Chapter 2

As times improved, so did people’s standards. Even donating money had changed to a high-end method.

Before, donating was always cash and cheques, the more the better. Now it was not enough anymore, you had to take out your items and donate whatever amount you managed to sell them for.

Charity galas differ from prize-giving ceremonies in that seating plans were crafted with care here. Those who sat in front were not necessarily famous actors, they tended to be those CEOs with money, who were willing to spend.

Su Yi’s seat was arranged to be near the rear but not too far behind. She sat down leisurely and smiled at some of the more familiar faces as a greeting.

– before she picked up the auction list placed in front of her.

Her heel was really hurting just now; she’d probably rubbed a layer of skin off. She really had no energy to keep asking the man just which ‘chu’ and which ‘ying’ it was.

Su Yi perused the auction list, where the names of all the auctioneers are listed. Even after a thorough search though, she couldn’t find a single “chu” or “ying” – she couldn’t even find someone with ‘chu’ as a surname.

What!

He is not selling anything!?

“Yi-jie, that dress is very becoming of your figure.”

Su Yi turned her head. Beside her was Tu Jinglan, who, like her, was a female actor who mainly acted in the secondary roles. They had met many times at auditions, and Su Yi’s impression of her was… no impression.

They had never conversed before.

Su Yi smiled, graciously accepting her compliment.

Tu Jinglan continued, “Yi-jie is here today to buy, or to donate?”

Su Yi said, “Donate.”

“How coincidental, me too. It’s an ancestral small pendant, I can’t bear letting it go.”

Su Yi let out an ‘oh’.

Bluntly put, almost half the celebrities around were auctioning their ‘heirlooms’.

As to whether or not it was an heirloom, that would remain a mystery. There were still plenty people buying, some because they felt like spending lots of money on a celebrity’s item(s) was rather good for boasting about; some because they wished to donate and simply picked something they found acceptable; some… investors will also spend lots of money to buy those and give their sugar babies better reputations.

As if finally feeling Su Yi’s indifference, Tu Jinglan no longer tried to butter her up. She turned around and started conversing with some other ladies, leaving Su Yi finally with some peace and quiet.

At the start of the gala, the host took a long time before finally slowly getting to the topic.

After successfully selling a few items, the atmosphere got livelier and the host started introducing the next item.

“Lady Tu Jinglan is auctioning this time this pendant made of white jade. The pendant… is carved delicately, with a rather generous style… it is rumoured to be an heirloom of Lady Tu Jinglan’s family, with a starting price of fifty thousand dollars.”

It was rather tough on the organisers to have to come up with all these adjectives for the pendant.

Su Yi leisurely hugged her waist, looked at the pendant on the screen and assessed it silently.

Which person would be silly enough to really bring their ancestral heirloom here and auction it? This pendant, based on her experience running a street stall, was worth at most thirty dollars.

When the pendant was called for two hundred thousand dollars, Su Yi calmly picked up the bowl and prepared to catch her jaw.

In the end the pendant was sold for three hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Tu Jinglan stood up and waved her hand at those around with a smile.

After sitting down she suddenly raised her glass at Su Yi. “Yi-jie, I heard that the ‘Wind-Clouds’ team have sent you an invitation to audition for a role too?”

Su Yi simply let out an ‘um’.

“Me too, let’s work hard together! How about we take a photo together?” As she finished speaking, she raised her phone and, before Su Yi had time to look back, she had posed and was taking the photo.

When she was done she said happily, “Yi-jie, your photo looks really good.”

Su Yi side-eyed it. In this photo, all she could say was that she hadn’t closed her eyes, even her expression was brimming with confusion.

She sneered in her head, but kept her expression completely unchanging.

“But I feel like you don’t look too good in this photo.”

Tu Jinglan stopped in the midst of posting it on Weibo upon hearing that. “Really? Where?”

Su Yi raised an eyebrow. “Your face looks rather huge.”

Tu Jinglan looked at it again. After hearing Su Yi’s comment, she felt that her face was rather a little too big as well, but she was embarrassed to open a photo-shop app in front of Su Yi. “… then let’s take another photo together!”

“Sure.” Su Yi calmly arranged the few strands of hair down the side of her face, tilted her head slightly to the right and smiled sweetly at the camera.

“…” Tu Jinglan finished taking the photo, took two looks at the photo and drily laughed. “This one’s okay.”

Before silently closing Weibo.

The auction was finally over. There wasn’t a single item she wanted to bring home; porcelain took up too much space and she wasn’t interested in ‘ancestral heirlooms’.

She got up and went to the registration, preparing to donate straightaway.

She recognised Chu Ying’s back almost immediately.

He’s standing at the registration counter, signing something.

Even the heavens were helping her!

Having sat for such a long time, her heel was no longer hurting as much. She didn’t think twice about hurrying up behind the man and sneaking a peek at the form the guy was filling up.

Chu Ying. (Chu Eagle)

Well, this man, even his name was rather forceful and strong.

Satisfied, she looked up and happened to meet Chu Ying’s eyes.

Her eyes resembled crescent moons as she smiled, her teeth white behind her red lips. “Hi, we meet again.”

Chu Ying set down the pen and stood to the side. “Yeah.”

Then he turned around and got ready to leave.

Su Yi reached out a hand again – this time straightaway catching hold of the man’s arm.

This person’s hand… why was it so hard?

She smiled, “Thanks for helping out earlier.”

Chu Ying’s gaze rested on her hand, “You’ve thanked me already.”

“A thank you is not enough to express how grateful I am,” Su Yi continued smiling.

“It’s nothing.”

“Let me take you out for dinner.”

Chu Ying finally looked her in the eye. “No need.”

Su Yi insisted, “No, you’ve helped me out, I need to invite you out for a meal.”

Chu Ying was a little speechless. “All I did was catch an egg.”

“If that had egg hit me, the photo of me covered in egg yolk would be on the news tomorrow. If my fans see me looking so ugly, they might just stop following me, with less fans the directors and investors might decide I’m not famous anymore and I’d get less scripts and thus earn less.” Su Yi seriously spouted a bunch of nonsense, doing her best to paint herself in as pathetic a light as possible. If she continued she might just wind up going onto the streets to sell her talents. “… so I need to treat you to a meal.”

She stared straight at Chu Ying. The makeup artist had used pink eyeshadow for her today, bringing out the tenderness in her eyes.

Chu Ying said, “I have no time.”

It’s just a pity that the man in front of her was like a piece of wood. Even when rejecting her, he did so stiffly.

Su Yi saw that he wasn’t about to give in and was afraid he’d shake her off and leave. She held on tighter.

“… then you can give me your number, we’d find a time when you’re free!”

Chu Ying had been in the army for many years and was used to dealing with a bunch of guys. This was the first time he’d met someone who’d foist themselves on him in such a manner. A moment later, he scrunched his brows together and rattled out a string of numbers.

Su Yi didn’t let him go when she unlocked her phone and dialled the number he’d said.

“Hello there, the number which you have dialled does not exist…”

“……”

Mr Chu lied about once in a hundred years and it was seen through in less than a minute.

Su Yi curled her lips. “Chu Ying, did anyone tell you, you really don’t know how to lie.”

More people started looking over from around, Chu Ying sighed and reported another series of numbers.

This time Su Yi let him go rather easily and entered the number into her phone with satisfaction. “Keep in touch.”

Chu Ying raised an eyebrow, glanced at her once and left without turning back.

**

“This lady over here, the gala has yet to end and you’re already trending.” Wu Xue’s fake smile was rather obvious as she scrolled through Weibo.

Su Yi kept her eyes closed and let An Xuan help her remove the makeup. “Can I control whether someone wants to throw an egg at me?”

Wu Xue angrily deleted the comments beneath Su Yi’s Weibo. “Why is it that you get to meet all these brain-damaged idiots?”

“How would I know.” Su Yi thought about something. “Hey, did Tu Jinglan post a Weibo?”

Wu Xue searched. “No, why?”

Su Yi sneered. “Nothing.”

After Wu Xue and An Xuan left, Su Yi curled up on the sofa.

She opened WeChat and scrolled until she saw that name.

Contact: Chu Ying (Chu Ying)

The profile picture was a… chicken.

Not a cartoon chicken, it’s a running, living cock.

……

After clicking on ‘add’, she tied her hair up and went to take a shower.

When she came back out and looked at the screen, there weren’t any messages.

She’s not sure why, but she’s pretty certain that the other must have seen the message and simply didn’t accept her request to be friends.

In her mind she could even see the cold look Chu Ying sent the phone.

She sprawled on the bed, holding her phone, and sent another request to be friends.

Additional information… she thought about it for a moment and added a pitiful-looking crying emoji.

A few minutes later, with a ‘ding’, a new conversation appeared on the top line of her WeChat interface.

[Chu Ying: We’re friends. Send a message to him/her now!]

[Goddess Su Yi: (^o^)/~ Chu Ying!]

[Chu Ying: 。]

[Goddess Su Yi: What’re you doing?]

[Chu Ying: Busy]

Su Yi didn’t reply, clicking on Chu Ying’s Moments.

His Moments was rather clean, whether it was because he’d blocked her or if he really didn’t post anything on his Moments. All it had was one update and two photos. It had on it a husky sticking its tongue out at the camera. There’s a big hand by its face, the hand big and solid, giving people a sense of security just by looking at it.

Su Yi held her head in her hand, saved this photo into her phone and used it as the background of her chat with Chu Ying.

A series of actions later, she finally closed the conversation with Chu Ying, satisfied.

[Goddess Su Yi: I unilaterally announce that I am about to date.]

[Wu Xue: What does unilaterally mean?]

[Goddess Su Yi: Just that the guy I intend to pursue doesn’t seem like an easy catch.]

[Wu Xue: Oh, share a photo!]

Su Yi sent that photo with the guy’s hand on the husky over.

[Wu Xue: …………You’re not even going to let a dog be??]

[Goddess Su Yi: Eat My Iron Fist.jpg]

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