Jian Wei glanced at the woman in red who had bid 2,000 yuan, and then calmly announced her bid of 5,000 yuan. The room once again erupted into an uproar because of her bid.
All eyes turned back to the woman in red, curious whether she would continue to raise the bid. Some people in the crowd had attended the previous event and had witnessed her strength, so they began chanting, “Bid ten thousand! Bid ten thousand!”
The woman in red did not respond to the crowd’s provocation. She calmly raised the bid to 6,000 yuan without haste, and then remained silent, seemingly having already mastered the art of bidding, unlike her previous aggressive manner.
This time, Jian Wei directly announced a bid of 10,000 yuan. The woman in red only added 1,000 yuan again. This indifferent behavior made Jian Wei somewhat angry, so she raised the bid again amidst the crowd’s uproar to 20,000 yuan. However, the woman in red still maintained her previous pace, casually adding another 1,000 yuan.
At this point, I couldn’t help but feel anxious for Jian Wei, after all, I had already learned the true identity of the woman in red. There were very few people at the scene who had the strength to compete with her, and Jian Wei had no reason to challenge her.
A single room was bid up to 21,000 yuan. Everyone’s attention once again turned to Jian Wei, curious whether she would continue. But no one was cheering like before, because this price had already far exceeded the reasonable range.
Jian Wei shrugged and said to the woman in red, “A gentleman doesn’t take away what others love. If you like it so much, just take it!”
I felt relieved instantly, thinking that my concern was unnecessary after all. Jian Wei was a strong businesswoman who had fought her way through the commercial world, completely different from someone like Leyao, a female celebrity who had suddenly gained wealth due to opportunities. She understood how to assess the situation and would not act recklessly. However, her saying “a gentleman doesn’t take away what others love” made me feel somewhat amused.
…
The auction continued, and the woman in red almost always placed a bid, eventually causing no one to compete with her, turning the event into a one-woman show. Who knows what her motives were.
Soon, only the last suite remained. I directly announced the starting price of 1,000 yuan. As expected, the woman in red immediately bid 5,000 yuan, causing the crowd to fall into silence. No one had the enthusiasm or courage to compete with her, making her seem very lonely in her invincible state. I didn’t wait any longer and began the countdown to finalize the bid.
“I bid 10,000.”
Everyone turned around, and then their gazes focused on Mi Cai. This time, it was her who placed the bid…
The woman in red seemed to have anticipated this. She walked to Mi Cai’s side and nodded at her. Mi Cai also smiled at her in a friendly manner. However, the competition did not stop because of this friendliness. The woman in red directly bid 20,000 yuan, which was much more aggressive than her previous incremental bids of 1,000 yuan.
Mi Cai quickly responded with a bid of 40,000 yuan. The woman in red then bid 80,000 yuan. I felt a chill down my spine. This was a doubling rhythm. Sure enough, Mi Cai, who understood the intention, then bid 160,000 yuan.
The woman in red calmly bid 320,000 yuan this time. However, after announcing the price, she whispered something into Mi Cai’s ear. Mi Cai nodded and did not bid again, once again allowing the woman in red to win.
I felt puzzled as I confirmed the auction price of 320,000 yuan. The surroundings had fallen into silence, all staring at the woman in red. Because by the end of the auction, she had spent nearly 500,000 yuan. For an impromptu, small-scale charity event, this was an astronomical figure.
The event proceeded to its conclusion. Out of the 10 rooms prepared, 8 were auctioned off to the woman in red in a dominant manner. I then invited her to the stage to share her thoughts. However, she gestured to Mi Cai to come instead. Mi Cai did not refuse and walked toward the stage through the path made by the crowd, making me even more puzzled. From their behavior, it was clear that they must have reached some kind of agreement just now.
Mi Cai finally stepped onto the stage and signaled me to hand her the microphone. I hesitated slightly before handing it over.
Mi Cai, as always, spoke in a calm tone, “I think everyone must be very curious about why I didn’t continue to bid just now…”
Everyone nodded, indicating their confusion.
Mi Cai said sincerely, “At that time, I indeed intended to continue bidding…” She paused slightly, looked at the woman in red, and continued, “But this lady persuaded me against it. To be precise, it wasn’t persuasion, but a proposal for cooperation… I believe that everyone here who participated in this event isn’t truly interested in these hotel rooms; they just wanted to contribute to the charity. However, this auction format created a constraint, allowing only a very small number of people to contribute to the charity. Therefore, this event itself was imperfect…”
Everyone nodded in agreement. I, however, began to sweat slightly. The woman in red had truly peculiar thoughts. No wonder she had bid on 8 rooms alone, spending 500,000 yuan, just to point out that the event was not perfect…
After everyone quieted down, Mi Cai continued, “Therefore, we just reached a consensus. The final bid of 160,000 yuan that I made will still be donated to this event, which can help those in need without turning this event into a show of competition among a few people… Here, I also suggest that the organizers of the event should come up with a better plan for the next event, so that more people can participate and make this charity truly a public welfare…”
After Mi Cai finished speaking, Zhou Zhaokun, who had been watching from the audience, nodded in agreement and was the first to applaud for Mi Cai. Soon, thunderous applause filled the entire venue. I, as the organizer of the event, felt ashamed. In fact, Zhou Zhaokun had previously expressed some concerns about the auction format, but because this event was still hastily prepared, we retained this segment. However, under the urging of Mi Cai and the woman in red, changes must be made next time… After realizing this, I also clapped along with the crowd, thanking the woman in red and humbly accepting her suggestion.
At this point, the woman in red also came onto the stage, stood beside Mi Cai, took out a business card from her pocket, and handed it to her, saying, “I’m glad to have the opportunity to meet a like-minded friend.”
Mi Cai accepted the business card and then handed her own card to her, saying, “Me too.”
At this moment, I couldn’t help but admire the woman in red’s wisdom. She had managed to establish a business connection with Mi Cai through this mutual liking. At this point, I also believed that she truly had intentions to invest in Zhuomei, and perhaps in the near future, she would have a business discussion with Mi Cai. For me, this was an unexpected joy, and I also hoped that Mi Cai would abandon her last hope for Weiran, come up with an actionable cooperation plan, and reach an agreement with the Tianyang Group of the woman in red, thereby freeing Zhuomei, freeing me, and freeing herself.
…
After the event, I handed the woman in red eight room cards and had a brief conversation with her. I joked with her, asking, “What are you going to do with the rooms you’ve bid on? Are you going to stay in one room in the first half of the night, switch to another in the second half, and change rooms again in the morning?”
“Only someone as bored as you would have such a boring idea!”
I smiled and replied, “Yeah, I’m just someone who seeks pleasure in boredom… But don’t you think you spent 500,000 yuan too casually?”
The woman in red retorted, “Casually? Our group donates nearly a million yuan every year to social welfare organizations. Who knows where that money ends up in the end? At least spending it here, I can see that it’s truly being used to help some of the socially disadvantaged!”
“Then why don’t you entrust the social welfare funds of your group to me in the future? After all, I’m such an upright person who won’t embezzle the funds!”
“Get lost. If our big group doesn’t allocate some funds to those welfare organizations every year, how could we pass the government’s review?”
I pointed at the woman in red and sighed, “You’re really a businesswoman!…”
“You keep getting lost… Isn’t the money I spent here still money? Is it also for profit?”
“That’s not the case at all!”
The woman in red glared at me, as if she had lost the desire to continue the conversation, and turned to walk away… Finally, I shouted after her, “When do you plan to talk to Mi Cai?”
“When the time is right.”
This standard business reply made me feel her business acumen even more. I was also thinking about what kind of benefit the current Zhuomei could bring to this shrewd businesswoman, otherwise, the so-called investment would still be just my wishful thinking.
…
The charity event had already ended two days ago, and it had also been two days since Leyao completely left my life. Although before this, we often went a week or even longer without contacting each other, these two days made me feel very uncomfortable. Sometimes I would habitually open WeChat to refresh my friend’s moments, wanting to follow her latest updates, only to suddenly realize that I had been blocked by her. Then I would light a cigarette in disappointment, forcing myself not to think about anything related to her, after all, we had already made a “never to meet again” agreement, and I had always been a person who kept his promises…
This was another busy evening. I was lying on the bed alone, smoking and drinking tea, when the door was suddenly opened by Tongzi, who panted and said to me, “Brother Yang, Leyao is on the entertainment headlines again!”
I tried to remain calm before extinguishing the cigarette butt and replied, “She’s been on the headlines recently, what’s the big deal.”
“This time is different. Do you know that she had a first love during her university days?”
“I heard her mention it…”
Tongzi said angrily, “This second-rate male star is so shameless. Now that Leyao has become a big star, he’s using her to promote himself. Take a look at this newspaper!”
I took the entertainment weekly from Tongzi’s hand. After reading only half of the content, I furrowed my brows, and an uncontrollable anger arose in my heart.
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