187: Chapter 186 Charity Auction

The lingering scent of blood hidden behind that sensational engagement ceremony was still fresh in his memory.

Seeing that Cao Xiao was about to get serious, he had to speak up: "Xiao Xiao, is there any need to make such a big scene?

You didn't suffer any loss, and the other party has already been taught a lesson. A warning to their family afterward should suffice. Mobilizing the military is no small matter. Hong Kong is only so big; it won't be long before everyone knows. If the situation escalates and causes a public uproar, no one will be able to bear the consequences."

Cao Xiao guessed what Chen Huaiming was worried about, gave him a reassuring look, and comforted him: "It's fine, I have a sense of proportion. This won't escalate."

"Fine, fine, fine! It seems you really don't take our The Peninsula Hotel seriously. Call the police immediately! I'm going to notify the general manager and the owner right now."

Seeing Cao Xiao's arrogant attitude, and the fact that he hadn't even looked at him after threatening him, the lobby manager felt humiliated on the spot with so many guests watching. In a fit of rage, he signaled the service desk to call the police from afar and took out his own phone to make a call.

"Manager Hu, is it? Why is your The Peninsula Hotel so unreasonable now? I ignore you, and you keep pushing it! Bullying my brother, are you? Want an explanation? Want to call the police? If you dare to keep blathering on, see if I don't slap you to death!

Isn't that right, you want to call your boss over? Perfect, I also want to see if Wu Er Mazi would dare to be this overbearing in front of me!"

Cao Xiao glanced at him and ignored him, while Chen Huaiming stood there with a dark face, deep in thought. But at this moment, someone unexpected appeared—Fourth Sister-in-law. And her method of entry was rather fierce. She walked up to the lobby manager, looked at his name tag, and although Cao Xiao expected her to argue or perhaps throw out some harsh words to bluff the other party, he didn't expect her to land three loud slaps across his face, one after another.

The hotel security, seeing Fourth Sister-in-law strike their superior, were caught off guard and, seeing that she was a woman, didn't move.

Cao Xiao was about to step forward to protect Fourth Sister-in-law, but Chen Huaiming held him back and said: "Don't go over there. She'll be fine. Haven't you seen what she's holding in her hand? It's an enhanced version of pepper spray. One light press is enough to take down several burly men."

"Uh!" Cao Xiao was still worried, but at that moment, Fourth Sister-in-law retreated on her own—and she was running. Seeing this, Cao Xiao was rendered speechless.

The lobby manager surnamed Hu was stunned by the slaps, not even noticing when his phone dropped to the ground. He stood there in disbelief, eyes wide.

Seeing more and more people gathering around, Cao Xiao said to Chen Huaiming: "Let's head out first!"

Chen Huaiming waved his hand and said: "No need to leave. I almost forgot; your Fourth Sister-in-law can handle things here. The hotel's major shareholder has some history with her family. We'll just sit here and wait."

They returned to the sofa and sat down. As for Dong Xunli, he was still pinned to the ground by Niu Zhen, his hands twisted behind his back, his mouth stuffed with something. He glared at Cao Xiao with hateful eyes, making muffled noises.

Before long, Duan Hong returned with the surveillance footage. Less than ten minutes later, the general manager of The Peninsula Hotel arrived. Fearing that Cao Xiao might act impulsively, Chen Huaiming and his wife took the initiative to negotiate. The result was that the general manager came over to apologize to Cao Xiao, and the lobby manager was fired. Twenty minutes later, a company of fully armed soldiers from the local garrison arrived. Dong Xunli and the others were taken away. At Cao Xiao's request, Dong Xunli would be escorted to Huanghe City and handed over to the Provincial Military Region for temporary detention, awaiting Cao Xiao's return to handle it. The others were taken to the military base and would be sent to a military court on charges of assaulting an officer. Regardless of how powerful their families were, they wouldn't be able to interfere with a military court trial—they wouldn't even be able to get medical parole.

As for the major shareholder of The Peninsula Hotel, they never showed their face. Cao Xiao only knew that Fourth Sister-in-law had received a phone call, and after arguing incessantly with the person on the other end for a while, the general manager had come over to apologize to Cao Xiao.

Chen Huaiming watched the general manager leave, let out a sigh of relief, and said to Cao Xiao: "This matter is settled. You guys go to the room and drop off your luggage first. We'll wait for you in the restaurant."

Following the waiter to the room, Cao Xiao took a shower to wash away the bad luck. Feeling refreshed, he went to the restaurant to find Chen Huaiming and his wife.

Cao Xiao didn't have much of an appetite for the hotel food, so he ate casually. He kept a large amount of high-energy cooked food in his space, which he would take out to eat from time to time; he had already slowly eaten two pounds of roast rabbit meat on the plane, otherwise, he would have wiped out a whole table today.

"Let's go once you're done eating. A charity gala is being held here today, and there are quite a few good items up for auction. It's about to start soon. Since we have nothing else to do, I'll take you to check it out." After the meal, Chen Huaiming stood up and said to Cao Xiao.

Cao Xiao wasn't interested in the so-called charity galas here in Hong Kong; they were always organized like social parties. Despite all the times they had been held and all the money donated, he had never seen them actually accomplish anything.

But if there was an auction, it wouldn't hurt to take a look.

Chen Huaiming brought Cao Xiao to the entrance of the banquet hall on the top floor and entered with an invitation.

It was truly as Chen Huaiming had said—a gathering of celebrities and stars. Even Cao Xiao, who didn't pay much attention to news, could recognize quite a few of them, because those appearing here were famous tycoons from various fields and household-name superstars. Cao Xiao had grown up listening to their legends and watching their movies.

Now, facing his childhood idols, Cao Xiao didn't feel the slightest bit of excitement. The shift in his own identity and status had smoothed out the distance between him and these legendary figures. His perspective on things had become subtle, and his mindset was growing increasingly indifferent.

"Xiao Xiao, let me introduce you to some friends. They made money thanks to you last time, so they really should show their appreciation."

Chen Huaiyu pulled Cao Xiao through the crowd without giving him a choice, greeting people around them from time to time.

Cao Xiao felt uncomfortable being dragged around like this. Thinking of the time Father He took him around to meet people during the engagement, he felt a bit daunted. He broke free from Chen Huaiming's hand and refused: "Fourth Brother, let go. You didn't make that much money last time, and this should count as you helping me. I should be the one thanking them; I'm too embarrassed to accept gifts from them. It would just be awkward. You can thank them on my behalf, and tomorrow I'll prepare some gifts and trouble you to pass them on.

I won't go over. You don't need to worry about me. I just finished eating and don't want to move around. I'll sit over there. Come call me when the auction starts."

"Alright, if you don't want to, then so be it. You sit for now; I'll come find you before the auction starts."

Chen Huaiming didn't force him, and after saying this, he left with Fourth Sister-in-law, chatting and laughing.

Cao Xiao went to a quiet corner of the banquet hall and sat down, watching the various people aimlessly and listening to conversations nearby. But within a few minutes, he felt bored. He found everyone present so uninteresting—the hypocritical smiles, the words hidden with barbs, the empty and pretentious topics. In his view, so-called high-society socializing was just that. Moreover, he didn't need this kind of socializing to expand his network. The saying "might makes right" fit him perfectly. On the premise that his strength could develop to be strong enough to rival the world, he himself would be the center of the world. He would treat those who loved him well and those who were distant with indifference. He didn't need to deliberately try to befriend others; once his strength was powerful, others would naturally be attracted to circle around him.

"Sir, hello! May I sit here?"

A crisp, pleasant, yet slightly shy voice came from beside his ear. Cao Xiao turned to look and saw a girl of about eighteen or nineteen standing beside him, looking at him with some panic. The girl was wearing a light pink shirt with a Western-style beige plaid vest over it, and beige plaid slim-fit trousers. Her hair was tied up in a bun behind her head, and she wore a newsboy cap of the same color as her outfit. This attire looked a bit like an old-fashioned reporter's outfit. The girl wore no makeup, but her features were exquisite, giving people a fresh and bright feeling. Cao Xiao couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.

"Ahem, feel free." Cao Xiao's face flushed a little, and he hurriedly shifted to one side of the bench.

"Thank you!" The girl was also made a bit shy by Cao Xiao's dull gaze and sat down timidly.

Just then, two staff members pointed in this direction and walked over quickly. Seeing this, the girl became extremely flustered and restless. As if she had made a decision, she suddenly leaned close to Cao Xiao and hugged his arm tightly. The girl whispered in Cao Xiao's ear: "Sir, could... could you please do me a favor?"

"Ah! Uh! Okay!" Caught off guard by the girl's sudden attack and feeling the warmth from her arm, Cao Xiao was a bit dazed for a moment, but his mouth agreed involuntarily.

"I have something very important to do here, so I snuck in, but now I've been discovered. Could you tell them I'm your companion so they don't take me away? I really have something very, very important to do. My daddy is still at home waiting for me, I..." The girl was very anxious, and her speech was a bit incoherent.

"Stop talking for a second, I'll help you. I'll just send them... Actually, I snuck in too. As long as we don't panic and cooperate, we can bluff our way through. Put this on, don't look at it, it's glass. They're coming..."

Seeing the two staff members getting closer, Cao Xiao interrupted the girl. He was about to take charge, but his heart stirred, and he immediately changed his mind. A bright idea struck him, and he took an emerald ring from his pocket and handed it to the girl, while putting on an identical one on his own ring finger. When the girl saw the ring in her hand, she looked at Cao Xiao in great surprise. After looking at it carefully for a few moments, she was about to refuse, but Cao Xiao didn't give her a chance to speak. Seeing that the emerald setting was surprisingly large, the girl accepted Cao Xiao's explanation and hurriedly put it on her ring finger.

"Miss, please show your invitation." One of the staff members said to the girl with a sour expression.

"She is my companion, so you don't need to check her invitation, do you? If there is nothing else, please do not disturb us." Cao Xiao held the girl's hand, showing the two rings to the staff members, and said with displeasure.

The staff member who had just spoken looked at the two large emerald settings, feeling a bit uncertain. He exchanged glances with the other staff member, and seeing him shake his head slightly, his serious expression turned into a smile as he said: "Apologies, sir. We didn't know beforehand that this beautiful lady was your companion. I wish you a pleasant evening. Sorry to disturb you."

Watching the two leave, the girl patted her chest, breathed a sigh of relief, and said luckily: "That was close. If it weren't for you being so smart, I wouldn't have known what to say to send them away. Thank you."

Cao Xiao also pretended to have lingering fears and said: "You're welcome. I'm helping you, but also ensuring I don't get kicked out myself. If you hadn't reminded me, I wouldn't have known what excuse to find. I only came here because of a bet with friends; otherwise, it would be embarrassing to be kicked out. My friends would laugh at me. By the way, what's your name? What are you doing here? Everyone here today is a big shot, don't do anything foolish!"

The girl hesitated and said stammeringly: "My name is a bit... a bit special. You mustn't laugh at me when I say it. My name is Xiao... Xiao Pinger."

Cao Xiao said in confusion: "That's a very nice name! Xiao Pinger... Little Bottle... Little Bottle filled with..., uh, never mind, I won't say it. Don't be angry. By the way, you haven't told me why you came here."

Xiao Pinger said sorrowfully: "A very important item of ours was stolen a while ago, and my daddy got sick because of this. I have never seen the item that was lost; I only know it's box-shaped. But my daddy found out that the item was sold by the thief to a wealthy tycoon, and that item will appear at this charity auction. My daddy said it's impossible to get it back, and his condition has become more serious.

So I hid it from my daddy and snuck in here, hoping to find the businessman who bought the item and negotiate to trade it back. My daddy will definitely be very happy when he sees it; maybe his illness will get better immediately. I brought all the money I saved, over ten thousand, I don't know if it's enough. But as long as I find the item, I will pay that tycoon back no matter how much it costs."

Cao Xiao realized that Xiao Pinger was as innocent as a blank sheet of paper, just like her appearance. She must be a pampered girl who hadn't been exposed to the realities of society, which was why she thought about things so simply. Could something listed in the auction catalog really be reclaimed privately? Besides, ten thousand dollars wouldn't even cover the reserve price for the cheapest item here. The fact that it could be in the charity auction proved that the item their family lost was valuable. Those participating in the charity auction weren't lacking money; if someone liked the item, no amount of money could trade it back.

The only way was to bid high at the auction and buy it back directly. Cao Xiao was currently pretending to be an ordinary person, so he naturally couldn't let his cover be blown. If Xiao Pinger had money, she wouldn't have snuck in, so he had to think of another win-win solution.