Chapter 30 - 2#
He stared at it for two seconds, a hint of a smile curling his lips. “Looking at the description below, it turns out they’re a couple’s set.”
“…”
It was only then that Jing Shun noticed the fine print in the introduction, and his ears immediately burned. “I didn’t mean it that way at all.”
But Chi Gui had already made the final call. “Since we’re putting on an act in public, we might as well make it convincing. Let’s go with this one.”
The auction started promptly at two o’clock.
Because it was a charity auction, all the guests were generous with their bids, often in the tens of millions.
Watching the escalating prices, Jing Shun finally realized—
There were levels within the elite, and hierarchies even among established families. Judging by how freely these people were spending, the portrayal of wealth in entertainment industry films was still far too superficial.
Finally, it came to the pair of jeweled cufflinks Jing Shun had his eye on.
The bidding began.
Chi Gui signaled Wei Di to raise the paddle, immediately doubling the starting price. “Ten million.”
Jing Shun felt his heart skip a beat and, for once, muttered under his breath, “My god, I really want to take down you rich folks.”
No matter how heated the previous bids had been, they’d only gone up by one or two million at a time. Chi Gui truly was the type who either kept silent or made a stunning move.
Hearing this lively grumble, Chi Gui smiled slightly. “Didn’t you say you liked them?”
Jing Shun was about to reply when a coquettish voice rang out from diagonally ahead. “Twenty million.”
“…”
The eyes of everyone in the hall shifted.
Wei Di said, “That’s Zhang Aode’s mistress.”
Something occurred to Jing Shun, and he spoke vaguely, “Looking at the accessories on Zhang Aode’s suit today, it’s not surprising he’d fancy this pair of cufflinks and bid on them.”
“Not necessarily.”
Chi Gui responded, then cast another glance at Wei Di.
Wei Di bid, “Thirty million.”
The moment the words fell, Zhang Aode followed up in a booming voice, “Fifty million.”
These two consecutive raises stirred murmurs throughout the auction hall.
Chi Gui’s gaze darkened as he confirmed, “He’s not just bidding because he likes them—he’s deliberately competing with us.”
Jing Shun was speechless.
How old was this guy?
Still picking fights to prove himself?
Zhang Aode turned his head, looking at them with a condescending sneer. “Sorry, Mr. Chi, but when I, Zhang, set my sights on something, I never back down.”
His words were extremely arrogant, but only a few people present understood the subtext.
Qin Ye, sitting in the back row, wore an indifferent, amused expression. “What that Zhang fellow is talking about isn’t those cufflinks at all—it’s clearly the Deepwater Dock project numbered 0202.”
The power dynamics in the Hong Kong and Macau region hadn’t shifted in a long time. Now that the aggressively advancing Chi Corporation had suddenly entered the scene, there was bound to be a good show in the near future.
“…”
As one of the parties involved in the project competition, Chi Gui naturally caught Zhang Aode’s underlying message.
If he pressed forward and fought to the end, it would just be a charity auction—there was no real need to throw that much money into it. But if he backed down, it would seem like he was admitting defeat on the spot.
Just as Chi Gui was weighing his options, Jing Shun snatched the bidding paddle from Wei Di’s hand. “Sixty million!”
His words instantly stunned many in the hall.
Wei Di, who had seen all sorts of major events by Chi Gui’s side, even changed expression. “Young Master Jing.”
The maximum limit they had set for this charity auction was fifty million.
“What’s there to be afraid of?” Jing Shun looked at Chi Gui, putting on a rare spoiled and willful attitude. “Can’t I have it? I just really want it~”
Chi Gui curled his lips, not bothering to lower his indulgent tone. “Of course you can. Whatever makes you happy.”
“Sixty million,”
Jing Shun repeated, shifting his gaze to Zhang Aode with a look of determination.
“…”
Zhang Aode hadn’t expected Jing Shun to actually dare raise the bid, but he had already thrown down the gauntlet. There was no backing out now.
So he waved his hand grandly. “Seventy million.”
Jing Shun continued. “Eighty million.”
Gasps rippled through the banquet hall, each wave louder than the last.
“Wait, I know the chairman of Chi Corporation, but who is that young man next to him raising the bid? This is too reckless.”
“He seems quite close to Mr. Chi—must be his partner? Is he being spoiled too much?”
“If he likes those cufflinks that much, he might as well spend the money to have a designer make a custom set.”
These were indeed wealthy people, but they weren’t without sense.
Charity was about giving within reason—no one would actually pour that much money into it.
Zhang Aode hadn’t anticipated that Jing Shun would dare to go this far, pushing the confrontation to such an extent. His expression shifted slightly.
The auctioneer on stage was hyping up the atmosphere. “Eighty million, going once!”
“Eighty million, going twice!”
“…”
Chi Gui himself wasn’t bidding, but he was letting his partner act recklessly? Should he follow suit or not?
Zhang Aode hesitated, his hand gripping the bidding paddle.
Suddenly, a sarcastic voice came from behind. “Director Zhang, you just made your stance clear. Surely you’re not going to let some youngster outshine you?”
Ji Tianheng had originally planned to step in and mediate, but Xie Congjin beside him had added fuel to the fire, leaving him helpless. “Xie Er, what are you stirring up?”
Xie Congjin crossed his legs. “I just enjoy watching certain people get hoisted up on a high platform with no way down~”
Zhang Aode, sitting in the front row, was indeed provoked. “Eighty-five million!”
After he spoke, amidst the crowd’s exclamations, he looked at Jing Shun again.
Jing Shun was silent for a few seconds, his momentum visibly weaker. “Eighty-eight million.”
Chi Gui noticed something and raised an eyebrow slightly.
Zhang Aode saw Jing Shun’s fading arrogance and heard the smaller increment in the bid. Since things had come this far, he decided to go all the way. “Ninety million.”
One second, two seconds, three seconds. Amid the anticipation of the crowd—
Jing Shun suddenly stopped, made a “please” gesture toward Zhang Aode, and retracted all his bravado.
He handed the paddle back to Wei Di, letting out a quiet sigh of relief, no longer playing the role. “That was close.”
Hearing this mutter, Wei Di was momentarily stunned. “Young Master Jing?”
Chi Gui had long seen through Jing Shun’s intentions and couldn’t help but laugh. “He was deliberately provoking the other party on my behalf from the very start.”
Jing Shun suppressed the upward twitch of his lips, a hint of cunning shining in his peach-blossom eyes. “Who told Zhang Aode to shoot his mouth off?”
“A charity auction has nothing to do with that project. We don’t need to waste money just to spite him. Since he wanted so badly to prove his strength, let him go ahead and prove it.”
After all, with the act Jing Shun had just put on—
To outsiders, it would seem like nothing more than Chi Gui’s lover being willful and bidding recklessly for fun. Even if he lost the bid, the price had already been driven up to this point—no loss of face.
But Zhang Aode was different; he would now have to actually shell out that money.
“…”
Zhang Aode faced the relaxed expressions of Chi Gui and Jing Shun and realized belatedly that he had been played.
These two had never intended to actually win those cufflinks!
Zhang Aode’s face was like a spilled palette of colors—alternating between cyan and red, a spectacular sight. He clenched his thumb ring tightly to keep himself from backing out in public.
Sure enough, with the auction price at ninety million, no other guest dared to join the fray.
“Ninety million, going once!”
“Ninety million, going twice!!”
The auctioneer on stage brought down the hammer. “Ninety million, going three times!!!”
“Ladies and gentlemen, let’s give the warmest round of applause to Director Zhang Aode for his generous support of the charity cause!”
Thunderous applause filled the hall, a mix of genuine and insincere.
Jing Shun and Chi Gui exchanged a glance, then slowly joined in the applause, looking like they were determined to annoy someone to death.
Zhang Aode felt as if countless slaps were landing on his face, experiencing—for the first time in his life—the sensation of sitting on pins and needles.
When it came to capital, he certainly didn’t lack a mere ninety million. But the thought of spending it on something worthless, something wasted, something he’d been tricked into paying for, made his blood boil.
Soon, a professional brought over the contract for the charitable auction payment. “Director Zhang, please confirm and sign.”
“…”
Zhang Aode’s chest heaved for a moment.
The mistress beside him thought the money was a huge waste and asked softly, “Should we… call it off? Donate less?”
Zhang Aode’s pent-up frustration had nowhere to go, and he shot her a glare. “Are you kidding?!”
He valued face above all else; there was no way he would default on a donation in front of so many eyes. If he backed out now and word got out, how could he show his face?
Jing Shun confirmed that Zhang Aode had signed, then looked at Chi Gui. “A name for ninety million—really pricey~”
Chi Gui handed over the auction catalog again. “Half the items are still left. Want to take another look?”
They still had to make a charitable donation; the auction items were just a formality.
Jing Shun flipped through it again and eventually discussed with Chi Gui before bidding on a modern art-style painting.
Over the nearly three-hour auction, the remaining guests all participated to varying degrees.
In the back row, Xie Congjin bid on a small blue-and-white porcelain horse, while Qin Ye bought a bizarre-shaped ceramic piece so abstract that it was impossible to tell what it was.
Jing Shun didn’t say anything, but he thought to himself:
The aesthetic tastes of the super-rich were sometimes beyond comprehension.
…
As soon as the charity auction banquet ended, Zhang Aode stood up in a huff.
He turned to face Chi Gui, who was also rising, and Jing Shun, who was sitting steadily in his wheelchair. The fury in his eyes was practically scorching. “Chairman Chi, I really underestimated you two.”
Chi Gui’s expression remained calm as he replied, “Not as generous as Director Zhang. I’m humbled.”
It sounded like praise but was actually a dig.
Zhang Aode knew that not all the guests had left yet, so he restrained himself from losing his composure completely.
He snorted coldly, issuing a veiled warning. “Chi Gui, don’t forget whose turf this is. Compared to the profits from certain project contracts, that ninety million is indeed just pocket change.”
Jing Shun couldn’t be bothered to listen to this middle-aged man’s preachy, condescending lecture. He responded lazily, “Mm-hmm, thank you, Director Zhang, for your ninety-million contribution to charity.”
Tricking someone and then playing innocent?
Wasn’t he afraid of giving Zhang Aode an aneurysm?
Chi Gui held back his laughter, but his gaze lingered on Jing Shun’s face, unable to look away. He found it utterly endearing.
“…”
Those two bastards!
Zhang Aode swallowed his curses, turned around, and strode away quickly.