Chapter 465

At this, the people present smelled the scent of gunpowder to varying degrees. Thinking back to the bidding for those two jade bracelets just now, could it be that this Mrs. Li and Miss Shen had some bad blood?

Shen Jingjing was slow to realize it, and she looked at her daughter in confusion, but she didn't say anything more.

Shen Ci, however, kept a smile on her lips the whole time, as if she were enjoying it.

She skipped the increments and bid directly, raising her paddle and saying, "Three hundred!"

After she finished, she gave Mrs. Li a direct look. Seeing the other woman look over, a provocative smile appeared on Shen Ci's face, and she lightly raised her eyebrows.

Having dealt with Li Xiao's mother many times, Shen Ci understood her quite well. She had the aura of a wealthy socialite, but her capacity for tolerance was extremely small; her biggest flaws were her irritable nature and inability to keep her cool.

Her intentions were crooked, but her methods were inferior. She had likely been spoiled since childhood in a wealthy and comfortable environment; in her youth, she was an arrogant noble lady, and now that she was older, her bad roots remained.

For a person like this, she didn't need to use much brainpower to teach her a lesson; a simple little trick was enough to make her suffer a mouthful of losses!

Sure enough, seeing Shen Ci's provocative smile, Mrs. Li's heart burned with rage, and she raised her paddle directly to continue bidding: "Three hundred and twenty!"

The crowd was enjoying the spectacle, but Shen Ci slowly put down her paddle and stopped bidding.

"Boss Su, this vinyl record has a premium again, right?"

Boss Su smiled and said, "More than that, it's a full double premium. If the other party hadn't continued bidding just now, Miss Shen would have been afraid of losing quite a bit of money."

Shen Ci's smile widened; clearly, this result was exactly what she wanted.

Consequently, for the subsequent auction items, Shen Ci would only start bidding when no one else would, and then Mrs. Li would follow.

Whatever Shen Ci wanted, she would deliberately disgust her.

As a result, for every single auction item, Mrs. Li ended up winning them at an exorbitantly high premium.

How could anyone with a discerning eye not see that Shen Ci was deliberately driving up the price? Yet this Mrs. Li was too hot-headed, actually following along mindlessly every single time!

Li Wanchang's expression could no longer be maintained. He wasn't short on money, but his wife's actions were truly stupid.

Hindered by the fact that the entire room's gaze was focused on his wife, he couldn't easily speak up to stop her, so he could only follow along with a fake smile and applaud, appearing as if his wife truly liked these things.

The result was that the couple became laughingstocks, trapped by Shen Ci with no way to advance or retreat.

In the end, out of ten auction items, Mrs. Li alone won six, becoming the biggest "winner" of this auction, donating nearly three thousand yuan to the charity foundation through her own efforts.

"Absurd!"

When the auction ended, Li Wanchang finally had the chance to reprimand his wife. His face was flushed, his head was buzzing, and his blood pressure was soaring: "Do you know what you were doing just now? Can't you see she was deliberately provoking you?"

"I just didn't want to let her have her way," Mrs. Li said through gritted teeth, the emotion in her eyes devoid of any impurities, filled entirely with hatred.

"Have her way?" Li Wanchang laughed in extreme anger: "You really are a 'big genius.' You already let her have her way long ago. Calculate it yourself—how much extra money did you spend in total?"

"Shen Ci only had to move her lips, and she made you dump nearly three thousand yuan into this. Even you didn't see it, but who among those present couldn't see the clues? The two of us are a joke today!"

Hearing Li Wanchang's words, Mrs. Li finally had a slight change of heart.

"She..."

"Uncle Li, Auntie." At this moment, Shen Ci suddenly walked over, startling the two of them into silence.

Mrs. Li looked at her with hostile eyes and spoke in an unkind tone: "Shen Ci, just now, were you..."

"Yes." Before the other party could finish, Shen Ci had already preemptively nodded in agreement.

The expression on her face was truly blinding—her brows and eyes were smiling, that smile full of mockery, the corners of her mouth slightly curled with contempt and disdain, wearing her arrogant disregard for others and the pleasure of success entirely on her face.

"Congratulations, Auntie. You're still so fond of cleanliness, and you've disgraced yourself again."

Shen Ci said gently, the simple words instantly detonating Mrs. Li's irritable personality. She made a move to pounce: "You little b*tch..."

Li Wanchang and Su Zheyuan, who was beside Shen Ci, moved at the same time.

Li Wanchang grabbed his wife, covered her mouth directly with his other hand, and glared at her, growling: "That's enough! What kind of occasion is this today? Are you still not embarrassed enough?"

Su Zheyuan stood in front of Shen Ci, his subconscious action as a man being to protect the girl.

"Shen Ci, your Aunt Li has lost her composure today. Don't lower yourself to her level, but don't provoke her anymore either." Li Wanchang tilted his head slightly and said to Shen Ci. He naturally felt anger toward Shen Ci, but he was sufficiently patient and knew how to distinguish the occasion.

Furthermore, Shen Ci's current status and background made him somewhat wary; he couldn't necessarily afford to offend her.

Hearing this, Shen Ci nodded lightly and offered a "well-intentioned" reminder: "I would advise Uncle Li that in the future, it's best not to bring Auntie to such occasions. There's no guarantee you won't run into me every time, and if her emotions are this unstable, I'm afraid she'll cause trouble sooner or later."

"I understand," Li Wanchang responded readily.

Mrs. Li's eyes were splitting with rage; she wished she could tear Shen Ci to pieces with her gaze.

Shen Ci laughed wantonly but didn't say anything more. She patted Su Zheyuan on the shoulder, the expression on her face changing instantly to reveal a look of gratitude: "Let's go, Boss Su. We can go home once the donation is made."

Su Zheyuan nodded, stretched vigorously, and said with lingering interest: "Today was truly wonderful. Let's do it together next time."

As the two spoke, they walked toward the donation desk.

"Miss Shen Ci, is it? May I ask how much you would like to donate?"

The staff member asked with a kind smile. The final segment of the charity gala was free donation; the amount was unfixed and entirely up to one's own heart.

However, the details of the donations would be publicized to society, so everyone's donation wouldn't be small, basically starting at one hundred yuan.

Shen Ci smiled slightly and blurted out: "I'll donate ten thousand."

The staff member was startled, and everyone around who heard this was shocked.

"How much?" Su Zheyuan exclaimed: "Ten thousand?"

This shout was heard even by people not far away, who subconsciously gathered around.

Shen Ci nodded calmly: "Ten thousand, in my mother's name."

Money was just a number to her. Based on the monthly pension amount, even if she lost money on everything she did, she could afford it.

Moreover, none of her current investments had ever lost money, so she cared even less about money.

Fate had not treated her poorly, so she was willing to return the greatest kindness to this world, considering it as building good karma and accumulating good fruit for her family.

Su Zheyuan couldn't help but mutter on the side: "Miss Shen, I'm right behind you. You're making it very difficult for me!"

?? These chapters on the charity event are mainly intended to bring everyone some lighthearted and happy plot, and to introduce Director Fei, a key character in the later stages.

? But it's really tiring to write. My brain cells are almost exhausted from that idiom-filling game. I hope everyone likes the content of these chapters. Watching happily is my goal.

? Su Zheyuan's image has also been established in these chapters. He will also be a source of joy around Shen Ci in the later stages, and his role will be relatively larger among the male characters.

? Because most of Shen Ci's friends are female, I've always wanted to write a standout male best friend character. I hope everyone likes Boss Su.