"I'm Ernst McVeigh, the organizer of tonight's gathering and the manager of this club."
The man in the artist's cap wore a gentle, refined smile as he explained to Fang Ran and Adeline why he was surrounded by so many people.
"Is this your first time here?"
He asked with mild curiosity, then warmly extended a hand in invitation.
"Then I'd be delighted to show you around and introduce you to quite a few friends."
His manner was polite, and his unhurried speech kept him from seeming abrupt. Yet through his words, expression, and outstretched hand—
he had cleverly made it seem as though showing them around was already decided.
When attending a gathering organized by someone else, it was genuinely difficult to find a reason to refuse the host's warm invitation. Fang Ran glanced at Adeline and saw her quiet, lowered gaze, as though she was leaving the decision entirely to him.
Just like the reason they had attended other events that afternoon, he figured they would only be waiting around if they did not go. Fang Ran followed Ernst farther inside.
"That is a portrait Julian Schnabel painted for me. I love his idea of using broken plates as a canvas. This one, meanwhile, was photographed by Andy Warhol and features Madam Kennedy. And over there is..."
They passed through the lively crowd, moving from the outer areas inward, from the first floor to the second, walking beside walls covered in paintings.
Fang Ran listened as Ernst broadly introduced his collection, casually mentioning that most of the pieces were worth one or two million US Dollars.
Half of his tone was the display-minded enthusiasm of a collector eager to show others his treasures, while the other half was the social manner of a wealthy man flaunting his fortune.