"Really?"
Zhou Yunqiong frowned when she heard that.
"Would you like me to go see what happened and buy it back?"
Uncle Zuo spoke up. After all, the head of the family had given them instructions beforehand. It wouldn't be good if they'd overlooked something.
So they had to buy it back. As for who owned that farm now, he didn't care. With the strength of Wuzhou Group, as long as none of the major factions had gotten involved, they could easily take it back without any trouble.
"Forget it. We've already bought enough. Starfall Land is so vast that it doesn't matter if we missed one plot."
Zhou Yunqiong waved a hand and continued, "Besides, only a very small number of the meteorites that fall from beyond the stars carry Outer Realm Divine Artifacts."
Several months ago, after Wuzhou Group had conducted research through a team of specialists, they discovered that a meteor shower unlike any in a thousand years would soon occur.
The Zhou Family had speculated that some of the meteorites might contain Outer Realm Divine Artifacts.
So they had people calculate where the meteorites would fall.
Then they had gone straight out and paid a fortune to buy the land.
In fact, that was a major reason the Zhou Family had spent years buying land all over the world.
They had been hoping that Outer Realm Divine Artifacts would descend upon the earth. After years of effort, they had obtained a few, but that was all. Most of their efforts had come to nothing.
Zhou Yunqiong's thinking was simple. She didn't believe this meteor shower would be any different.
There was another reason, too: some factions were secretly competing with the Zhou Family.
A great upheaval was about to begin.
At a time like this, it was best to play it safe.
"Yes."
Since Miss had given the order, Uncle Zuo naturally had no objections. He continued, "Then, Miss, what shall we do next?"
They had been out for quite a while, and he wondered whether they should return to the hotel.
"Forget it. Let's go."
Zhou Yunqiong shook her head and turned to leave through the main entrance. Clearly, she didn't want to go back.
She had no intention of explaining anything to those so-called classmates, either.
Even the impact Lu Yuan had just made on her was quickly forgotten.
Just as she had said.
In the end, they belonged to two different worlds.
After driving away from Cloud Grand Hotel, Lu Yuan didn't return to his villa in the north of the city.
Instead, he headed somewhere else.
However,
while he was on the road, a message from Chen Song came through on his phone.
Chen Song: Lu, I just talked it over with my dad. We can sell you that thing. Let me know when you'd like to come pick it up.
Lu Yuan: Let's find a time to meet sometime in the next few days.
After replying,
he transferred the remaining two hundred thousand to Chen Song.
Chen Song was an honest man, and his family was the same, so there was no need to worry about them running off.
Besides, with his current wealth, even if they had something up their sleeves, he could find them in no time.
Then Lu Yuan kept driving, thinking back over everything he had done recently.
Other than the Bodhi Ancient Tree, he could have hired people to steal the complete edition of the Classic of the Way and its Virtue from Christie's, as well as the small cauldron passed down through Chen Song's family. Those things wouldn't have required him to lift a finger.
But he didn't want to do that. The reason was simple: not everyone could be trusted.
The Centipede Organization was capable, and there was no need to worry about them letting anything slip.
But if he kept hiring them,
leaving aside the cost, doing it too often would easily attract attention.
He could even end up bitten by the very snake he'd hired. After all, those people lived by the blade and were vicious to the core.
There was another reason: Lu Yuan wanted to handle these matters discreetly enough that no one could trace them back to him.
Just as with buying land and making a donation to Longhu Mountain, he would use different people each time, so as not to leave anything behind that could be used against him or arouse suspicion.
Less than two months remained before the global transformation. Time was too tight. If anything went wrong, all his previous efforts would be wasted.
So Lu Yuan would rather go to a little more trouble. He had to be cautious at every step.
As he thought it over,
Lu Yuan drove on.
He finally reached a road along Shanghai City's outer ring and parked beside a building.
The building had an old-world elegance, with sweeping eaves and interlocking brackets, steeped in ancient Chinese style. It had five stories, and its main structure was made not of reinforced concrete but of wood. Two lifelike Pixiu stone statues, each weighing several tons, stood outside the entrance.
Anyone could guess the kind of influence behind a building like this in Shanghai City.
After getting out of the car, Lu Yuan walked to the entrance and looked up at the sign.
It bore three large characters: Jubaozhai!
The brushstrokes were bold and powerful, flying like dragons and dancing like phoenixes.
Without another word, he went straight inside.
The first floor was spacious and grand, furnished with all kinds of chairs and decorative screens.
He walked up to the front desk.
Without wasting a moment, he said, "Hello. I'd like to go to the sixth floor."
The receptionist wore a qipao. She was lovely to look at and had an excellent air about her. Hearing his request, she smiled faintly. "I'm sorry, sir, but Jubaozhai doesn't have a sixth floor."
Lu Yuan said nothing. He took a Black Gold Card from his pocket and set it on the counter.
The receptionist glanced at it, and her expression changed. Her voice turned respectful, with a hint of alluring warmth.
"So you're a distinguished guest. Please follow me, sir."
With that,
she stepped out from behind the counter, bowed slightly, and walked ahead of him with a graceful sway.
Admiration showed in Lu Yuan's eyes. He pocketed the Black Gold Card and followed at an unhurried pace.
Jubaozhai.
To outsiders, it was just a place for dining and entertaining, albeit one with high prices—a private club.
But in reality, it was far more than that. It was an underground trading post, or, more simply, a black market.
There, one could buy all kinds of things that were forbidden to trade openly.
But first,
you needed a net worth of at least one hundred million, and it had to be in cash.
Second, you had to pay an annual membership fee of more than one million. That's right, just the membership fee.
As a result, very few people even knew about the place, let alone qualified to enter.
Lu Yuan happened to be one of them.
Soon, guided by the receptionist, he passed through a series of corridors and arrived at an elevator. There was only one floor listed: the sixth.
But when the two of them stepped inside and the elevator started moving, it went down.
That's right.
The sixth floor wasn't aboveground. It was underground.
Before long, the elevator doors opened. Lu Yuan stepped out, while the receptionist stayed inside.
Where he stood was a long corridor, dimly lit. But once he walked out of it, he found himself in a vast space.
It was like a bar, but larger, with brighter lights. Every chair was made of precious wood; taken outside, each piece would be worth at least several hundred thousand.
This was the sixth floor of Jubaozhai.
There weren't many people, though—only a dozen or so.
Of course, aside from the staff, every person here was a billionaire.
"Haha, Mr. Lu! It's been a few days. You look better than ever!" A plump, middle-aged man in a suit walked over, his face brimming with hearty laughter. He was the manager of Jubaozhai's sixth floor, surnamed Lin.
"Manager Lin, let's skip the pleasantries."
Lu Yuan waved a hand and got straight to the point. "What about the thing I asked for last time? Did you find it for me?"
Before you continue