"Ah Yan, what are you looking at?"
Over here, Xia Zhixi asked.
Lu Jiangnian glanced over, "Yo, isn't that Sheng Congzhi?"
Xia Zhixi frowned, "Who? Someone you know?"
Lu Jiangnian grinned, "You forgot? She's Dongting's ex-fiancée, also known as Fu Er's former daughter-in-law."
"Oh." Xia Zhixi remembered, "She's quite pretty."
"No shit, would she be so popular if she weren't pretty? By the way, even my grandfather is her fan, he watches her palace drama series, damn, it's unbelievable..."
Fu Yan indifferently shifted his gaze away, "I've watched it too, what about it?"
Lu Jiangnian: "???"
Xia Zhixi wasn't interested in these matters, she looked at Fu Yan, "Ah Yan, I thought you weren't coming tonight."
Fu Yan smiled faintly, his eyes carrying a cool detachment, "Yeah, I didn't plan on coming."
???
Xia Zhixi was confused, "What do you mean?"
Fu Yan looked at someone.
Until Lu Jiangnian felt a chill down his back and hastily changed the subject, "It's nothing. Zhixi, have a look at today's exhibits, see if you like anything."
They were all friends who grew up together, Xia Zhixi jokingly said, "Are you going to give me one as a gift?"
"What I give, you wouldn't fancy." Lu Jiangnian winked, "Let Fu Er give it."
Xia Zhixi turned her gaze back to Fu Yan.
Her beautiful almond eyes stared unwaveringly.
To her surprise, the man actually smiled and nodded, "Sure."
Xia Zhixi's smile deepened at the corner of her mouth.
However, the next second.
He raised a finger: "You pay for it."
Lu Jiangnian, the one being pointed at: "...Fuck!"
Goddamn it, do you think it's easy for me, trying to set you two up?
A dog bites Lv Dongbin, unappreciative of good intentions...
Meanwhile, Qin Zhenzhen also whispered, "Now that your husband is here, hurry up and ask him to bid on a gift for you, to piss off that damned couple."
"Forget it." Sheng Congzhi retorted, "He doesn't have money."
"No way? No matter what, he's from the Fu Family, he can't possibly have no shares in Fu Family's company? Even if it's just one percent, the annual dividends should be enough for you guys to splurge..."
"I'm not sure."
"This won't do, even if it was an accidental marriage, you still have to think about the future, right? If you ever divorce, you must sort out the financial issues, you can't let him sleep for free..."
The auction had already begun.
The organizers had already distributed an introduction to all the charitable items for the evening in advance.
Most were flashy but insubstantial items like porcelain, jade, calligraphy, and paintings, mixed in with a few luxury goods.
The former was for the distinguished guests present to showcase their wealth and benevolence;
As for the latter, it naturally became an arena where women covertly competed.
And as expected, the last item to cap off the evening—was "The Ode to the Nymph of the Luo River"!
Qin Zhenzhen watched and critiqued:
"This crappy vase actually costs a million?"
"This jade pendant is so ugly, I wouldn't want it even if it were free!"
"What do you think about this one?"
Sheng Congzhi was disinterested.
Until a pair of pearl earrings appeared on the stage.
Sheng Congzhi glanced toward the table in front of her.
Sure enough, Ye Jiaorui was leaning close to Fu Dongting, saying something.
Once the auctioneer finished the introduction, "The starting bid for this pair of pearl earrings is 500,000, we will start the bidding now."
Fu Dongting was the first to raise his sign and call out, "600,000."
Almost simultaneously, Ye Jiaorui turned back and gave Sheng Congzhi a triumphant smile.
Sheng Congzhi also curved her lips slightly, then raised her sign: "700,000."
Ye Jiaorui's expression instantly crumbled.
This Sheng Congzhi...
She actually wanted to compete with her for these earrings!
Fu Dongting continued to raise his sign: "800,000."
Sheng Congzhi didn't back down: "900,000."
"1 million."
"1.1 million."
"1.3 million."
"1.4 million."
...
Just like that, the two of them went back and forth.
Each time, Sheng Congzhi only increased by 100,000, then waited for the next round to continue.
Everyone at the scene was curiously looking over, with those who recognized what was happening already whispering to each other.
When the price soared to two million...
Qin Zhenzhen couldn't help but persuade, "Those broken earrings are worth at most a few hundred thousand, have you lost your mind? You can't be so wasteful with money!"
As for the other side.
"Is Sheng Congzhi doing this on purpose?" Lu Jiangnian mused, "I don't think she actually likes those earrings, she's probably just intent on not letting Ye Jiaorui win, women do love to scheme and compete..."
Xia Zhixi watched the stage, "These pearl earrings..."
"Do you think they look good?" Fu Yan suddenly asked.
Xia Zhixi was slightly moved, "I think they're not bad..."
Before she could finish speaking.
"Five million!"
Fu Yan suddenly raised his bid.
Xia Zhixi was instantly stunned.
Lu Jiangnian, on the other hand, turned into a screaming duck, "What are you doing?"
Five million?
You're bidding five million for a pair of broken earrings!
The auctioneer on stage was surprised, "This gentleman bids five million, does anyone else want to bid?"
Qin Zhenzhen was also shocked, "Didn't you say he had no money?"
Sheng Congzhi was speechless.
"Brother Dongting," Ye Jiaorui was so furious her features twisted, thankfully the dim light hid it, "What does your uncle mean by this? Is he deliberately trying to compete with you?"
Fu Dongting frowned and raised his sign again, "Six million."
Before the auctioneer could speak, Fu Yan's voice followed: "Ten million."
The scene erupted into an uproar at that moment.
Ye Jiaorui's eyes widened, she could hardly believe her ears.
Wasn't Fu Yan just a poor doctor?
Wasn't it said he couldn't even afford a nice car?
Yet he casually offered ten million!
Even Sheng Congzhi lifted her eyebrows slightly.
Why did she feel like he was doing this on purpose?
After seeing Xia Zhixi whisper in Fu Yan's ear, then smiling tenderly with a pair of glassy apricot eyes, filled with deep affection that couldn't be dissolved...
Alright.
Sheng Congzhi understood: throwing around a fortune was all to please a beauty...
**
Fu Dongting's face looked very unpleasant.
Ye Jiaorui had helped him a lot with restoring antique paintings, so he promised to get her a competitive lot as a gift tonight.
These pearl earrings were handpicked by Ye Jiaorui, but now with a price of ten million, it had surpassed his budget...
"Jiaojiao, let's forget about it, shall we?"
Hearing this, Ye Jiaorui felt so wronged, "Brother Dongting..."
She had already traded harsh words with Sheng Congzhi just now, if she gave up like this, wouldn't it be like slapping her own face?
What if Fu Yan ended up gifting those earrings to Sheng Congzhi...
"It seems uncle is planning to buy them for Sister Zhi Xi, let him have it," Fu Dongting explained, "We are all Fu Family, it doesn't look good to fight over a pair of earrings in public, and there's no need... I'll get you another gift next time."
Ye Jiaorui felt incredibly aggrieved, but since it wasn't for Sheng Congzhi, she swallowed her pride, "Okay, then."
In the end, the pearl earrings went to Fu Yan for a high price of ten million.
Qin Zhenzhen covered her mouth and asked, "Do you think he bought these earrings for you?"
Sheng Congzhi laughed, "Why are you even more self-indulgent than I am?"
Qin Zhenzhen exploded in an instant, "Fuck, he bought them for Xia Zhixi? You're the main deal sitting right here."
"So what?"
"You can actually put up with this? Are you some kind of ninja turtle?"
Sheng Congzhi was speechless.
She also felt that she was quite enduring and even broad-minded.
After the earrings were auctioned, there was an intermission.
The venue instantly became a scene of social climbing, with groups forming and merrymaking.
After the recent bidding, many recognized Sheng Congzhi and came to take photos with her.
One led to two, and even in high society, following the crowd is in human nature.
The surroundings quickly became overcrowded.
Qin Zhenzhen, disliking the commotion, went to mingle with industry magnates.
Sheng Congzhi, however, was smiling so much her face almost froze.
Luckily, Chang Wan was observant and knew she was about to lose patience. He squeezed through with his phone, "Excuse me, someone is looking for Sister Zhi, please wait a bit for photos..."
Sheng Congzhi took the phone and saw two messages from Fu Yan:
"Come to the smoking room."
"Or suffer the consequences."
Sheng Congzhi: ???
Chang Wan kept asking, "Sister Zhi, who is Mr. Gou?"