182. The Auction

Amco returned to the lounge and noticed the change in Qi Le’an’s expression. He was stunned and then asked, “What’s wrong?”

Qi Le’an shook his head and smiled indifferently, “Nothing. I just saw someone I don’t like.”

Amco immediately came to his senses and asked, “That Asian man we met just now? Do you know each other?”

Qi Le’an answered with a complicated expression, “Yeah, more than that…” Then he laughed with self-mockery and said, “I’d better not mention him.”

Amco didn’t ask further then. The two of them talked about some trivial matters, but Qi Le’an was not in the mood.

‘Li Zheyu, you finally come here after such a long time!’

‘Do you want to fawn on Amco so that you could act in his movie? That’s only your wishful thinking!’

‘No way! You have hurt me that gravely back then. Never would I let you have your way this time!’

Qi Le’an thought of a few ways to ruin Li Zheyu’s reputation. He felt so disgusted by Li Zheyu beyond words. He hated Chu Chengyuan a long time ago, but now he was only completely disgusted by Li Zheyu.

“An…” Amco looked at Qi Le’an worriedly, “Are you okay? You don’t look well at all.”

Qi Le’an came to his senses amidst Amco’s asking. Seeing Amco’s worried eyes, he hastened to say, “I’m fine! I’ve just…recalled some bad memories.”

He smiled at Amco and said, “It’s not a big deal. It’s about time. Let’s go!”

Amco nodded and stood up, “Let’s go.”

The two of them walked out of the lounge backstage. The media in the banquet hall were already seated. When they saw Qi Le’an and Amco walk out from backstage together, they just kept taking photos.

Amco was right. Qi Le’an became the most unexpected dark horse at the party that day. Murmurs about him could be heard anywhere.

“Alright, go over there now!” Amco winked at Qi Le’an with his green eyes and teased, “Otherwise, Damien would come here to take you away.”

Qi Le’an couldn’t help laughing. Seeing that Emma was already seated in the distance, he excused himself and walked towards Damien.

Damien looked aloof, who only nodded slightly at Qi Le’an. It seemed that the director would rather stay alone in the studio to sort out the material than attend such a party.

Yet, Emma whispered, “And, I can’t believe that you are an acquaintance of Amco!”

Qi Le’an also whispered, “I haven’t known him for long. His nephew and I are friends!”

Emma took a tumble and said, “Oh right, I saw another friend of yours just now!”

Without thinking much, Qi Le’an knew who Emma was talking about. He looked down slightly to conceal his emotion in his eyes, saying, “I’m not familiar with him… Do you know who is Reyn?”

Li Zheyu couldn’t venture to get into Hollywood alone. Whoever was with him couldn’t be ignored!

“Oh, you mean Reyn?” Emma grinned and said, “He is a businessman. He does a lot of business with China.”

Qi Le’an thought about it and figured what kind of person he was.

The Hollywood film and television production companies were under the control of several big consortiums of upper society. This dazzling world under the spotlight was undoubtedly supported by these consortiums while creating tons of wealth.

Reyn had a close relationship in China, and he had investments in Hollywood. It was the best option for Li Zheyu to go to him.

The lights suddenly turned dim. On the auction stage, the host announced that the charity party had officially begun. The camera cranes were swinging in the hall. Qi Le’an consciously put on an official smile.

Li Zheyu found a go-between, but he should know the rule of “first come, first serve”! Qi Le’an was determined that Li Zheyu would never get what he wanted.

The crew of “Lala Land” sat on the right side of the rear of the entire venue. From Qi Le’an’s position, he could see Li Zheyu in front on the left side.

Li Zheyu and Reyn sat side by side. Those sitting around them were strangers to Qi Le’an. When the host on stage mentioned an auction item, Li Zheyu unhurriedly raised the bid card.

Qi Le’an’s eyes returned to the auction stage and saw that an abstract oil painting was being auctioned.

The owner of the oil painting was Amco.

Qi Le’an suddenly had an idea.

He whispered to Emma, “Do you have a bid card?”

Then Emma asked Damien, and Damien gave a bid card to Qi Le’an.

“You want to buy anything?”

Qi Le’an smiled and said, “No, I don’t.”

Then he raised his bid card.

“100,000 twice… Oh, we have 200,000 dollars from that gentleman!”

Everyone looked at Qi Le’an and even Emma was surprised by the price. Qi Le’an smiled faintly and put down the card.

“200,000 dollars! The highest bid for now! From Mr. Qi! For Amco’s oil painting!”

Qi Le’an saw Amco and Li Zheyu took a look at him at the same time.

He didn’t look at Li Zheyu but smiled at Amco.

In the distance, Li Zheyu gritted his teeth and withdrew his gaze, saying to Reyn beside him, “Give me the bid card!”

Seeing this, Reyn hesitated for a moment. “Fly, in this condition…”

“200,000 twice!”

As the host called for the bid for the second time, Li Zheyu snatched the bid card from Reyn’s hands and offered a bid of 300,000 dollars!

Now, even the host was shocked!

“Oh my god! 300,000 dollars! This gentleman from the East offered 300,000!”

The crowd was in an uproar. The media’s flashing lights were aimed at Li Zheyu, and even the cameras on the cranes gave him a close-up.

Li Zheyu achieved his goal complacently and smiled.

Qi Le’an turned his head and whispered to Emma, “Please do me a favor, offer a bid of 400,000 dollars.”

With two clicks of the tongue, Emma saw through the grudge between Qi Le’an and Li Zheyu and then whispered, “That is a BIG favor.”

In this kind of auction, the bidding was quite competitive. The media were sensitive so they could sense the grudge between Qi Le’an and Li Zheyu.

If Qi Le’an bid for a second time, it was inevitable that he would be the target. Yet, if Emma did it for him, most people would believe that they were just close with Director Amco.

“My boyfriend is very good at cooking,” Qi Le’an made his offer and said, “You’re welcome to eat at my home anytime.”

This was pleasing to her. Emma raised the bid card and smiled at everyone.

“400,000 dollars! Emma offers 400,000 dollars! I’ve heard that Emma and Amco are on good terms. As it appears, it is the truth!”

The host said excitedly on stage. Li Zheyu didn’t care so much. He only knew that Emma and Qi Le’an were sitting together. It was obvious that Emma raised the bid card as told by Qi Le’an!

Thus, he offered the bid of 500,000 dollars without hesitation. Even Reyn couldn’t stop him in time.

“500,000! 500,000 dollars from this gentleman from the East!”

The discussion grew louder and many people frowned. Emma whispered to Qi Le’an, “Shall we continue?”

Qi Le’an shook his head. 500,000 US dollars, equivalent to more than 3,000,000 RMB. It was indeed a small lesson to Li Zheyu.

Emma no longer raised her card. No one offered a higher bid, so the oil painting was sold to Li Zheyu.

Seeing Li Zheyu’s smug expression, Reyn couldn’t help but frown. Very few people at this charity party would pay such a high price for the lot. The negative impact of Li Zheyu spending 500,000 on this painting was greater than the positive impact.

Reyn planned that they were supposed to bid for Amco’s work at the lowest price so that Li Zheyu could be remembered by Amco. Now that Li Zheyu was so showy, it would probably be counterproductive.

Seeing Li Zheyu being so stupid, Reyn couldn’t help wondering whether he was the most promising male star in China.

Li Zheyu naturally didn’t know about Reyn’s thoughts. He was currently very happy and extremely proud. Although spending more than three million RMB on a useless oil painting was too much, the feeling of being in the limelight of the public on a Hollywood occasion was so incomparable. All the people present would remember his name—Li Zheyu!

As for Qi Le’an, he was still defeated. Li Zheyu believed he could never make a comeback.

Li Zheyu couldn’t help sneering at this thought. Qi Le’an was only a bit acquainted with Director Amco. Now that he had bought Amco’s oil painting at such a high price, wouldn’t Amco appreciate his kindness?

It was in the middle of the auction but Li Zheyu was absent-minded. He couldn’t help but think about what to say when he saw Amco. If he could act in Amco’s new movie, it would be a matter of time for him to become famous in Hollywood.

However, Li Zheyu did not even see Amco when the auction ended.

A doodle was sold at a high price of 500,000 dollars at the auction. Li Zheyu’s purpose was too obvious. Amco just wanted to hide from him, let alone meet him.

Li Zheyu, who couldn’t find Amco, was naturally furious. However, this was America, not China, so he didn’t dare to lose his temper easily. All he could do was to find the media that he had bribed before to let them take a few photos of him, which was kind of the ending for his schedule of the auction.

On the contrary, Qi Le’an’s case was different. He made Li Zheyu pay and lose face, so he was surely happy. More delightfully, he met Director Spear after the auction ended.

Director Spear was a gray-haired old man who looked a bit amiable. “Hi, An!”

Qi Le’an was still astonished about why Director Spear knew him when he listened to the old man continue, “I hear a lot about you from Fynn. This is the first time I’ve met you today. It’s really good to see you.”

Qi Le’an was a bit shy when he heard Director Spear compliment him. Luckily, Spear was a very busy person. He greeted Qi Le’an briefly and left in a hurry.

Emma, who was standing aside, said, “An, you’re about to become Hollywood’s new favorite soon! By the way, the name Fynn sounds familiar. Is he your boyfriend?”

Qi Le’an nodded and said, “His Chinese name is Wei Changfeng.”

“Wei Changfeng, Fynn.” As she mulled over the name, her eyes gleamed!

“Did he act in ‘Interstellar’? Was it him? That very gentlemanly Chinese!”

Qi Le’an was also shocked and asked, “Do you know him?”

If Emma were not dressed in a gown, she would have patted her thigh. She said excitedly, “Yes, I do! I’ve been looking for him for a long time! I didn’t expect him to be your boyfriend!”