Chapter 56: Another Day of Envying Chen Fan

The woman was left speechless by Chen Fan's retort and could only sit there brooding in anger.

She memorized the faces of Chen Fan and his companions, intending to settle accounts with this brat once the auction was over.

Before long, the woman's husband returned. He was equally pot-bellied, bearing a clear physical resemblance to his wife.

"Darling~"

As soon as the man returned, the woman let out an immensely aggrieved whine.

Chen Fan had no desire to listen, but given that the distance between their tables was rather close, he couldn't help letting out a dry gag.

Chen Mengting finally broke into a smile.

"Brother, thank you."

"What are you thanking me for? I'm your brother, aren't I?"

Jokes aside, let alone having his wife backing him up now, even without it, he would never let his younger sister get bullied!

"Hehe~"

Chen Mengting chuckled and affectionately linked her arm through Chen Fan's.

At the neighboring table, the man had caught up on the sequence of events. He first glanced enviously at Chen Fan, who was flanked by beauties on both sides, and then gave a couple of light coughs to draw the trio's attention.

No one paid him any mind.

The man coughed twice more.

Still, no one paid him any attention.

Unable to hold it in any longer, the man blurted out loudly.

"Well, isn't this Peng Jiaxin, President Peng? I certainly didn't expect our two families to end up sitting together."

"Is that so?"

Since her name had been explicitly called, Peng Jiaxin could no longer pretend to be deaf and dumb.

She turned her head to look at the man.

"Then it seems my luck is a bit poor today."

The man's smile froze.

"Honey, who is this guy?"

"The president of [Tianyu Corporation], Xinghai's biggest competitor—oh, I should say, our former biggest competitor."

Now that Xinghai Corporation was partnering with two top-tier celebrities, she believed it wouldn't be long before they left Tianyu so far behind that Tianyu couldn't even see their taillights.

Neither Peng Jiaxin nor Chen Fan lowered their voices, so the man at the neighboring table heard every word clearly.

The first half made him smugly triumphant, while the second half left him fuming with rage.

"Peng Jiaxin! Don't think that just because you're a woman I won't hit you!"

"Honey, there are cameras filming."

The woman grabbed the man's arm and reminded him.

Hearing this, the man calmed down and cast a resentful glare at the security camera overhead.

"Consider yourself lucky that this is a charity auction, or else I'd show you!"

"Thank you, but I'm already good-looking enough."

"......"

Half an hour passed quickly. At precisely two o'clock, the auction officially began.

The live broadcast switched from the red carpet at the entrance to the interior, where the luxurious venue decor drew gasps of admiration from the netizens.

"Oh, wow. I really hope I get the chance to visit such a high-end place in my lifetime."

"You can go. As a five-star hotel, Xinhua Hotel's prices are actually quite down-to-earth. You only need a month's salary to afford a meal there."

"......"

"They call it a charity auction, but isn't it really just a way for the major corporations present to flex their wealth?"

"Exactly, just a gathering of rich people. I don't even know what's so fun about watching this."

"So what if it is?"

"True. They might be flexing, but they are actually donating real money, too. As for the two people above, if you've got the chops, you can go flex your wealth too. I've got no objections."

"Heh..."

The bullet comments suddenly showed signs of drifting toward sensitive topics, and the broadcast director immediately contacted the cameraman to shift the lens away from the host.

The cameraman understood instantly and panned the camera toward Chen Mengting, who was diligently diving into her food.

Unlike the other tables, the small round table marked with the Xinghai Corporation placard was piled high with desserts. The sweet-looking young girl had her cheeks stuffed full, looking utterly adorable.

Just as the director had hoped, the barrage of comments instantly shifted tone.

"Oh my god! Too cute!"
"My heart can't take this~"
"Another day of envying Chen Fan."
"So, does anyone know who this little fairy is?"
"Probably a relative?"

For a moment, various opinions flew about.

Peng Jiaxin was also eating her desserts in small, delicate bites. Unlike Chen Mengting, however, she generally only took two bites of any given pastry before feeding the remainder to Chen Fan.

Chen Fan accepted whatever came his way without hesitation.

This scene made the netizens in the live stream green with envy once more.

"I'll bid 500, let me take a bite too!"
"500? You couldn't even buy that pastry with 500! Step aside, I'm bidding 1,000!"
"You people are always late to the party. I bid 10,000!"

Watching the viewers suddenly engage in this alternative style of "auction," the director was baffled but chose to let it be. As long as they stopped discussing sensitive topics, anything went.

Soon, the host finished the opening remarks, and the auctioneer took over the stage. The first lot of the auction was brought out by a tall, long-legged beauty with fair, flawless skin.

The red cloth was pulled back to reveal a bracelet. According to the auctioneer's introduction, it was an agate bracelet blessed by some master, quite valuable, starting at ten thousand with minimum bid increments of one thousand.

"So cheap?"

Peng Jiaxin and Chen Mengting turned their heads to look at Chen Fan simultaneously.

"Brother, since when did you get so wealthy that ten thousand isn't even money to you anymore?"

"No, it's just... do you really think a starting bid of ten thousand is appropriate for an event where your sister-in-law is present?"

"Whoa... that actually makes a lot of sense."

Peng Jiaxin was caught between a smile and tears.

"Didn't I mention it earlier? It's a small-scale auction. The items put up for auction today were just casually brought from everyone's homes, so the prices won't be overly exorbitant."

With that, Peng Jiaxin picked up paddle number 35 and waved it.

"Mengting, want to give it a try?"

Chen Mengting felt a shameful surge of temptation.

"Can I?"

"Of course."

Quietly, Peng Jiaxin pressed down Chen Fan's hand and passed the paddle to Chen Mengting.

Chen Fan looked at Peng Jiaxin with a pitiful expression, his eyes clearly conveying:

*Darling, I want to play too~*

Peng Jiaxin's meaning was equally clear: *No way! Why are you trying to steal things from Mengting?*

His plea was rejected outright.

"......"

*Dammit, when will we men ever stand up and claim our rights!*

......

For the people present, ten-thousand-odd dollars was truly nothing. The price of the bracelet quickly climbed past fifty thousand.

Clutching the paddle, Chen Mengting hesitated slightly. She thought the bracelet would suit her mother very well, but such an expensive price...

"Chen Mengting."

"Hmm?"

Chen Fan unlocked his mobile banking app and showed his account balance to Chen Mengting.

*Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten-thousands...*

The endless string of zeros dazzled the high school sophomore girl. For the first time, she felt that numbers were such an unfamiliar concept.

"Even if you bought every single auction item today, it wouldn't even dent a fraction of your brother's pocket change. So, don't hold back, understand?"

Chen Mengting nodded in a daze. She knew her older brother was making money, but she hadn't realized he was making *this* much.

"Go ahead, Mengting, raise the paddle whenever you like. Today's spending is entirely sponsored by your sister-in-law."

With the support of her brother and sister-in-law, Chen Mengting's confidence instantly soared.

The price of the bracelet had already reached over eighty thousand.

This time, Chen Mengting didn't hesitate and raised her paddle directly.

"Paddle number 35, bidding eighty-nine thousand! Do any other esteemed guests wish to raise the bid?"

"Paddle number 34! Bidding ninety thousand! Let us thank the president of Tianyu Corporation on behalf of the children in the remote mountains. Ninety thousand going once, are there any further bids?"

The value of the bracelet had long since surpassed its material worth. Under normal circumstances, spending ninety thousand to buy such a bracelet would definitely get someone labeled a fool.

But here, no matter how much "foolish money" you spent, no one would curse you.

In fact, they might even praise you, saying, "How benevolent."