Four women and a man appeared on the screen.
Two of the women were Asian, one a westerner and one dark-skinned. All four were high up on the beautiful scale. The man was also hale and handsome, and could make women’s hearts flutter.
The people present in the multi-purpose hall were all adults and practically all of them had seen films such as what was being displayed; it was nothing big. But this sort of thing being displayed in a venue such as this could not be tolerated. What was more surprising was that the man on the screen was the man who had just won the auction for the thangka for 20,000,000 – Ahn Suhyeong.
All eyes went to Ahn Suhyeong.
“Don’t judge a book by its cover indeed – he seemed like he had good bearing but he’s actually so sleazy,” said a woman.
“Sleazy? You mean filthy. How’s it different from being a bull, doing things like that?” said a man.
“Is he so thirsty for such things?”
“Haha, aren’t Koreans very conscious of their image? What’s this now?”
“That person is the young master of Shinyeok Group. I hear his father is preparing to run in the next presidential election. I wonder – is this considered negative publicity?”
“Ah, another one of those who rely on Daddy’s money.”
“If I had a son like that I’d break his legs myself.”
The venue buzzed with conversation and varying degrees of odd looks were thrown at Ahn Suhyeong in tides. All his dreams and hopes for the future were shattered in that instant.
The scene continued playing out on the screen. The women were crying out and those cries were accompanied by a man’s laughter; it was rather unsightly. The host and a few security staff charged backstage to try to catch the offender. The multi-purpose hall was in chaos.
Shentu Tianyin took only one look at the display before averting her gaze. She not want to stain her eyes further by looking at it a second time.
“Tianyin, let me explain…” Ahn Suhyeong wanted to excuse himself but he didn’t know how he was going to explain himself.
Shentu Tianyin spoke coolly, “No need to explain anything to me. You have your own life. This has nothing to do with me.”
“I… I’m not like what you think… “ Ahn Suhyeong struggled to clear things up.
Shentu Tianyin gave a laugh. “There’s really no need to explain anything to me. And, a 20,000,000 yuan thangka is really too expensive. My father cannot accept such an expensive gift.”
Ahn Suhyeong’s heart felt like it had been dunked in ice-water. He could take it if Shentu Tianyin had been angry at him or slapped him but she had reacted coolly and rejected his gift. He had even envisioned himself getting closer to her, but it was all destroyed in the blink of an eye.
That was not the worst – the worst was that Ahn Suhyeong knew who had recorded the video, and when. This footage would have been destroyed under normal circumstances but it had appeared here. What problem did this present? He did not even want to think about it.
“I am really sorry that something like this has happened. I’ll explain it to you another day. Goodbye.” Ahn Suhyeong reacted quickly and he turned to leave after saying those words.
“Mr Ahn!” A man’s voice suddenly rang out.
Ahn Suhyeong looked back and saw security staff walk towards him, dragging a man with them.
Ahn Suhyeong was stunned. The man was the man who should have been captured by him, who should have had his member cut, the man who should have been handed over to the CIA – Xia Lei!
What Ahn Suhyeong had been most worried about had come to pass. He turned ashen. He would have lashed back at Xia Lei with this sort of provocation under normal circumstances but he did not even dare to speak to Xia Lei this time. He just gave Xia Lei a look and walked quickly towards the exit.
A member of the service staff and a woman in a cheongsum blocked Ahn Suhyeong’s exit.
The service staff boy who had raised the bidding paddle earlier was not a real employee but Tang Bochuan. The tall woman in a cheongsum next to him was his little sister, Tang Yuyan.
Unfortunately, Ahn Suhyeong did not recognise either of them. He put out a hand to push Tang Bochuan. “Get out of the way!”
Tang Bochuan grabbed Ahn Suhyeong’s hand and said with a smile, “Mr Ahn, you won the bid for the thangka. Please make payment.”
Ahn Suhyeong struggled to free his hand. Tang Bochuan’s grip was like a vice and he could not shake him off.
Tang Yuyan spoke coldly, “You’d better cooperate, Ahn Suhyeong. Pay up what you should pay up. Go to prison if you should belong in there. This is a lawful country and we will not malign a good man, nor will we let a criminal go.”
Ahn Suhyeong had already guessed Tang Yuyan and Tang Bochuan’s identities and he put on a mask of calm. “I want to make a call.”
Tang Yuyan suddenly raised her leg and her high-heel struck Ahn Suhyeong on the back of his leg.
Ahn Suhyeong’s brows furrowed in pain and he kept himself from crying out with great difficulty.
Tang Yuyan lowered her voice. “I’ll give you one last warning. Cooperate.”
Ahn Suhyeong huffed. “Fine, whatever. I’ll go with you, but you’d better not touch me. I’m not someone you can just mess with any way you want.”
“You cooperate and we’ll discuss matters when we get you back.” Tang Yuyan thought nothing of Ahn Suhyeong’s threat. She did not seem to have any intention to take Ahn Suhyeong away either; she walked towards Xia Lei.
Xia Lei was surrounded by the security staff who were preparing to restrain him and hand him over to the police.
Shentu Tianyin’s first reaction when she saw the security staff bring Xia Lei out from backstage was to go over to demand an explanation but she hesitated and gave up on that idea in the end. The people present were all important people and Xia Lei was someone who had ‘broadcast’ a distasteful video. She wanted to go over and find out what was going on but her status hindered her.
Tang Yuyan walked to Xia Lei in that time of hesitation and handed the host some documentation without a word.
The host opened the documentation and blanched, then returned the documentation to Tang Yuyan with both hands.
“You can just hand this guy to me. Go do whatever you’re supposed to do,” said Tang Yuyan.
“Yes, yes, of course.” The host nodded in full agreement, then waved the security staff back.
Xia Lei looked at Shentu Tianyin, who was nearby and he had an inexplicable sense of disappointment. However, he was happy again when he looked over at Ahn Suhyeong and saw that his face was drained of colour. Doing something like this was ugly, but it was worth it!
“I helped you get the guy. How are you going to thank me?” Tang Yuyan looked at Xia Lei, all smiles.
Xia Lei grinned. “How would you like me to thank you?”
“How about a dance?” said Tang Yuyan.
Xia Lei paused. “Here?”
“Here.” Tang Yuyan looked determined.
Xia Lei smiled wryly. “Lady Tang, this is a charity banquet. They’re auctioning artwork – how can we dance? Let’s just go. I’ll dance with you later.”
Shentu Tianyin finally made her way over to them at that moment. She looked Tang Yuyan over and asked probingly, “Lei, this person here is…?”
Shentu Tianyin had wanted to asked what was going on but the sight of this tall, leggy and seductive Tang Yuyan made her ask that question instead. She didn’t even want to get to know Tang Yuyan.
Xia Lei made introductions. “Tianyin, this is Tang Yuyan, the young lady of the Tang sect.” He then said to Tang Yuyan, “This is Shentu Tianyin, the chairwoman of Vientaine Group.”
Two different women of two different statuses, but neither of their statuses was any less than the other. It seemed like Shentu Tianyin’s status as chairwoman of Vientaine Group was greater but the Tang sect was an ancient clan with hundreds of years of history. The Tangs had fingers in business and military affairs and could only be more powerful than the Shentu clan!
Gu Kewen suddenly came close to Shentu Tianyin and whispered in her ear.
“Ah, so it’s Lady Tang. Please excuse any disrespect.” Shentu Tianyin extended her hand first for a handshake.
Tang Yuyan shook with Shentu Tianyin and said with a smile, “Nice to meet you.”
“Lei, what happened just now?” asked Shentu Tianyin as she observed Tang Yuyan out of the corner of her eye. Gu Kewen had already told her of Tang Yuyan’s identity and this had nothing to do with her, but she felt uncomfortable when she saw Tang Yuyan and Xia Lei together.
“Ahn Suhyeong did something he should not have. We came to arrest him.” Xia Lei gave a simple explanation.
“Then the video…” Shentu Tianyin did not continue; she still felt it dirty.
Xia Lei shrugged. “I did it.” He gave a laugh. “I know I shouldn’t have but I wanted you to see clearly what sort of a person he is.”
Shentu Tianyin quirked her lips in a laugh. “You really take people by surprise as always. I don’t think the organisers would be mad at you though, since you helped them get a donation of 20,000,000.”
“Speaking of that 20,000,000, my brother helped quite a bit, didn’t he? Come on, fulfil your promise,” Tang Yuyan nagged.
“Um…” Xia Lei did not know what to do.
“What promise?” asked Shentu Tianyin probingly.
Tang Yuyan abruptly put her arms around Xia Lei’s waist before he could say anything and grabbed his hand. She started dancing to the background music which had come on again under the watchful gaze of an audience.
A handsome man and a classical beauty – Xia Lei and Tang Yuyan’s dancing became the most eye-catching thing in the hall. Their attractiveness, bodies and the way they carried themselves were all top-notch and all who saw them couldn’t help envying this perfect pair.
Someone started to clap, and the entire hall quickly filled with applause.
Shentu Tianyin watched them both silently, her expression calm.
Fu Mingmei walked over to Shentu Tianyin and said with a pout. “This guy sure is a chick-magnet. Does he think he’s James Bond or Tom Cruise? I want to punch him.”
Shentu Tianyin suddenly spoke. “Me too.”
“Huh?” Fu Mingmei was stunned.
Ahn Suhyeong was staring at Xia Lei with flames spitting from his eyes on the other side of the hall. He wished for nothing more than to rush over and grind him down to dust. He had never hated anyone as much as he hated Xia Lei right then. What made him feel worse was that he was seething with anger and Xia Lei was dancing in the hall with a beautiful woman in his arms! And the woman he was courting was looking at another man with her eyes alight!
“Want to kill him?” Tang Bochuan said suddenly.
Ahn Suhyeong glanced at Tang Bochuan. He said nothing but a terribly dark look came upon his features.
Tang Bochuan gave a laugh and spoke offhandedly, “If he gets my sister and doesn’t treat her well I’ll help you kill him. What do you say about that?”
Ahn Suhyeong seethed.
Tang Bochuan glared at Ahn Suhyeong. “What are you looking at me like that for? Come on, I’ll take you to make payment for the thangka.”
Ahn Suhyeong was speechless.
