Chapter 127: Charity Auction

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

“It’s just that 1 feel like it’ll be nicer if you don’t know what kind of gift you’ll receive. If you already know what it is, there won’t be any joy in receiving gifts,” Lin Xiaowan said.

It was the first time Huo Zheng had heard such words, and he found them refreshing. Then he recalled that whenever he received gifts from Lin Xiaowan in the past, they had always been a surprise.

The next day, Huo Zheng had arranged for someone to inquire about Hong Minima’s preference. After obtaining the information, he passed it over to Lin Xiaowan.

Although Hong Minhua was getting on in years, her hands were steady, and her eyes were bright. When she had the time, she would occasionally practice calligraphy. As such, she also collected calligraphy paintings. It was a good idea to take this into consideration when buying a gift for her.

Lin Xiaowan was not familiar with calligraphy at all. The paintings that Hong Minhua collected were not ordinary. Moreover, the calligraphy paintings the latter collected were painted using traditional ink sticks that were ground on inkstones.

It was not easy to find good calligraphy paintings. Those really precious ones were antiques, likely already in the possessions of collectors or museums.

Nonetheless, Lin Xiaowan did not let Huo Zheng help her and took full responsibility. She did some research and found a lot of information. However, good calligraphy paintings were really hard to find, and she barely found one that she was satisfied with. However, it was being auctioned off overseas. The time of the auction was inconvenient as well. As such, although there were only two days left, she still had no clue at all.

Seeing that she was troubled, Huo Zheng suggested, “The paintings, the ‘Auspicious Sun on Mount Lu’ and ‘Beautiful Snow on a Winter Night’, that you showed before are very good. They’re worth collecting, and they’re also in line with Elder Hong’s taste.”

Lin Xiaowan sighed and said with a pout, “Alright. If 1 can’t find anything else by today, 1’11 look at those paintings.”

The two paintings were put up for sale, and Lin Xiaowan saw them by chance previously. She had shown them to Huo Zheng and also spoke with the seller. However, after considering it, she took a step back.

Sometimes, things just happened coincidentally. When Gu Yuwu learned that Lin Xiaowan was looking for calligraphy paintings recently, she sent Lin Xiaowan a couple of photos in the afternoon.

The photo was that of a calligraphy painting. There was a square stamp with round edges at the bottom, and the words ‘A Hundred Years of Longevity’ were written on both sides in beautiful calligraphy. The bottom was slightly worn, but this was not a problem at all.

[Gu Yuwu: Do you like this piece? It was made by Wu Shenbo during the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty. It’s definitely authentic.]

Lin Xiaowan had done a lot of research so she knew who Wu Shenbo was. He was a calligrapher who was on par with the famous Cheng J unfang. There was almost no historical record of Wu Shenbo, and his works were even rarer.

Lin Xiaowan was naturally excited.

[Lin Xiaowan: Wow! Wow! Wow! Where did you find this? I think it’s great! Is this from a private collection? Hurry up and tell me!]

It could be seen by the three exclamation marks that she was excited.

Gu Yuwu wanted to save the trouble so she called Lin Xiaowan immediately.

“There’s a charity auction tonight. The work belongs to a celebrity who’s putting it up for auction. A booklet of all the auction items was distributed earlier…” Gu Yuwu said, “This came at just the right time for you. I’ll check the celebrity’s background after this. There shouldn’t be any problem.”

The celebrity had not been in the entertainment industry for long, and her background was clean. It did not take long for Gu Yuwu to obtain the information.

After calling Lin Xiaowan back, Gu Yuwu said, “Today’s charity auction will be broadcasted live. I don’t know the reason for it, but if you attend, you might be caught on camera.”

Gu Yuwu knew that Lin Xiaowan did not want to show her face, especially at such a public event. As such, she quickly made this matter clear to Lin Xiaowan before anything else.

As expected, Lin Xiaowan hesitated briefly when she heard these words. However, she soon decided that it was not a big problem. No one knew her, and even if they knew her, who cared who she was?

In any case, she was not afraid of being seen by others now. If people talked about her, then so be it. As long as they did not do it in front of her, she would pretend not to know anything. There was no need for her to overthink this matter and create trouble for herself.

She was no longer bothered by things like that. She was upright, and there was nothing for her to be afraid of. If anyone dared to do anything unreasonable, she would deal with it.

Moreover, there would be a lot of people in attendance. She might not even be filmed. After all, many celebrities would attend the charity auction. Whether it was a live broadcast or not, the cameras would definitely follow the celebrities.

Lin Xiaowan was quite self-aware. Who would film her for no reason? At most, the camera would sweep past her when filming Gu Yuwu.

Later in the evening.

After Lin Xiaowan called and informed Huo Zheng about this matter, he, who was still busy with work, asked someone to send the invitation to Lin Xiaowan.

Lin Xiaowan asked in confusion, “This is the entertainment industry’s charity auction. Why does the Huo family have an invitation to this kind of event?” “Hmm? What do you mean by ‘your Huo family’?” Huo Zheng chided gently.

Lin Xiaowan amended her words and said, “Oh, does our family have business in the entertainment industry?”

“No,” Huo Zheng replied.

Whether it was the entertainment industry or not, it was only natural that someone like Huo Zheng received an invitation. Although it was a charity auction, many connections could be established during the event.

However, usually, Huo Zheng did not attend these events.

When they arrived at the venue of the auction at night, Lin Xiaowan realized that her invitation was different from that of Gu Yuwu.

The staff member was also taken aback when he saw Lin Xiaowan’s invitation. He did not expect such a young woman to hold an investor’s invitation card. His attitude changed immediately, and he prepared to lead Lin Xiaowan to the VIP seats.

Gu Yuwu had already expected this when Lin Xiaowan told her that Huo Zheng had sent an invitation card to her. She raised her hand to stop the staff member and said, “No need. She’s with me. We won’t sit there.”

The seats were naturally different for different invitation cards.

Gu Yuwu naturally had sat in the VIP seats for investors before. However, she found it boring. The only advantage was that it was very private.

Meanwhile, Lin Xiaowan was not sure how much the calligraphy painting would cost. After all, it was an auction. Hence, she brought out Huo Zheng’s black card for the second time. The last time she used it was when she went shopping with Qiao You’an after she was reborn..

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