CH 20

The day before the charity dinner, the sapphire blue custom-made suit was completed on schedule, and Zhu Luo came to the door in person to send the finished product to Yu Le.

He was slightly surprised, “Didn’t I say I would just go and get it myself?”

Zhu Luo stuffed the clothes into his arms, avoiding his gaze, “I passed by, so I just picked it up conveniently.”

After speaking, he didn’t even bother to come in for a drink and immediately left in a hurry.

He knew that Zhu Luo was very busy, but ever since they had left the clothing studio that time, Zhu Luo’s attitude had become a little strange. More so than usual.

Sure enough, Zhu Luo was holding a grudge against him.

With a sigh, he decided to let it be.

On Saturday, the charity dinner was held as scheduled.

Yu Le changed into his new suit and put on a tie under Zhu Luo’s careful eyes before awkwardly walking into the hall.

Overall, charity galas are boring.

After the guests were seated, the host on the stage first praised the City Grand Theatre, which had donated the most to ticket revenue. Then the opening performance ensued, followed by the initial round of the auction.

There were a total of twelve items in the auction, most of which being collectible musical instruments and old records. Yu Le sat in his seat, listening to the quotations one after another, slowly falling asleep.

“The starting price is ten thousand dollars!”

“I’ll offer one hundred thousand!”

“I’ll offer five hundred thousand!”

…

“Two million!”

“Going once for two million; twice; three times! It’s sold! Congrats sir, you have won an old record!”

It was a game of money.

In this hall full of entrepreneurs and celebrities from all walks of life, the prices they quoted seemed not to be money but scraps of paper they could throw away as they wished.

It really was the nonsensical world of a novel.

Yu Le’s head drooped as he looked around boredly, doing his best to stay awake as he tuned out the sounds around him.

It was time for the dinner party after the first round of auction activities ended.

It was finally time to eat.

He followed Zhu Luo to the banquet, and the aroma of fruit, vegetables and desserts filled his nose as he felt alive again.

The lights in the room before had been dimmed, and he had been in such a daze that he hadn’t bothered looking around to any of the other guests.

Looking at them now, there were quite a few acquaintances.

A well-known entrepreneur who had been appearing in the financial world much more recently, Huo Annong, was holding a glass of red wine as he chatted with some guests, with a potbellied, laughing cannon fodder Wang Furui not far off.

Zhu Luo whispered in Yu Le’s ear, “This time, the organiser invited many more guests than usual, including hundreds of entrepreneurs, big and small. They even invited little stars to help sing. Oh, yes, even the talented photographer Tao Feng who only just returned to China has shown up tonight.”

“Tao Feng?” He was taken aback for a moment, not expecting to hear this name from Zhu Luo’s mouth.

“What’s the matter A Yu? Do you know him?”

“…I don’t know him. I just heard of the drama he was involved in online and his personality doesn’t seem to be very good. Maybe he’s different in person though and it just translated poorly to text?”

At this moment, a scolding caught their attention.

“Hey, why are you so clumsy?” A tall man with dyed blonde hair was glaring at a waiter with contemptuous eyes, “You haven’t even apologise for bumping into me?!”

The waiter quickly bowed his head, “Sorry, sir, please forgive my recklessness. The lounge had prepared a medical room for any guests in advance; if you feel any discomfort at all, please come with me—”

Before the waiter could finish speaking, the blond man waved his hand, “Forget it, forget it. I don’t need anything…If you want me to forgive you, then just disappear from my sight!” Saying this, he patted the corners of his clothes with disgust, as if he had stained them irreparably, “What bad luck!”

Yu Le witnessed this little commotion from a distance and couldn’t help complaining, “This man has such a big temper, it can be seen immediately that his character isn’t good.”

Zhu Luo was stunned, “That…he is that talented photographer Tao Feng.”

Shocked, Yu Le wasn’t sure what to say, “…It seems that it wasn’t just online that he’s rude.”

He decided to stay away from this person at the banquet.

Tao Feng’s trip this time was to seek opportunities.

Since the last turmoil on the internet, he had been receiving a cold reception in the domestic photography circle. This led to more people ignoring his talent and following the crowd to reject any olive branches he offered.

However, as a photographer with ideals and pursuits, he would not care about this kind of thing.

Ordinary people can never understand geniuses, even viewing them as monsters.

He decided to create his own opportunities himself.

The charity dinner in Z City gathered people from all walks of life; he believed that among them, there would be at least one who could see through the lies spun by outsiders and understand his talent.

In order to present his best, he even carefully made business cards to distribute to each guest he met.

“Hello, hello, I’m photographer Tao Feng. I just came back from abroad and won the last newcomer’s photography award. This is my business card. Maybe you can call me later if you ever need anything…”

“Oh, Mr. Tao is indeed young and talented, I have admired your name for a long time…”

Halfway through the polite exchange of introductions, the other party seemed to meet an acquaintance, nodded politely to him, and left directly.

Tao Feng was not discouraged, though, and continued to pass out cards to the people around him.

“Hello, I’m photographer Tao Feng, I won the last newcomer’s award abroad and have just returned. This is my business card, I have always admired your business…”

“Excuse me, I still have something I need to do, I’m sorry…”

Yu Le couldn’t help but observe the photographer secretly and found that Tao Feng kept smiling throughout all the rejection and had made his way up to him and Zhu Luo.

Before he had time to dodge him with Zhu Luo, Tao Feng had already walked in front of them, “Hello, I am a photographer, I’m called Tao Feng. I recently came back from abroad where I won the newcomers award. This is my business card…I have heard you play violin in the past and it was beautiful; I wonder if I could have a chance to exchange contact information with you so I can ask questions in the future?”

Facing this kind of over-enthusiastic speech, Zhu Luo smiled slightly, showing a colder side, “Thank you for your compliment, but I’m sorry, I only add close friends…”

Before they could finish speaking, a rough middle-aged man’s voice suddenly sounded behind them, “Zhu Luo! Here you are, I’ve been looking for you!”

Yu Le turned in the direction of the voice and saw a middle-aged fat man waving to them from across a dining table.

The main cannon fodder for the charity dinner finally appeared!

Before Wang Furui reached them, he was already opening his mouth to flatter him, “Zhu Luo, it’s been so long since I had a chance to listen to your music, will we be graced with it tonight?”

Yu Le was sure that he saw Zhu Luo roll his eyes before he politely returned, “Ah, Mr. Wang, you are really overrating me. I will be performing later tonight though if you wish to come and listen.”

Wang Furui’s smile spread across his face in a greasy arc, “You have just made my day!”

Tao Feng, who had no time to introduce himself to this new addition of the group, looked between Zhu Luo and Wang Furui awkwardly, “This is?”

“Wang Furui, the boss of Zhengya Group.”

Tao Feng’s eyes lit up immediately, “Hello Mr. Wang, I’m a photographer, Tao Feng. I just came back from abroad and won the last newcomers photography award. This is my business card, I have admired your name for a long time, and I wonder if I could have the opportunity to talk to you about the company’s external publicity—”

Wang Furui did not accept the card, “Who are you?”

So Tao Feng began to introduce himself again, “I’m Tao Feng, a photographer who won the last newcomers award—”

“You’re annoying,” Wang Furui cut him off, “go away!”

Standing behind them, Yu Le clearly saw Tao Feng clench his fists in anger.

But to his surprise, that was all he did. He took back his business card, glanced at Wang Furui with his head held high, nodded, and walked away without another word.

Wang Furui snorted, “What the hell, who are you to dare pretend to be proud in front of me!”

Zhu Luo frowned upon hearing this.

The middle-aged man realised he had acted out of line and smiled courteously at Zhu Luo, “Mr. Zhu, don’t be angry, that kind of person is not worthy of standing in the same room as you!”

Zhu Luo frowned even deeper.

Tao Feng sneered after he walked away; that kind of person was not deserving of his anger at all.

For him, the important thing is who to hand his card to next.

He started looking around.

Yu Le had been staring at Tao Feng after he left, and just like that, their eyes suddenly met in the air.

His heart skipped a beat; Tao Feng didn’t want to give him a business card, did he?

The two stared at each other for a full minute. Tao Feng’s face was thoughtful, deciding his next course of action, and he turned away and looked to the side as he walked in the other direction.

Yu Le was left dumbfounded.

Although he didn’t want to receive the card, being looked down upon by Tao Feng did not bring him any joy.

He felt a little uncomfortable.

He thought he understood why Wang Furui hated Tao Feng so much now.

Unconsciously following Tao Feng’s back as he left, he saw a familiar figure the next second and did a double take.

It was Huo Annong.

Tao Feng took out his business card, repeated his lengthy introduction, and handed his card to the protagonist of the dinner.

They were too far away for Yu Le to clearly hear what they were saying.

He saw Huo Annong take the card in a gentlemanly manner and start chatting with Wang Furui.

Huo Annong, what are you doing here?!

His destined partner was being held up by a cannon fodder over here, and he was utterly indifferent. He even had the time to start chatting with someone who didn’t even appear in the script.

How lost could he get?

Probably because his gaze was too eager, Huo Annong, who was talking politely, suddenly stopped and looked in Yu Le’s direction.

And raised an eyebrow at him.

Huo Annong is too perceptive.

Thinking like this, the next second, he pretended to look away as if nothing had happened and walked in the direction of Zhu Luo.

At this time, Wang Furui was dutifully playing his role as cannon fodder, and in just a few minutes, had already tried to wrap his arms around Zhu Luo’s shoulders.

Even if Huo Annong could bear it, Yu Le couldn’t.

He walked over angrily.