Chapter 432: Finding Fault
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
There was a security check at the main door of the hall. Only after all dangers had been eliminated would people be allowed in. Moreover, not every pa.s.senger on the s.h.i.+p would be able to enter. There was actually a regulation for the people to have a value of at least ten million. This auction was not of the average level at all.
Mo Wen had initially thought that Shen Jing may not be able to fulfill such a high criterion. After all, she was a mere university lecturer. However, she declared a Citibank account and the security guard allowed her to enter. Even Mo Wen and Finley had not been stopped or interrogated on their way in.
“You’re actually a little rich lady. If I marry you, I’ll probably have my life settled with no worries,” Mo Wen teased, looking at Shen Jing.
“Weren’t you all high and lofty before this? Talking all about how you are so great; so what, now you’re just going to rely on a girl?” Shen Jing rolled her eyes at Mo Wen. It was as though she was trying to say she knew how childish Mo Wen’s words had been in the past.
“What other choice do I have? This society is just like that. Isn’t it said that working hard for one’s entire life is not even as good as making a good bet?” Mo Wen asked, laughing dryly.
“You’re never serious. Everything that I have now is not from home, but all a result of my own hard work.” Shen Jing let out a light humph. She could have let it go if he had simply believed that she would not be able to enter. Yet, he actually still thought that she depended on her family for support.
“Money that you have earned yourself?” A look of surprise flashed in Mo Wen’s eyes. Shen Jing was just a university lecturer. No matter how much she earned, she would only earn that amount; she wasn’t like him, who was able to simply extort money from people randomly, allowing him to make a big sum.
“Of course,” Shen Jing said proudly, lifting her chin.
“How did you earn it?” Mo Wen asked curiously.
“Doing business. I own 35% of the stocks of Sister Lin’s Pu Yuan Pharmaceuticals. Every year, I receive a dividend. Pu Yuan Pharmaceuticals was co-founded by me and Sister Lin. Now, in the blink of an eye, seven to eight years have pa.s.sed.” Shen Jing smiled as she spoke. She had only made an investment once, and it had been extremely successful.
“How can that be counted as you doing business? It’s more like Sister Lin doing business and you riding on her success.” Upon hearing her words, Mo Wen had understood the situation immediately.
“Bleh, what do you mean I’m riding on her success? I have also contributed quite a lot. Back then, for Pu Yuan Pharmaceuticals, I sacrificed a lot. Now that the business is on track, I don’t have to care too much about it anymore.” Shen Jing glared at Mo Wen a little angrily. He had actually dared to deny her efforts and made it seem as though money was easily earned.
“It’s just a small pharmaceutical company and you are already so proud of it,” Mo Wen smiled and said.
“Whose company is just a small pharmaceutical company? Aren’t you afraid of your tongue being struck by lightning for being too boastful?” Shen Jing’s expression was stiff as she gave Mo Wen a look.
In the capital, Pu Yuan Pharmaceuticals was a very renowned pharmaceutical company. All its properties totaled up to more than 4 billion. Although they could not compare to some big players in the industry, they were already considered a large company.
“Alright, alright. Let’s just say that it is a large company.” Mo Wen rolled his eyes. He very sensibly decided to stop arguing with Shen Jing. If not, it would be a question of whether he was even allowed in bed or not that night.
“You don’t actually mean what you say,” Shen Jing said apathetically.
Finley, who was walking behind the two of them, was a little impatient. After hanging out with them for two and a half days, she had seen this pair of enemies fight at least three times; however, each time, she had also felt that this lad, Mo Wen, was being too much of a b*stard. He was clearly winding Shen Jing up on purpose.
Inside the great hall, the s.p.a.ce was very big. However, there were not many seats, no more than 500; clearly, there were definitely not many people that could partic.i.p.ate in this auction. The venue was decorated very lavishly. Just stepping in would give one a very comfortable aura. Inside, there were quite a number of wait staff working. In front of each seat, there had been a fruit punch beverage prepared. The service was actually quite good.
Mo Wen and Shen Jing found the seats with the numbers that had been displayed on their individual boards. Then, a beautiful lady walked over.
“Shen Jing, you have finally appeared, I have waited a long time for you.” Yang Ting’s mouth curled up into a proud smile and she lifted her chin slightly as she stood in front of Shen Jing.
“What are you waiting for me for?” Shen Jing asked coldly.
“Of course, I’m waiting for you to display your skills. Aren’t you the best at partic.i.p.ating in charity events? Tonight, you don’t have to hold back. You have to at least offer up quite a significant amount more than me, right?” Yang Ting said laughingly. She made it seem as though her relations.h.i.+p with Shen Jing was very good.
“Doing charity is all about the intention. It is not a compet.i.tion; moreover, my abilities are limited. I am only able to provide some help to my friends locally. As for international charities, please forgive my lack of capabilities,” Shen Jing said calmly, glancing over at Yang Ting. This woman was actually using charity as a threat.
Many people knew of the conflict between Shen Jing and Yang Ting. The reason for it was a little complicated. Years ago, Lin Qing and Shen Jing had managed a company together in Charm City and carved out quite a name for themselves. Because the two of them were both very capable, with intelligence and beauty rolled into one, the business industry of Charm City all referred to them as the two Bingdi Lotuses of the industry.
Coincidentally, at that time, Yang Ting had just returned from studying overseas and was about to officially take over her family business. She weaved her way through all sorts of high-society events in Charm City and although she established quite a name for herself, she still could not compete with Shen Jing and Lin Qing. Yang Ting was very conceited and was especially over-confident in her talent and ability to do business.
Others said that she could not compare to Shen Jing and Lin Qing. Naturally, she felt very indignant and for a period of time, she compared herself to them in every aspect. She treated anything and everything as a compet.i.tion. However, reality spoke for itself as she lost ,every single time.
There was one occasion when Yang Ting had attended a charity auction with Shen Jing. In that auction, she had thrown in a thousand, without holding back. Initially, she had thought that she would win the bid; not expecting that Shen Jing would have silently donated double of what she had bid. In fact, after donating, Shen Jing had left without a word. At the end, unintended by her, the kind deed had been promoted and she received the flattery of people from all over the world.
It was not till the second day that Yang Ting found out that she had not won the bid, and that she had lost to Shen Jing, who was extremely modest; evidently, Yang Ting’s previous actions had made her a laughing stock. Moreover, the news of it had been continuously circulating in the industry.
From then on, she completely hated Shen Jing; but not long after, Shen Jing had actually left Charm City suddenly and had gone to lecture at Hua Xia University. Even if she wanted to take revenge on Shen Jing, Yang Ting no longer had the opportunity.
She had lost to Shen Jing that time, so she swore to win their next contest for certain, and it needed to be a very glorious victory.
Yang Ting had already decided that during the auction, no matter what item Shen Jing was bidding for, she would not allow the deal to go through. She would make it so that she was unable to bid for a single item, before mocking her about that fact at the end.
Now that she had full control of the reins of her family business, the amount of cash in her hands was far more than before. Shen Jing posed no danger, and even if Pu Yuan Pharmaceutical’s Lin Qing was around, she would not even be a threat to her.
Moreover, the auction this time was not truly for charity. The items that had been offered up for the auction were basically all valuable objects. The values of some of the objects were even difficult to determine. Hence, if she managed to win the bid, she would not face too big a loss. In fact, she could even promote her name by partic.i.p.ating in a charity auction.
“Shen Jing, you’re really too humble. Who doesn’t know of your great name in Charm City?” Yang Ting taunted. “That great display that you put up in the charity auction in Charm City the last time has left everyone amazed till this day. Don’t disappoint me later on.”
Naturally, she could not let such a good chance to attack Shen Jing go by. Shen Jing’s previous words been an act of avoidance and cowardice in her eyes.
“Ridiculous.” Shen Jing shook her head. This Yang Ting acted as though she had been possessed by the devil! It was just an auction but she resorted to doing such ridiculous things.
Yang Ting laughed coldly, “Humph. If you can’t do it, admit it. Stop trying to find excuses.” She immediately a.s.sumed that Shen Jing was afraid of her. If so, she would be all the more unrelenting.
Just as they were talking, a middle-aged black guy walked over and looked at the seat number in his hands before looking at the seat beside Shen Jing. He was just prepared to take a seat when Yang Ting tilted her body to stop him, asking, “I apologize if it is of any inconvenience but can I swap places with you? I want to catch up with my friend.”
The man furrowed his brows but as Yang Ting was being polite and reasonable there was no room for rejection; hence, he reluctantly nodded his head and exchanged his seat number with Yang Ting. It was just a seat and it was better not to offend anyone because of it. After all, the people who could partic.i.p.ate in the auction were mostly very well-off.
Yang Ting smiled proudly and sat down beside Shen Jing in an elegant manner as if prepared to watch Shen Jing make a fool of herself.
Finley, who was seated in the row behind, furrowed her brows and looked at Yang Ting in disgust. This woman was simply too annoying and she did not even have any manners or grace.
A male voice rang out all of a sudden. “Yang Ting, Shen Jing clearly has a male partner accompanying her. It is just wrong of you to ask the woman to contribute both the money and work; in such a situation, shouldn’t it be an opportunity for the man to step up?”
Jiang Siyin was walking over in her direction. It was as though he had long known that Yang Ting had gone over.
“Right, I actually neglected that fact; Shen Jing, I am really sorry. I see that you have a male partner accompanying you so you won’t want to perform too well. But it doesn’t matter, your male partner can perform on your behalf. Shen Jing, your taste in men is so high that you don’t even give a care for all the many youths that have wooed you. Even Young Master Jiang Siyin had not been considered by you. I believe your male partner must be an exceptional man.” Yang Ting looked as though she had just awoken from a daze as she spoke. The gaze that she shot at Mo Wen was full of mockery and fakeness; she was even sowing discord as she tried to make a jab back at Jiang Siyin.
Whenever she looked at Mo Wen, she always felt as though her anger had been vented. With Shen Jing’s status, she had actually found herself such a poor lad to be her boyfriend. She was even attracted to a man like him who relied on women. Just from that, she felt as though she was of a higher level than Shen Jing.
“I really want to see for myself as well how capable your man will be.” Jiang Siyin walked over to Mo Wen’s side. With some effort, he actually managed to get rid of the person seated beside Mo Wen and sit himself down leisurely.
At the moment, Jiang Siyin’s face was still a little swollen and his mouth was tilted with many bruises all over. Although he had been tended to by the medical personnel, it was not possible for him to have recovered in just a day; many people in the great hall were looking at him oddly. n.o.body knew how he managed to pluck up the courage and be so brave as to take part in this auction.