Chapter 51: Too Many Cards, Mixing Them Up

"But I didn't bully him. On the contrary, it was your son who forced the school beauty to be his girlfriend. Are you going to do something about that or not?" Gu Xiangnan spoke as if he were stating a well-known fact.

Mrs. Xu was taken aback and turned to look at her son.

Xu Chenyi's eyes darted evasively, and Mrs. Xu felt a chill in her heart, but as a mother, she instinctively wanted to protect her child.

She pretended to speak to her husband, but in reality was warning Gu Xiangnan, "Old Xu, you should really look into this young man's character and see if he's suitable to become a doctor."

Xu Feng looked stern but said nothing more.

At that moment, the lights in the venue dimmed.

Everyone took their seats, ending the argument.

On the stage at the center of the room, a woman in a cheongsam appeared, her figure slender and graceful.

She was not yet thirty, with porcelain skin, refined features like a painting, and brows shaped like crescent moons.

She carried an innate air of elegance.

The woman in the cheongsam spoke into the microphone, "Good evening, friends. Welcome to tonight's auction."

"I am tonight's auctioneer, Ai Qin, Vice President of Jinlibao Auction House."

The audience responded with enthusiastic applause.

The distinguished guests invited by the King of Jiangning had surely seen many beautiful women before, but a woman like Ai Qin, combining beauty and wit, was truly a rare gem.

The waiters began serving dishes.

The guests savored the delicacies while keeping a close eye on the auction proceedings.

"It is a great honor to be invited by the King of Jiangning, Mr. Song Jinlong, to host this auction."

"This event is held by Mr. Song as a gesture of gratitude to a certain benefactor. Tonight, Mr. Song will come in person to express his deep thanks to this distinguished guest."

A benefactor?

Everyone at the scene began speculating about the identity of this mysterious figure.

Only Wang Jinquan and a few others knew that the benefactor was Gu Xiangnan.

Seeing him keeping a low profile, they too refrained from making any fuss.

Zheng Changhai leaned over to whisper to Zheng Youwei, "Son, we must seize the chance to get acquainted with this benefactor later, understood?"

Zheng Youwei nodded repeatedly.

"And now, presenting the first item for auction: a pair of porcelain vases." The auction officially began.

Staff members, wearing gloves, brought out several boxes, and Ai Qin introduced the background of the items in both Chinese and English.

The starting bid was five million.

Guests took turns bidding, and the pair finally sold for ten million.

The true value of the vases was far less than ten million—this was clearly an inflated price.

The guests mainly wanted to display their strength and sincerity before the King of Jiangning, vying for his attention and favor.

The next auction items were all calligraphies and paintings.

These wealthy individuals, eager to showcase their cultural sophistication, vied eagerly for the works of art.

Gu Xiangnan, however, was not interested in any of these.

He glanced around; the atmosphere was lively and intense.

Everyone was engrossed in the proceedings; no one left their seats.

Yet one person stood out—Suzuki Genkuro.

He kept checking his watch, clearly waiting for something.

"Congratulations to Mr. Wang on acquiring this rare artwork!" A round of applause followed the latest auction.

Su Hanyan noticed Gu Xiangnan hadn't made any moves, so she leaned in and whispered, "Xiaonan, did anything catch your eye? If you want to buy something, go ahead. Senior Sister will pay for you."

Gu Xiangnan pulled a black card from his bag and waved it in front of her. "Senior Sister, I have money."

"And now, the next item: a pair of diamond earrings."

The staff immediately shone a flashlight on the tray holding the diamond earrings.

The pair radiated a dazzling brilliance, like the brightest stars in the night sky, breathtakingly beautiful.

"Wow, they're stunning!" Su Hanyan gasped in spite of herself.

Gu Xiangnan looked at her. "Do you like them? If you do, I'll buy them for you."

The earrings were set with two enormous diamonds, each weighing twenty-five carats.

Natural diamonds of such size were exceedingly rare.

The starting bid was ten million.

"This pair was donated by Mr. Song Jinlong," Ai Qin announced.

Hearing that the item was donated by Mr. Song, the tycoons immediately perked up, determined to win such an honor.

Now, this was what it meant to spend money where it counted.

"Twenty million!"

"Twenty-eight million!"

"Thirty million!"

The price kept climbing.

With every new bid came a fresh wave of excitement in the crowd.

Su Hanyan, a successful business owner herself, stuck out her tongue in shock. Even so, she felt that spending thirty million on a pair of earrings was outrageously extravagant.

"Eighty million!" Gu Xiangnan casually raised his paddle.

All eyes turned to him.

Everyone else was bidding cautiously, inching the price up step by step.

But he had simply leapt several times higher in one go—clearly, money was no object to him.

"Whose son is this? Such extravagance!"

"I heard someone say earlier that he's supposed to be a pauper!"

"Well, let's wait and see if he can actually pay up."

The crowd buzzed with speculation.

Ai Qin smiled and asked, "Is anyone willing to offer a higher bid?"

The room fell silent. No one responded.

"Eighty million, first call."

"Eighty million, second call."

"Eighty million, sold." The hammer came down—Gu Xiangnan had won the earrings.

A staff member came over to process payment.

Zheng Youwei, looking gleeful, muttered, "A penniless kid trying to play at auctions? Let’s see how he plans to pay."

He was ready to enjoy the spectacle.

Wang Jinquan took out his card, ready to pay, but Gu Xiangnan stopped him. "Old Wang, I'll settle this myself."

He casually pulled a black card from his bag. The staff member swiped it.

"Invalid card," the electronic voice from the machine announced.

Zheng Youwei nearly burst out laughing. "Told you so. He has no money! The card is fake!"

People around began to chatter, thinking they’d caught a fraud.

"Sorry, I grabbed the wrong one," Gu Xiangnan said, retrieving another black card from his bag and handing it over with a smile. "Too many cards—got them mixed up!"

What a show-off!

This time, it was the right card. The staff entered the amount and swiped it again.

"Highest privilege card. Payment waived," the machine intoned.

The staff was stunned, then bowed and said, "Sir, I’ve never encountered this situation before. Please allow me to make a call to confirm."

Gu Xiangnan nodded in agreement.

The auction was temporarily halted, and everyone waited for the staff's response.

Rumors and theories began to swirl among the crowd.

"Do you think this card belongs to the Song family?"

"Only direct descendants of the Song family would have a highest privilege card like that!" said one distant Song relative, noting that he still had to pay whenever he visited Song family businesses.

"The Song family gave this kid a black card? I find that hard to believe."

"Could he be Mr. Song's illegitimate son?"

"Impossible! This young man is so handsome—he doesn’t look a thing like the Songs."

"Then…"

Zheng Youwei, adding fuel to the fire, said, "Isn’t it obvious? He must have stolen it!"

"What? That bold? Daring to steal from the King of Jiangning? Does he have a death wish?"

"You don't understand. For paupers like him, every day is a bonus—there's nothing they won't dare try," Zheng Youwei sneered.

Su Hanyan couldn’t listen any longer.

She rose, furious, to defend Gu Xiangnan. "You can't slander a good person! The Song family gave this card to my junior brother!"

"The Song family gave it to him? Who would believe that?" Zheng Youwei turned to the others.

No one did.

"See? No one believes you. Tell us, why would the Song family give him a card?"

"Because my junior brother cured Mr. Song’s illness," Su Hanyan explained.