me passed quickly in this era; when they had been diligently practicing for the Victory Eleven CD-ROM game half a year ago, new competitive games had arrived with the wave of computers, leaving no tim...Chapter 79: Attending the Auction
The auction for Jay Hua's personal dinner time was organized by Zhongshan Charity Association. One of its founders is a well-known host from the media circle in Shanghai, who annually raises funds for public welfare activities through his connections with influential figures. This charity association has considerable influence.
As a financial figure, Jay Hua also maintains close ties with TV stations. The news value of this personal auction is immeasurable. Upon hearing that Jay Hua was planning to auction off his dinner time, inspired by the recently popular Warren Buffett lunch, there was much buzz in both media and finance circles. It's no wonder Jay Hua, a legendary figure in financial markets, could come up with such an idea.
However, this kind of event has no precedent nationwide. Despite being eye-catching, it even drew attention from people who had never heard about the auction before, showing its significance.
The venue for Jay Hua's auction, International Security Club, is located in Xuhui District along Huaihai Road, known as "the old Avenue Joffre and now Huaihai Road," an area crowded with consulates from various countries. The club discreetly exists within the bustling city, offering a tranquil and serene environment amidst the hustle and bustle of Shanghai, with its elevated location providing scenic views. Daytime offers rare leisure moments in this fast-paced city while the night showcases dazzling lights.
In fact, most social gatherings here are attended by influential figures who shape the city's landscape. Finding a quiet spot in such a bustling city is challenging; yet, these secluded spots within urban chaos are quite extraordinary.
Currently, cars from all directions are heading towards this club for the unusual auction event, some carrying journalists while others simply came out of curiosity.
The people inside the cars started discussing as they drove. A man in an Audi driving along the Inner Ring Road said, "Is it really a big deal Doesn't Jay Hua already have plenty of time to relax and chat over tea every day He's often seen having fun with beautiful women at restaurants; now he's doing this. Is his time so valuable"
In a silver Mercedes coming from Hongkou District, where the man wore a sports T-shirt and held a burning cigarette between slender fingers, he sharply remarked to his fellow passenger, "What's the point of auctioning a dinner What can be discussed in three hours over dinner I reckon it will fail."
The individuals arriving in these cars come from various industries. To them, all this is too novel and strange. Sometimes business negotiations require continuous late-night efforts. Therefore, many people view the event with skepticism, which isn't surprising given that this era hasn't been exposed to such novelties.
Lin Guangdong was waiting for Su Can at the school gate, and a Bentley parked there had attracted some people's attention. They wondered if this was one of the rich tycoons trying to court female college students.
When Lin Guangdong called, Su Can put away his books, handed them over to Li Han and others, asking them to take them back to their dormitory after class. He then left the teaching building and got into a car that would take him to today's auction site.
"Today is going to be exciting; Zhan Hua will announce an auction for three hours of personal dining time. This is quite unexpected." Lin Guangdong shook his head, feeling very excited. Just now, he had wanted to smoke but since this was Su Can’s Bentley, and knowing that Su Can doesn’t smoke, leaving a smell in the car wouldn't be good.
But right now, he felt an unprecedented surge of energy as if he were back in his early twenties when he just graduated and wanted to make his mark but ended up teaching at school. His heart was restless for years until he met his student who is now his boss. They are poised to take down Zhan Hua's auction.
Lin Guangdong had tasted the benefits of hype first-hand. The cash-dropped Bentley had brought a lot of prestige to the magazine, and with a cheerful mood, he said, "The sales for the second issue have increased significantly compared to the first one. Even though Fan Zhiliang refuses to admit defeat and doesn't want to acknowledge that he lost the bet, but now in terms of the overall situation, it no longer matters whether we get Fan Zhiliang's Saisi camera franchise or not. There is only one issue: Xiao Zhaoyu has been quiet recently."
Xiao Zhaoyu was the wealthy young man who wanted to join Bolo Media when they first set up their fashion magazine in Chengdu. He knew Luo Zhiyi, the chairman of the investment company that partnered with them, and belonged to the second-tier circle of Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang's youth. Xiao Zhaoyu was quite a car enthusiast who contributed his magazine channels as an important reason to cash out from Su Can's magazine and buy a Bentley displayed at the Shanghai Auto Show. They had briefly cooperated before; the fashion magazine did use some of his original channels, and Xiao Zhaoyu held 5% equity in the magazine.
But now it was clear that Su Can had cut off the source by buying the Bentley he provided information on and using it for magazine publicity. This move would definitely infuriate him, but surprisingly, there has been no response, making the matter somewhat unusual.
"I can't worry about this too much right now. If he has any issues, better if he comes to me personally." Su Can said. Originally, Su Can had used a soothing approach towards Xiao Zhaoyu; giving him 5% equity back then was just a temporary measure to avoid trouble during the magazine's infancy stage and sweeten the deal with a carrot after using the stick. If there were issues now, they could dissolve their partnership amicably, and Su Can would repurchase the shares he held.
But Su Can believed Xiao Zhaoyu wouldn't dare to escalate things since he might have seen value in establishing long-term relations with Wang Weiwei, who was backing him. Therefore, Su Can said, "I'm not afraid of offending him. In this world, those who are adept at being diplomatic are not necessarily wise; it's essential to know how to create enemies as well."
Hearing what Su Can had to say, Lin Guangdong seemed thoughtful and nodded. "In places where we shouldn't be afraid to act tough, we must show some muscle and fangs so others don’t constantly scheme against us. As our pie gets bigger in the future, I hope there won't always be a circle of people waiting for opportunities to carve it up."
The car stopped at the parking lot of Wei'an International Club. Su Can and Lin Guangdong got out, somewhat surprised by the gathering of various groups.
Parked outside the club entrance were cars with clear television station logos as well as some Audi and Santana vehicles carrying newspaper and news reporters. Luxury cars like Audis, BMWs, Porsches, and Lotuses could also be seen. The people getting out of these cars ranged from middle-aged individuals to fashionably dressed young men and women; their backgrounds were unknown.
Compared to this, Su Can and Lin Guangdong's Bentley was rather low-key. Unless someone had a keen eye, they wouldn't recognize the Bentley as one of the last limited edition Bentleys in the world that appeared at the auto show.
After all, Wei'an International Club, being one of Shanghai's four clubs, was already a concentration point for luxury cars; seeing such a sight wasn’t unusual.
Lin Guangdong frowned. "With so many people here, are we really sure about this"
Su Can also didn't have confidence in this matter. This time, due to the venue's limitations, the organizers only provided nearly 150 slots for registration and each slot required a deposit of 3 million yuan as a guarantee to prevent malicious bids. Each registration slip allowed three people entry.
According to Su Can's instructions, Pei Fengshan and Luo Zhiyi had gathered 30 million yuan to secure 100 slots. Among the remaining participants who would join in the bidding, some were interested only in other accompanying items up for auction. Jian Hua provided a treasured calligraphy piece and a wooden sculpture by an acclaimed British woodcarver. This was a precautionary measure against his three-hour dinner possibly going unsold due to so many people and media paying attention to it, with numerous financial figures from the business world keeping their eyes on the event. Since this format was quite novel, it might not be well-received in China, leading to potential embarrassment.
For the remaining 50 slots that Su Can couldn't fully control, based on Pei Fengshan's intelligence gathering, he had communicated with those who were willing to negotiate, while other participants weren't as intent on obtaining Jian Hua’s three-hour dinner.
After receiving this information, Su Can initially thought there wouldn’t be any issues, but seeing the current scene made him slightly worried. After all, planning is in human hands, but success depends on fate; there was a risk of failure.
This situation indicated that their competitors were also numerous. Although Su Can had teamed up with speculative capital to squeeze out competitors’ survival space, it wasn't possible to guarantee a 100% successful outcome for such an encirclement bidding tactic. They needed to leave room for maneuvering; attempting to monopolize all the slots and tightly control the auction wouldn't be feasible due to its arrogance. Pei Fengshan would find it extremely difficult and risky to resort to extreme measures in front of so many media outlets, which was not conducive to operation.
Su Can and Lin Guangdong walked toward the club meeting hall. The club’s meeting hall was a multifunctional conference room with an ancient flavor, even though its exterior featured European architectural elements—this was the essence of Shanghai's Hu style culture.
The spacious area framed by pillars gave a sense of depth and立體感十足的空間，旁邊的壁畫，地上的華麗紅毯，四周圍竊竊私語的人流，都帶來一種拍賣會緊鑼密鼓展開的一絲緊張。
After all, commercial events were competitive, so it was like a battlefield.
"I came here today to bid on the two private items that Jian Hua is auctioning together. I'll see how the prices go; if they're reasonable, I’ll get them. As for his three-hour dinner, I'm quite interested."
Various types of people entered this place. Speaking was an elderly man walking beside Su Can. He appeared feeble but had sharp eyes and was accompanied by two bodyguards. He was talking to a Guangdong-born CEO he knew. While Su Can was carefully gathering intelligence from the conversations around him, someone unexpectedly called out.
"Ha! Su Can!"
How could someone call his name in such an occasion
Su Can turned to see who it was with surprise. Ning Dong and Pang Yiran, whom he had met when returning from Boston on his exchange program trip, were here along with Ning Dong’s mother, Shanghai's famous entrepreneur He Guoke. Su Can remembered causing a commotion at KTV back then with them; he never expected they would meet again here. Ning Dong and others were also quite excited.
What was more surprising to Su Can was that behind them, Mu Kaizhu, Tang Wu's cousin, had a look of shock on her face as she stared at Su Can who suddenly appeared there. She was accompanied by her mother, Tang Wu’s second aunt, a woman who always criticized Tang Wu.
(To be continued) "That's not right; how can we let them get away"Those who had been sitting on the sofa immediately sprang up and leaped over the coffee table to chase after them. If they really allowed someone to be...