Chapter 146: Forcing Su Bai Out

Su Bai spent the entire night tossing and turning, having no idea how the hours finally ticked away.

By the time the sky grew faintly pale the next morning, he was already up and about. When he stepped out and noticed the food waiting on the table, he cast a somewhat surprised glance at Tong Xiaoya.

"Did you prepare this?"

Tong Xiaoya nodded with a bright smile, gesturing for him to sit down and eat together.

Noticing the faint dark circles under her eyes, Su Bai realized she must not have slept well either the previous night.

"Are you heading over to Mi's place later?" Tong Xiaoya asked abruptly halfway through the meal.

Su Bai paused for a moment before nodding. "She mentioned preparing a parting gift for me. It wouldn't be polite not to go pick it up."

Tong Xiaoya smiled faintly and said nothing more. The rest of the meal was spent in a tacit silence between the two.

"Wait a moment."

Just as Su Bai was about to step out the front door, Tong Xiaoya suddenly called out to him. He turned around, looking at her with a puzzled expression.

She walked softly over to his side, reached out, and began straightening his collar. As she smoothed the fabric, she said in a gentle voice, "A man should always look sharp when he steps outside. Even if you're just going to see Sister Mi, you should still tidy up your appearance." She paused, then added, "Also, be careful on your way."

Su Bai stood frozen, watching as she gently murmured reminders about safety right beside his ear while meticulously tending to his clothes. It felt entirely like a wife sending off her husband for the day. At that exact moment, he felt a strange, unfamiliar stir within his heart.

Dazed, he nodded and replied softly, "Oh, alright. I'm heading out then."

Tong Xiaoya stood at the doorway, watching until his figure vanished completely around the corner of the street before turning back inside, a gentle smile lingering at the corners of her lips.

Walking down the road, Su Bai felt somewhat dazed and absent-minded. Once upon a time, both Tong Xiaoya and Yang Mi were unattainable goddesses, figures existing far beyond his reach. Yet why had they both suddenly drawn so close to him? It felt almost too close, making everything seem completely unreal.

When he finally retrieved the item from Yang Mi's residence, Su Bai could only offer another helpless, wry smile. It was yet another small trinket worth hundreds of thousands, possessing genuine collectible value. He knew that showing up at her doorstep uninvited might not be entirely appropriate, so he decided he still needed to contact Han Hanxue.

***

"Hello, Han Hanxue? This is Su Bai. I'd like to pay a visit to Elder Han."

Han Hanxue's first instinct was to give a flat refusal. But then she recalled how her grandfather had repeatedly told her more than once, "You should interact more with Su Bai; he's a fine young man." Swallowing back the rejection on the tip of her tongue, she simply said, "Wait for me," and hung up the phone.

A Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon soon pulled up and stopped directly in front of Su Bai. The window rolled down to reveal a frosty expression. "Get in."

Seeing Han Hanxue's attitude instantly stoked a quiet fire within Su Bai. She acted as though he owed her money—did she really have to be so ice-cold? Still, considering her grandfather had done him such a massive favor, Su Bai had no choice but to swallow his pride and bear it.

"Su Bai, let me make this clear: don't try to curry favor with my grandfather. Our Han family despises men who suck up to others!" Han Hanxue snapped as she drove. "Furthermore, when you see him, you are only allowed to stay for ten minutes at most. You must leave after ten minutes so you don't disturb his rest. And don't bring up any of your messy personal affairs in front of him either. If you can manage all that, I'll take you there right now. If not, get out of the car."

Su Bai stared at the chillingly aloof woman, biting back his irritation time and again before finally choosing silence.

"Fine!" he answered with a single word.

"Hey, what is wrong with you?" she demanded, visibly agitated. "Are you mute? I said all that, and all you have to say is 'fine'?"

Su Bai let out a self-deprecating laugh. "Heh. Fine."

Han Hanxue was momentarily speechless: ...

*They're both female celebrities, so why is the gap between them so massive?* Su Bai thought bitterly. *People like Tong Xiaoya and Yang Mi speak so gently and with such tact. Look at Han Hanxue by comparison—she leaves me utterly speechless.* Having a powerful backing certainly made a difference; it gave people the luxury of speaking with absolute arrogance.

Su Bai still couldn't fathom how someone as amiable and approachable as Elder Han could have raised such a socially inept granddaughter who constantly acted superior to everyone else.

Upon arriving, Su Bai found Elder Han once again lying back in a rattan chair in the courtyard, humming an unfamiliar little tune under his breath.

"Hello, Elder Han!"

Han Jianye leisurely opened his eyes and slowly sat up from the chair. "Ah, young Su is here. Come, come, sit down!"

As he spoke, he reached to pour Su Bai a cup of tea. Su Bai quickly caught the teacup with both hands as a sign of respect.

"Elder Han, when I came by last time, I noticed how much you appreciate tea, and it's clear you're a true connoisseur. I happened to acquire a teapot recently, and a friend told me that a pot like this needs someone who truly understands tea to properly 'season' it. Since I don't know the first thing about tea, would you mind helping me season and care for it, Elder Han?"

Han Jianye smilingly took the teapot handed over by Su Bai. "Oh? A pot from the 'Old First Factory' in Dingshu Town. This piece has quite a few years on it!"

Su Bai smiled and asked with feigned ignorance, "Is that so? I really don't know much about these things!"

Turning the pot over in his hands, Han Jianye chuckled as he explained, "This Old First Factory was the Yixing Purple Clay Ware Factory established back in 1955, though it was restructured later and no longer exists. It was originally founded when seven veteran masters—Wu Gengen, Pei Shiming, Ren Ganting, Wang Yinchun, Zhu Kexin, Gu Jingzhou, and Jiang Rong—gathered the top folk potters and pottery carvers of the time. A vast majority of our nation's national-level purple clay masters, provincial masters, celebrated artisans, and senior arts and crafts historians all came out of that very Old First Factory! Now that the factory has been closed for over twenty years, pots originating from there are becoming scarcer by the day. Therefore, this piece falls into the category of a fine miniature collectible, and it certainly isn't cheap nowadays. In the eyes of someone who truly appreciates these little treasures, it's easily worth over a hundred thousand yuan!"

Hearing this, Han Hanxue's expression instantly turned frosty. She had initially assumed a small teapot was nothing out of the ordinary, but learning that it was worth upwards of a hundred thousand yuan immediately displeased her. What if Su Bai harbored ulterior motives? Wasn't this just dragging Elder Han's untblemished reputation through the mud? She certainly didn't want her grandfather's lifelong integrity to be ruined over a single teapot from Su Bai.

"Su Bai, what is the meaning of this?!" she demanded coldly. "Take your teapot and leave! Our family does not welcome you here!"

Su Bai was already astonished that Elder Han could pinpoint a value so close to the actual market price of the pot just by looking at it. But when Han Hanxue's sharp words struck, his expression froze completely on the spot.

A small teapot like this shouldn't have been a big deal. Even if Elder Han stated it was worth that much, that was merely its appraised value; actually selling it would still depend on finding a willing buyer. Thus, giving away such a minor trinket as a gift should have been harmless, especially since its purchase cost back in the day was likely negligible, making any explanation entirely plausible.

Yet, with Han Hanxue exposing the matter so bluntly right then and there, he found himself utterly cornered and immobilized on the spot.