Chapter 76
Wei Ran was the most bewildered when Chu Muchao's bodyguards drove her away.
He always thought his methods for getting close to Chu Muchao were very effective.
Look, Chu Muchao didn't refuse, did he? He even endorsed his product and had dinner with him. Doesn't that mean he's tacitly acknowledging that their relationship can take things further?
The reason why their relationship hasn't progressed further is because Chu Muchao's schedule is very full, and they haven't had time to meet.
Chu Muchao definitely has feelings for him!
The more Wei Ran tried to explain, the more confused she became.
"Sister Su, give me a little more time. I can definitely handle her!"
Su Qian sighed: "Wei Ran, don't you understand yet? She's not interested in you, she just hasn't rejected you. If you were smart and knew how to play along, you might be able to follow Xin Qing's example and get noticed by her. But alas, you think she's like other rich women."
"No, Sister Su..."
Su Qian interrupted him: "To put it bluntly, it's because you're incompetent. You're all looks and no substance. Now look what's happened, you've offended the Chu family. Your agent told me that all your endorsements have been canceled. It's probably because someone wants to blacklist you. You're out of options. Be careful in the future."
"Sister Su, Sister Su..."
Wei Ran tried to plead, but Su Qian had already decisively hung up the phone and blocked her.
Wei Ran was completely useless to Su Qian.
She was also puzzled. Wei Ran seemed to have some contact with Chu Muchao, and Chu Muchao himself had never paid attention to the rumors between the two. Why did he suddenly become so ruthless and cut off the root of the problem?
Su Qian put some thought into it.
We received information that it was another member of the Chu family who did it. The withdrawal of investment, the cancellation of endorsements, and the industry-wide blacklisting were all orchestrated by Chu Wen.
Su Qian asked in confusion, "Chu Wen? Isn't he vying for power with Chu Muchao? Shouldn't he be happy that Chu Muchao is embroiled in scandals?"
Before he could finish speaking, a flash of inspiration struck him.
Su Qian suddenly understood!
Turns out, the wrong medicine was given! Chu Wen likes his sister! But Chu Muchao clearly doesn't have any romantic feelings for Chu Wen! Otherwise, he wouldn't have allowed the rumors about him and Wei Ran to spread so widely.
The reason this whole thing backfired was probably because Chu Wen got involved, leaving Chu Muchao with no other option but to step in and clarify.
If she helps Chu Muchao deal with Chu Wen and avoids being bothered by Chu Wen, wouldn't she be able to gain favor with Chu Muchao?
"Sister Su, President Zhai called and invited you to dinner tonight."
The assistant knocked on Su Qian's door.
After Su Qian agreed, her assistant didn't leave; instead, he closed the door and came in.
"Sister Su, I heard that Xiu Ke and the president of MZ Group are both in contact with President Zhai. They even invited President Zhai to the last gathering. This President Zhai is getting more and more impressive."
Su Qian nodded: "Yes, he's climbing very fast. But it's strange that the project he's working on has been stuck in the research and development stage."
“If it’s going to be sold publicly, it’ll definitely be different from personal research,” the assistant said. “He likes the Xin Qing type. Apparently, Xin Qing’s recent scandal was exposed by him because she rejected him. I think we have a young girl on our hands, who’s quite pure and pretty. How about we invite her to dinner tonight?”
After weighing the options, Su Qian said, "Okay, let's call her."
-
The last event of this trip was a charity gala.
Originally, the stylist who accompanied Chu Muchao had tailored a dress for him to wear to the charity gala, and to keep him warm, he was paired with a fluffy shawl.
It's also a modified Chinese-style off-shoulder cheongsam, with a white and gold color scheme that looks elegant and luxurious.
But the weather suddenly changed that day, and the temperature plummeted to single digits.
Despite the fact that the venue would be air-conditioned all day, Chu Muchao still opted to change out of the cheongsam and shawl outfit and into a wool sweater, paired with a coat and slim-fitting trousers.
Among a sea of skirts of varying lengths, Chu Muchao's sweater and coat paired with trousers stood out as an oddity.
Some people admired her outfit, while others criticized it.
"What kind of occasion is this? Why is she dressed like this?"
"Exactly, she probably still thinks she's in her southern city. This charity gala has invited all the most prominent people in the country."
Xiao He followed Chu Muchao, also dressed in warm clothes.
Looking at the elegantly dressed people around him, Xiao He shook his head and sighed.
"President Chu, you're so wise! It's a good thing you changed into winter clothes! Who knew it would be so cold here even with the air conditioning on? My goodness, aren't they cold? I even saw several men who came in wearing only a V-neck shirt. They must have heat packs stuck inside their clothes."
Chu Muchao's gaze followed Xiao He and landed on those male celebrities.
Besides the various women's evening gowns, the thin, deep V-necks of the invited male celebrities also looked both eye-catching and pitiful.
It is indeed beautiful to watch, but with the weather so cold today, there's really no need to make things difficult for myself.
They're really dedicated! They wear summer clothes in winter just to look good.
But then again, if there are beautiful designs available for winter, why do they insist on wearing summer formal wear?
Winter dresses are made to be warmer and protect the shoulders and arms, so why choose a halter or strapless style?
It is very beautiful.
But it's also very cold.
Chu Muchao led Xiao He to his seat.
The person next to me also sat down with a female companion.
Chu Muchao caught a glimpse of the other woman's long dress out of the corner of his eye. The pattern looked familiar; it seemed to be Lan's summer collection from this year.
Before coming, she already knew what this charity gala was about; since the other party was wearing Lan's clothes, they were there for her.
Chu Muchao looked up and met Zhai Jinwu's malicious smile.
Then she saw Zhai Jinwu with an elegant woman on his arm. After they made eye contact, the woman smiled and greeted her.
Zhai Jinwu smiled and said, "What a coincidence, Miss Chu, I'm sitting next to you."
Chu Muchao smiled, looked away, and turned to the stage.
Xiao He leaned close to her ear and whispered, "President Chu, the person next to Zhai is an artist from Qixing. I used to watch her TV dramas, and our company also contacted her, but we didn't work with her because we couldn't agree on the terms. I think her name is Yaqi."
Chu Muchao nodded.
One is Zhai Jinwu, and the other is Qi Xing.
They all came for her, and they even came in groups.
This is so troublesome.
Before the party even started, Chu Muchao had already lost interest in tonight's activities and just wanted it to end quickly.
-
The charity gala begins.
Chu Muchao wasn't very interested in the first few items auctioned; he would make a token bid to raise the price, but then didn't participate further.
Then there was an antique painting. Chu Muchao thought that Chu Wen would like this type of painting, so he wanted to bid for it.
She had never participated in a charity gala before.
According to Chu Wen, such parties are basically just a way for people to participate in fundraising by bidding on items.
They are all prominent figures; they wouldn't argue so fiercely over an object.
But Zhai Jinwu is different.
After discovering that she had raised the bid for the antique painting a second time, Zhai Jinwu, who was standing next to her, also joined the bidding.
A painting worth no more than five million was increased by Zhai Jinwu to thirteen million.
"Thirteen million once."
Chu Muchao turned to look at Zhai Jinwu.
Zhai Jinwu raised his eyebrows and smiled broadly at her.
It has a somewhat arrogant and boastful tone.
"Thirteen million twice. Anyone else want to raise the bid? Miss Chu, would you like to bid higher for this painting?"
Chu Muchao pursed his lips and smiled in return.
"No."
Zhai Jinwu acquired this antique painting, yet he still acted innocent after getting a good deal.
"I'm so sorry, Miss Chu."
Chu Muchao smiled and ignored him.
For the second item, Zhai Jinwu and Chu Muchao bid against each other.
The price was so high that they wouldn't give up until they got it through bidding.
A jewelry necklace worth over a million yuan was auctioned off for ten million yuan.
Chu Muchao simply shouted "Fifteen million".
Zhai Jinwu had Yaqi hold up a sign and loudly proclaimed, "Twenty million!"
The host was so excited by Zhai Jinwu's high spirits that he couldn't contain his joy.
"Mr. Zhai is really generous! Twenty million! Any higher bids? Twenty million, I'm going to take it!"
"Twenty million, just once!"
"Twenty million, twice!"
"Twenty million... three times! Sold! Congratulations to Mr. Zhai for winning this gemstone necklace for twenty million!"
[Miss Mu, a friendly reminder: if you try a third time, they probably won't fall for it.]
The system's voice appeared in my mind.
Chu Muchao smiled somewhat embarrassedly: I know. Oh dear, he really went to so much trouble. I'll give him another nudge later.
The charity auction is nearing its end.
The host then prompts the next activity: the guests making donations.
When the host announced that "Ms. Chu donated 50 million," a staff member handed the microphone to Chu Muchao, and at the same time, the host also cued her to come on stage.
This was not mentioned during the previous verification process.
Chu Muchao held the microphone, puzzled.
Did no one tell her that she would have to give a speech on stage after donating money?
Xiao He's eyes were also filled with confusion.
Oh no, she didn't know that donating money required a speech, and she didn't prepare a speech for her boss at all. What should she do? Is this considered negligence on her part?
Chu Muchao strode onto the stage, her long legs clad in six-centimeter high heels.
Chu Muchao is not tall, and for the sake of comfort, she did not choose higher-sized high heels.
Therefore, in front of the tall, formally dressed host, Chu Muchao's attire appeared particularly out of place and strange.
Chu Muchao's attire seemed completely out of place at tonight's party.
Someone in the audience shouted, "Ms. Chu, today is a charity gala broadcast globally. You should be dressed formally. Your attire is so careless."
One person started talking, and immediately a murmur arose from below.
"Yes, everyone else is wearing formal dresses, but what did she wear on stage?"
"Oh, she's just a young girl who just graduated from university. Let's not worry about her. She doesn't have much social experience."
"That shouldn't be the case. Didn't anyone teach them aristocratic etiquette?"
"She looks so tiny standing next to the host, haha."
The host obviously heard it too, quickly moved away, gave Chu Mu an apologetic smile, and then was about to move on to the next segment.
Chu Muchao, however, held the microphone and asked, "The air conditioning in the venue is malfunctioning today; the indoor temperature is below ten degrees Celsius. Aren't you cold?"
"If you're cold, put on some clothes so you don't catch a cold. This is formal wear, but it's different from your summer clothes; it's autumn wear."
Chu Muchao smiled, his eyes narrowed. "I take good care of my health and won't wear summer clothes in winter. I hope that while you're paying attention to me, you'll also take care of your own health."
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