Chapter 102
Lin Zhiqiao did not speak.
More precisely, he had temporarily lost the ability to make any sound at all.
This was the first time Lin Zhiqiao had ever received such a sincere confession. To be honest, aside from shock and confusion, he also felt a little at a loss.
He stayed silent for quite a while before finally opening his mouth carefully. “I…”
But the person beside him seemed to sense his hesitation and spoke before he could continue. “You don’t have to rush to give me an answer.”
Lin Zhiqiao paused, and swallowed the words he had not yet said.
“This doesn’t count as a formal confession, so you don’t need to tell me your answer right now,” Song Fengshi said. “I just felt that it was time for you to know.”
At the side, Song Xinqiu quietly nodded.
With her uncle’s hopelessly clumsy way of pursuing someone—worse than an elementary schooler’s—and with Lin Zhiqiao being so hopelessly dull that all he could think about was eating gossip instead of dating, if no one directly pierced through that layer of window paper, the progress would probably stay stuck forever.
And besides… sometimes sincerity really was the ultimate finishing move.
Song Xinqiu glanced at the young man sitting beside Song Fengshi and carefully observed his expression.
He was shocked, but not disgusted or troubled. On the contrary, there was a very obvious trace of being moved by that sincerity—
A good sign, Song Xinqiu thought. If there was already goodwill, then it meant being truly smitten was not far away.
After saying all that, Song Fengshi proactively changed the subject and turned the conversation toward the items being auctioned on site.
Lin Zhiqiao realized he was doing it to avoid putting pressure on him, and that moved him even more.
[He’s so considerate and gentle—nothing like the so-called cold-blooded iron-handed head of the Song family.] he muttered inwardly.
Beside him, Song Fengshi lowered his eyes slightly, and a faint smile appeared in them.
He had heard countless people describe him with words like cold-blooded and iron-handed, but he was not like that toward everyone.
There were always exceptions.
And quite obviously, Lin Zhiqiao was that exception.
Lin Zhiqiao did not struggle with the matter for too long before setting it aside for the time being.
Honestly, for a boyfriend option like Song Fengshi—rich, handsome, and almost perfect—Lin Zhiqiao felt that no matter who he confessed to, most people would not choose to reject him.
Lin Zhiqiao was the same.
Although he did not currently feel any so-called romantic love toward Song Fengshi, and what he felt more was friendship, brotherhood, and an alliance forged through gossip, dating was not marriage. To a certain extent, it did not need to be taken that rigorously.
Feelings could be cultivated. Since the other party had already confessed, and in every way fit Lin Zhiqiao’s standards for a boyfriend, and he did not feel repulsed by it—in fact, he even felt a faint little flutter—then in the past, his attitude would have been simple: accept it, date first, and if it turned out later that they were not suitable or he did not really like him, then they could break up.
That really had been Lin Zhiqiao’s old outlook on love. But now…
The way Song Fengshi had spoken was simply too sincere, so sincere that Lin Zhiqiao felt that no matter what response he gave right now, it would seem too careless.
Lin Zhiqiao did not want to casually fail that sincerity.
So his thinking became very simple.
Since he could not make a proper response in the short term, then he simply would not force himself to.
When he truly became certain of his own feelings later, then he would give a definite answer. No matter whether it was for himself or for the other person, that felt like the best choice for now.
Once he figured that out, Lin Zhiqiao quickly shifted his attention back to the auction.
The auctioneer was currently selling a cufflink. Set into it was an engraved crystal called Eternal Love, with a starting price of two million.
Right on cue, the screen inside the private room displayed a giant close-up of the item.
Lin Zhiqiao glanced at it twice and muttered inwardly: [The name is pretty romantic, I guess…]
Beside him, Song Fengshi’s heart stirred. His fingers almost immediately moved toward the bidding button.
[But why is it so ugly?!] Lin Zhiqiao could not help complaining. [That crystal could’ve been so pretty—how did they carve it into something like this?! What a waste!!!]
Song Fengshi instantly withdrew his hand and sat there with perfect composure, as if absolutely nothing had just happened.
In the end, that cufflink sold for 5.2 million.
Lin Zhiqiao was not interested in the next few items at all, until a set of jade ornaments was brought up.
It was a set of jade carvings shaped like ancient sycees. The auctioneer introduced it as a work by a certain master, symbolizing the attraction of wealth and treasure.
Lin Zhiqiao’s eyes lit up immediately: [Isn’t this way more valuable than Eternal Love?!]
The auctioneer said, “Starting price: 8.88 million.”
The bright sparkle in Lin Zhiqiao’s eyes dimmed just as quickly.
That was way too expensive.
Although with his current savings he could technically afford the set, being able to buy it and being willing to buy it were two different things.
The bidding on the floor quickly rose to 13 million.
The next second, a beep sounded from the private room.
Song Fengshi had joined the bidding, and in the end, he won the set of jade carvings for 16 million.
Lin Zhiqiao stared in shock: [As expected of President Song. So outrageously rich!]
Song Fengshi only glanced at him once, then quickly withdrew his gaze.
And that was only the beginning.
By the time the entire auction ended, Song Fengshi had bid five times, and every single time he had successfully won the item. The cheapest was 800,000, while the most expensive was just under 50 million.
Lin Zhiqiao had gone from astonishment at the beginning to complete Buddhist acceptance by the end, leaving behind nothing but pure worship.
Spending over a hundred million at a single auction without even blinking…
[As expected of President Song.] Lin Zhiqiao had already lost count of how many times he had sighed that exact thing.
After the auction ended, a staff member knocked on the private room door and asked whether Song Fengshi wanted to take the items with him on the spot or have the venue arrange for special delivery.
Song Fengshi gave them an address. “Send them here.”
The address sounded a little familiar.
Lin Zhiqiao took a moment to process it, then suddenly realized that the address Song Fengshi had given was the address where he himself currently lived.
He jolted in shock and quickly tugged on Song Fengshi’s sleeve. “Did you give them the wrong address?”
But Song Fengshi said calmly, “I didn’t. Those things are gifts for you.” He paused, then said directly, “I’m pursuing you right now. Giving you gifts is only natural.”
Lin Zhiqiao’s pupils shook violently.
[That’s over a hundred million worth of stuff! How can he just give it away like that!!!]
This kind of plot, Lin Zhiqiao had only ever seen in TV dramas before. He had never imagined it would actually happen to him.
“But they’re too expensive,” Lin Zhiqiao said, almost cautiously.
“To me, they’re nothing,” Song Fengshi replied.
Lin Zhiqiao’s pupils shook again and again and again. What kind of rich-person line was that!!!
Song Fengshi thought for a moment and asked, “Or is it that you don’t like these things?”
Lin Zhiqiao hesitated. “It’s not that I don’t like them…”
“Then that’s good.” Song Fengshi nodded. “If you like them, then accept them.”
Lin Zhiqiao did not say anything for a moment. Sensing his difficulty, Song Fengshi added, “Giving you gifts is only because I want to. It’s not because I want to exchange them for your response. You don’t need to feel any psychological burden. Just treat them as gifts from a friend.”
Lin Zhiqiao could not help saying, “What kind of friends give things like this…”
“I do,” Song Fengshi said. “You’ll have to slowly get used to that.”
Lin Zhiqiao fell silent.
“You like these things, so they have value,” Song Fengshi said. “If they stayed with me, there’d be no difference between them and five-yuan roadside goods.”
Only after a long while did Lin Zhiqiao sigh and ask, “Song Fengshi, aren’t you afraid that I might say yes to your confession because of your money?”
“Why would I be afraid of that?” Song Fengshi frowned slightly. “Wouldn’t that be a good thing?”
“How is that a good thing?” Lin Zhiqiao really did not understand the logic in his head. “If someone gets together because of money, then doesn’t that make the relationship impure?”
But Song Fengshi shook his head, clearly disagreeing. “Being rich is one of my strengths. If you like my money, that also means you’re very satisfied with me, doesn’t it?”
Lin Zhiqiao was stunned by that line of thought and asked involuntarily, “Have you never thought about what happens if you don’t have money in the future?”
“I really haven’t,” Song Fengshi said, suddenly smiling. “Don’t worry. Something like ‘having no money’ will never happen to me. I’m very confident that this strength of mine—being rich—will stay with me for the rest of my life.”
At this point, not only was Lin Zhiqiao frozen, even Song Xinqiu beside them could not help looking at Song Fengshi several times.
“You can absolutely fall for my money, or even all of my assets, because that means you’ll very likely keep liking me forever,” Song Fengshi concluded. “And I’m perfectly happy with that.”
Lin Zhiqiao: “……”
He had no comeback at all.
In fact, he thought it sounded way too reasonable!!!
Song Xinqiu rubbed her forehead. This was the first time she had realized that her uncle was actually this love-brained.
That is not how money power is supposed to be used!
