After the woman in red raised the bid to 25,000 yuan, Leyao immediately and decisively offered 30,000 yuan without the slightest hesitation, instantly silencing the entire room. Everyone’s eyes once again turned toward the woman in red.
The woman in red didn’t even glance at Leyao, who was competing against her, and still casually said to me, “35,000 yuan.”
The head-to-head battle between the two women greatly satisfied the crowd’s love for drama; they began cheering and clapping, once again putting Leyao in a precarious position. I couldn’t help but feel anxious for her, and signaled to A Feng, who stood beside her, with my eyes, hoping he would help stop her from acting so recklessly.
A Feng understood my meaning and gently nudged Leyao beside him, signaling her to calm down. But Leyao completely ignored him and stubbornly called out the number “40,000 yuan” again.
At this moment, the woman in red finally looked at Leyao, who had been challenging her all along. However, she still showed no pressure and raised the bid to 50,000 yuan. This extravagant move once again brought the tourists watching the spectacle to a collective climax; they clapped and cheered, eagerly waiting for Leyao to bid again.
Sure enough, Leyao was just about to call out another bid when she was finally stopped by Zhou Zhaokun, who stood on her other side. This caused both Leyao and the woman in red to look at him in confusion.
Unlike his usual smiling demeanor, Zhou Zhaokun’s face was very serious as he walked onto the stage and said to me, “I bid 100,000 yuan. Can we end the auction for this room now?”
The crowd was completely stunned. For just one suite, someone actually offered 100,000 yuan to stay for one night. Even the wealthy wouldn’t be so wasteful.
Before I could respond, the woman in red persisted and immediately raised her bid to 110,000 yuan. Zhou Zhaokun frowned and directly offered 200,000 yuan, then made a halting gesture toward the woman in red and said, “Miss, first of all, I really appreciate your active participation in this auction, but if a charity event turns into endless competition, it loses its original meaning. So, can we please stop here?”
The woman in red was silent for a moment before saying, “You have a point. I’ll let you have this room.” With that, she pushed through the crowd and walked out of the venue.
I was somewhat stunned, never having dreamed that it would end in such a dramatic way.
After the fifth room was auctioned, the sixth room was uncontestedly won by Leyao for 5,000 yuan, marking the end of the auction. However, the tourists’ desire to contribute a little to help the underprivileged children did not end. One after another, they took money from their wallets and handed it to the shy and timid little boy standing beside me.
The wind blew even harder. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning shaped like a snake’s tongue shot out from the thick, dark clouds, followed by thunder so loud it seemed to shatter the sky into countless pieces. The storm was coming.
I loudly reminded the tourists to quickly disperse, but many of them still asked me before leaving, “Boss, will your inn hold events like this again in the future? The atmosphere was really great!”
“There will be.”
“Great, next time we’ll definitely try to win a room. This part of the event was also very meaningful.”
I gratefully replied, “Then I’ll thank those in need on their behalf first.”
“Everyone with a sense of social responsibility would do this, Boss. Please don’t be so polite… Oh, give us one of your business cards. Next time we come to Xitang, we’ll call you directly and stay at your inn.”
I thanked them again, then went to my car parked not far away and fetched a thick stack of business cards, handing them out one by one to the tourists. After receiving the cards, they gradually dispersed, and the venue slowly quieted down. At last, the long-anticipated thunderstorm finally arrived!
Rain poured down in torrents, accompanied by lightning and thunder, as if angrily washing away all the filth in this world. Leyao and I, unable to return to the inn in time, stood side by side under a sunshade left by a vendor, taking shelter from the rain.
The rain was very loud, so I had to raise my voice to say to her, “Let’s go to the inn to take shelter from the rain. This sunshade is too small!”
“Don’t you think this is quite romantic? For the first time, I feel so close to the rain, yet it doesn’t touch me.”
“You’re getting sentimental again!”
Leyao ignored me, closed her eyes, and listened to the sound of the rain, while I lit a cigarette to pass the time.
As I was nearly finishing my cigarette, I finally nudged her and asked, “Why did you insist on competing with that woman in red just now?”
“It’s not that I was competing with her; I just wanted to help raise the bid for you.”
“Come on, if she had stopped bidding, wouldn’t those tens of thousands of yuan have gone to you in the end?”
Leyao smiled and said, “You underestimate her. I think tens of thousands of yuan is really nothing to her.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Didn’t you notice that the clothes and the bag she was wearing were both Chanel’s global limited editions?”
I sighed and said, “I thought it was just regular Chanel; I didn’t notice they were limited editions. So she really must be very wealthy!”
“So you see, ten or twenty thousand yuan is just the price of one outfit for her, but it’s completely different for those children in need. Why not raise the bid a bit higher?”
“Just suppose, I’m saying suppose, if she had stopped bidding, what would you have done?… Please don’t do anything this risky again in the future!”
Leyao casually replied, “If she didn’t bid, that’s fine too. I can still afford a few ten thousand yuan… Just thinking about how it can improve the children’s lives makes it worth it!”
“You’re really a good girl!”
“Go to hell! Stop giving me the ‘good person’ card!”
“Don’t get so upset. I really do think you’re a good person. After all, nowadays even if a celebrity donates just a penny to charity, they’ll try every way possible to use it for self-promotion. Compared to them, you’re really rare!”
Leyao looked at me but remained silent, which made me feel a bit uneasy, but I still pretended to be calm as I met her gaze.
In the distance, Zhou Zhaokun approached us holding a white umbrella. My gaze finally shifted from Leyao, my heart began to race, and I could no longer remain calm because I knew he was coming to tell me the result—whether I could take over “Yuanlai Inn” depended entirely on his words.
Leyao, who had been silent all along, also turned her gaze toward the approaching Zhou Zhaokun. Her expression seemed even tenser than mine.
To ease the tension before meeting him, I quietly asked Leyao, “What do you think about why Zhou Zhaokun raised his bid to 200,000 yuan after the woman in red offered 110,000? He clearly opposed competition during such a charitable event.”
“What do you mean by asking this?”
“I naturally believe he dislikes such competition, but I also think it might have been out of love for you. After all, the woman in red had been competing with you for so long; he had to help you regain your dignity. Otherwise, when she finally offered 110,000 yuan, he wouldn’t have needed to raise it further.”
Leyao looked toward Zhou Zhaokun and said, “Even if that were true, I might not necessarily appreciate it.”
“Really? I think he’s actually a very good person—thoughtful and gentle-mannered.”
“As for that, I personally dislike the typical nouveau riche coal mine tycoons the most!”
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