With Duanmu Lin’s team leaving, Tang Xiu took Mu Wanying to the leisure area at the corner of the banquet hall. He then randomly picked a sofa to take a seat on as his eyes glanced towards the groups of three to five well-dressed men and women before he shook his head and sighed, "You know, if I must speak frankly, I never liked this kind of occasion at all. It’s like a waste of time seeing a bunch of people with masks who speak hypocritical things that hold no value whatsoever."
"Well, humans live in the secular world so they must follow their customs. Just do as the Romans do in Rome." Mu Wanying chuckled. "Although this kind of charity gala is very stereotyped and everyone has a mask of hypocrisy on their faces, it’s not without any merit nonetheless. Chinese do pay heavy attention to personal connections and networking, and this is such a good place to make friends regardless. Do you see those men and women of our age who get along together and seem to enjoy the merriment? They are the typical second or third generation nouveau riche. And, on this occasion, their elders brought them here so they can get acquainted with each other and get along well; thus, they will form their own network of contacts in the future, which is also an alternative to teach and cultivate their juniors!"
"What you said makes sense." Tang Xiu nodded.
"You know, I don’t like this kind of occasion either." Mu Wanying chuckled. "However, Zhang Group is my client, after all, while Zhang Qingfeng also gave me an invitation, so I planned to come over to support the event."
"Eh?" Tang Xiu was surprised. "Your advertising company has business dealings with the Zhang Group?"
"It was you who introduced those various businesses to me in the first place." Mu Wanying deeply gazed at Tang Xiu. "It then caused my advertising company to become well-known in Shanghai; most of them are from the people you introduced me to. They then introduced me to some others—even Zhang Qingfeng personally looked for me—and only then did I learn that Zhang Yueming of the Xinyang Group recommended me to him. Now, the Zhang Group is a big client of my company."
"Well, then I need to perform a show, it seems," said Tang Xiu with a smile after learning it.
"Ehh? You wanna do something?" Mu Wanying was astonished.
"You’re my girlfriend, so it’s natural that I must give Zhang Qingfeng face, right?" Tang Xiu replied with a faint smile. "I don’t wanna say it, but I seem to see some big TV stars here."
Mu Wanying turned around and suddenly found several famous first and second-tier stars who were quite famous in the entertainment world. They were all wearing evening gowns, each with a male or female companion next to them. All of them beamed with smiles as they greeted and engaged in small talk with people who were usually quite difficult to meet.
Time fleeted by and at eight in the evening, the charity gala began and everyone went to the round table on the side of the hall to take their seats. Several men and women who shared a table with Tang Xiu and Mu Wanying didn’t recognize them. But since the duo was a charming male and a stunningly beautiful female, it prompted in a curious gaze towards them from several middle-aged men and women.
"You... are you, Boss Tang Xiu?" asked the middle-aged man sitting across from Tang Xiu all of a sudden.
"I am indeed," replied Tang Xiu with a smile.
The middle-aged man immediately looked pleasantly surprised. He hurriedly got up to take out his business card and handed it over to Tang Xiu. "Hello, Mr. Tang. I’m honored to meet you here! I’m the owner of Ziyang Home Appliances, Wang Mingwei. Please take good care of me in any way you can later."
"Ah, I didn’t bring my business card. I’m really sorry," said Tang Xiu with a smile.
The smile on Wang Mingwei’s face froze and he seemed a bit unhappy inwardly even though his expression went back to normal. Yet, he still replied, "It’s alright."
Tang Xiu then took out his mobile phone and dialed Wang Mingwei’s cell number written on the business card. It made the latter immediately dull for a moment as he looked at Tang Xiu quizzically.
"Truthfully speaking, I don’t have the habit of carrying a business card with me, but this is my cell number." Tang Xiu smiled and said, "We can be in contact directly later if Boss Wang doesn’t shut me out."
Wang Mingwei suddenly realized that he had misunderstood Tang Xiu and his smile now had sincerity on it. Then he nodded with a smile. "Certainly. Please don’t feel troubled and resentful if I disturb you in the future."
"I won’t!" Tang Xiu nodded and smiled at his words. After which, he looked at Mu Wanying and smilingly said, "Wanying, why don’t you greet Boss Wang as my girlfriend too?"
Mu Wanying was startled but she immediately caught Tang Xiu’s intent. She took out her business card and handed it to Wang Mingwei and smilingly said, "Hello, Boss Wang. I’m Mu Wanying."
Wang Mingwei swiftly read the business card and looked slightly astonished. He then got up to conscientiously receive it with serious mannerism. "Miss Mu is truly the proud daughter of the heavens. So young, yet you have established such a big advertising company. I’ll look for the Marketing Director of my company once I get back and tell him to contact you further. I’m looking forward to seeing you taking care of our advertising in the future!"
"Sure," replied Mu Wanying with a smile.
At this time, the other middle-aged men and women at the same table looked shocked by Wang Mingwei’s actions and words. They were acquainted with the man and naturally understood his character. But the meaning in Wang Mingwei’s words was very obvious! Was it necessary for him to just give the advertisement work of his company to this beautiful woman?
"Brother Wang, who exactly is this Boss Tang?" The middle-aged man sitting next to Wang Mingwei couldn’t help but curiously ask.
Wang Mingwei smiled and said, "Brother Zhu, you don’t even know the Magnificent Tang Corporation’s owner, Tang Xiu? He’s God’s favored person, the most legendary personage in our business circles!"
Tang Xiu of the Magnificent Tang Corporation?
In that instant, the men and women who shared the table with them had their expressions changed and the shock couldn’t stop covering their faces. Their businesses were not big in scale, while Wang Mingwei, who was the most successful among them, only had a few billion yuan in net worth. Those who only had a few hundred million in assets rarely had a chance to be invited to this occasion today. Therefore, even though they knew some things about Tang Xiu, they never met him in reality.
The middle-aged man surnamed Zhu hurriedly took out his business card and said with all smiles, "Boss Tang, I truly have ignorant eyes and was unable to recognize you. I’m Zhu Tao, the owner of Golden Bridge Co., Ltd."
"Hello, Boss Tang, I am..."
"Boss Tang..."
In just a few minutes, Mu Wanying had received four business cards. What made her at a loss between laughter and tears was that these four obviously wanted to fawn upon Tang Xiu and all of them said they wished to cooperate with her advertising company in the future.
What should this occasion be called, then? They should have just simply taken part in this charity gala, yet to her surprise, it could even help her to expand her business?
Mu Wanying had already learned of Tang Xiu’s abilities before, but she was truly in awe of him at this moment.
At this time, Zhang Qingfeng appeared with a microphone in hand on the stage in the interior was specifically built for this occasion. With a smiling face, he said, "Ladies and gentlemen, I’m very glad that you all are able to spare precious time out of your busy schedules to come tonight..."
Tang Xiu, who was seated below the stage, observed Zhang Qingfeng. The man was not old and seemed to be in his early forties, yet his whole being looked mentally vigorous and he could be said to be quite handsome and stylish. His smiling face was very gentle, while his words and mannerisms were more genuine and sincere than most people.
At the end of his speech, the racket of bidding finally began.
The items auctioned during this occasion were actually very common, at least for the first five items. To give Zhang Qingfeng face, however, there were still many people who bid and paid for the auctioned items, of which the most expensive items was a fan that was sold for hundreds of thousands of yuan.
"The next auctioned item is a pair of jadeite bracelets that have been around for a long time. It’s also jewelry that was worn by a famous big star on Shanghai beach during the time of the Republic of China. The starting bid is 100,000 yuan. And the auction starts now!"
The beautiful dark green jadeite bracelet was then shown on the projector screen and suddenly attracted the attention of a lot of female guests present.
With his sharp eyes, Tang Xiu could tell at first glance that the jadeite bracelet was of good quality, though it was not the best. In order to give Zhang Qingfeng face, however, he decided to gift it to Mu Wanying.
"150,000!"
"160,000!"
"..."
"240,000!"
The price kept soaring and quickly rose to 240,000.
Tang Xiu glanced at Mu Wanying who kept silent yet smiling before he raised his hand and shouted, "300,000!"
Suddenly, a pair of eyes belonging to someone in the chamber looked over, while more than a dozen more looked surprised since they knew Tang Xiu. Most of them even had a good relationship with him, such as the owner of the Xinyang Group, Zhang Yueming.
"400,000."
Just as everyone observed Tang Xiu, a handsome young man sitting with his legs crossed shouted from one of the distant tables.
Tang Xiu glanced at him and suddenly smiled and shouted again, "One million! I think my girlfriend will like these jadeite bracelets."
The young man’s expression changed and he angrily glared at Tang Xiu. When everyone thought that he would not bid again, he said aloud, "Two million! My girlfriend should also like this one."
At that moment, Zhang Yueming and Gu Changmin, both inside the banquet hall, also got up. Under the watchful eyes of everyone else, the former coldly stared at the young man and said in a deep voice, "Brother Tang’s female companion takes fancy to the jadeite bracelets, so I’ll bid ten million. But I’ll gift it to Brother Tang after the auction."
Gu Changmin also followed suit indifferently, "Mister, if you want to increase the price, then I’ll double the amount of your bid!"
The young man apparently knew who Zhang Yueming and Gu Changmin were. His face slightly changed with a resentful expression and he no longer spoke.
Tang Xiu got up and under the watchful eyes of the audience, he cupped his fists to Zhang Yueming and Gu Changmin and smilingly said, "Two Old Brothers, it’s very kind of you. But tonight’s protagonist is Mr. Zhang and the purpose of this gathering is for charity. I did say that my companion likes that jadeite bracelet, but how can I let you all pay for it? Alright, then I’ll bid twenty million yuan for the jadeite bracelets. Does anyone want to increase the bid further?"
The hundreds of guests in the entire banquet hall suddenly erupted with commotion after hearing Tang Xiu’s words. Many of them were engaging in discussion in whispers:
"Who exactly is this guy? He’s so awesome, yet rather cocky, no? This pair of jade bracelets are only worth hundreds of thousand yuan, yet he actually bid 20 million for it?"
"From where did this rich great man come from? Even rich people don’t spend that much, do they?"
"Something’s strange with him. Zhang Yueming and Gu Changmin are both famous great personages in Shanghai; why are they standing up for him in this kind of occasion? Is this guy very powerful?"
"Sweet! His girlfriend must be very happy!"
"He’s really crazy..."
On the stage, Zhang Qingfeng himself didn’t expect that Tang Xiu would personally come tonight. He did send the invitation to Mu Wanying and she didn’t affirm whether she would come. To his surprise, however, not only had she come here, but she also brought Tang Xiu and gave him such a big honor.
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