DLRAS Chapter 21.3

Chapter 21.3: His eyes were treating it like a joke

The day of the Zheng Group celebration arrived right on schedule.

That day, the entrance to Crown Hotel was jammed with cars and people, while inside it was all brilliant noise and festivity.

Vehicles and guests moved in and out everywhere. Bell staff and valets in red uniforms were so busy their feet barely touched the ground.

Naturally, the Zheng family and the senior executives of Zheng Group headquarters were present, but there were also representatives from branch offices and regional offices around the country, side-branch relatives, business partners, and media reporters. It was packed shoulder to shoulder with people. Among those coming to give face to Zheng Bingyi were many famous figures, major names, and political and business elites. Several currently popular celebrities had also been invited to walk the red carpet, so the security both inside and outside the hotel was extremely demanding.

Chen Wengang stood properly in a row with Zheng Yucheng, Zheng Maoxun, and Mu Qing, following behind Zheng Bingyi to receive guests.

Zheng Baoqiu, all smiling grace and elegant poise, stood in her tiny heels like a tulip beside Mrs. Zheng.

At a glance, each of them was more striking than the last, like a family of orchids and jade trees, enviable to all who saw them.

Zheng Dongqing arrived with her husband, embracing her father and all her younger siblings.

Her pearl-white evening gown was like a graceful beam of moonlight.

The family glowed beneath the flashes of the reporters’ cameras as they posed together, warm and harmonious.

Zheng Bingyi was deeply pleased.

The media-facing press conference had already been held in the afternoon. The banquet and charity auction would continue from evening until night.

Guests arrived in an endless stream, and the work of greeting them was in fact exhausting.

Standing at the entrance, Chen Wengang saw many familiar faces.

He knew nearly all of the side-branch Zheng relatives, remembered each person’s name and generational position. As for the children of old family friends, he had met most of them too, especially the classmates and friends Zheng Yucheng knew well.

In the earliest years, every event like this had felt like a major exam to him.

He had been mentally tense—afraid of embarrassing himself, afraid he would fail to remember someone, afraid he would make Zheng Bingyi lose face.

Back then, Zheng Yucheng would do his best to stand close beside him and whisper reminders in his ear, like some kind of savior.

Now, though, he spoke elegantly and responded with ease. Before any familiar face or stranger, he no longer showed a trace of timidity.

At about the right time, most of the important guests had already entered the main hall.

A final wave or two of guests arrived. Chen Wengang quietly checked the list again.

Suddenly another little swell of commotion rose at the entrance. The moment he looked up, he saw Huo Niansheng through the crowd.

Huo Niansheng had brought no female companion. Amanda, her hair elegantly swept up, held her boss’s arm with perfect discretion as she accompanied him.

And yet he had entered surrounded by a whole pack of fox-and-dog friends. Chen Wengang had no chance to go forward to greet him before the group, laughing and talking, had already gone inside.

All the Zheng family members had already gone in as well. No one noticed Chen Wengang.

The banquet hall had opened up across three connected spaces. There was a dance floor, a live band, cold dishes below the stage, and singers performing above.

The guests were numerous and the hall was full of distinguished company.

Chen Wengang avoided alcohol and took a glass of pear juice to pass for champagne. Fortunately, no one cared.

At this point, he actually found himself with some free time, because very few people took the initiative to approach him for conversation.

At an occasion like this, if one chose to divide people into ranks with a colored lens, then without question he still stood on the lowest ring.

At Zheng family banquets, the most eye-catching were always Zheng Yucheng and Zheng Maoxun. In the last two years, more and more bees and butterflies had begun to gather around Zheng Baoqiu too. Even if Mu Qing was comparatively aloof, he was still a proper nephew of Zheng Bingyi.

Only Chen Wengang was the one on whom there was least to gain.

Like Yu Shanding, the mark of being a driver’s son was something he could never wash off.

But that was not anything worth feeling inferior about. It was simply very boring.

Zheng Maoxun suddenly came over and nudged him. “Look in your ten o’clock direction.”

Chen Wengang had already seen it.

At his ten o’clock was He Wanxin in a red dress blazing like fire. The moment she arrived, she stuck herself to Zheng Yucheng.

Those two stood in the middle of a crowd, surrounded like the moon among stars. It would have been impossible not to notice them. People nearby were already shouting “sister-in-law.”

Some of them were uninformed. Some were doing it on purpose. Their half-hidden glances toward Chen Wengang’s direction carried obvious schadenfreude.

He Wanxin’s face glowed red with excitement.

This was yet another matter so boring it hardly merited thought.

Chen Wengang patted Zheng Maoxun on the shoulder, turned with his glass in hand, and walked away.

At this moment, however, Zheng Yucheng felt as if he had thorns in his back.

The occasion was too formal and too public; he could not permit himself to do anything rude in full view of everyone. He Wanxin clung to him like adhesive candy. He could not turn his face openly, and he could not shake her off either.

He glanced around, searching for where Chen Wengang had gone, but all he caught was a retreating back.

Layers of perfume, hair, and elegant figures blocked his view.

After a long struggle, Zheng Yucheng finally escaped only by claiming he needed to prepare his script.

The moment Zheng Yucheng left, the friends who had been making noise dispersed as well. Without anything fun to watch anymore, they broke up in small groups and drifted elsewhere to chat.

He Wanxin lifted her chin, looked around, and then walked toward a corner.

Pointing with her chin, she said, “Go. Bring me a drink.”

Chen Wengang looked at her without changing expression and said, “Miss He.”

He had already taken the initiative to avoid her, but He Wanxin still had not forgotten to come over and provoke him.

Fortunately, this time Zheng Baoqiu was not far away. She turned at once and came over to protect one of her own. “What’s this? You want a drink? Then ask a waiter. It’s not as if you don’t have a mouth.”

She lifted a hand, the tiny diamonds on her bracelet sparkling.

A passing waiter immediately came over with a tray.

He Wanxin took one glass and said arrogantly, “So I was mistaken. I thought some drink-serving attendant was standing around here slacking off.”

Zheng Baoqiu immediately shot back, “Then maybe your eyesight isn’t very good. Our family doctor is excellent. Do you want his contact information?”

He Wanxin glared at her, then suddenly gave a cold laugh.

Looking at Chen Wengang, she said, “So you don’t only rely on men to protect you—you also like hiding behind women.”

Chen Wengang still wore the same smile, but Zheng Baoqiu’s face had already turned cold as ice.

Still, there was no need to start a scene here. Chen Wengang gave a small bow. “I’ll go over there first.”

“Why leave?” He Wanxin sneered with every word. “Hit a sore spot, softshell? Feeling guilty?”

Before Chen Wengang could even turn around, an arm settled steadily around his shoulder.

Huo Niansheng smiled and asked, “What are you all talking about so lively over here?”

Zheng Baoqiu’s expression eased at once. “Cousin.”

Her gaze fell on the hand resting across Chen Wengang’s shoulder. Her lashes fluttered like little fans, as though she wanted to say something but held back.

Huo Niansheng kept an arm around Chen Wengang as though they were very close friends. Then he asked He Wanxin, “Why didn’t your brother He Jiajun come? I heard he hit someone at a restaurant recently. Is he at home being punished?”

He Wanxin said coldly, “Do you take every bit of gossip seriously? Young Master Huo, if you speak before understanding what you’re talking about, aren’t you afraid people will laugh at you?”

Zheng Baoqiu frowned delicately. “Do you ever stop?”

“Sorry, I’m not very good at speaking. Everyone’s used to it,” Huo Niansheng said. “That’s exactly why I admire the Zheng family. Good family culture, good upbringing. Everyone’s background here is about the same, but upbringing isn’t something everyone has. Miss He, don’t you agree?”

He Wanxin glared at him and was just about to say more when the sound of the microphone drew the whole hall’s attention.

The next segment was for Zheng Yucheng to go on stage as host, followed by Chairman Zheng Bingyi giving his speech.

Naturally, He Wanxin would not miss that.

She shot Huo Niansheng another cutting glance, gave a little snort, and turned toward the front rows.

Huo Niansheng still wore that smiling expression. But Chen Wengang also had no time to linger. He gave Huo Niansheng a deep look, thanked him softly, then apologized with a quiet “excuse me” and went off with Zheng Baoqiu to help arrange the seating for honored guests.

Watching his slender back move through the crowd, Huo Niansheng smiled, took up a glass of wine, and walked away.

The entire sequence went smoothly.

Zheng Bingyi reviewed the storms and trials Zheng Group had weathered over its one hundred and twenty years, along with his own half-lifetime of achievement.

Zheng Yucheng looked spirited and brilliant, making a flawless appearance. Tomorrow’s newspaper headlines could probably use the title “A Tiger’s Gate Bears No Dog Son.”

After Zheng Bingyi finished speaking, suitable applause rose from the hall.

Until the charity auction began, there would be no more scheduled program for the moment.

Not wanting He Wanxin to see him again, Chen Wengang slipped off this time to the balcony. Unexpectedly, Zheng Maoxun seemed to sniff him out and came too.

He even brought along a friend about their same age.

“This is my classmate, Qi Tongzhou.” Zheng Maoxun waggled his brows at Chen Wengang. “Remember? I gave you his contact.”

“Hello.” Chen Wengang first thought the name sounded familiar, then immediately remembered. He extended his right hand. “Chen Wengang.”

“Ah… hello.” Qi Tongzhou had originally been dragged over without much interest, but the moment he saw Chen Wengang face to face and looked directly into his eyes, he suddenly forgot how to speak. “My surname is Qi. No—I mean, oh, we’ve already got each other added.”

Exactly when had they introduced him to this person? Why had none of those useless friends warned him that this was an absolute beauty?

“We’ve both been busy and didn’t get around to chatting. Sorry about that.” Chen Wengang was still smiling as he gently began trying to draw his hand back.

Only then did Qi Tongzhou realize he was still holding it and hurriedly let go. “No, no, I’m the one who should be apologizing.”

“So you two really just added each other and left it at that?” Zheng Maoxun elbowed Chen Wengang. “Can’t you do anything right?”

“My fault, my fault!” Qi Tongzhou denied at once, only to get stuck. “I just…”

Just what?

Qi Tongzhou was so dazzled by beauty that he had gone half stupid on the spot. He could not produce the rest of the sentence at all.

At that moment, his only real thought was that he wanted to smack himself over the head.

This was truly humiliating beyond belief.

Before coming here, he had been sneering at the whole thing.

After the end of his last relationship, his old classmates had become convinced he was still trapped in the gloom of heartbreak. Someone had come up with the terrible idea that the best cure for a wounded heart was to start a new romance.

And so, all at once, Qi Tongzhou had been bombarded from every direction by his rotten friends.

He got so fed up that in the end he just stopped refusing. Every time someone sent him a contact, he added them. After that he simply muted them and ignored them.

That was how his contact list ended up containing a whole pile of strangers whose names he had never even heard before.

Qi Tongzhou had never believed in the nonsense of love at first sight.

Now he did.

He could barely remember what terrible excuse he used to slip away.

He hid inside a bathroom stall, dug through his phone for a long while, found one of his contacts, and then furiously typed out:

“When you introduce someone to me, why don’t you send a photo first?”

The other person was utterly bewildered. But after hearing the whole story, instead of sympathizing, he nearly laughed himself senseless.

“Oh, you mean that one? Maoxun never gave me a photo. Besides, you already added him. Why didn’t you ask for one yourself?”

“I’m done for,” Qi Tongzhou muttered. “I just saw him in person.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

“Good my ass. What do I do now? Would it work if I said my account got hacked?”

“Wow. You ignored him when you hadn’t met him, but the second you saw him in person you were ready to pounce. Love at first sight based on looks.”

“I know. I’m truly a shallow person.” Qi Tongzhou had no mood to banter. “But it’s not just about looks, okay? You don’t get it. He’s not just good-looking—it’s more his whole bearing. He’s proper and gentle and…”

“How do I not get it? He’s got that airy, almost immortal vibe. But you left him hanging for ten days to half a month.”

“…”
“Want me to just introduce you to the next one instead?”

“Get lost.”

Qi Tongzhou pulled up the chat window, thought for a long time, and first changed his nickname to his real name: “Qi Tongzhou.”

Then he began drafting a message.

Chen Wengang’s phone buzzed. He was still holding a glass in one hand, so he took out his phone and glanced down at it.

He saw that Qi Tongzhou had sent him a message: “Um, hello.”

Then immediately withdrew it.

Then Qi Tongzhou sent a cartoon rabbit shaking hands.

Then withdrew that too.

After that, the status remained “typing…” for a very long time, but nothing else ever came through.

Chen Wengang smiled and paid it no mind.

People with exceptional looks were rarely unaware of the advantages of their appearance. Back in school, love letters had been measured by the stack, and admiring gazes had come wave after wave. He had long since grown used to it.

When one received too much preferential treatment, it became easy to lose oneself and begin to think one was far more extraordinary than one really was.

Only after having your face ruined once, and after losing all of it completely, did you understand what the world’s coldness truly meant.

Chen Wengang did not put his phone away at once. Instead, he called Zheng Maoxun behind the curtains by the floor-to-ceiling windows.

“If you really want to repay that favor, could you help me with something?”

“With what?”

He opened the electronic version of the charity auction catalogue. “I’d like you to bid on something for me.”

The item on that page was an antique enamel pocket watch. The description romanticized it as a “love watch.”

The face was gold, bordered by a circle of tiny pearls. Painted on it was a secret meeting between Romeo and Juliet. It was colorful and quite delicate, but among the items donated by various institutions and private collectors, it was not worth very much.

A little farther down there was also an emerald watch with a Colombian stone, far more eye-catching in both watchmaking craftsmanship and gem design.

A colorful little object like this seemed more the sort of thing Zheng Baoqiu would like.

Zheng Maoxun asked suspiciously, “You want me to bid on it for you? Why don’t you just do it yourself?”

Chen Wengang said, “I’m afraid someone might look down on me for being poor and shabby. If they saw I wanted it, they might deliberately drive the price up.”

Zheng Maoxun paused. It was not impossible. Rich young men snatching things from each other out of sheer boredom was a common sort of prank.

Chen Wengang himself smiled. “It’s also true. My budget tops out at one hundred thousand. If it goes over that, I’ll give up.”

“Why don’t you ask Zheng Baoqiu?”

“She’s a girl. If she bid on a love watch and gave it to me, and other people saw, what if they started gossiping?”

“And what, I don’t need my reputation?” Zheng Maoxun exclaimed. “Have you forgotten you’re still gay?”

Chen Wengang instantly clapped a hand over his mouth. Zheng Maoxun jumped too, then quickly craned his head to look around. Fortunately, no one had noticed.

“Alright, I’m not teasing you. I was originally going to ask Baoqiu,” Chen Wengang said. “But just now, when you weren’t there, she stood up for me and argued with He Wanxin a few times. If Baoqiu raises her paddle now, He Wanxin will most likely raise the price out of spite. If it’s inconvenient for you, I won’t force it.”

Zheng Maoxun’s curiosity was now hooked. “Tell me first why you want this thing.”

Chen Wengang said, “I remember that my father once gave my mother a pocket watch like this.”

In truth, his impression of his mother had already long grown fuzzy. He only remembered that his father used to keep it in a velvet-lined box, and sometimes he would take it out and look at it, saying that he had given it to his mother when they married, and that for now he would keep it safe and pass it down later as a family heirloom.

“If it was a keepsake, why don’t you already have it?” Zheng Maoxun asked, even more puzzled.

“After my father died, many of the more valuable things were taken by my uncle for safekeeping. Of course, to someone like you, they wouldn’t be worth much. Just stamp albums, commemorative coins, and things like that. I agreed to it at the time because I was small. Later he told me they had been lost.”

Chen Wengang rarely spoke about himself. This was the first time Zheng Maoxun had ever heard any of it.

“A while back Lawyer Cao helped me sort things out. Those items weren’t all there on the inventory anymore, so my uncle paid some money at a discounted valuation. That means they really are gone. Maybe years ago he quietly found collectors and sold them off.”

For once, Zheng Maoxun fell silent a moment. “Fine. I’ll get it back for you.”

Chen Wengang was actually more relaxed about it than he had expected. “Just try. If it’s not meant to be, then I won’t force it. This watch only looks a bit like the one in my memory. I can’t be sure it’s the same one. An object is just an object. It’s only for remembrance.”

But Zheng Maoxun’s stubbornness had flared up again. “Enough nonsense. I said I can get it for you, so I’ll get it.”

Seeing how fired up he was, Chen Wengang suddenly worried he might drive the price into absurdity. “Don’t go overboard.”

He had already lived through this auction once in his previous life.

Back then, Chen Wengang had asked Zheng Yucheng to help him raise the paddle.

But halfway through, Huo Niansheng had burst in like an uninvited obstacle. For reasons unknown, he had insisted on going head-to-head with Zheng Yucheng, while a few other people, just there for entertainment, joined in to muddy the waters and drive the bid to an unreasonable level. In the end, Chen Wengang had pressed Zheng Yucheng’s hand down and given up.

That love watch had ultimately gone to some rich young heir whose name he had forgotten.

So Chen Wengang had simply accepted that he had no fate with it.

He truly was not attached. An object was just an object, and the dead were long dead. It was only a token the living kept for themselves.

After wandering around inside the hall for about an hour, the auction began.

The hotel staff had rearranged the venue. Round tables filled the hall, and the guests chose their seats freely.

Chen Wengang sat at the same table as Zheng Baoqiu and Zheng Maoxun. Under the excuse of being a classmate, Qi Tongzhou timidly followed over and sat with them too.

The opening items were little more than a warm-up. The main attraction was saved for later, so things started off without much heat, only a scattering of bids here and there.

The pocket watch Chen Wengang wanted belonged to this low-key group: inexpensive, with a starting bid of only twenty thousand and increments of five thousand.

When the host announced the beginning of bidding, Zheng Maoxun kept his composure. He waited a full ten seconds with no response before slowly raising his paddle.

After a few bids, the price rose to a little over fifty thousand, and there was basically no more interest.

The auctioneer, businesslike and steady, announced, “Fifty-five thousand once—fifty-five thousand twice—”

Then he asked one final time: “Is there anyone else who would like to bid again?”

Zheng Baoqiu leaned toward Chen Wengang’s ear and whispered, “See? I told you not to worry. It’s secure.”

Unexpectedly, He Wanxin glanced toward their table and suddenly said, “Sixty thousand.”

Zheng Baoqiu’s brows immediately drew together. Chen Wengang soothed her with his eyes, signaling that it was alright.

Urged on by his sister under the table, where she kept slapping at him, Zheng Maoxun raised his paddle again. “Sixty-five thousand.”

He Wanxin said, “Seventy thousand.”

Chen Wengang let out a quiet sigh.

When had Zheng Maoxun ever been someone willing to lose? The two of them kept raising the bid in five-thousand increments.

Because Chen Wengang had asked him to, Zheng Maoxun still showed restraint and tried to keep the price down. But He Wanxin was clearly determined not to let go. The look she threw at their table was full of malice, and soon the voices of the two young people rose and fell one after another across the hall.

Anyone with eyes could see they were locked into a standoff.

When the bidding reached the line of one hundred thousand, Chen Wengang tugged lightly on Zheng Maoxun’s sleeve and quietly shook his head.

But when had Zheng Maoxun ever swallowed this kind of humiliation? At worst, he could pay for it himself. “One hundred and fifty thousand!”

He Wanxin still answered coolly, “One hundred and fifty-five thousand.”

Zheng Maoxun clenched his jaw and glared at her. “Two hundred thousand.”

He Wanxin said, “Two hundred and five thousand.”

Qi Tongzhou, who had no idea what was going on, cautiously followed with a soft “Two hundred and ten thousand.”

But after receiving a warning glance from the male god himself not to add to the mess, he immediately shut his mouth tight.

Just as the battle between Second Young Master Zheng and Miss He was heating up, another voice suddenly cut in:

“Two hundred and fifty thousand.”

It was Zheng Yucheng.

At the same time, he sent out a message under the table: “This is something my younger brother and sister want. Give me some face and stop making trouble.”

The large screen displayed the item’s details in clear 360-degree view. No matter how pretty it was, it was still just an ordinary antique watch.

The auctioneer was experienced and calm in the face of change, patiently waiting to see whether they would continue.

He Wanxin saw the message, shot Zheng Yucheng a reproachful but tender look, and still insisted on bidding. “Two hundred and fifty-five thousand.”

At this point, Zheng Maoxun was getting truly angry too. He slapped the table. “Three hundred thousand!”

He Wanxin refused to give way, meeting him head-on. “Three hundred and five thousand.”

Though no one knew exactly why these younger people had started fighting, it was certainly entertaining as a spectacle.

Only Zheng Bingyi, seated at the head table, already wore a somewhat displeased expression. Two of the people involved were his own sons, and their conduct at this moment was no different from childish nonsense. Some of the old friends sitting beside him were even quietly asking what on earth was going on.

And then, at just that moment, another paddle rose from somewhere among the crowd—

“One million.”

The entire hall erupted in surprise. Every gaze turned toward the person who had raised the bid.

“Are you people done wasting time yet?” Huo Niansheng let out a scornful laugh, his expression as if he had just watched a joke. “Either do it properly, or stop pretending to play at auctions like grown-ups. Kids, with your little ant-climbing-a-tree increments—how long exactly were you planning to drag this out?”

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