Chapter 61: Charity Gala

November 10, 2021kaychandra

Chapter 61: Charity Gala

Xi Qing didn’t expect to meet Gongxi Qiao here. When he saw Qiao Lanfen sitting across from Gongxi Qiao, he turned his head and said a few words to the people behind him, then walked towards Gongxi Qiao.

“Aunt Qiao, hello.” Xi Qing tugged up the corners of his mouth, trying desperately to make the smile a little more natural.

“Mr. Xi.” Qiao Lanfen recognized Xi Qing, and a gentle smile appeared on her face. “Have you eaten yet? If you don’t mind, let’s sit down and enjoy it together.”

Xi Qing looked at some people not far away and said with some regret, “Thank you, auntie, but today is a bit unfortunate. I already have an appointment with some friends. I’m really sorry. Next time, I’ll treat you to make amends.”

“You and Xiao Qiao are friends, there’s no need to be so polite,” Qiao Lanfen said with a smile. “Since you already have an appointment with your friends, come to our house as a guest when you have time. Just consider it as friends visiting each other.”

“Yes, I will definitely come visit.” Xi Qing’s face smiled warmly for a few minutes as he bent down and whispered in Gongxi Qiao’s ear, “Today, I’m accompanying a few elders to dinner. Next time, we’ll make an appointment alone.”

Gongxi Qiao looked back at the few people not far away. They were all in their sixties and up. They all carried a sense of respect and privilege, and they had confidence. “It’s okay. I was just accompanying my mother to buy something. I just happened to come here to eat. You have your own things to do.”

“Mm-hm.” Although Xi Qing had some regret, it didn’t show on the surface. He apologized again towards Qiao Lanfen before returning to his companions.

“It seems your relationship with this Mr. Xi is really good.” Qiao Lanfen smiled. With Xi Qing’s status, if he wasn’t close to Xiao Qiao, why would he be so polite to her?

She had come into contact with many people over the years, and had dealt with the noble people of the prestigious families. People from prestigious families were often hiding a sense of superiority under a mask of politeness. They were impeccably elegant, but they always gave people a sense of being invisible and looked down on.

However, Xi Qing’s politeness to her just now wasn’t about maintaining an illusion of elegance and politeness, but respect that came from the heart.

“He’s very nice,” said Gongxi Qiao. After these words, he hesitated and added, “I like him a lot.”

Qiao Lanfen smiled and nodded. “I also appreciate such an outstanding young man.”

Gongxi Qiao smiled and didn’t say anything more.

In the box, Xi Qing swept his eyes across the elders without speaking. Even though he was silent, it didn’t mean the other people were calm. After a short silence, the oldest dry and thin old man spoke up, “I heard that our family’s business has dropped all pretense of cordiality with the Bai family.”

He saw Xi Qing didn’t react after saying those words, and became more confident. “Although our Xi family and Bai family’s relationship isn’t very good in private, it doesn’t look good when it comes out in the open. It makes others see us as the joke of the prestigious families. Isn’t this……unsightly?”

Xi Qing picked up the zisha ware[1] teapot and steadily poured himself a cup of tea. He waited for the other person to finish speaking before slowly saying, “Uncles, you came to me this time for the sake of the Bai family?”

The dry and thin old man hesitated for a moment, considering his tone. He was trying not to make Xi Qing feel like he was dictating the Xi Group’s decisions. “We don’t mean to oppose you, we’re just chatting.”

“I understand your concern, but the Bai Group has been acting more and more brazenly in the last six months. After recently cooperating with an overseas company, they disregarded the rules of the circle and offended many people.” Xi Qing slowly turned the teacup in his hand. “Since he came to provoke me, how can I let him do what he wants?”

The people looked at each other when they heard these words. They knew in their hearts that Xi Qing had made up his mind, so they didn’t dare to say more. If Xi Qing’s father had been the head of the family, they could have expressed their opinions, but this nephew wasn’t as gentle as his father. The ignorant people in the family had already been taught a lesson. They were old and didn’t want to upset Xi Qing and make the whole family have a bad time.

Sometimes people were so strange. In front of gentle people, they were picky, but in front of ruthless people, they had no opinion whatsoever.

They didn’t want to talk about official matters anymore, and didn’t want to make the atmosphere too awkward, so they simply changed the subject. “The young man you met outside just now is your friend? He seems to be some kind of famous entertainer.”

Xi Qing: “Yeah.”

The elder felt like he couldn’t continue on this topic.

The elders had spent very little time with Xi Qing and had no so-called blood relationship. They had taken the risk of approaching him today about the Bai family and were already regretting it. Now that Xi Qing didn’t seem to be interested in talking about the young entertainer, they stopped mentioning it. However, they were vaguely curious about how Xi Qing could be friends with an entertainer.

The delicious delicacies on the table finally alleviated the embarrassment in the atmosphere. Flower Country’s dining culture had a magical power. Any emotion or embarrassment could be temporarily overcome in front of food.

After an uncomfortable lunch, Xi Qing walked out of the private room and saw that the table where Gongxi Qiao was sitting already had a new customer. His heart felt a little lost. He walked out of Feng Xiang Lou and looked at the sky that had become gloomy, remembering that rainy day in the inn.

“Boss.” The bodyguard opened the car door for him and whispered, “When Qiao Shao and Mrs. Qiao came out just now, I seemed to hear them mentioning the charity gala this evening.”

Every year, a charity gala was held in the Imperial Capital, where celebrities from all walks of life would provide items, and then bid on the spot, with all the money from the bidding going to charity.

This charity gala wasn’t only a place for rich people to show their compassion, but also a place to compare with each other. How could you justify saying you were rich if you were reluctant to donate?

Therefore, although this gala was about fame and fortune, it really did bring benefits to those in need.

On these kinds of occasions, the prestigious families were always the main attraction, so sometimes Xi Qing would appear in person and sometimes he would send a representative.

“I see.” Xi Qing nodded towards his bodyguard. “Have someone send my tuxedo over later.”

Gongxi Qiao received the invitation to the charity gala separately from his parents. With his current status, it wasn’t surprising that he received such an invitation on his own.

When he arrived, the scene was already lively with lots of elegant clothes. There were also many TV reporters present who wanted to catch a few celebrities for interviews and make headlines.

After walking less than two steps, he heard footsteps coming from behind him. When he looked back, he saw that it was the superstar Gu Nan.

Then, Gongxi Qiao saw Gu Nan walking straight towards him. Although he was a bit puzzled, his face showed a friendly and respectful smile. “Brother Nan.”

“Good evening, Qiao Shao.” The smile on Gu Nan’s face was very bright. When he saw some reporters coming over, he even took the initiative to take Gongxi Qiao’s shoulder and let the media take pictures.

Facing the camera, the two men smiled 360 degrees with no dead angles, although they both knew in their hearts that they weren’t familiar with each other at all.

Some media came up to interview the two men on what items they donated. Gongxi Qiao didn’t rush to answer. He waited for Gu Nan to answer before saying with a humble attitude, “I didn’t donate something as meaningful as Brother Nan, only a painting and a ring. I hope to get a good price when the time comes, so that we can also procure more funds for poor children.”

Comparing their fame in the entertainment industry, Gu Nan beat Gonxi Qiao by two streets. However, in terms of economic strength, Gu Nan might not be better than Gongxi Qiao. Fortunately, Gongxi Qiao was very supportive of Gu Nan in his words, and didn’t mention the value of his donations, to avoid the embarrassment of Film Emperor Gu being compared to him.

You are reading story Entertainment Industry Acting Emperor at novel35.com

In the eyes of the media, Gu Nan’s news value was naturally higher than Gongxi Qiao, so there were no detailed questions. Everyone surrounded Gu Nan and asked a lot of questions before letting the two enter the door.

“Qiao Shao, what’s your number?” Gu Nan’s tone was very gentle. His whole person had a gentle and elegant flavor. He didn’t show off because he was a superstar. He was more like a caring big brother. “Maybe we could even sit together by coincidence.”

Unfortunately, Gongxi Qiao was number 46 and he was number 41. There was a distance of five seats between them.

“What a pity.” Gu Nan’s face showed a bit of regret. “I wanted to sit with you.”

“There will be opportunities in the future,” Gongxi Qiao said with a smile. “But next time, Brother Nan, don’t call me Qiao Shao, just call me Xiao Qiao.”

Gu Nan smiled brightly. “When I returned to China, I attended the premiere of ‘National Industry’. Your role as Admiral Zheng was amazing. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the opportunity at the time to communicate with you because of work. If you have time, we must talk more.”

“My acting skills aren’t proficient enough, Brother Nan, they’re laughable.” Gongxi Qiao showed shyness on his face and performed well as a junior who was praised by a superstar.

The two praised each other with a few more words before separating and taking their seats. After sitting down, Gu Nan didn’t forget to smile at him despite the few people in between.

Gongxi Qiao remembered to smile, but he was slightly defensive in his heart. His previous life’s living environment made him form a habit, which was, people who came forward to offer hospitality for no reason were suspicious in his eyes.

Even when Xi Qing invited him to dinner upon their first meeting, he was suspicious for a long time, not to mention this artist who Xu Chao had hinted might have offended Xi Qing.

The charity gala began with an emotional performance by the children who were receiving aid. Their performance seemed stiff and nervous to Gongxi Qiao, but he applauded seriously when it was over.

Then, the auction started. Most of the things put up first were designer bags, hats, scarves, and so forth. Gu Nan donated a signed T-shirt that was auctioned off to one of his tycoon fans at a high price of 780,000 yuan. This price gave Gu Nan plenty of prestige.

Gongxi Qiao raised his card several times, but didn’t win anything in the auction.

“This next auction item is a beautifully crafted men’s black sapphire ring. The net weight of the gemstone is 3 carats. It has a superior cut and luster. It looks noble when worn on the hand. It was donated by Mr. Gongxi, No. 46. The reserve price is 100,000 yuan. Commence bidding.”

There were high and low prices for black sapphires, and the different types and the brilliance of the cut were the key points. The scene was full of rich people, so when they saw the picture of the ring on the big screen, they felt confident about this auction item. Although this ring wasn’t a rare and precious item, the workmanship and design of the shape were beautiful. The reserve price was 100,000 yuan, which was already a super low estimate.

No. 46, Mr. Gongxi. Wasn’t that Gongxi Qiao?

Therefore, when the auction for this item opened, it quickly caused countless people to bid. Most of the participants were actually women. Although the men’s ring was of little use to them, it didn’t affect their enthusiasm for bidding in any way.

The lively bidding scene once again made people understand the truth that physical appearance was very important.

After a few rounds of bidding, the ring, which was worth less than 150,000, had already been bid up to more than 400,000. According to the enthusiasm of the women at the scene, the price would continue to climb.

Xi Qing looked at the enlarged picture of the ring on the screen and lifted the number plate in his hand.

“1.2 million!”

The ladies turned their heads in anger. Who was so ignorant as to snatch something that a beautiful man had worn? But when they saw who the person holding up the card was, their anger disappeared without a trace.

President Xi and Qiao Shao were good friends. The money was reasonable and justified.

After Xi Qing opened his mouth, whether they were distressed about the amount of money, or didn’t dare compete with him, nobody continued to bid.

Gongxi Xiong whispered in Qiao Lanfen’s ear, “How come this President Xi has such a good relationship with our son?” Wasn’t it silly to pay more than ten times the price for a ring that didn’t fit his finger?

Qiao Lanfen raised her eyebrows. “You, as a father, are not as generous as someone who is a friend.”

Gongxi Xiong: Does this make sense? What’s the point of taking back what his own son donated?

“President Xi is very generous.” Bai Zhong and Xi Qing’s seats were next to each other. He sneered at the brocade box containing the ring in Xi Qing’s hand. “Willing to spend such a sum of money for a shabby ring.”

He placed the brocade box in his suit pocket. Xi Qing didn’t mind at all that the box was making his suit pocket bulge out. After doing that, he said indifferently, “Thank you for the compliment.”

With Gongxi Qiao’s status in the painting and calligraphy world, his donated painting, ‘Winter Snow,’ became one of the finale items in the auction. As soon as it appeared, it aroused the interest of a lot of people.

Snow, red plum blossoms, and the shadowed back of a woman. This wasn’t a complicated painting, but it had an indescribable mood.

Many people present expressed great enthusiasm for this painting, whether they really knew about art or pretended to know a lot about art.

“One million.” In order to show his wife that he was still supportive of his son, Gongxi Xiong quickly shouted out a high price of one million.

Unfortunately, someone immediately surpassed the price he gave.

“One and a half million,” Bai Zhong lazily raised his number plate. After hearing someone bid even higher than himself, he didn’t get angry. Instead, he smiled and said to Xi Qing, “This Qiao Shao isn’t only good looking, but also talented. No wonder you appreciate him. Even I’m interested in him.”

Xi Qing gave him an expressionless look. His deep eyes didn’t show any trace of emotion.

“Three million.” Xi Qing raised his number plate. After hearing Gongxi Xiong’s price of 3.1 million, he hesitated a little and didn’t bid again.

In the end, it wasn’t him or Gongxi Xiong who won the ‘Winter Snow’ painting, but someone from the Xue family.

At the end of the gala, when the audience was ready to leave, Xi Qing said to Bai Zhong with a calm face, “President Bai, cherish the time you have now.”

Hearing these words, Bai Zhong froze for a moment. When he reacted, he only saw the back of Xi Qing leaving. He choked so hard that he couldn’t spit or swallow. Even the smile on his face was distorted.

T/N:

zisha ware: A traditional type of pottery made from clay from the Yixing area. It’s also known as Yixing ware.

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