UCS Chapter 48

Today was the day of the land auction.

 

Gao Shi had arranged people early to enter the venue and participate in the bidding.

 

Li Mochen had seen his face and probably discovered his father-son relationship with Lele. If he showed up, who knows what that neurotic CEO might do. To avoid alerting him, Gao Shi didn’t appear in person.

 

Speaking of the father-son relationship, the registration was actually thanks to his position in the Anomaly Management Bureau.

 

After he found Lele, for convenience, Gao’s parents initially considered whether to register Lele under their names. Gao Shi adamantly refused, not because he didn’t want to be brothers with his own son, but because he inexplicably felt it was inappropriate. This matter concerned Lele’s safety and couldn’t be compromised.

 

But the country strictly managed population registration, and they couldn’t make a ten-year-old Gao Shi the father of a two-year-old child. As a result, Lele was an unregistered person for several years.

 

It wasn’t until the Anomaly Management Bureau discovered the astonishing spiritual energy within Gao Shi that he was recruited into the Bureau at the age of sixteen as an external member, and Lele’s household registration problem was finally resolved.

 

Gao Shi and Gao Gusheng’s files had a very high confidentiality level. If anyone tried to investigate, they wouldn’t be able to find much.

 

For example, if Li Mochen investigated Gao Shi and Gao Gusheng, he would only discover surface information: that they were legally recognized as father and son, but Gao Shi’s age was classified-not just his age, even his gender was classified to avoid raising suspicions. Gao Shi remained silent for a long time after receiving the file.

 

However, despite Gao Shi’s best efforts to give Gao Gusheng a formal identity and allow him to attend school like all children, they were hindered by Gao Gusheng’s constitution. To protect the young Gao Gusheng, he was home-schooled until he was ten years old. When Gao Shi returned from school, he would see a small figure rushing toward him, eyes bright, hugging him and calling him “Dad.”

 

Though Gao Gusheng was young at that time, he seemed to understand many things. He knew that asking Gao Shi about the outside world or what it felt like to attend school would make Gao Shi sad, so he never asked these questions.

 

Occasionally, as Gao Shi was leaving, he would look back and catch a glimpse of a small figure quickly disappearing from the window.

 

…

 

Gao Shi lowered his eyes and pressed his earpiece.

 

His assistant’s voice came through, “Mr. Gao, we’ve entered the venue and spotted CEO Li.”

 

“Good.”

 

There was a rustling sound as the recording equipment was turned on.

 

Among those participating in the auction, some were assistants-mostly from companies without strong determination, just there to join the crowd or willing to let go if the price exceeded expectations. Others were company CEOs, who had already set their sights on certain plots of land and were determined to acquire them.

 

The venue didn’t prohibit calls, but assistants like Gao Shi’s who directly used recording equipment at the venue were probably rare.

 

Coincidentally, this was a newly developed recording device from the company, extremely compact, only the size of a mobile phone-perfect for testing its functionality.

 

A rustling sound came through the earpiece, followed by the clear voice of the host.

 

“…Now, let’s begin the auction for Land No. 1!”

 

“Fifty million!”

 

“Eighty million!”

 

“Eighty million, second call!”

 

“Sold!”

 

“Applause…”

 

“Now we begin No. 2…”

 

Gao Shi had a laptop in front of him, and he once again browsed through the plots of land participating in the auction.

 

There were six plots in total for this auction. The final plot, the highlight, was universally acknowledged as prime land. Although it had the smallest area among the six, its final bid would certainly be the highest of all, possibly exceeding 200 million.

 

However, Gao Shi’s target wasn’t this plot; his target was the third one.

 

The first plot was also in a good location, used to build momentum. As for the third position, neither at the beginning nor the end, it was reserved for less desirable land.

 

It wasn’t long before the auction for the third plot began.

 

“Starting price: 35.5 million!”

 

This plot’s location was so terrible that it had the lowest price currently. If not for its relatively large area, the price would likely be even lower. This resulted in a moment of silence after the announcement, with no one bidding.

 

“Forty million,” came Li Mochen’s voice.

 

“Forty-five million!” the assistant followed.

 

“Fifty million.”

 

“Fifty-five million!”

 

“Sixty million!” From his voice, Li Mochen was already showing signs of anger.

 

“Sixty-five million!” The assistant, holding Gao Shi’s authorization of 130 million, calmly raised the price.

 

“Sixty-five million!”

 

“Seventy million!”

 

…

 

The bidding price rose steadily. Gao Shi could hear the suppressed anger in Li Mochen’s voice. After all, in the dream, Li Mochen had snatched a bargain at 40 million, so his psychological price point probably wasn’t much higher. But now the bid had already doubled that 40 million.

 

Even worse, some companies noticed how fiercely these two were competing and began to wonder if they had inside information. That terribly located plot suddenly became a hot commodity, with some companies joining the bidding. Li Mochen’s voice grew increasingly deep, like a volcano about to erupt.

 

However, those companies joining the excitement soon withdrew from the bidding, as the location of this plot was truly awful. The current high price of 100 million already matched the expected return; any higher would mean a loss. Only Li Mochen and the assistant remained in the competition.

 

“One hundred and five million!”

 

“…120 million.” Li Mochen made a decisive move, directly raising the price by 15 million, determined to scare off the assistant.

 

“130 million!” The assistant’s voice remained steady, but Gao Shi immediately received a message asking whether to continue raising the bid.

 

[Mr. Gao, we’ve reached our budget limit. Should we continue?]

 

Gao Shi chuckled, [No need, he won’t bid again.]

 

Although the dream didn’t mention Li Mochen’s bottom line, based on Gao Shi’s analysis of Wanxing’s situation, Li Mochen’s limit was around 125 million.

 

Sure enough, the host’s voice came through the earpiece.

 

“130 million, first call!”

 

“130 million, second call!”

 

“Sold!”

 

“Applause…”

 

Shortly after, the assistant sent Gao Shi a message, [Mr. Gao, CEO Li has left.]

 

Sitting in his car outside the venue, Gao Shi looked out and saw Li Mochen walking out with a grim face, closing his car door with excessive force.

 

Gao Shi watched the direction Li Mochen departed, deep in thought.

 

If the “plot” were just a novel, it could be written freely-Li Mochen randomly acquiring a plot of land that fortunately happened to be where a railway would pass, leaving one to marvel at his luck.

 

But in reality, everything needed logic. Li Mochen’s bidding showed clear determination, and his frustration after failing to secure the plot was genuine. This bargain wasn’t coincidental; it was as if he already knew buying this land would be profitable and was willing to pay a premium to get it.

 

In fact, Li Mochen had prepared 120 million, three times the market price. If Gao Shi hadn’t intervened, the land would definitely have gone to him.

 

This is strange.

 

Railway plans from the government are kept absolutely confidential, specifically to prevent people from speculating on land. How did Li Mochen know this particular plot would increase in value?

 

…

 

After returning home, Gao Shi continued to ponder this question.

 

His assistant sent him photos of the certificate and documents; the land now belonged to Gao Shi, currently registered under one of his companies.

 

Fortunately, the concern he had earlier didn’t materialize-Li Mochen didn’t plan to buy other land, which meant at least the scenario from his dream where the Li family transformed through development wouldn’t happen.

 

A tycoon naturally relies on financial power. To fundamentally solve the problem with Li Mochen, one must first cut off his financial resources.

 

After dinner, Gao Shi took a shower, changed into his pajamas, and continued looking at files on his computer. The villa was quiet, with only occasional rustling sounds from food packaging.

 

When Gao Gusheng wasn’t home, Gao Shi rarely returned home this early. The villa was too empty, lacking a lived-in feeling. Only occasionally, when organizing plot points or thinking, would he stay alone in the silent room until sunset.

 

The sounds Ying Bujie made were actually very soft, but somehow they seemed to bring the entire villa to life.

 

Not noisy, yet not completely silent-like a cat purring contentedly on one’s lap.

 

Gao Shi’s shoulders naturally relaxed as his hands danced across the keyboard, the crisp, pleasant sound of typing filling the air. Before he knew it, night had fallen.

 

After finishing a candy, he instinctively reached for the table but grasped empty air.

 

Scattered candy wrappers around the notebook proved that today’s candy intake had already reached the critical limit.

 

Gao Shi sighed inwardly, but before he could turn his gaze back to the screen, a plate of grapes appeared before him.

 

The green grapes were clean, with fine droplets of water, almost transparent in the light. Placed in an unadorned white porcelain plate, they looked even more crystalline, like precious jade carvings.

 

However, even more exquisite was the hand holding the porcelain plate, like a carefully carved white jade ornament come to life.

 

Gao Shi looked up to see Ying Bujie with his wet hair loose, wearing the black silk bathrobe they had bought last time, sitting cross-legged on the carpet and leaning toward him.

 

The bathrobe reached his ankles, and the neckline was high enough that only his collarbones were faintly visible. It wasn’t an overtly seductive garment, but rather reminded Gao Shi of the third segment of his dream from before.

 

As if their roles had reversed-previously, he had reached out to touch Ying Bujie’s hair ornament; now Ying Bujie was leaning forward to offer him fruit.

 

He remained motionless for too long, not accepting the plate. Ying Bujie tilted his head slightly in confusion, his face still expressionless, his hand still holding the plate steadily. Yet from this subtle movement, Gao Shi somehow perceived a question.

 

He took the fruit plate and thanked him.

 

Watching Ying Bujie withdraw his hand and prepare to attack a peach, Gao Shi paused and called out, “Ying… Daoist.”

 

Ying Bujie looked over.

 

Gao Shi noticed that when Ying Bujie listened to him speak, he would turn his entire body toward him, appearing especially attentive.

 

Gao Shi wanted to say that he had dreamed about him last time. But saying this somehow felt strange, carrying an inappropriate suggestive meaning. In the end, Gao Shi simply asked, “Daoist, do you know about spirit flowers?”

 

Ying Bujie opened his mouth, then suddenly pressed his temple. His expression remained blank, but his face turned deathly pale, and a thin layer of cold sweat suddenly appeared on his forehead.

 

Gao Shi quickly went over to pull Ying Bujie up. “Don’t force yourself to remember!”

 

After a while, Ying Bujie finally recovered. His face was completely bloodless, and his originally pale pink lips had turned white.

 

Ying Bujie’s body was terrifyingly cold. Gao Shi didn’t dare let go and could only slowly feed him warm water, watching as color gradually returned to his face.

 

After who knows how long, Ying Bujie’s body temperature began to warm up, and Gao Shi sighed in relief. He tried to get up to bring Ying Bujie something to eat but was gently held back by the corner of his clothes.

 

His touch was as light as a feather sticking to the corner of his clothes, and his face remained expressionless, yet Gao Shi yielded and relaxed his stance.

 

“Isn’t Daoist hungry?”

 

Ying Bujie gently shook his head.

 

His grip on Gao Shi’s clothes didn’t loosen, like a child without a sense of security.

 

He closed his eyes, and before long, his breathing became even.

 

Gao Shi inexplicably recalled the first time he woke up on Ying Bujie’s lap-perhaps Ying Bujie had looked at him just like this then.

 

It seemed the spirit flower did indeed exist and was related to Ying Bujie’s lost memories.

 

Could it be that the third segment of his dream was also something that had happened or would happen?

 

He had never had such dreams before.

 

The attire in the dream had an ancient aesthetic, suggesting events from the past, or perhaps-a previous life.

 

But Ying Bujie had also mentioned that the underworld had collapsed and reincarnation no longer existed. If reincarnation had disappeared, how could there be past and present lives?

 

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