Chapter 145 What a coincidence?

Sure enough, several men and women were already walking over. Upon seeing the two of them, they immediately greeted them warmly.

"President Jiang? President Mu? I can't believe we'd run into you here. What a coincidence!" One tall man said with a smile as he stepped forward, extending a hand to shake Jiang Ling's.

He looked to be about forty years old, with clear traces of time on his face. His once-thick hair was now gradually receding into a Mediterranean hairline.

Jiang Ling immediately shook his hand back, a smile playing at the corners of his lips. "President Liu."

Meeting here at this moment was hardly a coincidence, but such remarks were merely polite conventions.

Mu Yinyin stood to the side, merely smiling without much interaction, but a sudden voice soon diverted everyone's attention.

"Yinyin, we meet again." The man's magnetic voice sounded so charming that countless women could not help but gaze in his direction, their eyes filled with romantic affection for the opposite sex.

Mu Yinyin turned her head and saw the handsome man in his tailored suit. Her gaze paused briefly, but she still nodded politely. "Young Master Qi."

Qi Moke smiled, his pitch-black eyes carrying a hint of amusement. Especially his long, dense eyelashes made people irresistibly fond of him, and some women could barely suppress an urge to shriek.

With long strides, he walked up to her and said softly, "Shall we go in together?"

President Liu had forgotten about talking to Jiang Ling. He looked at the newcomer, wanting to suck up to him with a remark or two, but the man didn't even spare him a glance, which made President Liu feel rather awkward.

Mu Yinyin smiled. "You go on ahead. We'll wait a moment."

Qi Moke didn't make things difficult. He smiled and said, "Alright, see you inside."

Mu Yinyin nodded without speaking.

At the entrance, everyone exchanged pleasantries for a little longer before the two of them finally walked in together.

Jiang Ling glanced at Mu Yinyin, leaned close to her ear, and spoke in a low voice, "You still need to be a bit careful around this man."

Mu Yinyin nodded. "Mm, I know."

The sudden appearance of this Qi Moke, coupled with his willingness to hand over such a lucrative partnership so proactively, was bound to raise suspicions. Naturally, caution and vigilance were required. If he had no ill intentions, she could simply show her gratitude later; if he harbored ulterior motives, being prepared beforehand would save them a lot of trouble.

Everyone had registered in advance, so seating arrangements had already been made inside the venue.

Mu Yinyin didn't think there would be any issue with this.

However...

Upon seeing the people seated near her seat, Mu Yinyin frowned, and so did Jiang Ling.

Seated directly in front of Mu Yinyin was Qi Moke.

Since Mu Yinyin and Jiang Ling had come together, the organizers naturally arranged for them to sit side by side, but the seats on either side gave her a headache.

To Mu Yinyin's right was Fu Siye.

To Jiang Ling's left was Lu Sinian.

Jiang Ling's expression seemed to sink by several degrees.

Neither of them believed these seating arrangements were accidental.

Qi Moke, Jiang Ling, and Fu Siye were figures of the same social tier—at the very least, they should have been seated in the same row. Yet she and Jiang Ling had somehow ended up in the same row as Fu Siye and Lu Sinian; something was clearly amiss.

However, the seating charts were fixed and unchangeable, complete with electronic nameplates. Swapping seats meant swapping the buyers.

They had no choice but to take these assigned seats.

Jiang Ling glanced at Mu Yinyin. "Yinyin..."

Mu Yinyin gave a cold laugh. "It doesn't matter. It won't cost me a pound of flesh. We'll leave as soon as the auction is over, and we won't have any further intersection."

Even if Fu Siye was sitting right next to her, so what? It wasn't like they were mortal enemies; they had simply gotten a divorce.

Seeing that Mu Yinyin's expression remained calm and unruffled, Jiang Ling finally pressed his lips into a thin line and said nothing more, merely nodding as he walked with her to take their seats.

Among the three men, only Qi Moke had arrived so far, but he hadn't taken his seat yet, making Jiang Ling and Mu Yinyin the first to sit down.

Five minutes later, Qi Moke walked over.

Seeing that Mu Yinyin was already there, he raised an eyebrow. "Such a coincidence?"

Mu Yinyin twitched the corners of her mouth. "It really is quite a coincidence."

Running into other heavyweights outside and calling it a coincidence was just polite small talk, but finding themselves seated in consecutive rows actually felt a bit uncanny.

Mu Yinyin felt that this seating arrangement probably had nothing to do with the man in front of her.

Yet if it had anything to do with Lu Sinian, that also seemed wrong—at the very least, Lu Sinian should have been seated right next to her instead of having Jiang Ling sandwiched in between.

As for Fu Siye, Mu Yinyin found that even harder to believe. Fu Siye loathed her so much; how could he possibly go out of his way to arrange for them to sit together? That was utterly impossible.

If none of these three were responsible, then who else knew about her entanglements with all these men?

For a moment, Mu Yinyin lost herself in thought.

"Yinyin."

Before her thoughts could wander further, another magnetic male voice sounded by her ear, snapping Mu Yinyin back to reality. She turned her head to look to her left.

The man was wearing a royal blue suit, his hair impeccably styled, which made his handsome face look even sharper and more youthful.

A gentle smile hung on the man's lips, and his eyes were exceptionally tender.

It was as if Mu Yinyin was the entire world in his eyes.

Mu Yinyin nodded. "You're here."

Coming here to bid on items was a completely normal thing to do, so Mu Yinyin wasn't surprised that this man had shown up.

"Yes." With that, he shifted his gaze to Jiang Ling. "President Jiang."

Lu Sinian greeted him with a smile, and Jiang Ling immediately nodded back. "President Lu."

Lu Sinian nodded with a smile.

Having said that, he sat down right beside Jiang Ling.

He didn't seem to mind much that he hadn't been able to sit next to Mu Yinyin, nor did he bring the matter up.

This made Jiang Ling's expression look a fraction better.

Meanwhile, Qi Moke cast his gaze toward Lu Sinian, a trace of a smile in his eyes, though it clearly didn't reach his depth.

"President Lu, long time no see."

Only then did Lu Sinian let his gaze fall upon the speaker, a hint of surprise flashing across his eyes.

"I didn't expect Young Master Qi to be here as well."

Qi Moke raised an eyebrow and smiled. "What? So surprised?"

Lu Sinian curved his lips, his voice gentle. "I'm merely surprised by your seating choice. My apologies, I suppose the beauty caught my attention so thoroughly that I overlooked Young Master Qi."

Mu Yinyin: "..."

Qi Moke looked at him with an inscrutable smile. "President Lu has an eye for quality."

Mu Yinyin: "..."

Lu Sinian raised an eyebrow. "Young Master Qi thinks so too?"

"Naturally." Qi Moke replied as casually as could be.

Mu Yinyin's gaze darkened.

However, both men were tactful enough not to pursue the topic further. Lu Sinian simply looked at the other man and changed the subject.

"Once the auction is over, how about we grab dinner together? It's been quite a while since we last caught up. Would Young Master Qi do me the honor?"