if he’d arrived at the auction house. Li Yang hadn’t thought much of it at the time, but now he realized she must have done it on purpose.

Zhou Yao just smiled without answering. At that moment, Zhou Xiaoyun walked up to her side.

She pointed to Zhou Xiaoyun and said, "This is my aunt."

Zhou Xiaoyun looked at Li Yang, carefully sizing up the boy her niece liked, and couldn’t help but nod to herself in approval.

’He’s tall, with a bright, handsome, and clean-cut look. Yaoyao has good taste.’

She had actually seen a photo of Li Yang before, but a picture is different from the real person. This was the first time she was truly seeing him.

’Her niece really does have good taste.’

"Hello." 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"Hello."

Li Yang and Zhou Xiaoyun exchanged greetings.

Zhou Yao glanced at the seats and suddenly asked in surprise, "Li Yang, this is your seat?"

Li Yang nodded and asked with a smile, "What’s up? Is there something special about this seat?"

Zhou Yao smiled and said, "My seat is here too! You’re number ninety-seven, and I’m ninety-nine."

She really didn’t know anything about the seating arrangements and had no idea her seat would be right by Li Yang’s.

"What a coincidence," Li Yang said with a smile.

Next to them, Zhou Xiaoyun smiled and said, "My seat is number ninety-eight. Come, Yaoyao, have a seat."

She promptly sat down in her seat, which made Zhou Yao instantly want to pinch her.

’I’m ninety-nine. Couldn’t my aunt just swap seats with me? Then I could sit next to Li Yang!’

Zhou Xiaoyun, meanwhile, put on an innocent expression, staring straight ahead as she thought, ’Hmph, Yaoyao, how dare you tease me earlier? I’ll teach you a little lesson. I’m specifically *not* letting you sit next to Li Yang.’

Seeing her aunt act this way, Zhou Yao silently gritted her teeth. However, she maintained her smile and gave Li Yang an embarrassed one.

Li Yang could tell something was up. ’What’s going on with this aunt and her niece?’ he wondered.

"Huh, Xiaoyun, you’re here too?"

Just then, an incredibly delighted voice rang out. The moment she heard it, Zhou Xiaoyun’s eyelid twitched, and the smile on her face mostly vanished.

Not far away, a handsome but slender young man in his twenties ran over, his face filled with joy as he looked at Zhou Xiaoyun.

Seeing the young man, Zhou Xiaoyun was instantly overcome with irritation.

"Chen Jiamu, I’ve already made myself perfectly clear. There’s no chance for us," Zhou Xiaoyun said, exasperated.

This Chen Jiamu had been pursuing her for two years now. She had made herself clear, but he was like a stubborn piece of gum that she just couldn’t scrape off.

"It’s okay, Xiaoyun. As long as you’re single, I have a chance. I believe my sincerity will win you over one day," Chen Jiamu said, his expression full of heartfelt emotion.

Nearby, Li Yang watched the scene unfold, a strange feeling welling up inside him. ’Have I stumbled into a cheesy soap opera plot about a hopelessly devoted guy chasing a girl?’

Chen Jiamu saw the impatient look on Zhou Xiaoyun’s face, but far from being discouraged, he seemed to be reveling in it.

He noticed Li Yang beside them and quickly said, "Hey, buddy, is this your seat? How about we switch? My seat is up there in the front row."

Chen Jiamu looked at Li Yang pleadingly.

Hearing this, Li Yang felt a wave of resignation. He’d been dragged into the very drama he was just observing. Besides, Zhou Yao, the girl he liked, was right here. There was no way he was leaving.

"Sorry, I’m not interested in switching seats," Li Yang said, refusing him outright.

"Come on, buddy, I’m begging you." Seeing Li Yang’s refusal, Chen Jiamu didn’t give up in the slightest; his personality seemed to be as persistent as sticky toffee.

Li Yang sighed in resignation. ’I already said no, and he’s still begging?’

He shook his head. "I really don’t want to switch seats."

Chen Jiamu didn’t get angry at all. He just kept shamelessly chatting with Zhou Xiaoyun while simultaneously trying to convince Li Yang to switch seats.

While they were speaking, Chen Tiantao and Zhao Kun arrived nearby.

"Jiamu."

Seeing the situation, Chen Tiantao called out.

Zhao Kun, meanwhile, spotted Li Yang next to Chen Jiamu, and a flicker of displeasure crossed his eyes.

He detested Li Guohai, and by extension, Li Guohai’s son and daughter.

However, given his stature, while he might make a move against Li Guohai, he wouldn’t stoop so low as to take out his anger on Li Yang and Li Xue.

Despite his dislike for Li Yang, he still followed Chen Tiantao over.

Chen Jiamu’s status was anything but ordinary. Though he was a rich wastrel, his older brother was the Chen family’s sole Cultivator—an Earth-Level master!

This connection gave Chen Jiamu a very high status within the Chen family.

"Second Uncle."

Chen Jiamu greeted Chen Tiantao with a smile.

"What’s all this?" Chen Tiantao asked.

Chen Jiamu laughed. "I was just talking to this young man here about switching seats."

Chen Tiantao and Zhao Kun were both high-status individuals who often appeared in online news. In the Zhao family, for instance, although Zhao Qianxing was the patriarch, his advanced age meant Zhao Kun handled most affairs, making him the public face of the Zhao Group.

Chen Tiantao’s role in his family was much the same.

A significant number of influential people had come to the Xuan City auction, and many of them now looked over, recognizing Zhao Kun and Chen Tiantao.

"Quite a few big names are here this time. The Chen family, the Zhao family."

"Is that Chen Jiamu? The rich wastrel?"

"Well, he’s got that amazing brother. It gives him a pretty high standing in the Chen family."

"An Earth-Level Cultivator... Our family doesn’t have a single person with the Talent for it."

People murmured amongst themselves in low voices.

’Zhao Kun!’

Li Yang’s eyes had naturally found the approaching Zhao Kun. His expression was placid, but a grim shadow flickered in the depths of his eyes.

He had seen Zhao Qianxing on television before, and of course, he had seen Zhao Kun as well.

It was Zhao Kun who had gone to see his father, and the encounter had driven his father to attempt suicide. Luckily, he was found by the sea just in time. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unthinkable.

Li Guohai had told him what Zhao Kun said. The words, while not direct, had been clearly meant to drive his father to his death.

Li Yang’s expression darkened. The first time, his mother, Zhao Rou, had taken him and his sister, Li Xue, to see Zhao Qianxing. This was now his second encounter with the Zhao family.

Zhao Kun was his mother’s older brother. In terms of family relations, Li Yang was supposed to call him ’Uncle’.

But there was none of the closeness one might expect, no smiles. There was only coldness and estrangement.

"Switching seats?" Hearing Chen Jiamu’s request, Chen Tiantao’s gaze shifted.

He knew Chen Jiamu could be stubborn—to put it less kindly, he was thick-headed. But because of his brother’s special status in the family, they tended to grant him whatever he wanted.

Even though Chen Jiamu was uncultured and something of a wastrel, he was generally well-behaved and didn’t fly into rages, so he wasn’t a major headache.

A simple request to switch seats was a trivial matter, but since it involved Chen Jiamu, Chen Tiantao had to handle it with care.

However, Li Yang was Zhao Kun’s nephew. Given that relationship, it wasn’t his place to intervene.

So, Chen Tiantao turned to Zhao Kun and said, "Zhao Kun, about your nephew here..."

His implication was clear: Chen Jiamu was stubborn and wouldn’t back down once he’d decided on something. Sometimes, not humoring him would only make the situation escalate.

He knew that Li Yang had no backing to speak of, aside from his connection to the Zhao family.

If Zhao Kun stepped in, they could just swap seats and be done with it.

"Zhao Kun’s nephew?"

Hearing Chen Tiantao’s words, everyone present was taken aback, including Zhou Xiaoyun and Zhou Yao.

What did Chen Tiantao mean by ’nephew’? It looked like he was referring to Li Yang.

Zhou Yao’s face filled with confusion. She knew who Zhao Kun was, and she’d heard of the Zhao Group.

’Li Yang is related to that powerful figure from the Zhao Group? And they have a close relationship, like uncle and nephew?’

As for Zhou Xiaoyun, a thought suddenly struck her. ’Could Li Yang be Zhao Rou’s son?’

It seemed she knew a few things about the Zhao family.

At Chen Tiantao’s prompting, Zhao Kun offered a placid smile and said, "I’ll handle it."

He looked at the impassive Li Yang and said coolly, "You know who I am, don’t you?"

Li Yang nodded. "I do."

His expression was perfectly calm, showing no ripples of emotion.

Seemingly displeased by Li Yang’s overly calm expression, Zhao Kun frowned slightly. He didn’t say anything more, simply gesturing toward the front. "Since you know, go take a seat up front."

He gave the order casually, his face a mask of indifference.

As far as he was concerned, Li Yang should obey his orders without question. After all, he could give Li Guohai himself a casual command, and the man wouldn’t dare to argue back.

In his view, the only reason Li Yang could be here was undoubtedly because of Qin Shanchuan.

Hearing Zhao Kun’s nonchalant command, Li Yang’s face remained blank, but the suppressed rage in his heart instantly flared up like a wildfire.

Suppressing his rage, he asked calmly, "Are you giving me an order?"

Seeing that Li Yang had no intention of obeying, Zhao Kun frowned. "What? With my status, I can’t give you an order?"

Setting aside everything else, just by virtue of being his uncle, Li Yang should obey him.

Besides, he’d been managing the Zhao Group for years, overseeing tens of thousands of employees. What could be more normal than giving an order to an insignificant boy like Li Yang?

Instantly, Zhao Kun’s expression turned even colder. Li Yang’s words had clearly caused him to lose face in front of Chen Tiantao.

Li Yang remained unmoved by Zhao Kun’s cold retort. A slow, mocking smile began to spread across his previously calm face.

"Who the hell do you think you are? What gives you the right to order me around?"

The words, spoken calmly from Li Yang’s lips, landed like a bombshell, plunging the surrounding area into silence.

(Thank you to Bansheng Liangliangliang dao Shang for the 2,000-coin tip, 08a for the 200-coin tip, and Yangfan Qihang 888 for the 100-coin tip. Thank you. Please vote for me with your monthly and recommendation tickets!)