Zombie Bodyguard
Chapter 545 - 542 Status and Seating

Chapter 545: Chapter 542 Status and Seating

"What? This doesn’t seem like an auction venue?" Miss looked at Lin Tian and said.

"It isn’t quite similar, it resembles an ancient tavern more," Lin Tian replied honestly.

The building in front wasn’t tall, just three or four stories, but like the entire Tianfu Restaurant, it was built in a traditional architecture style.

"The style of the restaurant was decided by grandfather, so no matter how many branches we open, the decoration style is more or less the same," Xiao Manxue explained.

The entire Tianfu Restaurant covers a large area, divided into different zones for different functions. Though it’s called a restaurant, it’s actually multifunctional; banquets and ceremonial events can be held here.

Of course, land in Kyoto City isn’t as expensive as it is inside the country, and since Tianfu Restaurant is not close to the city center, the Xiao Family was able to acquire such a large piece of land for the restaurant.

The grand doors of the ancient building were manned by servers, who all nodded and greeted Mrs. Xiao with a bow when she appeared. Upon entering the lobby, the layout was also different from that of a typical auction venue.

A normal auction venue is just one large hall with display screens, an auction stage, and rows of chairs, not much different from a large conference room.

However, the auction venue at Tianfu Restaurant has two floors. The first floor is the main hall with the auction stage set in the middle, surrounded by a meticulously arranged ring of mahogany chairs.

The upper floor has a gallery that also surrounds the hall, with staircases on both sides. There are chairs placed intermittently along the gallery, but fewer than on the first floor.

Following the tradition of the Huaxia people, there is a custom of offering "upper seats" to distinguished guests. Without guessing, Lin Tian knew that these seats were the so-called elegant seats, intended for those of high status.

Behind each elegant seat was a door, presumably leading to private rooms, which offered treatment several levels higher than the general seating below.

Of course, having an auction venue set up like this has its advantages. If you could sit upstairs, during the auction you would feel somewhat embarrassed to hold back on spending. Wealthy people always want to save face; otherwise, they wouldn’t choose to sit in those elegant seats.

While Lin Tian was observing the auction hall’s layout, several people entered through the door, namely Zhou Botong’s family, with Elder Zhou among them.

Mrs. Xiao stepped forward to greet them with a smile, "Master Zhou, you’ve arrived the earliest. It seems you can hardly wait to see the jade that will be auctioned."

"Indeed, that’s my sole hobby. But you’ve kept the pieces to be compared at the auction a secret; I’m very much looking forward to it. Especially the top-quality jade that Brother Lin won at the Gambling Stone Festival—I’m eager to know which one you’ll use for sculpting and auction off," Elder Zhou said with a hearty laugh.

Lin Tian felt quite ashamed. He was the one who acquired the jade and was also a shareholder of Tianxue Jewelry, yet he didn’t know what Miss would bring out for the auction.

He was speechless at himself, to manage a business to such a degree with such a hands-off approach was truly unprecedented.

Seeing that Lin Tian remained silent, Mrs. Xiao thought he was just being modest. She didn’t mind and said with a smile, "Lin Tian, why don’t you and Zhou Botong browse around downstairs? I’ll accompany Elder Zhou and the rest upstairs."

The Xiao mother and daughter led Elder Zhou and a few others upstairs. Strangely, Xiao Manxuan didn’t follow; she just stood there without moving. What was even stranger was that Mrs. Xiao and the eldest Miss didn’t call out to her.

"Second Miss, are you going to stay with us down here to play? Why aren’t you going upstairs?" Lin Tian asked with curiosity.

"Upstairs is the VIP area, and we younger generations can’t just go up there willy-nilly. Even if we did go up, we’d only be able to stand; it’s too boring," Xiao Manxuan pouted, expressing her dissatisfaction.

"Oh, I see. I’m still a student, so it looks like I’m even less qualified to go up there," Lin Tian said with self-deprecating laughter, but his tone was very indifferent.

He had always believed in amassing wealth quietly. Even if he could sit upstairs, how would that matter? Personal power didn’t need these superficial honors to support it.

"Brother Lin, as a prominent figure in the Jade Industry, you’d have the right to sit upstairs. But in terms of background, we young people really do fall short compared to those old tycoons from big financial groups and families. However, we all have a generation gap; even if I were given a seat upstairs, I wouldn’t go. It’s especially boring," Zhou Botong said, shaking his head.

Zhou Botong was known for his humorous nature. Asking him to sit with some serious middle-aged men or old-timers would indeed be awkward for him. In truth, the Zhou Family’s status didn’t qualify them for seats upstairs; they were merely merchants from one corner of the land.

Even a good relationship with the Xiao Family wouldn’t suffice, as these were long-standing social rules, ones that Mrs. Xiao couldn’t simply change without making the Xiao Family a target.

However, today the Zhou Family had a spot upstairs for two reasons: one was because Zhou Botong held shares in Tianxue Jewelry, and his shares meant the Zhou Family was also one of the hosts. Naturally, the host could sit upstairs.

Another important reason was Elder Zhou’s status in the Jade Industry as a master-level figure. Of course, there would be a seat for him in the VIP area.

Lin Tian was well aware of these circumstances, but to him, they were nothing more than mere mortal games. As an immortal zombie, he felt as if he was looking down from the Nine Heavens, finding their rules of the game rather insignificant, like playing house.

He suddenly felt a sense of loneliness; an odd sensation, but he immediately scolded himself inwardly. Damn, I’m only eighteen, why do I feel like an old geezer? This goes against my usual devil-may-care philosophy.

Seeing that Lin Tian had fallen silent, Xiao Manxuan thought he was upset with her mother’s arrangements and might have some objections, so she said: "Lin Tian, what’s wrong? Actually, there’s a reason why my mother arranged things this way. The young people downstairs can be quite a handful to deal with, and my mom knows that only you have the capability to deter them and prevent trouble during the auction."

"Second Miss, where did your thoughts wander off to? I couldn’t care less about a spot. I just had a strange feeling of loneliness flash through my mind," Lin Tian said with a slight smile.

"Loneliness?" Xiao Manxuan appeared baffled, wondering how he could suddenly feel that way.

"Yeah, Brother Lin, if you’re feeling empty and cold, I can keep you company, anything but a pledging of body—it’s fine with me," Zhou Botong said with his typical goofy expression.

"Tsk, you don’t understand what true loneliness is—it’s fascinating. ’Solitude’ is a king’s address to himself, so ’solitude’ signifies a king; ’unique’ means one of a kind. Loneliness is being the one and only king. A king stands in the void, transcending the mundane world, representing a state of peace and completeness, not what you called being empty and cold!" Lin Tian looked at him disdainfully, unsatisfied.

"Applause, applause, applause..." A rhythmic clapping sound came from the entrance. Lin Tian turned his head and saw the Ou family’s eldest daughter, Ou Qinglan, her two personal female guards, and Ou Mengmeng.

Beside her were three other people: Yun Xiaotian and his "butler" elder, plus another old man Lin Tian didn’t recognize. They all looked at Lin Tian, their expressions varied.