SMWOM 30

After breakfast, Meng Yang and the others directly set out for the city’s largest fragrance garden, where quarterly price-guessing auctions were held during every season. 

Lin Songtai and Xu Wangya, as well as the other masters of the school, had already arrived and were drinking tea and chatting. Yu Junchen and the others had arrived, but Xu Wangya’s expression wasn’t very good. The students’ heads were slightly lowered in silence. 

Meng Yang and his fellow students went over to salute the masters. 

“Sit down,” Lin Songtai said with a smile. “I heard that yesterday’s spice auction was completely dominated by Meng Yang?”

“Not completely,” Meng Yang replied. “There were several ingredients I didn’t think I really needed, so I didn’t bid on them. Later, I thought that even if I didn’t need them currently, it’s always useful to save them for later. As such, I took the entire last half.”

Lin Songtai and several other masters around him smiled, while Xu Wangya and the masters around him at another round table didn’t look very good. 

“Teacher, did I cause any trouble by doing this?” Although Meng Yang didn’t feel the need to hide his strength, it was still better to ask.

“You’re still a student, so it’s necessary to show off your talent as much as possible. When you’re more famous, remember to leave a bite for others,” Lin Songtai said. 

“Yes, this student will remember.” Meng Yang also believed this. For now, it was more important to establish a reputation to be able to participate in more exclusive auctions in the future. 

“Why don’t you come with me later and guess on some prices?” Lin Songtai asked.

“Thank you for the opportunity. If I guess the price correctly, can I buy it myself?” Meng Yang asked.

“Naturally,” Lin Songtai said.

“Thank you, teacher,” Meng Yang thanked him happily. 

With the sound of the gong, all the wooden folding doors separated from the inside and were pushed open. The qualified bidders stood up and walked in, while the others stayed outside to watch.

Everyone who had the qualifications to bid could bring along one person as a helper; most people would bring in people who were experts at price-guessing.

There were also people like Lin Songtai who took their students in to learn and experience the world. 

Yu Junchen was the most promising student of Xu Wangya at present, so Xu Wangya naturally took him along. No matter what, he had to train Yu Junchen to gain more achievements, and then he would have more say in the college and association. If Yu Junchen was competing with Meng Yang, Lin Songtai would certainly take advantage of this opportunity to suppress him.

The first round of the price-guessing auction began with two kinds of materials. Only one person from each group could go up to identify the quality of the spices per round.

The first round contained ingredients that Xu Wangya needed, so he went up by himself to identify the ingredients. 

Bradley was in front of Meng Yang, but suddenly turned around and said, “Please, go ahead.”

Meng Yang didn’t know what to make of this and didn’t want to speak any useless words, so he just nodded and went to the front to confirm the quality of these materials. 

Meng Yang just went to smell them and didn’t need to look at them, so he decided to return to his seat. After thinking for a while, he wrote down a price on the wooden plaque. 

“Confident?” Lin Songtai asked.

“Yes,” Meng Yang nodded.

Lin Songtai smiled and continued to drink his tea.

Soon after the wooden plaques were collected, the staff loudly announced, “Materials No. 1 and No. 2 obtained by guest No. 17.”

Lin Songtai smiled wider as Xu Wangya immediately turned around to look at Meng Yang, fists clenched. The No. 1 material was exactly what he’d needed. 

The next two rounds of materials were all obtained by Meng Yang, and the faces of the other participating guests were all quite sullen. Everyone watching outside was surprised and began talking. 

“Who in the world is that young man? That’s really amazing.”

“Didn’t you see him sitting with Master Lin Songtai? Most of those people have just been accepted by Master Lin Songtai, and to be accepted by such a world-class master, you must be extraordinary.”

“There are many masters and price-guessing experts among those bidding, yet he put on such a one-man show and beat them all?”

“Isn’t it just three rounds? It’s too early to say such things.”

The fourth and fifth rounds soon began. Xu Wangya had thought about letting Yu Junchen try it out after obtaining the ingredients he needed, as it would still be a learning experience even if the price was not accurate. Now though, he wouldn’t let Yu Junchen go up.

“Teacher, can I buy all of the materials?” Meng Yang returned to his seat and asked Lin Songtai. 

“Why not?” Lin Songtai smiled. 

Meng Yang nodded and continued to write prices on the wooden plaques. 

Ending with the sixth round, Meng Yang alone took all the spices from this spring’s price-guessing auction. Those who watched were completely shocked, their voices growing louder and louder as they discussed this marvel.

Yu Junchen looked cautiously at Xu Wangya’s face before lowering his head, trying to think about when Meng Yang got such a strong sense of smell.

Xu Wangya sighed in his heart for a long time. Even though he was quite unhappy, he had to admit that Meng Yang’s sense of smell was really too strong. Not only did he have a strong sense of smell, he’d also mastered all kinds of ingredients to the extent that he could guess the prices so accurately.

The staff placed all the materials into boxes and let Meng Yang have a look before packing them up.

Lin Songtai picked up one of the wooden boxes and smelled the ingredients inside, and was immediately shocked. He wasn’t able to judge the exact quality by the scent, yet Meng Yang was able to even guess an exact price. Now he could understand the mood of the other bidders. 

Once Meng Yang signed the receipt, Lin Songtai stood and escorted Meng Yang outside, surrounded by spectators.

“Mr. Lin really deserved to be a world-renowned master of incense, he’s a masterful teacher!”

“Congratulations to Mr. Lin, you have another genius student.”

“Thank you, thank you.” Lin Songtai thanked them with a smile on his face as he walked out with his students. He was very proud at receiving compliments from these people. 

“Master Lin, your student has such a strong sense of smell. Are you going to train him to be a fragrance appraiser (1) later on?”

“Yes, your student’s sense of smell is really amazing and admirable. With your teaching, he could become one of the country’s most famous fragrance appraisers in the future.”

“Future things will be known in the future. It’s not worth talking about if there’ll be no action, so please don’t flatter (2) him too much.” Lin Songtai’s words still held some reservations between the lines.

“Mr. Lin, can I borrow you to talk for a moment?” The manager of the fragrance market asked Lin Songtai, squeezing through the crowd with difficulty.

“Wait for me in the tea house opposite here,” Lin Songtai directed his students. He then went off to the side with the manager.

Bradley passed by Meng Yang and said with a smile, “Congratulations. It was a complete victory this time.”

“Thank you,” Meng Yang replied calmly. 

“You…” Bradley wanted to ask Meng Yang why he was so cold to him, but on second thought, he figured Meng Yang might just have that kind of character. He smiled and said, “I hope we can become friends the next time we meet. Until then.”

Meng Yang held this kind of attitude towards all unfamiliar people, even if the other side was an internationally famous perfumer, held the title of perfume idol, and was a master figure loved by countless fans. In Meng Yang’s heart, he wasn’t familiar with him and wouldn’t rush to make friends just because of Bradley’s status. 

Meng Yang and the others went to the tea house across the street while more and more people were still talking about how amazing Meng Yang was. This time, he really gave Lin Songtai a lot of face. In one day, he had made a name for himself in the fragrance market. In the future, people would be willing to pay him high prices just to identify the quality of various ingredients. This was just the beginning. 

The people of the spice market management association were going to entertain some rich businessmen and incense masters that night. They hoped that Lin Songtai would bring Meng Yang to the party tonight as he had taken the limelight today, as many rich businessmen wanted to meet him.

Lin Songtai wanted to give some face to the management of the fragrance market, so he not only took Meng Yang, but also his other students. 

Meng Yang returned to the inn with the others to wash up and change clothes before setting out for the party. Yu Junchen and his fellow students were taking their luggage to go on a sightseeing bus tour outside the city and then were then going to return to Anluo. 

As Yu Junchen was about to get on the tour bus, he saw Meng Yang come out dressed in formal clothes. He treated Yu Junchen and the others as if they were invisible, not even giving them a glance as he walked past them.

Meng Yang had sent a message to Luo Xiu and learned that he would also be at the party. He wasn’t very interested in the party, but he looked forward to going home with Luo Xiu afterwards. 

Entering the banquet hall, they were taken by Lin Songtai to greet the people of the Fragrance Market Administration Bureau. After getting familiar with these people, it’d be more convenient to come to the market without taking his reputable name card. 

Many rich businessmen came to talk with them and expressed their intentions to invest in Meng Yang. Once Lin Songtai informed them of Meng Yang’s identity, they immediately stopped talking about investment. They hadn’t known Meng Yang’s identity before and eagerly talked about investing in him, so they felt a bit embarrassed. 

Meng Yang managed to escape the crowd and looked for Luo Xiu. He saw him standing not too far away while talking to Bradley. 

Bradley turned his head slightly and saw Meng Yang walking towards them. He thought Meng Yang wanted to talk to him, so he kept his eyes on Meng Yang. 

When Meng Yang reached them, he grasped Luo Xiu’s hand (3). He nodded to Bradley and then turned to Luo Xiu to ask, “When did you arrive?”

“Only about three minutes ago,” Luo Xiu looked at Meng Yang and replied. 

“When can we leave? I’m a little tired,” Meng Yang asked.

Luo Xiu looked at the time and said, “I’ll go say hello to my friends, and we can leave in ten minutes.”

“Okay.” Meng Yang nodded. 

Bradley watched in shock as the two of them talked for a moment before he came back to himself and asked, “President Luo, this is?”

“This is my lover Meng Yang. We just got married,” Luo Xiu replied. 

“Marry…married already?” Bradley looked at Meng Yang and felt an indescribable sense of loss. 

“Then I’ll go and talk to the teachers and my senior brothers and sisters,” Meng Yang said to Luo Xiu. 

Luo Xiu nodded.

Meng Yang nodded to Bradley again and turned to walk away. 

Bradley’s eyes followed Meng Yang the whole time. Though he didn’t realize it, the sense of loss in his heart was fully expressed on his face. 

Luo Xiu saw his expression and turned to follow his gaze only to see Meng Yang’s back. He immediately understood what was happening and was a little unhappy in his heart.

“Mr. Bradley, I’m going to say hello to my friends. We’ll talk again next time,” Luo Xiu said, hiding his displeasure. 

“Okay,” Bradley hid the emotions on his face, but he still didn’t feel very good. In reality, he didn’t like Meng Yang yet, but he felt it wasn’t easy for him to meet someone interesting. He hadn’t taken action and confirmed his feelings yet, but he had already lost the opportunity, leaving him feeling very frustrated. 

During such parties, Luo Xiu usually would only come to show his face. After ten minutes, Luo Xiu found Meng Yang so they could leave.

Luo Xiu saw that Bradley was still looking at Meng Yang and raised his arm to hold Meng Yang as they left.

“What’s the matter?” Meng Yang felt that something was wrong with him.

“Nothing, aren’t you sleepy? Sleep in the car.” Luo Xiu bowed his head to whisper in Meng Yang’s ear, and then kissed his face. 

Though Meng Yang didn’t understand why he had lowered his head to tell him this, he nodded. 

In Bradley’s eyes, Luo Xiu hugged Meng Yang and from time to time would lower his head to kiss him on the cheek. They left together intimately. 

Once they got in the car, Meng Yang yawned and lay on his side in Luo Xiu’s arms, and let him cuddle him to sleep. 

Meng Yang soon fell asleep, while Luo Xiu watched his sleeping face in a complex mood.

He was very clear in his heart that people would be attracted to Meng Yang and would like him as this was a normal thing. In the future, there would only be more people. After all, he was not only talented and beautiful, but also very young. His whole body exuded an attractive and youthful aura. 

Bradley was ten years younger than him and more suitable for Meng Yang. He was also very excellent in all aspects. 

As soon as he thought about Bradley liking Meng Yang though, he became very angry. Even he didn’t know whether he was angry at Bradley or at the fact that he himself couldn’t be ten years younger, or perhaps even both.

Luo Xiu kissed Meng Yang’s forehead. He didn’t want to give him to anyone. Even if a more suitable person appeared, he didn’t want to let go. Only by keeping Meng Yang at his side could he be at ease. 

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This is part of a batch-upload from chapter 28-33. Make sure you’re not reading out of order!

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The author has something to say:

Please applaud and welcome, assistant gong Mr. Bradley.

Translator Notes: Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Bradley. <(_ _)> 

Your assistance will no longer be needed now that Luo Xiu has his head on straight though, especially because I mistyped your name as Bradely almost every time for some reason. 

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1. “香料鉴别”, could also be identifier or authenticator. I don’t know if this is a real job, as I wasn’t able to find much on it.

2. “捧杀”, meaning flattery that can put one at a disadvantage.

3. Okay, so the author had a typo here and wrote that Meng Yang approached and grabbed Luo Xiu’s head…I’m guessing she meant hand, but I can’t get over the image of Meng Yang walking over and greeting Luo Xiu with a bro-style headlock, maybe with a noogie hahahaha