Lei Yingdong didn't appreciate the somewhat abstract Western oil paintings. The painting had a starting price of Hong Kong dollars 300, and after several rounds of bidding, a friend of Chu Xiaoxin 'Young Masters' Club bought it for Hong Kong dollars 2,000.
Lu Peiying's oil paintings were just the beginning; subsequently, jewelry, antiques, ornaments, and pocket watches took center stage.
Lei Yingdong wasn't in a hurry to make a move. His main purpose for coming here tonight was to see Chu Xiaoxin. What he bid on wasn't important. He would wait until an item failed to sell before making a move. Right now, he was mainly thinking about what Chu Xiaoxin meant by saying, "Uncle Sheng invited you to drink soda."
Huang Liu, dressed in a suit, walked up to Lei Yingdong and said, "Brother Danzi, if you won't drink, I will."
Huang Liu took the wine glass from Lei Yingdong, took a sip, and followed Lei Yingdong's gaze to the stage. "What are you planning to film? My boss specifically instructed that if you need any help, just let me know."
At this moment, a waiter walked onto the stage carrying a bottle of Yuen Chun soda.
The host smiled somewhat awkwardly, "The item up for auction is a bottle of soda, donated by an anonymous donor, starting price one dollar."
Lei Yingdong glanced at Huang Liu, raised his left hand in a gesture, and said calmly, "Ten thousand yuan."
Chapter 446 London Smog
Huang Liu nearly spat out the whiskey he had just taken a sip of. He looked at Lei Yingdong, then at the whiskey in his hand:
"I hope I won't be held responsible for this?"
After confirming that no one was competing with him for the bid, Lei Yingdong smiled at Huang Liu and said, "It's on me."
The fact that a bottle of soda was auctioned off for 10,000 yuan naturally surprised everyone present. However, the focus of everyone's attention was more on who would put a bottle of soda up for auction.
After all, this is really not something that can be discussed openly.
However, at this moment, Lei Yingdong was very clear about the true significance of this bottle of soda.
At that moment, Lei Yingdong truly understood the meaning of Chu Xiaoxin's words, "Uncle Sheng will treat you to soda tonight."
The fact that a bottle of soda was sold for ten thousand was quite a gimmick at tonight's auction, sparking a lot of discussion. Of course, even those who didn't know the details were well aware that the soda was probably just a code, so no one would risk offending anyone at this time.
Lei Yingdong successfully won the bid for the soda, but he didn't rush to get up. Instead, he waited until the auction ended before finding Chu Xiaoxin.
There must be a backup plan behind Uncle Sheng's arrangement. Lei Yingdong didn't think that Uncle Sheng was just joking with him over a bottle of soda.
As soon as the auction ended, Lei Yingdong could no longer contain himself and quickly walked towards where Chu Xiaoxin was.
Once you can establish a connection with the Shipping King of Hong Kong, whether on the sea or on land, you'll have a chance to seek justice from him for the ship that Lei Yingdong in the Taiwan Strait and the brothers who died at sea and could not return home.
Lei Yingdong stopped after taking only two steps and turned to look at Huang Liu.
Before Lei Yingdong could speak, Huang Liu waved his hand dismissively. "Go ahead and get busy, Brother Danzi. My boss told me to stay here; that's his attitude."
Lei Yingdong nodded slightly. "Please thank A-Yao for me."
The hotel was brightly lit and filled with women, but Lei Yingdong had no interest in paying attention to any of that.
At this moment, Chu Xiaoxin was chatting with two young men of similar age while holding a wine glass. When he saw Lei Yingdong walking over, Chu Xiaoxin said a few words to the two men and then walked over with his wine glass.
"Mr. Chu..."
Just as Lei Yingdong was about to speak, Chu Xiaoxin spoke first, saying, "Uncle Sheng is too old to attend Oxfam's banquets, but his eldest son is interested in your bid for Uncle Sheng's favorite soda."
As he spoke, Chu Xiaoxin took a card out of his pocket and handed it to Lei Yingdong: "Seventh floor, C2."
Lei Yingdong took the card and gave Chu Xiaoxin a twitching smile, "Thank you, Mr. Chu."
Chu Xiaoxin yawned rather rudely. "The ship has been sunk, how can you be in the mood to really thank me? Has anyone told you that your eyes actually look blood red right now?"
Lei Yingdong stopped talking and turned to walk towards the elevator.
Chu Xiaoxin saw Huang Liu still taking the opportunity to drink and eat at the buffet in the distance, and laughed twice. Huang Liu looked up and gave Chu Xiaoxin a bright smile with his mouth full of food.
Chu Xiaoxin recalled what his Dad, Chu Yaozong, had said before: at this charity gala, someone from Song Tianyao's faction would definitely show up, and Huang Liu was considered Song Tianyao's closest confidant.
A-Yao ran off to Britain, leaving Huang Liu in Hong Kong to help Lei Yingdong? Why? Does he think he hasn't offended enough people?
Huang Liu, at this moment, represents Song Tianyao. It's true that Song Tianyao is helping Lei Yingdong, but...?
Or perhaps helping Lei Yingdong was just a prelude, and Song Tianyao wanted to use Uncle Sheng as a springboard to get in touch with him?
Chu Xiaoxin watched Huang Liu devour his food and pondered for a while, but he was completely clueless. In other words, ever since he met Song Tianyao, he had never been able to guess Song Tianyao's thoughts.
At this time, Song Tianyao had already arrived in London, Britain.
However, Song Tianyao's arrival seemed to be somewhat ill-timed, as London at that time generally relied on coal for heating, and the entire London was shrouded in smoke.
And it just so happened that Song Tianyao arrived in London at that very time.
Guest rooms at the Sky Tower Hotel.
Song Tianyao slowly pulled his arm out from under Angie Perlis's neck. Angie Perlis glanced at Song Tianyao with sleepy eyes, then hugged the blanket and fell asleep again.
Song Tianyao got out of bed and walked out of the bedroom, standing naked in front of the floor-to-ceiling window in the living room of the luxury suite at the Sky Tower Hotel, gazing out the window.
He wasn't worried about being seen at all, because everything outside the window was gray and gloomy. Not only could he not see the Thames River and Song Tianyao Trafalgar Square that should have been visible, but he could not even hear the cooing of a pigeon that was not far away.
Even inside the hotel room, Song Tianyao could still smell a pungent, acrid coal odor in the air that made his nose uncomfortable.