Wealth Games

Lost in thought, suddenly someone downstairs burst out laughing excitedly, “Hahaha—on the third floor, the bidding’s finally started! Oh my god, the opening bid is one billion! One billion!”

“Who on earth is on the third floor?”

“Judging by the figure, looks like a tall young man, some rich kid from a big family…”

“Could it really be one of the big families?”

“Gaiabloom is rare, but one billion? That Young master clearly doesn’t want anyone to bid against him.”

“Isn’t that obvious? When the third-floor bidder speaks, who below dares to outbid him? Are they crazy?”

“Well, that’s true. Who else has the family background, wealth, and power like him?”

Inside the private room, Raina and Leif naturally heard all this.

Gaiabloom was a rare medicinal herb, but a price of one billion was way beyond its true value. The guy bidding on the left side of the third floor either didn’t know the market or was just plain foolish.

Leif finished wiping the ointment off her hand and let go.

Raina rested her chin on her hand and said, “One billion for a single Gaiabloom plant… Mr. Vexley, do you know who that is?”

Leif was leisurely cleaning his fingers. When she asked, he looked up and said, “You know him.”

Raina was taken aback. She thought hard but couldn’t imagine knowing any such rich and reckless fool. Pointing to herself, she asked, “I know him?”

Leif lowered his eyes and said, “The Croft family, Rocky Croft.”

At the mention of that name, Raina nearly spat out her drink in shock. “One of the five great families, Rocky… Croft?!”

How to put it—she not only knew him, she’d once fought with this young master.

Back then, shortly after she’d been brought back from Lystra to the capital (Estravia), she’d unexpectedly run into this spoiled young master at a Croft family banquet. Over some dispute, she hadn’t held back and hit him hard—breaking one of his legs and three ribs.

That month, she was punished and not allowed to see her mother.

Though it was old history and the Croft family didn’t press charges afterward, this was truly a classic case of enemies crossing paths.

Leif glanced at her and said indifferently, “Yes, that young master Croft. And I’ve checked—the Eclipse Vine was also released by him.”

From downstairs came the rising tide of noisy cheers—some shouting excitedly, some sighing, others watching the spectacle unfold.

Raina sighed and said, “I didn’t expect that after all these years, this kid’s still so arrogant. If it weren’t for the Croft family backing him, he’d have been cut down long ago.”

A faint gleam flashed in Leif’s eyes as he said, “He ranks fourth on the noble sons leaderboard. Do you really think he’s just a worthless playboy?”

Raina had heard of this noble sons leaderboard before. Besides these sons of noble families, the capital’s rich ladies also had their own rankings.

And long ago, she was number one on that list.

Raina smiled faintly and said, “After all these years, these people’s tastes haven’t changed at all. What kind of rankings are these? Aren’t they just made by a bunch of bored people with too much free time?”

On this point, Leif agreed, saying, “Yep.”

Raina seemed to think of something and asked curiously, “But speaking of which, the Croft family is incredibly wealthy and certainly not short of money. So why would Rocky want to spend on the Eclipse Vine? If his eldest brother knew about it, wouldn’t he break his leg?”

Back when Raina had attended a banquet at the Croft family, their old mansion was splendid and grand — golden pillars, agate decorations, and even the floor was paved with white marble, radiating a powerful noble aura.

This Young master Croft from the Croft family had always been fearless since childhood, except when it came to his eldest brother. Whenever he saw his eldest brother, it was like seeing a ghost—either terrified out of his wits or getting beaten badly, wailing in pain. Although the Croft family wasn’t short of rare herbs like the Eclipse Vine, such a precious medicine wouldn’t be handed out easily.

Leif said, “You don’t know yet, do you? Two years ago, the highly praised eldest young master, Rayden Croft... passed away.”

Raina’s pupils suddenly contracted; her eyes widened and she blurted out, “Passed away? How?”

She had a good impression of Rayden Croft. When she once caused trouble at the Croft family and fought Rocky, everyone in the Croft family looked down on her and wanted to avenge their precious young master. But Rayden, after understanding the situation clearly, didn’t retaliate. Instead, he came personally with the injured Rocky to apologize to her.

Rayden was meticulous and righteous — a rare upright gentleman among the wealthy heirs.

On her way back to the capital, Raina had checked out some newly rising powers in the city but hadn’t looked into the Croft family further because of other family affairs.

She never expected that this person was no longer around.

At that moment, Leif said in a steady voice, “Two years ago, a branch of the Croft family had an incident in the Selmara. That branch was almost completely wiped out, with only one lucky survivor barely clinging to life. Unwilling to let the family branch perish, he dragged himself to the Croft family. Rayden, being fair-minded, took this person with him and personally went to the Selmara to handle the matter.”

“But after Rayden went to the Selmara, he never returned. When the Croft family received the news, the then head of the Croft family nearly died of anger on the spot. Afterwards, he personally went to the Selmara, retrieved Rayden’s remains, but likely couldn’t bear the blow and his health deteriorated rapidly, never appearing again.”

No wonder no one in the Croft family cared about Rocky’s reckless behavior today.

After a brief silence, Raina asked with a rough voice, “So… what exactly happened to that Croft family branch and Rayden in Selmara? Did the family head investigate after returning?”

She sensed something was off but didn’t know enough about the Croft family to press further.

Leif said, “Unknown.”

Raina blurted, “Huh? You don’t know either, Mr. Vexley?”

Leif smiled slightly and said, “I’m not all-powerful. Besides, if I meddled too much, the Croft family would start suspecting I’m involved.”

He paused, then added, “After the family head returned from Selmara, he sealed off all information and forbade anyone from investigating further. Especially Rocky — the family head forbade him from getting involved. The Croft family has kept quiet, as if nothing happened in Selmara at all.”

That was even stranger.

Was the family head just trying to cover something up?

What could be so important that it surpasses the life of Rayden?

***