Chapter 1#

Second Young Master Chu#

Chu Xun sat at the edge of a large round table in the center of the venue, legs crossed, one calf swinging easily. The corner of his mouth carried his habitual smile—gentle, the kind that made people really like him.

His hair was cut clean and sharp, the not-too-coarse, not-too-hard strands smoothed down obediently at his temples and the back of his head, revealing a long, slender neck. Sitting there quietly, he looked every bit the gentle and elegant young master, idly rubbing a small nail file in his hand. As waves of people drifted across the stage, Chu Xun tilted his head, eyes lowered, too lazy to even lift his eyelids, just continuing to file his nails with that little file.

As for what kind of person Chu Xun was, almost no one who came and went in this place didn’t know him. He was a significant figure in the capital’s circle of red nobility, with quite a background—everyone knew it when mentioned. Although Young Master Chu wasn’t very old and his seniority couldn’t compare to the old guard, the young man spoke and acted sharply, spent money freely, and leveraging his family background, had done quite a bit of business in recent years. He was also good-looking—tall and slender, with beautiful features that grew on you. Wherever he went, he was surrounded by flocks of admirers; over the years, all sorts of people had come and gone around him.

Of course, most importantly, Chu Xun was the second son of Chief Chu, the one who showed his face in public, the “Crown Prince” of the General Staff Department. There were plenty of people who sucked up to him openly, despised him secretly, or found him an eyesore and tried every trick to trip him up or take him down.

Grand Hyatt Chicago. The grand ballroom was spacious and luxurious. Waiters wove between the round tables, polite and soft-spoken, slowly pouring wine into glasses.

This venue was hosting an auction, bidding on several world-renowned, priceless artifacts. Seated below were families of old money, financial groups, and celebrities from various fields—Americans, Japanese—all in high spirits, chatting and laughing, watching the hammer fall amidst the faintly lingering smoke of battle.

Chu Xun was just here today as an invited guest to keep company; you couldn’t tell from his face how much interest he had in the items being auctioned.

The auctioneer carefully took out a bronze beast head sculpture from a glass case. A low murmur of amazement rippled through the surroundings.

“Dragon Head.”

“…The Dragon Head that has been missing for so many years!”

The exquisitely crafted, spirited Dragon Head sculpture gleamed with a unique bronze luster under the spotlight. A speck of eerie green light reflected onto Young Master Chu’s eyeglass lenses, casting a faint shadow on his indifferent eyes. Chu Xun’s eyes were long and narrow; wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, he looked listless. Every time his eyelashes fluttered open slightly, the light behind the lenses flashed past, like a leopard lurking in a dense forest, revealing eyes shooting sharp light from the dark woods…

Several Chinese people sitting at the same table as Chu Xun were all staring at the stage, whispering about that beast head treasure—after all, it was a national treasure that had been lost overseas back in the day.

Sitting to Chu Xun’s right was Huo Huanhuan, wearing a black and gold low-cut mermaid dress, dazzlingly beautiful to the point of being blinding. Huo Huanhuan had just walked the red carpet at the Chicago Film Festival the night before, changing into three gowns with a big flower on her head, rushing through several events non-stop, bombing domestic media with press releases one after another. She chatted in the film festival restroom to get a ticket to the charity gala, and at the gala, she leaned over to her neighbor, half-covering her chest, to snag an admission ticket to today’s auction. Privately, she told the auction organizers she was Alexander McQueen’s spokesperson for the year, then turned around and told McQueen that the auction had graciously invited her and she urgently needed haute couture. She got both the ticket and the clothes. Everyone in the circle knew that Huo Huanhuan was a smart woman, a sharp cookie.

Huo Huanhuan glanced sideways at Second Young Master Chu. Throughout the event, she had been leaning in to talk to Chu Xun, smiling beautifully.

She liked Chu Xun.

Who didn’t?

Huo Huanhuan elegantly propped her chin on the backs of her hands: “President Chu, too busy to give me a call?”

Chu Xun laughed: “Don’t call me ‘President’, I’ve told you several times, are you mocking me?”

Huo Huanhuan said: “Would I dare call you randomly? Boss Chu, last time we had dinner with those people, you promised to invest in my studio’s film. Have you forgotten me?”

Chu Xun licked his lips, slapped his thigh, and laughed: “Oh my, I’m really not an expert in that.”

Huo Huanhuan dragged out her voice, acting cloying: “Give me a hand, will you—I can give you a return, okay, Boss Chu?”

Chu Xun also laughed: “You keep bringing this up with me. Why do I feel like you’re helping me count my own money out of my pocket? Are you planning to sell me next?”

Huo Huanhuan begged explicitly, and Chu Xun replied without ambiguity. Neither of them was petty or coy; they knew each other inside out.

Huo Huanhuan reached a hand under the table and skillfully stroked one of Chu Xun’s knees. Neither had the heart to watch the auction on stage, nor cared what round or price it was at. Huo Huanhuan’s hand under the table was the price she was offering Young Master Chu.

Having the hollow of his knee tickled, Chu Xun also squeezed Huo Huanhuan’s hand under the table, rubbing the back of her hand, fingers intertwining, a light smile on his face.

Chu Xun’s smile emerged from the corners of his mouth, then slowly melted into his whole face. His narrow eyes filled with a certain intriguing mirth, his gaze charming and clear. Huo Huanhuan’s heart immediately skipped a beat, her gaze lingering on the slightly upturned corners of Chu Xun’s mouth. She had a price for dinner, a price for bed, but no price could be put on feelings. Huo Huanhuan had never met anyone like Second Young Master Chu before. Every time Chu Xun smiled at her, she fell a step deeper; every time he smiled, she found him increasingly unfathomable. What exactly was this person thinking…

Chu Xun threw her a look, smiling gently and with a hint of sincerity: “Don’t call me Boss from now on, just call me Chu Xun. If you need anything, just say it.”

“Really?”

Huo Huanhuan tried her best to smile charmingly: “Chu Xun, look after me more in the future.”

Chu Xun slowly closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them, soft light shooting from behind the lenses. Huo Huanhuan felt as if her whole heart had been electrified, going numb…

These two were making eyes at each other at the table, and others at the table had been watching coldly for a long time.

Actually, there was another lady sitting to Chu Xun’s left. This woman was named Lu Shishi, dressed luxuriously. Her exquisitely coiled hair was covered in glitter hairspray, looking like a shining golden statue from ten steps away. Her heavy makeup presented a kind of fiery oppression, making people not want to look a second time after the first glance; it was too blinding.

Lu Shishi was currently the hottest folk song diva in the country, the pillar of the X Political Song and Dance Troupe. This time, she was brought abroad by the people behind her to “play”, walk the red carpet, and attend a cocktail party. Lu Shishi was a bit older; in terms of looks and thickness of skin, she definitely couldn’t compete with Huo Huanhuan. But she kept a young mindset and still had the desire to compete. Along the way, the two women found each other eyesores, their fighting spirits high.

Last night in the restroom, Lu Shishi accidentally splashed a chestful of water on Huo Huanhuan. The water stains flowed down Huo Huanhuan’s cleavage to her navel, chilly.

Today, when entering the venue, Huo Huanhuan stepped on Lu Shishi’s skirt from behind, stomping hard and not letting go, until the tube top of her outer dress was almost pulled down, revealing her shaping underwear and the sponge pads squeezed in front of her chest. Lu Shishi was so angry she turned her head and cursed on the spot…

Lu Shishi rolled her eyes and said faintly: “So impatient, just short of crawling under the table to lick toes.”

She didn’t name names, but she was talking about Huo Huanhuan hitting on Chu Xun.

Young Master Chu was good-looking, attractive. Lu Shishi wasn’t blind, of course she saw it too. She couldn’t bring herself to cozy up to Chu Xun in public, and she couldn’t stand Huo Huanhuan. Lu Shishi felt that she was, after all, a public servant, with a military art troupe background and the treatment of a senior colonel, having status and position in society. What was someone like Huo Huanhuan? Just selling herself piecemeal, exuding “cheapness” from head to toe, whether she could sell or not was another matter.

Chu Xun also saw that the two women at the table didn’t get along. He smiled, leaned forward, and politely addressed the other as “Teacher Lu”, initiating a conversation.

Lu Shishi was caught off guard and suddenly felt uncomfortable, “So polite, don’t call me Teacher Lu.”

Chu Xun leaned closer: “Teacher Lu, with your voice, you’re number one in our folk song world. I listened to your concert in Hong Kong. My dad loves listening to you sing; our house is full of your discs, really.”

Lu Shishi was flattered, her heart thumping with excitement. When Chu Xun spoke, his eyes were focused, his expression gentle and serious, looking at her unblinkingly.

“Actually, I like listening too. I’m a layman, I don’t understand it too well and can’t talk about the technicalities, please don’t mind.”

Chu Xun smiled, grinning to reveal a bit of childishness, seeming not so hard to deal with.

Lu Shishi immediately felt seventy or eighty percent favor towards Chu Xun, trying hard to maintain her poise: “Don’t call me Teacher, I really don’t deserve it. Call me by my name, I…”

Chu Xun leaned his head very close, his breath spreading evenly on her face, smelling of mint candy, smiling innocently: “Then, I’ll call you Sister Shishi. Sister, tell me more about it later, you know…”

With this back and forth at the table, one “Sister” after another, they became familiar even if they weren’t before.

The two women, their gazes seemingly attached to Chu Xun, were tickled pink but couldn’t make a move or get a taste. They both loathed the other’s eyesore existence and felt that Young Master Chu in front of them was such a cute and approachable person!

Young Master Chu covered two ladies alone, strolling idly at the wine table, handling both sides. Whispering cheek-to-cheek with the left, hooking fingers and rubbing legs with the right under the table. The gentleman sitting opposite him couldn’t stand it anymore.

Sitting opposite Chu Xun was Hou Yiqun, Young Master Hou. He had a tall and big frame, broad shoulders, leaning crookedly in his chair, smoking while looking at Chu Xun, squinting his eyes. He had been watching for a long time, his expression playful.

The two occasionally made eye contact, sweeping over each other’s faces indifferently, too lazy to acknowledge each other. The Hou family’s status was deeper than the Chu family’s, and they were no ordinary people. This auction today had Hou Yiqun’s operation and participation behind it. Hou Yiqun’s grandfather, Hou Manshan, was one of the eight great elders in the party who were still alive and not yet buried. His father, Hou Xianjin, was in the Politburo. The Hou family was truly deeply rooted, able to call the wind and summon the rain.

Chu Xun knew clearly in his heart and understood Hou Yiqun’s background; the two sides didn’t get along from the roots. Hou Yiqun made his fortune through smuggling back in the day. On the surface, he relied on his family background and Old Man Hou’s pass, but secretly he used underworld methods. He once caused a shocking “theft” of national treasures from a museum in Nanjing, colluding with overseas companies to steal, transport, and smuggle. The case was eventually suppressed by the higher-ups, the cultural relics were lost, and it was left unsettled. The Yuanmingyuan bronze Dragon Head sculpture being auctioned on stage today was put up by the descendants of British devils, but actually, Hou Yiqun was also operating in the middle, taking intermediary profits.

Hou Yiqun glanced coldly at Chu Xun and spoke up: “I say, Xun, not interested? Bid for one?”

Chu Xun shook his head: “Forget it, my family background is too thin, and my eyes aren’t good. I’m blind, can’t recognize goods, can’t afford to play.”

Hou Yiqun snorted contemptuously: “This is good stuff, the real deal, brother isn’t fooling you.”

Chu Xun said: “Good stuff, aren’t you buying it back for us?”

Hou Yiqun shrugged, biting the cigarette with his front teeth, and sneered: “If I buy it back for our country, I’m throwing money away for nothing, and the thing won’t end up in my hands. If I sell it, I can make big money.”

Chu Xun nodded slightly; that was the damn truth.

Huo Huanhuan and Lu Shishi watched and listened silently. Huo Huanhuan secretly curled her lip in contempt at Hou Yiqun, then gazed at Chu Xun again. For someone like Young Master Hou, Huo Huanhuan could sell herself, but even while selling, she looked down on him in her heart.

Hou Yiqun was annoyed at the two beauties at the table. Seeing the one surnamed Chu, their four big eyes had been glued to Chu Xun’s face all night, couldn’t even pull them out. Young Master Hou felt he was losing face. Last night at the gala, Huo Huanhuan had sat on his lap, but seeing Chu Xun today, like reuniting with an old flame, she was about to crawl under the table to hug Chu Xun’s thigh and gnaw on it.

Chu Xun involuntarily laughed suddenly at the table and said, “If you want to make money, I’ll help you make a bit more.”

Like a prank, Chu Xun took the bidding paddle and started bidding against the group of Japanese on the other side of the hall, raising the paddle frequently. The Japanese were originally set to win at five million dollars. Chu Xun raised it to seven million. The Japanese raised it to eight million. Before the auctioneer shouted “Eight million going thrice”, Chu Xun smiled wickedly and raised it to nine million.

Huo Huanhuan and Lu Shishi watched unblinkingly, sweating for Young Master Chu in vain, afraid the Japanese would fold and he’d really have to cough up nine million in blood. The young master of the Japanese Takasaki financial group gritted his teeth and held his breath for a while, unwilling to give up, and finally raised it to ten million. Chu Xun cheerfully stopped and winked at Hou Yiqun: “Qun, I’m really good to you, right?”

Huo Huanhuan and Lu Shishi both breathed a sigh of relief, looking at Chu Xun with increasing infatuation.

Chu Xun was in high spirits and loved to play, so he started teasing the two beauties. He put away the nail file and asked Huo Huanhuan for half a pack of cigarettes. His ten fingers were long and well-proportioned, nails gleaming with a pale flesh color. His fingers stretched and moved nimbly, dazzlingly fast, and suddenly made several cigarettes disappear from his hand.

The two women watched in amazement. Huo Huanhuan grabbed Chu Xun’s arm and searched, “Where’s my cigarette? Where did you magic it away to? Give it back!”

Chu Xun spread his hands, producing a tangerine in his palm: “Cigarettes are gone, have a tangerine.”

Huo Huanhuan was relentless, acting coquettishly, “No, magic the cigarette back for me, you’re too bad!”

Lu Shishi lifted the tablecloth to look underneath and made a sound of surprise. Huo Huanhuan looked down, grabbed Chu Xun’s shirt, and pulled the truth out of his waistband, “You hid the cigarettes! You stole the tangerine from the next table! You cheated to trick us!”

Seeing he was exposed, Chu Xun laughed heartily, scratching his head in embarrassment, revealing a bit of roguish shyness. When a man occasionally reveals a childish side, that vibe is particularly attractive.

“Sister, I was wrong, I won’t do it again, stop fussing. I’ll give them back, I was wrong, okay?”

“I was wrong, isn’t that enough? I-I-I’ll peel the tangerine for you…”

…

The two great beauties, one young and one old, were getting along famously with Young Master Chu. Hou Yiqun watched coldly from the opposite side, unhappy in his heart, disdainful of Young Master Chu’s petty tricks to coax women. At the same time, his mind was working, his gaze cutting a not-soft-not-hard knife across Chu Xun’s face…

Chu Xun slipped out halfway to go to the restroom.

In the restroom, he washed his hands clean again, wiped them, and then dried them carefully with the hand dryer, leaving not a trace of moisture in his fingernails.

He leaned close to the large mirror above the sink, staring at his own face, smoothing his hair, squinting at the gleaming eyes in the mirror, and exhaled. Everything was ready.

There were attendants in the restroom to serve, handing hot towels, adjusting shirts. It was extremely difficult for his every move to escape others’ eyes.

Before leaving the restroom, Chu Xun pinched an earring on his left ear cartilage, flicked it lightly, and sent a signal.

He knew that on the hillside a few hundred meters away, a pair of eyes was staring at him unblinkingly, and a sniper rifle scope was aiming at everything within a ten-meter radius of him. The back of his head was right within the sniper’s sights.

A familiar, low, husky cough came from the earring, faint, the radio waves stirring up a magnetic lingering sound, like a finger gently flicking across his heart, making Chu Xun’s eyes tremble slightly…