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Chapter 49

Charles, with blond hair and blue eyes, took off his bowler hat and held it in front of him, bowing respectfully.
“Dear Miss Lin, hello. I haven’t seen you on the ship these past few days—I even thought you had disembarked early.”

After Cheng Wanting boarded the ship, he had not allowed any of the British or French men to approach Lin Keying again.

Lin Keying gave a polite but slightly awkward smile.
“I’ve been with my husband.”

Hearing that the beautiful lady before him already had a husband, Charles was surprised and a little disappointed, but as a gentleman, he could only maintain his grace.
“Oh, that’s wonderful. Congratulations on being reunited!”

A moment later, the Frenchman Léo arrived and, hearing Charles’s words, curiously asked,
“Hey, Charles, who are you congratulating?”

“Miss Lin and her husband.”

That single sentence felt like a bucket of cold water dumped over Léo’s head, instantly extinguishing his smile.

Cheng Wanting placed one hand on the car roof, shielding Lin Keying as she got into the car. He turned his head and looked sharply at the oblivious British and French men.
“What, are you two planning to join us?”

Charles and Léo heard the tall Eastern man speaking fluent English. Beneath his rugged exterior was an unmasked coldness.

The two men maintained their gentlemanly demeanor, raising their hands in a gesture of invitation. After the Mercedes sped away, they couldn’t help but mutter.

“Miss Lin’s husband seems too cold.”

“Will she really be happy married to him?”

“Is he some wealthy businessman from Hong Kong? I’ve seen countless tycoons from Hong Kong, but I don’t recognize him.”

“Probably not someone of high status.”

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The Mercedes sped along, traveling from the northwest port of South Africa to Kimberley, a city later known as the Diamond Capital of the World.

Vast lands, plateaus, the ocean, and the occasional mine made up this city’s unique landscape.

Lin Keying sat by the window. In her view was the capital of Northern Cape atop the plateau—endless plains covered in reddish-brown earth. Short vegetation crisscrossed with barren land, and occasionally, wild animals not commonly seen in Hong Kong raced freely, as if competing with the car.

“That rabbit is huge!” Lin Keying exclaimed, spotting a Cape hare she’d only seen on TV before—a rabbit weighing four to five kilograms.

Zhao Fengzhen, who had visited Africa years ago, was also pleasantly surprised to see such untouched wildlife again. She quickly turned to talk to her goddaughter about the many fierce animals she’d encountered before.

When the Mercedes finally stopped at the most upscale hotel in Kimberley—a sprawling two-story red brick complex—it couldn’t compare to a five-star hotel in Hong Kong but was already the best accommodation available here.

Yang Minghui had made prior arrangements, and the group checked in smoothly. Soon after, wealthy businessmen invited to the mining auction began arriving one after another.

The hotel’s interior was decently decorated—clean, tidy rooms with complete facilities.

When Lin Keying heard from Secretary Yang that Cheng Wanting had also invested in this hotel, she felt numb. Slowly turning to look at him, her gaze filled with admiration, she suspected that if she ever went to Antarctica, perhaps one of the penguins there would even be adopted by Cheng Wanting—and carry the surname Cheng.

When booking rooms, Cheng Wanting was very polite. As Yang Minghui mentioned having booked separate rooms for Guo Changda and his wife, and for Cheng Wanting and Lin Keying, Cheng Wanting intervened:
“Why don’t you ask my wife if she needs an additional room?”

Then he looked at Lin Keying and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear:
“Mrs. Cheng, do you want to stay separately?”

Everyone around them were businessmen who had shared a ship for nearly a month. Lin Keying suspected that the man was doing this on purpose—choosing to stay separately under everyone’s watchful eyes would openly suggest that their marriage was strained.

She turned to Yang Minghui:
“No need.”

Cheng Wanting took the room card, told Yang Minghui to go pack up in his own room, then walked beside Lin Keying, thanking her in a low voice:
“Thank you, Mrs. Cheng, for giving me some face in public.”

Lin Keying shot him a light glare.

By the time they arrived at the Monsanto Hotel, it was nearly evening. After settling in, the group headed downstairs for dinner.

The hosts, local officials from Kimberley, had specially prepared a sumptuous banquet for the distinguished guests.

South Africa’s diverse wildlife meant plenty of meat on the table. The roasted meat was crispy and firm, paired with local spices and the spicy vegetable condiment chakalaka. The taste was quite distinctive.

After tasting the roast meat, Lin Keying also sampled the highly praised local farmer’s sausage.

The sausage was coiled into a spiral, bright red in color, and one could vaguely see the sizzling, juicy meat through the casing.

She cut a piece with knife and fork and brought it to her mouth. The unique spices blended into the meat’s aroma. The texture was spicy and satisfying, with juices oozing out with every bite, making it very filling.

However, the portion was large. After tasting a few bites, Lin Keying focused on drinking corn porridge instead.

The soft and sticky porridge was perfect to balance out the greasiness from all the meat. As Lin Keying slowly sipped, she suddenly heard a young girl scream at a nearby table.

A little girl around eight or nine years old shouted in Chinese that she didn’t want sausage, hurriedly pushing her plate away.

An American businessman beside her laughed boisterously, twirling his mustache.
“Hey, little girl, snake meat sausage tastes good.”

“No!” The little girl was terrified of snakes. Hearing that, her face scrunched up in fear. Her mother quickly tried to comfort her, while her father sternly rebuked the man.
“Sir, please leave.”

The fat American businessman shrugged.
“It was just a joke.”

The little girl cried uncontrollably, and several nearby women frowned, losing their appetite.

Lin Keying cut off another small piece of sausage, raised her fork, and smiled gently.
“Hey, little one, this is beef and pork sausage—not anything else. He was lying.”

Tearful, the little girl looked at her with uncertainty.
“Really?”

“Of course.” Lin Keying popped the sausage into her mouth.
“See? I ate it. It’s delicious.”

She’d heard before that locals in South Africa loved using sausages to prank people, but she hadn’t expected that American businessman to scare a little girl like that.

Then she turned to reassure the other ladies around her, both Eastern and Western.
“It’s beef filling. You can eat it without worry, right?”

The last question was directed at the local waiter.

The waiter nodded, and only then did everyone continue eating.

Seeing Lin Keying resume her meal, Cheng Wanting tapped his fingers lightly on the table.
“In that case, let’s serve a special plate of snake sausage just for that gentleman.”

He smiled politely.
“My treat.”

The fat American businessman’s expression stiffened. Just thinking of the strange taste made him uncomfortable. As he was about to speak, several women and their husbands chimed in.

“I’d also like to treat this gentleman to a plate of snake sausage.”

“So would I…”

After being offered several plates of snake sausage, the American businessman had no choice but to flee in embarrassment.

The little girl, seeing the pretty older sister eat the sausage and the nasty man run away, finally calmed down. Her tears stopped as her mother fed her some corn porridge.

Once the child was settled, her family came over to express their thanks. Through their conversation, Lin Keying learned that they were Chinese from Singapore and were also here to participate in the mining auction.

It was rare to hear Mandarin again, and Lin Keying was almost moved to tears—it’s hard to find the sound of home abroad.

The little girl, named Pearl, shyly called Lin Keying,
“Pretty sister,” making her beam with joy.

Pearl continued greeting people politely, calling Guo Changda and his wife “Grandpa” and “Grandma.” Finally, when it came to Cheng Wanting, Lin Keying introduced him as her husband.

Pearl sweetly said,
“Hello, uncle.”

Lin Keying nearly burst out laughing, quickly glancing at her husband. Although Cheng Wanting wasn’t even thirty yet, his mature demeanor and powerful presence, along with his perpetually expressionless face, made it understandable for a child to call him “uncle.”

She whispered to him reassuringly,
“Children speak without filter~”

Cheng Wanting remained indifferent.
“You seem to be having fun.”

The unexpected episode didn’t dampen anyone’s good mood. At 8 PM, the local hosts delivered maps of the mining areas to each of the foreign businessmen’s residences. Each bidder needed to submit the names of the mining areas they wished to bid on, along with their bid amounts, by noon the next day.

Lin Keying had already seen this map in the hands of a French businessman, proving that some foreign tycoons had indeed gotten advance advantages.

However, even with an advantage, they were still facing unmined areas—it was a gamble. All she had to do was recall the names of the mines.

One was a closed-book exam; the other, open-book.

There were over a hundred mining areas available for bidding, with no information disclosed—blind bidding. The starting price was $1 million per area.

Lin Keying vaguely remembered that such blind auctions contained both valuable mines and worthless ones. If you ended up with junk, it would be a total loss. Of course, with enough luck, one might strike a hidden top-tier mine and make a fortune.

For the South African organizers, it was a win-win. Many of these mines were of poor quality, and even good ones would be mined using the foreign investors’ funds, relieving their economic strain. They would also collect a 10% annual royalty from each mine’s profits.

That’s why South Africans loved inviting businessmen to these auctions.

Among the hundred-plus mining areas, any quality mine could appear. Yet in the past decade, only one top-tier mine had ever been uncovered.

As luck would have it—this time, three would appear!

The mines whose names lingered in her memory needed to match the names on the map. As Lin Keying murmured the names, she indeed found three that closely resembled the pronunciations she remembered.

One, the Yamisombur Mine, was on the outskirts, with no large-scale nearby operations. Another, the Sotoria Mine, was in the core zone of Kimberley’s high-yield mines. The final was Kimberley Mine, which had three—Kimberley No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3.

In her memory, the top-tier Kimberley mine didn’t have a numbered suffix—perhaps later media summaries had overlooked that detail.

Memorizing the locations, Lin Keying was pondering how to secure the top-tier mines amid over thirty bidders when the man beside her spoke.

“Found ones you like?”

Clearly, Cheng Wanting had little interest in diamond mines. Given his nature, he’d rather spend $100 million in Paris to buy finished, exquisite diamonds.

“A bit.” Lin Keying casually circled four worthless mines she had leaked to the British and French tycoons and wrote down the starting bid—$1 million each.

Cheng Wanting glanced at her chosen mines.
“Just these four?”

Lin Keying nodded and teased him,
“What if I end up bidding on all junk? Four million dollars wasted?”

For the first time, Cheng Wanting cracked a dry joke.
“At least we’d hear a sound. Not bad.”

“Then I’ll bid together with my godfather and godmother,” Lin Keying said, handing Cheng Wanting the tough task.
“You go bid…”

Cheng Wanting cut her off bluntly.
“We’ll do it together. Give what you really want to Mr. and Mrs. Guo. Mrs. Cheng, what kind of wife doesn’t stand with her husband?”

Lin Keying: “…”

The next morning, using Cheng Wanting’s invitation, Lin Keying marked four areas—the worthless mines.

Guo Changda and Zhao Fengzhen, using their invitation, submitted bids on sixteen areas, scattered widely and randomly—so random that it looked like they’d drawn blindly on the map. Their selection included two top-tier mines and the possible third, Kimberley No.1, No.2, and No.3.

That afternoon at 2 PM, the auction was held in the hotel ballroom, decorated as luxuriously as possible within the modest space.

Glass display cases around the hall showcased South Africa’s top diamonds—Fancy Intense Blue and Fancy Intense Pink diamonds, both at the second-highest color level (Intense), just below Fancy Vivid. Their clarity was the highest grade, FL (Flawless).

An 11-carat top pink diamond sparkled brilliantly, pure and radiant. A 7-carat top blue diamond showed a pristine ocean-blue hue from every angle.

The shimmering diamonds lit up the auction hall, further stoking the intense desire of the gathered tycoons.

After entering, everyone toured the diamond displays, admiring and marveling at their luxury and beauty. Ten minutes later, the businessmen began taking their seats.

Guo Changda and Zhao Fengzhen sat in the fourth row corner. Lin Keying, wearing a silver evening gown, and Cheng Wanting in a sharp suit, prepared to sit in the front row.

Beside them were Charles the British businessman, Léo the Frenchman, and even the prankster American businessman from yesterday, sitting in the middle.

“Let’s go,” Lin Keying smiled at her husband, her almond-shaped eyes gently curving.
“Secretary Cheng.”

Cheng Wanting followed her to their seats, leaning slightly and replying softly,
“I’ll follow Commander Lin’s lead in everything.”

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