Chapter 118: New Discovery
Chapter 118: New Discovery
The sky was clear and blue, the autumn air crisp.
A BMW sped along the Yun-Hu Highway, its deep blue body sparkling in the sunlight.
The temperature was a bit high today, so the air conditioning in the car was on.
Gao Jing noticed Ji Yu, sitting in the passenger seat, still looked very tired.
He smiled and said, “Go ahead and catch some sleep. There’s a blanket in the back.”
After meeting last night, they ended up doing some pretty intense exercise, so they had gotten up very late this morning. They had only just gotten onto the highway after starting out in the afternoon.
They still had over two hours to go before reaching Huhai.
“Don’t want to sleep.”
Senior Ji shook her head, leaned back against the seat, and yawned.
Her face showed pure laziness and satisfaction.
She fished her phone out of her bag. “I’m just gonna scroll through my feed.”
It had been a while since Ji Yu had quit her job.
Recently, she’d been holed up at home being a couch potato, with scrolling through Kuaivin and her social feed becoming her daily hobbies.
But staying cooped up at home too long wasn’t comfortable either.
So when Gao Jing called yesterday inviting her to visit Huhai again,
she happily agreed.
Gao Jing thought for a moment, then said, “How about I find you some company?”
Senior Ji stared at her phone, confused. “Huh?”
Gao Jing just smiled without explaining.
Meow~
Accompanied by a soft, adorable meow, Nine Apertures quietly appeared, hopping onto the center armrest.
It flicked its tail, looking left and right: Meow?
Ji Yu’s jaw dropped.
“Wow!”
The very next second, bright stars seemed to sparkle in the senior’s eyes.
She stretched out her hands in utter delight, scooping the little tabby cat into her arms.
It was simply too cute and adorable!
Nine Apertures wiggled its little head.
Its small nose twitched, catching the scent of its master on Ji Yu.
So, it obediently allowed the senior to pet it.
Ji Yu stroked the cat, beaming with joy. Her earlier tiredness completely vanished.
She couldn’t help but ask, “How come you brought a kitten?”
She’d had no idea earlier.
Gao Jing laughed. “Just got her recently. Didn’t feel good leaving her alone at home, so brought her along.”
Ever since finding Nine Apertures the “new home,” he usually let her roam outside.
Because that was better for a spiritual pet’s growth.
Increased closeness and loyalty.
As for the Gangpo Stone— the diamond— getting used up, Gao Jing didn’t care at all.
In fact, although the new diamond was much smaller than the original Gangpo Stone,
it lasted way longer!
“Mimi.”
Ji Yu picked Nine Apertures up and kissed her, praising, “She’s so good! My family used to have a tabby too, but not as cute and pretty as her.”
Meow~
The complimented Nine Apertures strongly agreed.
“Ah! It’s too much!”
The senior adored her more by the second. Her heart utterly melted, wishing she could just take this cat home right now.
She’d gladly become her poop-scooper!
Holding Nine Apertures in her left arm, she raised her phone with her right hand, and snapped a selfie with the cat.
The picture looked awesome!
Pleased with herself, Ji Yu posted the photo to her social feed.
She had two social accounts.
One was for work contacts, clients, relatives, and casual friends.
The other was only for classmates, good friends, and close girlfriends.
Naturally, this selfie went to the second one.
Likes and comments flooded in immediately.
“Whoa, such an adorable kitty!”
“Congrats Xiao Yu joining the poop-scooping squad, becoming a proud cat servant.”
“Cat addiction is real.”
“Yu Yu, which breeder did you get this kitty from? I want one too.”
“Oooo, Xiao Yu, you look so happy~”
“Hey, hasn’t anyone noticed where Yu Yu took the photo?”
“In the car.”
At first, everyone was gushing over Nine Apertures, but quickly the comments shifted focus to Ji Yu herself.
“Looks like a luxury car!”
“BMW 7-series, identified.”
“Where’s the guy driving?! We wanna see him!”
“Seeing the guy driving +1!”
These comments made Ji Yu a little uneasy.
She hadn’t forgotten the stir it caused last time when she posted a photo wearing that Cacharel dress in her close friend circle.
Sharp-eyed people were everywhere in her girlfriends’ group.
Even the simplest photo could be analyzed by them in an amount of detail fit for a scientific paper!
Although this selfie didn’t include Gao Jing,
it was already giving away a lot.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Just as Ji Yu was about to exit the Moments feed, a notification popped up about a private message.
From her best friend: “Yu Yu, come clean… do you have a new boyfriend already?”
Ji Yu hurriedly denied it: “No, not at all. Seriously?!”
“Hmph hmph.”
Her friend replied with a disdainful emoji: “A friend saw you getting into a dark blue BMW 760Li driven by a hot guy not long ago! Is that the car you’re sitting in now?”
Ji Yu: “…”
“So you admit it?”
Her friend sounded smug: “I knew you were hiding something! Keeping secrets from me? How disloyal!”
Ji Yu gave a bitter smile: “We’re just ordinary friends, really! Not boyfriends!”
She regretted posting that photo.
While replying, Ji Yu glanced sideways at Gao Jing beside her.
Gao Jing was concentrating on driving.
He noticed her gaze.
Turning his head, he gave her a warm smile.
Charming and kind.
Ji Yu pressed her lips together and looked down to see her friend’s next message: “Ha! Like I always told you, with your looks you could find any boyfriend you want! Anyway, congratulations! Best of luck!”
Ji Yu replied with an “I have nothing more to say.jpg” meme.
She muted her phone and put it back in her purse, then picked up Nine Apertures and gently petted him.
Her thoughts drifted.
They reached Huhai around 5 pm.
Gao Jing had booked the same Jinmao Grand Hyatt hotel in Lujiazui he’d stayed at before.
The exact same Diplomat Suite.
“Um…”
Ji Yu watched Nine Apertures jumping excitedly all over the living room sofa and asked with concern: “Is this… okay?”
The hotel didn’t allow pets.
Gao Jing had brought the flower-cat kitten in brazenly, hidden inside a tote bag.
“It’s fine.”
Gao Jing laughed: “Nine Apertures is very smart. He uses the litter box well and doesn’t shed.”
“Wine cellar?”
Though she’d held him the whole journey, this was the first time Senior Ji heard the kitten’s real name.
She had been calling him “Meow-meow.”
Gao Jing explained: “Nine as in the number after eight. Aperture as in the openings in one’s head.”
“Nine Apertures!”
Ji Yu finally understood and laughed: “Two more apertures than clever people have? So he’s extra brilliant?”
“Exactly!”
Gao Jing gave the senior a thumbs-up: “So no worries about him.”
“Nine Apertures.”
Ji Yu sat on the sofa and opened her arms towards the small cat: “Come here.”
Senior really wanted to add, “Come into mama’s bowl.”
It was a shame Nine Apertures wasn’t really hers.
Meow~
Hearing the call, Nine Apertures dashed over immediately and leaped into her arms.
“Nine Apertures really is super smart.”
Ji Yu couldn’t help saying: “I just posted that photo on my Moments. So many people liked it.”
Hmm?
A sudden thought flashed through Gao Jing’s mind.
He immediately pulled out his phone and opened “Senior Ji’s” Moments feed.
Sure enough, he saw the selfie of Ji Yu with Nine Apertures.
While he couldn’t see the likes and comments since he wasn’t friends with Ji Yu’s inner circle.
But what Ji Yu said had just made him realise something very interesting.
This was fascinating!
Gao Jing rubbed his chin, excitement flickering in his eyes.
He hadn’t expected this would also work.
This new discovery.
Immediately sparked fresh ideas in Gao Jing’s mind!
Ring! Ring! Ring!
Right at that moment, Gao Jing’s phone started ringing.
The caller was none other than Niu Jinxing: “Brother Gao Jing! Are you there yet?”
Gao Jing: “Just arrived.”
“That’s perfect.”
Niu Jinxing sounded incredibly enthusiastic: “We meet in Jinlan Hall in half an hour! Don’t stand me up!”
This Brother Fatty Niu had arrived even earlier than Gao Jing.
He was staying at the same hotel.
Gao Jing: “Okay.”
Gao Jing had come to Huhai this time to attend an auction hosted by Jiashang Auction House.
The auction was at 8 pm tomorrow, right in the World Financial Center next to the Jinmao Grand Hyatt!
The ten bottles of Hundred-Fruit Wine he brought would be auctioned there.
Gao Jing had contacted Jiashang Auction House through Niu Jinxing.
Brother Niu had used quite a bit of his family connections to make it happen.
Otherwise, if Gao Jing had approached Jiashang himself, he would have been shut out instantly.
They simply wouldn’t have taken anything from a stranger.
Jiashang was a top-tier auction house with very strict rules about what they sold. They didn’t accept items of unknown origin.
Especially additions made so close to the auction date.
Niu Jinxing had put in significant effort to arrange this.
Partly to make up for his previous mistake, and partly because his family also wanted to secure another bottle of Hundred-Fruit Wine.
This connection with Gao Jing, Brother Fatty Niu desperately wanted to keep solidly intact.
Hence the extraordinary enthusiasm.