Zhang Chaohe typed quickly: "If you don't believe me, come and witness it for yourself tonight. I just gave him the room key, you can ask him in person."
The dialog box displayed "The other party is typing" repeatedly. Zhang Chaohe waited patiently, and finally three words appeared: "Room number".
Zhang Chaohe subconsciously reached for his room key in his pocket but found nothing. He then realized that he had casually given it away when he was showing off.
Wait a minute, in those CEO romance novels, don't the CEOs just hand out room cards casually? But there's only one room card! How does the CEO get back to his room after giving it out?
This is utter bullshit!
⚹
He Guangyin kept glaring at him until the auction officially began.
Not to be outdone, Zhang Chaohe and Bai Chen engaged in a silent battle of wits, while Bai Chen, who was watching their every move from behind, beamed with delight, deeply proud of his own charm.
Ms. Zhao thought he was still angry with the young man from the He family, so she deliberately glanced at Mrs. He. Mrs. He was so angry at the provocation that she slapped He Guangyin on the back of the head!
Suddenly struck by misfortune, He Guangyin slammed his head against the table: ...
Zhang Chaohe: No wonder she's my mother!
The first two items were unremarkable. When it came to the third item, the yellow diamond, Ms. Zhao only raised her paddle once, but the bidding quickly reached a significantly inflated price.
Ms. Zhao put down the card with little interest: "Sigh, I originally thought it was just the right size, not too big, and I was thinking of buying it cheaply to make a pen for your dad, but forget it, he doesn't deserve it."
Zhang Chaohe: ? Is this something I can say?!
Zhang Chaohe felt sorry for Chairman Zhang, but he didn't plan to join the bidding to get a fountain pen for his father... However, the next second he heard a familiar, lazy bidding voice: "800,000".
As Li Ye casually raised the sign, he turned to Zhang Chaohe and gave him a smug and arrogant smile.
Ms. Zhao looked bewildered and asked in a low voice, "This price is enough to buy four yellow diamonds of this quality. What's he after?"
Zhang Chaohe also fell silent, probably because he didn't expect there to be such a foolish person who buys things without looking at the price: "It's a charity auction, maybe they just want to donate money."
Ms. Zhao suddenly realized and praised, "She has a heart for public service; she's such a good child."
After a fierce bidding war, the unsuspecting Li Ye successfully won the bid for the yellow diamond at nearly ten times the market price.
Everyone present spontaneously applauded in respect, probably because they felt that the bidding climax came out of nowhere, and that Mr. Li must have bid so high for charity.
Zhang Chaohe also joined the crowd in applauding Li Ye. His opinion of Li Ye changed completely—he might just be a little silly and lacking in tact, but he must be a good person at heart!
Li Ye smiled and shook his phone at Zhang Chaohe. Zhang Chaohe seemed to sense something and opened WeChat. Sure enough, the other party sent him a message: "Consider it a gift for Auntie. I'll send it to Mr. Zhang later."
The post was followed by a cat emoji—Li Ye, a grown man, actually uses a cat emoji!!
Zhang Chaohe was at a loss for words, so he simply relayed the story to Ms. Zhao. Ms. Zhao laughed heartily, then looked meaningfully at her youngest son: "Dian Dian has a good eye for making friends, but I have something urgent to attend to and need to go back later. Can Dian Dian go and get it for me?"
Zhang Chaohe thought that since he was going to take He Xiaomantou to crack down on counterfeit and substandard products later, it wouldn't be a big deal to take them along the way—besides, since his partner was being so friendly, he should of course cooperate fully, right?
He sent Li Ye an even cuter "OK" emoji and then turned his phone face down on the table.
So he didn't see that Li Ye replied to his message.
"Where to? Shall I take you to the lounge?"
"Mr. Zhang?"
"Then I'll come to your lounge to find you later."
Zhang Chaohe showed little interest in the subsequent lots until the ninth lot was brought to the stage.
This is a brooch modified from an official kingfisher feather hairpin. Not only is the brooch itself exceptionally well-made, combining kingfisher feather inlay, beadwork, and filigree, but it is also remarkably well-preserved.
The brooch is bright green with a hint of blue, giving it an extremely elegant and luxurious beauty.
Upon seeing it, Zhang Chaohe inexplicably felt that it was an extremely good match for Cheng Jixue—he would look very handsome wearing this brooch with his white python robe.
So he decisively raised his paddle several times and successfully eliminated several bidders.
Zhang Chaohe thought he had it all figured out, but then a new face suddenly appeared and started haggling with him!
This brooch happened to be an item provided by Li Ye's mother at the auction. Generally speaking, the higher the price at a charity auction, the more prestigious the provider is. Li Ye had just done her a favor, and Zhang Chaohe should reciprocate now.
Without hesitation, he continued to bid, and soon the competition reached a level where he could rival the unparalleled nemesis, Li Ye!
Another person holding up a paddle was equally persistent, chasing after the item as if their ancestral grave had been desecrated—Zhang Chaohe had witnessed the price of the kingfisher feather brooch skyrocket, and asked Ms. Zhao in bewilderment, "Who is this person? Is this his family heirloom?"
Ms. Zhao thought to herself, "You're still raising prices yourself, how dare you ask others?" She flipped through the guest list and found the other person's name: "His name is Ji Boyang, he's new this year, there's no more information about him."
But Zhang Chaohe was now in a bloodthirsty frenzy—who cares who he is, the whole audience is watching!
"P" (pass) doesn't exist in Mr. Zhang's dictionary!!
⚹
Ji Boyang raised his sign and began a heated bargaining session with a Mr. Zhang.
He crossed his legs, casually keeping up with the other party's bid, determined to get his hands on the item—after all, this brooch was something his second uncle had specifically requested, and since the money would be deducted from his second uncle's account, he didn't feel any pain and made the move very quickly.
However, when the bid for this kingfisher feather brooch reached 3.3 million and was about to jump to 200,000 per increment, Ji Boyang couldn't sit still any longer—
Even if his second uncle is rich, he can't spend money like this! What kind of thing has increased fifteen times the estimated price in the blink of an eye? Is this person maliciously inflating the price?
From a distance, with other people moving about in between, he couldn't make out their faces, only knowing that their surname was Zhang. Ji Boyang spoke softly to his second uncle through his earpiece: "Second Uncle, the bid has already increased to thirty-five, should we continue to bid?"
The voice on the other end of the phone was very textured, with a gentle calmness like that of someone washed by autumn rain, but also with the cold composure of someone in a superior position: "Who is bidding against you?"
As Ji Boyang spoke, he raised his paddle again, now at 3.8 million. The other party remained calm and composed, seemingly showing no intention of giving up. He failed to peek at the other party's face one last time and hesitated, saying, "I only know his surname is Zhang… Oh, the bidding is about to move to the next stage, let me show you—"
He raised his paddle and immediately moved the bidding process forward: "Four million!"
The room fell silent, probably because everyone thought these two people who were really going all out were truly admirable... No matter how top-quality the kingfisher feather carvings are, how well they were made by the government, or how well they have a clear provenance, they could never fetch this price.
So these two are still raising the price, purely out of competitiveness?
On the other end of the earpiece, his second uncle had a bad feeling: "Is it Zhang..."
Meanwhile, as the bidding entered the second stage, high-definition frontal images of the two VIP-level suckers were also projected onto the display screen!
Ji Boyang's hand trembled, and at the same time, his second uncle's guess came through the earphone.
"Is it Zhang Chaohe?"
On the screen, Mr. Zhang is staring coldly at the camera, his eyes filled with an arrogant and domineering air of determination and absolute certainty!
Ji Boyang: He knew that his second uncle had recently had a sudden idea to go into the film industry and that he had a good personal relationship with Xiao Zhang. So he paid close attention to the big scandal at Jiasheng a few days ago and was ready to help him out as soon as Xiao Zhang showed signs of weakness.
As it turned out, Mr. Zhang, with his strategic planning and decisive victory, not only made 130 million yuan while lying down, but also sent two corrupt officials to the police station for questioning. He decided then and there that he must meet this business genius when he had the chance!
Who would have thought that upon their first meeting, they would already be separated by a galaxy worth four million?
I'm on this side, and you're on the other side.
He gave a muffled "hmm".
Ji Er: I knew that only Zhang Chaohe among those surnamed Zhang would do something like this.
He chuckled softly, his breathy voice coming through the earphone like a feather gently brushing against it: "Give it to him."
Ji Boyang thought to himself, "How despicable! Someone could have gotten this for at most 200,000 or 300,000, but you've driven it up to 4 million. Even though I was the one holding the sign, wasn't I being instructed by someone behind the scenes?"
With Ji Boyang's withdrawal, Zhang Chaohe successfully acquired the kingfisher feather brooch, which was valued at nearly twenty times its original price—the entire audience erupted in applause. Zhang Chaohe knew that they were paying tribute to the new god of injustice in this way.
"Yes, at least I won," Zhang Chaohe said, his heart bleeding, trying to console himself.
Zhang Chaohe! You have successfully defended your dignity as a domineering CEO!
At the same time, the little bastard who had just been bidding against him waved to him. The other guy was very young, probably not even twenty, and there was a barely perceptible hint of guilt on Xiao Yuan's face.
Ms. Zhao clapped her hands a couple more times, showing great respect: "Dian Dian, you look really cool when you're being taken advantage of!"
Zhang Chaohe tilted his head blankly and saw Li Ye and his mother looking at him with admiration. Li Ye even winked at him.
The whole world is reminding him that Xiao Zhang is always a respectable sucker.
Just when everyone thought that Mr. Zhang was the biggest sucker of the day, Ms. Zhao's auction item made a dazzling appearance. The starting price for this ancient painting was 300,000 yuan, and the estimated final price was 1 million yuan.
The initial bidding was quite healthy, with the auctioneer making standard calls and bidders competing in an orderly manner, creating a pleasant atmosphere. However, the antique painting was rather dull for the socialites and wealthy women present, far less appealing than a limited-edition Birkin bag. As a result, the bidding quickly reached its limit, locking in a price of around one million.
Ms. Zhao sighed, "I bought this painting for 900,000 yuan, which is indeed about the right price. It seems there aren't many suckers out of the market."
The biggest sucker in the room: "Hmm."
However, the next second, something unexpected happened—Li Ye raised his paddle again: "One million two hundred thousand!"
All eyes turned back to the ex-sucker, Li Ye, who wore an innocent expression.
Ms. Zhao: "..."
Ms. Zhao: "Is this what they mean by birds of a feather flocking together?"
Zhang Chaohe inexplicably felt like he was being insulted? However, just when he thought Li Ye's sudden outburst was the limit, another, more familiar bid suddenly caught up—
"Mr. Ji, one million five hundred thousand!"
All eyes turned in a flash, and there stood Mr. Ji, who had just lost the competition with Mr. Zhang for the title of the number one victim, now holding up his bidding paddle with great style and enthusiastically throwing himself into the new round of bidding for the victim!
Li Ye raised his paddle again: "One million eight hundred thousand."
Zhang Chaohe thought to himself, "Wow, this is amazing! Is this what a charity auction is like? Is this an auction where everyone is a philanthropist?"
While he was in a daze, the value of the ancient painting provided by Ms. Zhao had already skyrocketed, and it was about to overtake the value of the kingfisher feather brooch from before!
While dealing with the admiring glances from the tables around her, Ms. Zhao whispered to Zhang Chaohe, "Dian Dian... you understand what he means, right?"
Zhang Chaohe looked completely bewildered and whispered to Ms. Zhao, "What do you mean? Are you trying to drive up the price between us?"
He pondered for a moment, then looked on with deep respect: "It's just a small collaboration, Mr. Li is truly generous."
To make the two wives gain face, he actually went so far as to personally spend real money to become the biggest victim!
Ms. Zhao sighed and said, "Hmm... never mind. But that kid surnamed Ji is really reckless. I don't think I've heard of him having any particularly prominent background. He's only participated for the first time this year and he's already made such a splash. I can't guarantee he won't be ostracized by the industry in the future."
The bidding has now reached six million – something everyone is used to. While six million may not seem like much to those present, it's important to remember that this charity auction is not a large event; it's essentially a social gathering for wealthy women, with total donations in previous years only amounting to a little over ten million.
Compared to other auctions, this year's bidding was indeed excessively heated.
Li Ye was also a little puzzled—this kid was not only a stranger, but he had just lost a heated bidding war with Boss Zhang, and now he was here to bid against him again…
Could it be someone deliberately driving up the price?
But with over sixty bids already placed, spending a little more or a little less didn't seem to make much difference, so Li Ye calmly raised his paddle: "Six and a half million."
What he didn't know was that the unfamiliar child bidding against him was also starting to hesitate.
Ji Boyang still wore a calm smile, but his lips didn't move. He lowered his voice and said into the earpiece, "Second Uncle, I think this guy surnamed Li is determined to film this. Maybe we should just give up?"