Chapter 494: Chapter 494

The items now being auctioned were all very expensive, and if the bidding were to continue, it wouldn’t be a matter of a few million but tens of millions.

The agent spoke coldly, "Feeling the pinch now, eh? When you were confronting He Jinxia earlier, you didn’t think about that?"

"Have you even considered, what status she holds and what’s yours? With her financial backing, she can only afford the collectibles in the low-price section, while you, a star capable of affording mid-range or even high-end items, are lowering yourself to compete in the low-price section. It’s embarrassing for an A-list star!" Orıginal content can be found at novelFɪre.net

"Deng Zhaoyan, once this auction is over, come out immediately, don’t linger at the Harper’s Bazaar dinner party!" the agent issued an ultimatum.

Deng Zhaoyan felt aggrieved. At the charity dinner organized by Harper’s Bazaar, the photos released to the public were always taken at the end. The agent wanted her to leave without even posing for those pictures, something she couldn’t do!

Deng Zhaoyan quickly said, "We’ll talk about it when the time comes. The auction is about to start; I’m going to hang up."

After hanging up the phone, she bowed her head and straightened the hair on her forehead, then lifted her head once more, a confident smile returning to her face.

She had miscalculated this time, but she had no regrets.

Soon, the intermission was over, and the auction continued.

Next up was a pearl necklace with excellent quality and craftsmanship. The pearls within were all plump and round, and uniform in size, which was extremely rare, giving the necklace a high starting bid—

Some stars began raising their paddles, and the price quickly rose to four million. Just when it seemed about to be sold, Deng Zhaoyan raised her paddle.

The auctioneer felt relieved and said, "Four million, one hundred thousand for the first time, four million, one hundred thousand for the second time, fou—"

Another star raised a paddle, driving the price still higher.

Finally, the other star bowed out, and Deng Zhaoyan won the necklace for five million, one hundred thousand.

But this was not the end.

Following that, Deng Zhaoyan frequently made bids, driving up the prices of many collectibles just as they were about to be sold. Some stars chose to compete and ultimately secured the items, while others decided not to follow, yielding them to Deng Zhaoyan.

With Deng Zhaoyan as the vanguard, although the items sold for a bit less than expected, they fetched prices just within the range that Harper’s Bazaar would accept.

But aside from Deng Zhaoyan, the other stars were unaware that she was doing this out of compulsion, and instead felt that Deng Zhaoyan was being manipulative.

Indeed, right from the start, she had aimed to catch everything in her net!

If they hadn’t already secured an item earlier, they would definitely have ended up paying much more for the auction items later on, a loss outweighing the gain.

Geng Ni sensitively noticed the strange looks other A-list stars were giving Deng Zhaoyan and felt secretly delighted.

Go on, suspect all you want, hopefully fall out with Deng Zhaoyan!

Time silently slipped by, and eventually, items from the high-end price section were put up for auction.

There weren’t many items of this caliber, less than ten in total, all reserved for the super A-listers, superstars, and famous directors with top financial power.

He Jinxia sat at the back, snacking on melon seeds, watching them casually toss out millions with each bid, with a necklace quickly reaching a sky-high price of tens of millions.

She couldn’t help but think of her hard-earned savings, which seemed... arguably... to be just enough to buy such a necklace...

He Jinxia quietly sipped her fake wine, hung her head low, and avoided looking at the displayed collectibles.

After some time, the auctioneer’s excited voice suddenly filled her ears, "Thirty million for the first time, thirty million for the second time, thirty million for the third time! Sold! Congratulations to Mr. Sheng Yan for winning this emerald necklace!"

He Jinxia’s ears twitched slightly, her eyes opened a bit, Sheng... Sheng Yan?

Three... thirty million?

She blinked and turned to ask the celebrity sitting next to her, "How much did the necklace that just got auctioned off go for? I didn’t hear clearly, was it thirty million?"

It was a male celebrity. Although he wasn’t well-acquainted with He Jinxia, he still answered her question, "You heard right, it’s thirty million."

She felt it was very necessary to discuss the importance of frugality and managing household expenses with Mr. Sheng.

The last auction item sold, and the auction officially ended.

The auction was the highlight of this charity dinner; now that it was over, the remaining time was dedicated to socializing among the celebrities, probably about an hour’s worth.

For some celebs who were quite chatty, an hour didn’t seem very long.

He Jinxia and Yu Yanyu, the tier-two duo, teamed up once again, chatting in hushed tones.

Yu Yanyu: "The dress you’re wearing today is so tacky. It’s so plain, but at least you’re not the worst-dressed. I can’t believe someone actually wore snake skin to an event !"

"Tch, a dress composed entirely of scales—doesn’t it give you the creeps?"

He Jinxia glanced at the flamboyant rose-colored suit Yu Yanyu was wearing, complete with a delicate lily pinned to his chest, and silently kept her thoughts to herself.

Yu Yanyu: "Deng Zhaoyan really bled money today, huh? Her spending must’ve hit twenty million, at least. Tch, what a tycoon. Looks like she made a ton of money this year."

He Jinxia glanced at the jade bracelet in Yu Yanyu’s hand and continued to quietly observe without a word.

The bracelet was one of the auctioned pieces, and after the auction, a server had come over to ask if he wanted it delivered to his house or if he would take it with him.

Yu Yanyu chose neither option; he had the server bring the auction item to him, and he wore it on the spot.

And this jade bracelet, she remembered, was knocked down for ten million.

Alas, she just couldn’t understand the world of the filthy rich.

Yu Yanyu: "Do you have a beef with Deng Zhaoyan or something? The word going around is crazy—they say that Deng Zhaoyan kept buying up the lower-priced collectibles just to stop you from acquiring anything. She interfered with every auction item you bid on."

He Jinxia’s eyes darkened slightly as she smiled and asked nonchalantly, "What do you think?"

Yu Yanyu: "I don’t think that’s possible. I feel like from start to finish, it was all Deng Zhaoyan’s conspiracy. She wanted to make a big play, snatch up most of the auction items, then leave the other celebs with nothing to buy. That way, she could issue press releases to one-up everyone else."

He Jinxia praised, "That’s pretty sharp analysis."

Yu Yanyu raised an eyebrow, "Of course. Who do you think I am? I’m Brother Sheng Yan’s little bro and inherit his cleverness."

He Jinxia: "Yeah, you really love him deeply."

Yu Yanyu: "..." What’s with this weird sense of familiarity? Why does it feel conversation can’t go on?

While they talked, a female celeb walked over from another area with a champagne glass in hand, a smile on her face but with quite an aggressive aura.

Yu Yanyu and He Jinxia noticed the star immediately. It was Deng Zhaoyan.