Chapter 199: A Watch
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The grand opening of the 19th Peeza Star Charity Night began at eight o’clock, at Shang Hai Grand Theater. Tremendous changes had been made in the rules of this year’s Peeza Star Charity Night. There would not be celebrities on red carpets and photography sessions. It was all reverted to its roots, charity. The event only focused on providing medical and educational aid to poverty areas, and was thus highly commended by the netizens.
200 tables were placed in the big hall that could accommodate 2,000 people. All the tables were filled. All of the guests were rigged out in their best outfits for the event.
“This year, we are honored to have Xing Hai Technologies’ founder Mr. Chen Jin and our well-known local movie director, Ms. s.h.i.+ Xiao Tao, with us… welcome, both of you,” said the host from Jiangzhe Television, Hua Shao.
The sound of applause rose.
Chen Jin and s.h.i.+ Xiao Tao, who was holding his arm, walked out from backstage. In an instant, all eyes were focused on them. Looking down from the stage, Chen Jin identified many familiar faces. They were all familiar faces that one could often see on television programs. There were A and B-list celebrities, pop singers, variety show hosts, and all kinds of bigshots. It was certain that lineups for hundreds of television series and thousands of movies could be a.s.sembled considering each of them present at the event.
“Mr. Chen, you are a renowned entrepreneur. Your company has developed many world-changing products. May I have the privilege of asking you why you are willing to set aside your busy schedule and attend tonight’s charity event?” Hua Shao questioned.
“This main reason I’m here is to help the sick and the children in impoverished areas. Xing Hai Technologies is an enterprise that possesses a high degree of social responsibility. Every product we make is meant to serve all of our people and bring about health and happiness to every family. But due to various reasons, there are many families in poverty-stricken areas that did not get to enjoy the convenience brought upon by technology, and are not financially capable of purchasing Xing Hai’s products.” Chen Jin shook his head and said according to the script he was given, “This is very regrettable and sad. We must not be indifferent towards the situation we are now facing. Although I myself do not have the ability to eradicate poverty, I could still give out some contributions and bring about light and hope to as many families as possible. Just as fish stranded on the beach, when the others question me whether they could be saved, I’ll be picking up the fish while I tell them, ‘I saved this fish, I saved that fish as well’. In the end, I’ll get to save a lot of fish. If there were more imbeciles like me on the beach, perhaps all of the fish could be saved, by us.”
The crowd burst into thunderous applause.
“Very well said!”
“This makes a lot of sense!”
“Mr. Chen has such a kind soul.” Many female celebrities had tears glittering in their eyes as they wiped them off with handkerchiefs.
Hua Shao applauded and nodded his head as he said, “When it comes to charity, we must have the spirit of an imbecile. We must learn from Mr. Chen. Tonight, we will all be imbeciles picking up fish by the beach!” He faced s.h.i.+ Xiao Tao and said, “Director s.h.i.+, I had a look at Wa-wah 2’s local box office just now, it was already at 6.1 billion. It might very well tie the records that Wa-wah 1 set last year. Box office overseas had also acc.u.mulated as much as 2.8 billion dollars. Therefore, it is certain that your second movie will not have any problem breaking the 10-billion-dollar mark… with two consecutive movies exceeding 10 billion dollars, everyone here is curious, how do you feel about this?”
s.h.i.+ Xiao Tao smiled as she said, “I do not have any feelings in particular. Thank you, everyone, for your love and support for my productions. Xiao Tao will work harder and strive to produce more excellent works as grat.i.tude for your support.” Upon finis.h.i.+ng, she bowed.
The audience offstage applauded.
After another two questions, Hua Shao steered his hands towards an empty table off the stage and said, “Alright, both of our VIPs tonight, please take a seat!”
The 19th Peeza Star Charity Night, officially begun!
…
At VIP table number one, after Chen Jin and s.h.i.+ Xiao Tao had taken their seat, they slightly scanned through their surroundings. They discovered that at this table that had 10 seats, aside from the two reserved seats, all the other eight seats were occupied. They were all A-list celebrities within the Z nation. For example, Da Mimi who had tens of millions of fans, Fairy Sister who was 33 but was still single, and celebs that Chen Jin was fond of like Deng Chao, Sun Li, and her husband. There were also old faces in variety shows like Guo Jizhang, Li Bing Bing, and two other young female celebrities who were new to the entertainment field that Chen Jin did not know very well. Besides, Chen Jin thought that the atmosphere at this table was a little strange. He could distinctly feel the cold and hostile glares from his surroundings.
Chen Jin turned his head and noticed many faces fuming with rage between their gritted teeth. But once those people noticed that Chen Jin was looking around, they immediately swapped into a bright smile and threw winks at him. Only then did Chen Jin realize that those hostile glares were not aimed at him, but instead they were aimed at the other eight people at the same table with him.
s.h.i.+ Xiao Tao whispered to him, “This table is the center table, all those female celebs wanted a spot over here, especially the ones beside you; but their opportunity was s.n.a.t.c.hed, so of course they will feel discontent.”
Center table?
Chen Jin’s eyes widened. Now there was no ‘center position’, it became a ‘center table’ instead, so the catfight among female celebs would still… persist? Chen Jin’s vision swiped through the eight people at his table once again. All he could think of was one word: F**k! He shook his head. He told the young female celebrity which he did not know at all who was sitting on his left, “h.e.l.lo little missy, do you mind swapping places with Brother Chao over there? I’d like to talk to him.” Chen Jin looked at Deng Chao, who was sitting opposite him, and furthest away from him.
“Ah!” At first, the young female celebrity was very excited; prince charming took the initiative to strike up a conversation with her! But after listening to his words, she pouted and shown a grim and helpless expression. She reluctantly moved her b.u.t.t and swapped places with Deng Chao.
“Nice to meet you, Brother Chao, I grew up watching your shows.”
“Really? Thank you, thank you. I’m old now, now is the time for young people like you. Is it possible for you, Mr. Chen, to give me your autograph? I want to give it to my son, he adores you the most.”
“Brother Chao, your son adores me?” Chen Jin was struck by an incredible feeling, “Alright, I’ll give you one later. Give me one of yours too Brother Chao.”
The two chatted intimately.
…
After several charity promotional sessions ended on the stage, the charity night entered its donation session. There were many celebrities partaking in this year’s charity night, and many donors. The amount of donations ranged from at least 200 thousand dollars all the way to some millions of dollars.
The table that Chen Jin was at was the table with the highest amount of donations. None of them donated less than five million. Da Mimi, Fairy Sister, Guo Jizhang, and Li Bing Bing all donated five million. Deng Chao, Sun Li, and her husband donated a total of eight million. The two young female celebrities donated eight million dollars respectively, which shocked Chen Jin. s.h.i.+ Xiao Tao donated 10 million dollars, which was the second highest amount in this charity night. She won herself a round of applause.
Chen Jin with no doubt was the highest donor. He donated 50 million dollars! His amount of donation was ranked in first place! Of course, for him, this amount of money was merely a drizzle. Originally, his intention was to donate 100 million dollars so that people would not accuse him of being stingy. But the organizers stopped him. There were rules to even a donation; if you donated too much this time around, there wouldn’t be another Peeza Charity Night, because no one would come. Therefore, he slimmed it down by a little.
In the end, the total amount of donations was 368 million dollars, breaking the donation records of the Peeza Charity Night. But the charity night had yet to end. Aside from direct donations, the organizer prepared an auction with items that were donated by some celebrities. The money obtained also belonged to the funds to help impoverished areas.
Chen Jin was not very interested in the auction, but s.h.i.+ Xiao Tao had her eyes on a few items, and so she dragged him to stay around for a while longer. Therefore, sitting amidst the auction venue, Chen Jin was bored stiff, so he began playing with his phone. While he had his head tucked into his phone, he heard two voices nearby. There was a coquettish voice of a woman that said, “Darling, your watch is so pretty, take it off and let me have a look.”
“Nah, my watch is very expensive, I spent over five million dollars on it. But even if you gave me 10 million now, I still wouldn’t sell it.”
“But why? Why can’t I just touch it?”
“My watch has never been off by even a second; if you touch it, it won’t be accurate anymore.”
“Awwww, just a smalllll touch…” the woman pestered him out of discontent.
Chen Jin’s pupils shriveled. He lifted his head and looked towards where the voices were coming from. On a bench, not more than two meters away from him, was a man and a woman. The man was young and handsome, and the woman seemed like a B-list celebrity. On the young man’s left wrist was a watch. A watch with a dial fully studded with fragmented diamonds and a natural sapphire as big as a pigeon egg. It was profoundly elegant, delicate, and beauteous. Chen Jin’s eyes lit up! He stood up and walked straight towards the young man.