When Hua Yan returned to the hotel after not taking a nap outside at noon, her eyelids felt as heavy as if they were pressing down on weights.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Hua Yan ignored it, pretending to be asleep. After a few more knocks, she covered her ears and continued pretending. Just then, her phone rang with Teresa Teng's "Thousand Words of Love" playing.

Unable to ignore it any longer, Hua Yan sat up abruptly. Angrily, she answered, "Hello..."

"Miss Hua Yan... Mr. Gao invites you to dinner," the secretary stuttered, intimidated by Hua Yan's tone.

"Where are you now?" Her voice dropped a few decibels.

"We're in the hotel restaurant."

"Wait a moment, I'll come right away."

After hanging up, the secretary breathed a sigh of relief. Gao Ruqing, sitting across the table, noticed how the usually articulate secretary was stuttering and couldn't help but ask, "I find that girl easy to get along with, but it seems like you're afraid of her."

"I'm not sure why I feel that way. Usually, Miss Hua Yan is like a friendly neighbor's little sister."

"Then why were you like that just now?"

"It seems I disturbed her sleep," the secretary lamented, earning a light chuckle from Gao Ruqing and the other two poker-faced bodyguards.

As Hua Yan came downstairs wearing a floral cotton sundress, she heard everyone laughing and asked, "What's making you all laugh so happily?"

"We're laughing because someone disturbed a lazy cat's sleep and got blamed by that cat," one of the bodyguards joked.

Hearing this, Hua Yan couldn't help but mutter to herself that these people were quite vulgar, comparing her to a lazy cat.

"How about having authentic Burmese cuisine tonight?" Gao Ruqing suggested.

"Anything is fine." Hua Yan was unfamiliar with Burmese cuisine, so having Gao Ruqing order was a wise decision.

Soon, the table was filled with piping hot whole wheat pancakes, vegetarian curry, meat curry, rice, grilled pork, pork liver, two plates of chicken, whole fish, and green bean curry soup, accompanied by various sauces. It looked chaotic, but the flavors were tangy and spicy, with a unique taste.

"Are you still accustomed to eating these?" Gao Ruqing asked indulgently, like a father to his daughter.

"They're not bad," Hua Yan replied.

"After dinner, do you want to go see the puppet show? It's only an hour long, but it's definitely worth watching," Gao Ruqing suggested.

"That sounds nice. But I just want to catch up on the sleep I missed today," Hua Yan replied. She firmly believed that practicing beauty came from adequate natural sleep. Of course, a pleasant mood and other factors were also essential.

"You really love sleeping, don't you?" Gao Ruqing chuckled, not pressing the matter further.

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Ignoring Gao Ruqing's teasing, Hua Yan enjoyed the delicious meal and then went back to her room to report to her father about her day. However, she didn't mention the "福禄寿喜" jadeite piece. For half an hour, her father lectured her on everything from the weather to travel safety, and even on how to conduct herself. Hua Yan guessed that this was probably the joy of life for an elderly person at home.

While changing into her pajamas, she noticed that the dragon and phoenix jade pendant around her neck still looked dull and faded. Suddenly worried that it might lose its luster completely, she wondered if that would be the moment she could no longer use her extrasensory perception. After all, in the past, whenever she felt dizzy from using her ability, the pendant had helped alleviate the symptoms.

For a moment, she fretted, but then she remembered her father's words on the phone earlier: "Let everything go with the flow." It was like an epiphany, calming and enlightening. As the ancient saying goes, "If I gain, I am fortunate; if I lose, it is my destiny." She was just a tiny speck in the vast world; why bother worrying unnecessarily? With this realization, Hua Yan was summoned by sleep within seconds.

In the following days, the rain drizzled incessantly, and Gao Ruqing, along with his companions, spent two days playing cards in the hotel. On the third day, Gao Ruqing, mindful of the company's 90% procurement gap, braved the rain to visit several private companies, large and small, in search of funding.

With the weather gloomy and the atmosphere damp, Hua Yan stayed back at the hotel instead of accompanying them. Gao Ruqing didn't object; in fact, he was pleased to see Hua Yan's unfiltered smile. Having spent half his life in the cutthroat world of business, he had acquired wealth and status but had never truly experienced genuine camaraderie. Unconsciously, he found himself protecting the joy between him and Hua Yan.

Observing Gao Ruqing's reaction, Hua Yan's fondness for him deepened, and she secretly resolved to find an opportunity at the auction to prevent him from selling the "王者" jadeite piece from Ru Jin Gu Company as a way of repaying his kindness.

Ever since they first saw that piece of jadeite, Gao Ruqing would occasionally mention it during their chats, and he had already begun planning and preparing funds for the day of the auction. Whenever this happened, Hua Yan couldn't help but feel uneasy.

Comparing her current perception of jadeite to before, she realized that if that piece of jadeite had even a slightly lower quality, her perception would have been affected. From inside out, it was nothing but stone, and with such an exorbitant price, whoever bought it would be unlucky. However, figuring out how to stop Gao Ruqing from buying that piece of jadeite would require careful consideration.

Days of enjoying good food, watching the rain, and sleeping until waking naturally passed by in the blink of an eye. However, the arrival of Chen Jie, who was collaborating with Gao Ruqing and was also accompanied by Li Meier, changed everything.

Chen Jie arrived in Myanmar the day before the auction, accompanied, as always, by his girlfriend Li Meier. Fortunately, the weather cleared up on the day of his arrival, and the long-lost sun finally made an appearance.

During breakfast, Hua Yan noticed the absence of the secretary, who never missed a meal. When she asked, she found out that he had gone to pick up Chen Jie and the others. After a few seconds of absent-mindedness, Hua Yan began to get a headache. Even without being a fortune teller, she knew that the next ten days or so wouldn't be easy.

Gao Ruqing, aware of Hua Yan's past relationship with Chen Jie, explained that originally, it was Chen Jie's younger sister, Cheng Yunqi, who was supposed to bring the funds. However, due to an accident on her way back from studying abroad, Cheng Yunqi was still lying in a hospital in the United States.

Chen Jie called only after landing to inform them of the change in plans. Gao Ruqing also felt sorry for Hua Yan. However, once Hua Yan understood the situation, she felt a little relieved. In turn, she reassured Gao Ruqing that it was no big deal.

"Will you attend the welcome banquet for Chen Jie tonight?" Gao Ruqing asked.

If avoiding this encounter meant not seeing him again afterward, she definitely wouldn't attend. But in reality, that wasn't possible. Since avoidance was futile, she decided to bravely face it. "I'll be there on time."

"Great! You keep surprising me more and more," Gao Ruqing said happily, flashing a rare, hearty smile that surprised even his two bodyguards, who were accustomed to his reserved demeanor. Although Gao Ruqing appeared gentle and smooth on the surface, no one could discern his true thoughts. Such a hearty laugh was indeed rare.