Inside the small private room, Long Ren and Yun Ning sat, leaning against each other, enjoying the soft sofa in its full pleasure.
The auction seemed to be delayed, or maybe its normal, they don't know, but no one seemed to complain so they won't too.
Long Ren turned his head to the right and saw Yun Ning's small head leading on his shoulders, her mouth happily munching on a snack. A thought then appeared in his head.
"You like sweet things right?" He asked,
"Not particularly, I'd eat them if there's one though," she answered.
Her good metabolism coupled with her training sessions allowed her to eat anything and everything without needing to worry.
Long Ren nodded and took out a leftover chocolate milk bottle. Its contents are already half empty, courtesy of Nid.
"Try one," he said, opening the bottle and handing one to her.
She looked at the ball of chocolate with curiosity. She sniffed it and a foreign smell invaded her nose.
"What's this? I can't read the label," she asked, trying to read the English words yet to no avail.
"It's almond milk chocolate. I should've given this sooner but better late than never," Long Ren said as he smiled wryly.
He didn't know exactly why he hadn't given her earth foods, maybe it's because she isn't much of a foodie like Nid.
Yun Ning nodded and popped the ball into her mouth. She munched on it for a while and soon, the cold filaments wore out, letting the chocolates melt into her mouth.
"MnnNn, this is good. I've never heard of this milk chocolate before!" She squirmed in delight, still playing with the chocolate in her mouth.
Long Ren smiled, "Glad you like it. I have more of these weird foods, just ask whenever."
"Mnn, thanks," Yun Ning smiled back, extremely happy with Long Ren's gesture.
…
Soon after, the auction hall turned dark as a spotlight shone upon the middle of the stage, revealing a woman wearing revealing clothes.
"Welcome to the Deccinial Auction of our Ning Auction House! My name is Cai Yue'er but esteemed guests can call me Yue'er!" She greeted the entire audience enthusiastically.
(A/N: Deccinial = once in 10 years. A new word I learned today.)
Her alluring appearance entranced most of the public crowd as they swoon all over her. Shouting her name and all that. How crude.
She ignored most of them, as she only needed to please the big players, those who sat in the private sections and rooms.
Though, her eyes darted through the public sections as well, keeping an eye on certain individuals.
While Cai Yue'er did her courtesies and all that boring stuff, Long Ren looked at the booklet Yun Ning read while munching on the chocolate.
"Anything interests you?" Long Ren asked as he read the booklet with her.
It listed the items that will be auctioned off today all the while advertising their own readily available products. Only individuals with connections seem to have it, as almost everyone sitting in public doesn't.
Yun Ning flipped another page as a sigh escapes her munching mouth, "Not really, nothing seems useful." She then turned back to the first few pages and pointed at a picture, "This artifact might be useful for you,"
Her finger showed the picture of a necklace adorned with a small oval gem, its color dark blue. Below it reads [Andromeda's opal: Enhances spatial elements efficiency and damage. Tested 5% increase for Sky Realm Cultivators]
"Hoo…" Long Ren saw the item and it piqued his interest. Something that works for Sky Realm cultivators would substantially help him, at least until mid to high Earth Realm. "How much do you think it'll reach?"
"Since the highest bidder would only be a peak Earth Realm cultivator, it can reach 20 diamonds tops," Yun Ning gave her estimate.
An average peak Earth Realm will have a trove of around 40 to 100 diamonds, and using up to 50% of it for an amulet seems a good enough ceiling estimate.
Long Ren nodded, "Maybe, I hope it won't go over my budget, or else I might need to borrow from a certain lady," He said.
"Mnn, I wonder who the unlucky lady you need to mooch off of is," Yun Ning responded while keeping her gaze on the book, feigning an expression.
"Heh, you know who it is," Long Ren said, grabbing her hand. She gazed at him as he continued, "Say my thanks to Diona later, Thanks!"
Yun Ning immediately puffed out her cheeks, transforming her into a hamster as she turned back to her booklet, huffing and puffing every now and then.
Long Ren smiled at her antics and turned his gaze onto the central stage.
Yue'er had finally done all her scripts and motioned to an attendant. She soon came forward, bringing an item covered by a transparent dome.
"Let Yue'er introduce esteemed guests to our first item today, A 50-year-old green ginseng! This material is highly suited to treat abdominal qi deviations! Let's not wait another second, starting bid will be 50 golds with increments of 10 golds each!" She exclaimed. Although her voice reverberated all through the hall, it didn't seem loud, rather enticing even.
Bids after bids started to go off. Each of them raised the price by only 10 golds. Most of those were done by the public crowd either to try and make them look rich, capable of bidding, or they just want to follow in on the fun.
In the end, only two people were left in the bidding war, both from the public crowds. An Old man against a young cultivator, both going head to head, reaching 1 diamond 30 gold.
"The crowd sure is having fun," Long Ren said. He could see the lively atmosphere everyone at the bottom had, cheering the winner while booing the loser, or really whoever they liked more really.
Yun Ning, who had turned her cheeks back to normal nodded, "It is a decennial auction, after all, people had been looking forward to it for a while,"
"The item isn't even that rare," Long Ren remarked, only to realize how spoiled he had become the very next second as he smiled wryly,
Yun Ning's smile quickly followed his, as she also knew that feeling very well. "It's crazy how far we've changed since we first met," Yun Ning said.
Long Ren nodded, "We used to eat simple salt and pepper rabbit soup, now look at us, treating decennial auction items as cabbages,"
They both turned and looked at each other's eyes and finally laughed together, their smile warmed as they thought of their first coincidental meeting.
Perhaps none of this would happen had he not stumbled upon her cave, or perhaps they would meet all the same. Either way, Long Ren, and Yun Ning felt grateful for the now they ended up in.
"Wanna join in on the fun?" Long Ren asked, picking up the bidding runestone.
Yun Ning giggled, "You're bad, what if they need that badly?" She said, though, her eyes betrayed her as they practically gave off an "I'm in!" vibe.
Long Ren pressed on the runestone, adding 100 gold into the bid
Yue'er received his bid and exclaimed gleefully, higher bids, higher profit, "Private room number 15 bids 1 diamond 130 gold!"
A mischievous smile appeared on Long Ren's face, "Then they'll need to go through us,"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
(A/N: Yeah, I've never meant to make the both of them morally good or anything. I want them to do whatever is fun for them or each other, not caring for other people. You just never saw these actions as I mainly focus on their interactions with people they care about (Clansmates, teachers, etc,). I'll be including these more as I go so you don't suddenly feel shocked if one of them did something "wrong". Though, it May or may not be just me wanting to be a dick, maybe…
(A/N 2: Yeah, Long Ren is basically Peng Clan's young master, w/o all the obnoxiousness, just the arrogance, power, money, and finally, a real jade beauty(cutie).)