Chapter 70

At 9 p.m., the live auction for the Torch Charity Gala officially began.

The audience was already full, with only a few seats still empty, including Rong Rong and Shang Feng.

Regardless of how the others reacted when the two didn't come, Liu Qi was already gnashing his teeth in hatred.

The largest shareholder behind the Spark Charity is the Liu family. The invitation to Rong Rong to attend this gala and the request for Rong Rong to donate her personal items were all at Liu Qi's request.

The purpose, of course, was to humiliate Rong Rong.

"That bitch didn't come!" Liu Qi gripped his phone, his face contorted with malice.

"It's alright, continue the auction you prepared. As for the rest, we'll talk about it when the others arrive." The cool male voice on the other end was calm and unhurried; it belonged to Yan Jin, who had been driven to the brink of bankruptcy by the Shang, Rong, and Qiu families.

Rong Rong's attention was entirely focused on filming and Yu Qiu, and she had no idea that the male lead had become so disheveled.

Liu Qi hung up the phone, her laughter chilling and sinister. After thinking for a moment, she called Zhu Yingsi again, but still couldn't get through. Frustrated, she put down her phone and kept cursing Zhu Yingsi, saying that she had disappeared at the crucial moment and was completely unreliable!

In the blink of an eye, two items had already been auctioned off.

The auction had just begun, and it was the moment everyone was most focused on. To warm up the atmosphere and to live up to everyone's expectations, the sellers of the first three items were either popular celebrities or business and political tycoons, which was the usual practice for the event.

Sellers, either through their own reputation or through their powerful networks, have always managed to sell their auction items for high prices.

And this is just the beginning; the final seller at the end of the auction will be an even more heavyweight.

The real show is about to begin!

Liu Qi smiled brightly and walked quickly a few steps. As soon as she entered the hall, she heard the auctioneer say, "The next item is provided by the Liu family's daughter, a painting by Rong Rong, Miss Rong!"

As soon as the auctioneer finished speaking, a buzz of discussion immediately arose in the room.

"Rong Rong? Is she the one who's been really popular lately?"

"How could that be? What qualifications does she have to offer items for auction?"

"This wasn't provided by her, it was provided by the Liu family's daughter, it's just that the items are hers!"

"It must be! Isn't the Liu family's daughter Liu Qi? Liu Qi and Rong Rong have been best friends since childhood."

"Did she know she wasn't qualified to provide auction items, which is why she asked Liu Qi to help her? It wasn't easy for Liu Qi to get this spot, was it? And she just rudely snatched it away like that? She must have been bullied by her quite a bit usually!"

"What a show-off and vain person! He was so eager to brag after getting the role in Li Gu's play, but then he stupidly leaked the script! Hahaha!"

"So what if she stole Liu Qi's spot? Will anyone buy her stuff? She's just humiliating herself!"

Then came bursts of laughter. These were Rong Rong's childhood friends, a group of rich second-generation heirs who only knew how to enjoy life. They were very familiar with Rong Rong's situation and were chatting without any restraint, their voices not bothering to be quiet.

Inevitably, everyone who was close to them heard about it, and then it spread like wildfire until the entire venue was filled with the news.

This was exactly the result of Liu Qi's careful planning, including the reactions of the second-generation rich kids in the industry, which were also within her expectations.

From childhood to adulthood, she and Zhu Yingsi seemed to be following Rong Rong around and suffering mistreatment, but in reality, they were always using Rong Rong's stupidity to highlight their own kindness, pitifulness, and weakness.

The accusations of bullying others, harassing classmates, having a chaotic private life, and frequenting brothels were all fabricated by Liu Qi and Zhu Yingsi.

Rong Rong is so stupid and so easily fooled. You can easily make up an excuse to get her to stand up for the two of them and do things according to their expectations.

It's just a pity about Lin Zeyang; I didn't expect him to be such a jerk.

They initially lied to Rong Rong, saying that Lin Zeyang wouldn't accept direct donations and that the only way to help him was through a sugar daddy arrangement.

After Rong Rong humiliated Lin Zeyang like that, they still deliberately spread rumors on campus to embarrass him.

Who knew that Lin Zeyang would not only fail to retaliate against Rong Rong, but instead become her sycophant? He has absolutely no backbone! Even as a big star, he's still a dog!

Liu Qi's face darkened, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt an urge to go crazy. Fortunately, as the staff presented the collection on stage, the loud laughter from the audience suppressed Liu Qi's anger and turned it into ecstasy.

Yes! That's it! I despise Rong Rong! Trample on her! She deserves to stay in the mire! How could she possibly turn things around?

"Seriously? They dare to put a painting of this caliber up for auction?"

Someone screamed loudly, which was followed by a burst of laughter.

The artwork looked like it was drawn by a primary school student who was just learning to paint; no, it was even worse than what a primary school student could do.

The childish lines, the uninspired creativity, and the fragmented composition make it the kind of thing you'd just walk past on the street.

Liu Qi chuckled to herself; this was a gift Rong Rong had given her after her first perfect art class when they were children.

Tsk tsk, it's obviously cheap, but she still pretends to like it a lot. Luckily, she was cautious and managed to keep it until today, which came in handy.

"Starting price: 100,000. Bidding begins!"

As soon as the auctioneer brought down the gavel, a man casually shouted, "I bid 10 yuan!"

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Laughter erupted, and the man who had been bidding was playfully punched by his friend, who exclaimed, "You're something else!"

"Me too! I'll put up 5 yuan!"

"3 yuan!"

"50 cents is the lowest it can go!"

"1 hair!"

......

The group laughed and joked, and the once solemn and dignified meeting room instantly transformed into an entertainment venue.

Some people frowned, some looked serious, some didn't react at all, and of course, some joined in the mockery. However, these mockers didn't realize that anyone with a certain level of ability and a respectable status didn't join in the revelry.

They weren't stupid. Rong Rong had the Rong family, the Shang family, and the Qiu family behind her. No matter how much Rong Rong embarrassed herself, no matter how much they thought it was shameful and funny, they wouldn't show it openly. They still wanted to be on good terms with Shang Feng and the Rong family.

This is the normal reaction of business tycoons who know the inside story, and many celebrities in the entertainment industry are also shrewd people. They all kept a straight face and pretended not to understand what was being said.

Liu Qi couldn't see any of this; she was only immersed in the pleasure of achieving her goal.

Yan Jin could see that his face was even more pale, and at the same time, a sense of powerlessness welled up inside him.

All he did was embarrass Rong Rong, but it didn't cause her any real harm, and it had no effect on the Shang or Rong families either. That wasn't enough, far from enough! He desperately needed allies!

Yan Jinyi's eyes scanned the room, searching for a suitable target. When he saw the several important figures from Beijing, his eyes lit up.

Only these few companies can compete with the merchants.

Everyone in the room had their own thoughts, and the group of second-generation rich kids were still bidding.

The auctioneer did not step in to control the situation; he had already received instructions from Liu Qi and naturally would not interfere.

Just as Liu Qi was laughing more and more heartily, waiting for someone to shout out "0 yuan", a deep middle-aged male voice suddenly interrupted.

"300,000!"

Liu Qi's smile froze, her expression changed drastically, and she turned around angrily to see that the one bidding was none other than Wang Dalong, the boss of Yulong.

"You nouveau riche!" Liu Qi spat.

She knew this person; he came from the countryside and founded Yulong Home Decoration by luck. He was desperately trying to squeeze into the upper class of B City, but he never had the chance.

I never expected him to come here to show off! So antisocial and lacking in social skills!

Hmph, he can only pretend to be rich when it comes to things that nobody else is competing for. He's just a country bumpkin with no taste for anything!