Chapter 187: The Homewrecker Who Stole the Position at the Front
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Tonight at the grand charity auction was the first time for Wen Xinya, ever since her homecoming party, to show her face around the circle as the true eldest daughter of the Wen Family. Old Mr. Wen personally brought Wen Xinya here not only to raise her profile but also for her to gain insight and get acquainted with some of the known figures in the circle.
Now that he had achieved his goals, there was no need for Old Mr. Wen to stay any longer. He pa.s.sed Wen Xinya to Zhou Huiyan and left the scene early on.
Just then, Wen Haowen answered a phone call. He left a message to Ning Shuqian in a hurry, before bidding goodbye to the organizer, Zhou Huiyan, and proceeded to leave halfway through the event. Time flew by as everybody chatted around, and soon it was 9:00 PM, the moment for the auction to begin. Everybody settled down at their seats.
Zhou Huiyan went up to the podium with a light-hearted smile. Her gentle eyes swept across the hall before she opened her mouth and said, “Let us begin by welcoming everybody here to this charity auction event. We are very thankful for everybody’s generous contributions, and for showing such precious compa.s.sion to the charity donation event. The children in poverty and those with physical disabilities have all received your love. A better future awaits us all.”
Zhou Huiyan’s speech was clear, powerful, and emotional, receiving thunderous applause from the audience.
After the applause came to an end, Zhou Huiyan said smilingly, “Let me clarify. All items received from donations will be put up for auction, and we will remain open and transparent throughout the entire event. Every single cent received from the auction will be used to build schools for the children in poverty and those with physical disabilities.”
A round of applause followed once again.
Zhou Huiyan carried on. “I will now announce the commencement of the auction.”
Following her words, she struck the gavel heavily.
With a resounding “thud!”, the atmosphere within the hall switched.
After Zhou Huiyan stepped off the podium, an auctioneer replaced her spot and began to auction the items one by one, which were mostly accessories and art pieces. The atmosphere gradually built up.
Since the Wen Family had donated an item, there was no need for them to bid during the auction. However, Grandpa told her before he left that she could buy anything she liked.
The items were sold off one by one. At the present moment, the bid for the items maintained at the price of around 2 million, and the most expensive was only sold off at a little over 2.8 million yuan.
Just then, a pair of intricate diamond earrings were placed on in front of them. They were rare pink diamonds, and both earrings together should weigh around five carats. The delicate light color and elegant style of the earrings immediately caught Ning Shuqian’s eyes.
When Wen Haowen was leaving earlier on, he told her to bid for an accessory that she liked as compensation for the Star of the Sea. However, she had to keep the price within 5 million yuan.
Although Ning Shuqian couldn’t get over the indignation and rage from losing the Star of the Sea, it was still better than nothing. The Star of the Sea may be valued at around 10 million, but a 5 million yuan jewelry was still comparable. Since the Star of the Sea was an old belonging of Mo Yunyao given by the Wen Family, Wen Haowen naturally couldn’t be bothered with it. However, items bought from the auction would be truly paid by Wen Haowen.
The starting bid for the pink diamond earrings was 500,000, and the raising bid should not be lower than 100,000 each time. Ning Shuqian raised her sign immediately. “600,000!”
Wen Xinya turned her head and saw that Ning Shuqian had her eyes glued on the pair of pink diamond earrings on stage with a confident look on her face. A smile formed on her face as she took out her phone to send a message.
Right after, someone in the audience called out, “1 million!”
Shuqian was furious. Who in the world was that! Such wealth, bidding 400,000 more from the get-go. She gritted her teeth in anger. “1.1 million!”
That same voice followed after. “1.5 million!”
Once again, it was 400,000 higher than her bid. Ning Shuqian wanted to turn her head to see which person was bidding against her, but looking behind during an auction while bidding was rude behavior. She gritted her teeth. “2 million!”
“2.4 million!”
It took all Ning Shuqian had to hold back her tongue. She raised the sign in her hand up high. “2.5 million!”
“2.9 million!” The dignified voice carried a hint of coldness.
Her veins bulged as she wrapped her hands tightly around the sign. Ning Shuqian wanted to rip apart the mouth of the person who was bidding against her. “3 million!”
The item with the highest bid before this was 2.8 million yuan. Now, this pair of pink diamond had set a new record. The auctioneer exclaimed in excitement, “3 million! 3 million! Is there a higher bidder? This is a Cartier pink diamond, a rare colored gem among all the diamonds. It’s even part of the red diamond series. Everybody knows that the red diamond series is the most precious among the colored diamonds. This pair of colored diamond earrings is beautifully crafted in every way, elegant and exquisite. It’s indeed enchanting.”
The auctioneer carried a certain charisma in his voice, so charming that it was able to move others especially with such heightened excitement among the crowd. The same voice from before called out, “3.4 million!”
400,000 again! Ning Shuqian nearly cursed out loud. Undeniably, the auctioneer’s speech had lit up a burning spirit in her. Cartier was the top jewelry brand in the world, and people who owned any Cartier diamonds could walk with pride. She was no exception. Also, the auctioneer was right. Naturally colored diamonds were slowly becoming a trend among wealthy wives in the capital city, and many people would collect a few pieces of such gems.
She may have a few sets of blue colored diamonds, but she did not have a single diamond from the red diamond series. Once, when she attended a medium scale charity event with Haowen, there was a wealthy lady whom she knew wearing a light pink diamond ring. In the end, she became the focus of the event that night, making Ning Shuqian green with envy.
The color of that ring was not as bright or saturated as the pair of earrings before her. She believed that this pair of pink diamond earrings were specially made for her, and it was something that she must have her hands on. As such, she gritted her teeth and raised her sign. “4 million!”
She raised the bid by a gap in order to force the other party out!
“4.4 million!”
Ning Shuqian’s grimaced. Even if she was stupid, she could tell that the other party was messing with her intentionally. Why else would they raise the bid by exactly 400,000 each time!
She wanted to continue raising the bid. However, the other party did not seem like she had any intention to back off. She estimated that the price of the pink diamond earrings was within 3 million, so any amount above 4 million should be able to secure it. Yet, the bid was at 4.4 million now. Since Wen Haowen gave her a limit of 5 million yuan, there was no way for her to raise the bid!
“Hey you, the homewrecker who stole the position at the front! 4.4 million, forever fortunate. It’s such an auspicious number. Just stop bidding against me, it’s not like you can outbid me anyways.” The voice filled with smugness mocked her, and the sound reverberated around the quiet hall.
All heads turned to Ning Shuqian. Her face contorted in anger, but she tried her best to maintain elegant and dignified. She turned towards the back and saw a woman dressed in purple looking at her disdainfully. It turned out she was the woman who Yuya attacked previously at Wen Xinya’s homecoming party, Madam Shen.