Now Wu Chengtian's arrival had set Kang Zhaolong's mind working again. If, after the auction, his own family applied to be recognized as a noble family, and the Wu family lent a hand, might it succeed?

Of course, this was only Kang Zhaolong's own thinking; he would not breathe a word of it to Wu Chengtian for now. He had to discuss it with his grandfather first and let him decide. For the moment, all he needed to do was tighten his ties with Wu Chengtian.

"What's there to thank me for? You're my little brother, aren't you? Of course I've got your back!" Wu Chengtian said with a careless swagger.

"Heh heh, then I'll be counting on you from now on, boss. Don't go getting sick of me!" Kang Zhaolong said with a laugh.

"Not a chance!" Wu Chengtian thought Kang Zhaolong a real man of the world — far sharper than those two brats of the Xiao family!

The two of them parted company downstairs at the hotel. Kang Zhaolong wanted to go home and discuss with his grandfather the matter of the Kang family applying for noble status, while Wu Chengtian was in a hurry to see how his grandfather was faring.

So each had business of his own; they simply agreed to keep in touch by phone.

Wei Zhao and Feng Xiaoxiao came out of the restaurant. Once the Xiao brothers had gone, Feng Xiaoxiao finally could not hold it in any longer and burst out laughing.

"Hahahahaha! I'm dying, I'm dying of laughter! That Wu Chengtian is such an idiot, still putting on his act — it's just priceless! Hahahaha!" Feng Xiaoxiao crouched on the ground clutching her belly, laughing so hard she could hardly breathe. "We made a killing this time! That vase and those candlesticks on the table have to be worth a few million. Once I sell them, I'm buying an Audi PS — hahahaha, I could die of happiness!"

Watching Feng Xiaoxiao laugh herself breathless, Wei Zhao could not help finding it rather funny too. After a meal like that, Wu Chengtian had probably been fleeced good and proper without ever knowing it. Feng Xiaoxiao really was a menace!

"Hmph... daring to cross me, Feng Xiaoxiao — he got off light this time. Next time, I'll leave him bankrupt!" Feng Xiaoxiao was still muttering away to herself.

Wei Zhao shook his head. Feng Xiaoxiao truly did hold grudges — no wonder she was forever scheming against him; it was only that she had never gotten the better of him. Still, Wei Zhao found himself beginning to understand her... Born into a family like hers, with no mother from childhood and a father too busy with work to spare any thought for her life, she had inevitably grown that rebellious streak.

Though she herself bore some of the blame, it was chiefly her family circumstances that had made her so.

"Have you laughed enough yet? Is your father back?" Wei Zhao waited a while, but Feng Xiaoxiao was still laughing without pause, and at last he could not help asking.

"Hahaha... you really are something. A thing this funny, and you still keep that straight face!" Feng Xiaoxiao laughed on and on, quite unable to stop herself.

"There's nothing to laugh at. He isn't the only idiot in this world. Laugh at every one of them for a while, and you would have laughed yourself to death long ago," Wei Zhao said flatly.

"Ah?" Feng Xiaoxiao was taken aback, then shook her head. Sometimes she wondered whether Wei Zhao was even her age at all; he never seemed like someone of that age — at times he was frighteningly calm.

She could not help pouting. "You're such a bore. Something this happy, and you won't even laugh along with me."

"I'd say your name was well chosen — how is it that laughing hasn't killed you?" Wei Zhao shrugged.

"Huh?" Feng Xiaoxiao was startled, and at once it occurred to her — her own name was Feng Xiaoxiao. Was Wei Zhao praising her, or insulting her?

"Heh... All right, I've laughed. And your father?" What Wei Zhao cared about was Feng Tianlong's business; as he saw it, an idiot like Wu Chengtian deserved to be fleeced, and there was nothing amusing in it.

"What kind of reaction is that supposed to be?" Feng Xiaoxiao was a little displeased, and gave a sniff. "My dad won't be back until tonight. Come on, let's go up to the room and wait for him."

"To your room?" Wei Zhao frowned.

"Yes, where else?" Feng Xiaoxiao had only meant to spend a little more time with Wei Zhao and make herself a chance to be loved by him; she had not thought much beyond that. But with Wei Zhao asking like that, she felt a little awkward too. A lone man and woman sharing a room — Feng Xiaoxiao had truly never had such an experience.

What if... what if Wei Zhao's animal instincts got the better of him? He looked quite formidable, and she was no match for him.

But then again, what if they did? At worst he would do that to her — she had not long to live anyway, and she did not even know what that felt like yet... Yet would that not mean she had lost out badly?

Then again, probably not. Judging by how little interest Wei Zhao showed in her, he likely would not push her down at all. At this thought, Feng Xiaoxiao actually felt a little disappointed. Was her charm really so slight?

"Then let's go." Seeing nothing unusual in Feng Xiaoxiao's expression, Wei Zhao nodded and agreed.

To be honest, if Feng Tianlong had not asked for him, he would never have gone to Feng Xiaoxiao's room in the middle of the night.

"Hahahaha, let's go..." Feng Xiaoxiao picked up the lunch boxes in her hands, and thinking again of Wu Chengtian's idiot face, started laughing once more.

Wei Zhao was at a loss for words. Feng Xiaoxiao seemed a born clown; the smallest thing could set her laughing endlessly.

Feng Xiaoxiao laughed as she walked, and kept laughing all the way into the hotel. Anyone who did not know better would have thought she had found a pile of money.

And in fact that vase really would fetch money. The very thought made her happy — several million picked up out of thin air! She was no stranger to such things, and could roughly estimate the worth of that diamond.

"Hahaha..." The moment she thought of it, she started laughing again. But there is a saying — extreme joy begets sorrow — and so sorrow came to Feng Xiaoxiao at the height of her joy. The hotel's marble stairs had just been mopped and were still beaded with water, making them extremely slippery; and Feng Xiaoxiao, reeling to and fro with laughter, did not watch her step, lost her footing, and went down in a great sprawling fall.

"Ah—" With a shriek, Feng Xiaoxiao went clattering and sliding down the stairs. She landed hard on her backside, and on top of that ended up soaked through, an unbearable misery.

"Heh." This time Wei Zhao finally laughed. Looking at the state of Feng Xiaoxiao, he did not know what to say.

Wei Zhao could easily have caught her, but he did not reach out a hand. The stairs were not high; sliding down would at most bruise her backside and dirty her clothes — she would come to no real harm. A lesson would do her good, and spare her from laughing like a madwoman over nothing.

"Wei Zhao! Come pull me up, quick!" The fall had nearly driven tears out of Feng Xiaoxiao, but she gritted her teeth and held them back. Ever since she had learned of her own condition, Feng Xiaoxiao had sworn to herself that she would never cry, and all these years she had endured.

For the fastest updates and a pop-up-free read, please visit.