Chapter 79: Attending the event
The auction of three hours of Zhan Hua's private dinner time was organized by the Zhongshan Charity Association. One of its founders was a famous host in Shanghai's media industry, who used his network of contacts every year to raise funds for various charitable activities. He had some influence.
As a financial figure, Zhan Hua also had close ties with television stations, and his own news value was immeasurable. When word spread that he planned to auction off his private dinner time, following the example of the recently launched Buffett lunch, media and financial circles were abuzz. Zhan Hua certainly lived up to his reputation as a titan of the capital markets, coming up with an idea like this.
Still, there had never been a precedent for this anywhere in the county. It attracted considerable attention, drawing the eyes even of people who had not previously paid any attention to Zhan Hua's auction. That alone showed how conspicuous it was.
The venue for Zhan Hua's auction, the Weian International Clubhouse, stood in Xuhui District on Middle Huaihai Road-"once Avenue Joffre, now Huaihai Road"-in an area clustered with foreign consulates. The club lay secluded within the city, keeping its own lush green sanctuary amid the bustle, peaceful and pleasant. It also occupied elevated ground. Over tea and conversation on the open-air terraces of its various European-style garden restaurants, visitors could enjoy a rare moment of leisure in fast-paced Shanghai by day, and embrace its glittering prosperity by night.
In fact, most of those who socialized here were influential figures capable of stirring up the city. Finding somewhere quiet along Shanghai's noisy streets was no easy task, and such utterly secluded places in a bustling city were invariably extraordinary.
Cars were now converging on the clubhouse from