Chapter 183: The Grand Charity Auction
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
After Grandpa Du read Grampy’s pulse, Wen Xinya paid increasingly more attention to Grampy’s health and got increasingly serious towards her studies in medical science. Grandpa Du had even said that she was talented, that it was a waste if she only studied medical science, going so far as to discuss it once with Grampy. However, Wen Xinya knew that since it wasn’t her ambition, she wouldn’t accomplish much in Traditional Chinese Medicine, and thus, had rejected politely.
On Sat.u.r.day night, at the Shangri-La Grand Hotel, a large-scale charity auction would be held—the subject of the charity dinner was to raise funds through donations and auctions, with the main aim of raising funds for building schools at the poverty-stricken mountainous areas and for disabled children!
The characters in attendance were famous people from the military, political, business, and entertainment arenas, as well as the cream of the crop of the society—although not as grand as her homecoming party, it was still considered a high profile event in the capital city.
Due to the influence of the charity dinner, Grandpa, despite already having stepped down from the business world, decided to personally attend it with her for her to gain more exposure.
In the afternoon, Wen Xinya went to the Floral Lingo Pavilion for a beauty treatment, bringing herself to a tip-top condition, and followed Grandpa to attend the charity dinner together.
Wen Xinya wore a light yellow long dress, with winding branches and flowers lingering at her waist, meandering till the end of the dress, extremely elegant.
She had on the set of pigeon-blood ruby jewelry gifted by Si Yiyan, which interacted with the pure yet gorgeous red flowers on her dress in perfect harmony.
The car gradually came to a halt at the entrance of the Shangri-La Grand Hotel. Wen Xinya got off first, walked behind the car, opened the car door on the other side, and helped Grandpa alight from the car.
“Let’s go in!” Old Mr. Wen lightly patted her hand that was wrapped around his elbow, brought her to the entrance, handed the hot stamped invitation card to the usher at the entrance, who then, half-bowing, whisked them into the banquet hall.
The banquet hall was gold and s.h.i.+mmery, s.h.i.+ning gloriously with yellow chandeliers which filled the inner hall with a warm lavishness—such a huge banquet hall could accommodate almost a thousand people.
Wen Xinya scanned the banquet hall. A podium sat at the front, which would be used for the auction in a while, and below it were rows of tempered bulletproof gla.s.s displaying items donated by the distinguished guests, an empty s.p.a.ce at the side for reporters to take photos, as well as huge cameras erected around the area—today’s charity dinner would be exclusively featured by the TV station.
They arrived slightly later, when the banquet hall was already filled with ma.s.sive guests, who, upon seeing Old Mr. Wen coming over together with Wen Xinya, felt surprised.
After Old Mr. Wen had stepped down from the business world, he rarely partic.i.p.ated in activities in the circle anymore. Now that he agreed to personally bring Wen Xinya over, his thoughts were already clearly shown.
Everyone couldn’t help but recall that grand homecoming party which almost shocked the world, then the rumors in the circle regarding Wen Xinya lately, and looked at Wen Xinya in a different light.
Upon seeing them, Zhou Huiyan smiled, like a breath of spring breeze, and approached them. “Old Mr. Wen, to have you take the trouble for your gracious appearance is indeed the greatest honor of the event!” Saying which, she turned towards Wen Xinya and softened her gaze, as if it contained a light drizzle. “Xinya, it’s been a while, see how much prettier you’ve become again.”
Zhou Huiyan was the organizer of the charity dinner this time. Although already retired from the entertainment circle, the halo on her, as the G.o.ddess of elegance of the entertainment circle, had yet to disappear.
Years ago, she had married into the Su Family, a renowned political dynasty in the capital city, similar to the Zhou Family. With the dual ident.i.ties as the G.o.ddess of elegance of the entertainment circle, as well as the lady of the Su Family, she was like a duck in water in the circle—no matter what activities she organized, many famous personalities would willingly attend.
Old Mr. Wen smiled. “I’ve especially brought Xinya out for exposure.”
Continuing, Wen Xinya said, “Aunty Zhou, you’re the gorgeous one.”
Although Old Mr. Wen had always looked down on the female celebrities in the entertainment circle, he was fond of Zhou Huiyan and smiled sincerely. “Previously I’d heard Xinya mention that during the period of her homecoming party, she studied under you for a while. I thank you on her behalf.”
Zhou Huiyan smiled. “Old Mr. Wen, you’re too kind. I’m also fond of this girl, Xinya, myself. I didn’t treat her like a student. Rather, I took care of her like a junior.”
The smile of Old Mr. Wen’s face became even more joyous. “It’s Xinya’s honor to have such a senior like you taking care of her.” Saying which, he turned to Xinya and said, “Quick, thank your Aunty Zhou.”
Old Mr. Wen was very willing to let Wen Xinya have frequent contacts with Zhou Huiyan—with her t.i.tle as the G.o.ddess of elegance of the entertainment circle, Wen Xinya had lots to learn from her. Also, her experience and knowledge gained from prowling the entertainment circle could also widen Xinya’s horizons, not to mention that she was still the lady of the Su Family.
Wen Xinya obediently said affectionately, “Thank you, Aunt Zhou!”
Instantly, “Aunty Zhou” became “Aunt Zhou,” indicating a closer relations.h.i.+p. Zhou Huiyan’s eyes were also obviously beaming with joy. “Good girl, quick, bring your Grandpa along into the hall.”
Such informal and affectionate words made the smile on Old Mr. Wen’s face even more satisfied.
After some greetings, Zhou Huiyan saw more guests streaming in and excused herself from Old Mr. Wen to receive them.
“Let’s go over to the exhibition area to look at the donated items today.” Old Mr. Wen said softly to Wen Xinya.
“Okay!” Wen Xinya nodded, held Grandpa’s arm, and walked towards the exhibition area.
Along the way, seeing Old Mr. Wen, many people smiled, came up to greet him, and exchanged a few words to strengthen their ties. Occasionally, they met a few old friends, gathered and chatted for a while. Old Mr. Wen also relinquished his airs as the elder and introduced Wen Xinya to each and every one of them.
After making many pauses for small talks, the way to the exhibition area took more than half an hour.
The items in the exhibition area were all very valuable. Seeing the shock in her eyes coming through discreetly, Old Mr. Wen smiled and explained, “It’s not often that such a large scale charity activity happens in the capital city—once or twice at the most in a year, sometimes even a year or two pa.s.ses without a single one. As such, everyone wants to make use of such a large scale charity dinner to make an appearance, as it s.h.i.+nes a positive light, whether to a business family or an individual and, naturally, the donated items won’t be too shabby.”
Old Mr. Wen was very satisfied with Wen Xinya’s performance at the event. Although she appeared green socially, she was neither self-abased nor self-conceited, natural and graceful—with the pa.s.sage of time, she would definitely become a s.h.i.+ning new star in the circle.
“Aunt Zhou has always had a kind reputation in the circle. I’ve heard that when she’d just debuted, she’d already started funding the education of children in the poverty-stricken mountainous areas, and would head over to the centers for disabled children to keep them company whenever she’s free. I guess everyone wants to make use of Aunt Zhou’s kind reputation to make an appearance.”
Wen Xinya naturally knew that the upper-cla.s.s society liked to use charity to improve the images of their own business families and themselves, making a positive influence on society. However, given the regularity of charity dinners in the capital city, how could one sustain such donations—thus, being selective had become an unspoken rule in the charity world.
Satisfied, Old Mr. Wen nodded—it was a good habit on her part, to understand the basic circ.u.mstances surrounding the organization of the event, before attending the event. “That’s it.”