Night settled over Linwan Port. Stars dressed the harbor in splendor, while a river of lights followed the docks and coastal road in a lingering curve. Tonight was the scheduled charity auction banquet organized by Chairman Jian of Jianyue Mingliu Group for the “Starlit Harbor Children’s Care Foundation.”
The charity gala was held on Chairman Jian’s own territory: Linwan’s Red Square.
The hall was crowded with society figures, fragrant clothes, elaborate hair, bright eyes, and smiling red lips. One sweep of the room could catch dozens of company presidents, along with groups of film and television stars, models, and hosts. The weight of the guest list was more than enough to attract swarms of media reporters.
High-profile charity spectacles like this existed because every faction in the circle could get something from them. Talent agencies arranged several charitable appearances for their celebrities each year to decorate their public image. When an actor collected eighty million for one drama, failing to donate even one or two million to charity became difficult to explain. For property-and-investment giants such as Jianyue Mingliu, capital groups rich enough to rival nations and capable of driving housing prices into the sky until an ordinary apartment could bankrupt a family, a little charity was merely gold leaf pasted onto the face. It was part of maintaining reputation and social standing.
Yan Xiaodao and Ling He walked openly through the main entrance together.
The two appeared side by side without the slightest attempt to avoid attention. Red Square immediately seemed to brighten around them. They were two of the most dazzling “flowers” adding brilliance to an already grand occasion.
This was their second visit to the venue together. Last time Mr. Yan had been pushing a wheelchair while a certain person sat in it pretending to be crippled.
That previous visit had also been Mr. Mai’s final concert. The man was gone now. The place remained, and the contrast made people sigh.
Only one familiar figure was missing tonight. Without the idiot who had always stitched conversations together and filled silences with jokes, everyone suddenly noticed how useful he had been. Jian Mingjue, the socially agile second son of the Jian family, had vanished from the scene. Everyone in the circle knew the awkward reason, but publicly pretended not to know. He had been sent to the United States for intestinal reconstruction and surgical repair of the injuries to his backside, and would not dare show his face in China for years.
Mr. Yan and Mr. Ling kept a restrained meter of distance between them.
When acquaintances approached to clap Yan on the shoulder and exchange greetings, he casually introduced the man beside him. “This is our group’s new finance and marketing director. He just took over and he’s very capable. Please look after him and give him some guidance.”
People who passed them whispered sourly behind their backs. “Isn’t he just Mr. Yan’s bedmate? Sold his body all the way into a vice-president position.”
“Exactly. They say the godson and that fox spirit joined forces and divided Baoding Group’s six-billion-yuan fortune between them. That efficiency in sleeping upward makes every young star in entertainment look slow. Now that’s a shortcut to establishing yourself.”
Ling He’s ponytail rested quietly at the back of his neck without the slightest tremor. He ignored every rumor that floated toward him.
Tonight Ling He wore a dark navy velvet suit with purple lavender and baby’s-breath flowers tucked into the breast pocket. Under the chandeliers he looked magnificent and bright enough to glow.
Even Yan Xiaodao had been puzzled before they left. Why are you dressed this brightly today?
The charity banquet opened in the same reception hall where the previous celebration had been held. Each large round table was decorated with arrangements of pink lilies and blue hydrangeas. A row of enormous flower baskets stood by the entrance to strengthen Chairman Jian’s grand display. One of them had been sent by Mr. Yan. Its paired lines apparently said something like “healing the world” and “benevolent heart and generous spirit,” ordinary flattering nonsense that Ling He mocked all the way inside.
The host did not need to spend much money on an event like this. Every guest paid for tickets and drinks, but everyone willingly came for the chance to show a face and make headlines.
Chairman Jian Mingxun received his guests leaning on a cane, shaking hands one by one with his usual low-key, genial expression. Even without the damage left by childhood polio, he would never have been the same kind of man as his younger brother. Temperament mattered. Some people were born wild and unrestrained; others naturally steady and calculating.
Yan Xiaodao nodded politely, shook Jian Mingxun’s hand, and exchanged pleasantries, leaving old grudges unmentioned. In business there were only permanent interests, never permanent enemies.
Jian Mingxun’s gaze slid across Ling He’s face. It remained gentle as always, yet the focus seemed oddly empty, his pupils showing no real emotion. Jian Mingxun wrapped a thick, fleshy hand around Ling He’s, released it without incident, and turned to the next guest.
“You’ve never met Boss Jian before, have you?” Yan Xiaodao asked casually after they sat at their assigned round table.
“What do you think?” Ling He smiled and refused to tell the truth.
Their seats had originally been arranged for Master Qi, in the front row toward the right, an important and conspicuous location.
Greetings, toasts, dinner. Once everyone had eaten and drunk enough to wear a trace of flush and intoxication, the auction’s main event finally took the stage.
Yan Xiaodao and Ling He lounged with legs crossed, watching and occasionally leaning together to whisper jokes.
Ling He: “That sequined crop-top stage outfit is nice. Bid on it, President.”
Yan Xiaodao: “You wearing it? I’ll bid if you wear it.”
Ling He: “Not where outsiders can see. You wear it. I’d enjoy that.”
Yan Xiaodao: “Then I’ll bid on this Victoria crystal bra and underwear set.”
Ling He: “Who are you planning to give that to?!”
Yan Xiaodao: “To… you… Obviously. No outsiders get to see. You can wear the bra for me.”
Ling He: “Fuck off.”
Yan Xiaodao: “It even has big feather wings. Looks good. Might help you fly straight into the sky.”
Bastard. Ling He silently decided that once they got home tonight, he would fuck Mr. Yan hard enough to make him fly.
While the two of them sat digesting dinner and trading nonsense, one flashy lot after another sold onstage at dizzying speed.
This was always a ceremonial occasion for giving away money and decorating one’s public image. Bidding was like an assignment every household set itself. The money had to go somewhere. You bought my piece of underwear carrying a trace of body scent; I bought your stage costume showing navel and pubic hair. Acquaintances propped up one another’s performances and competed to push prices higher. Final bids routinely climbed beyond half a million.
Yan Xiaodao joined in too. He bought a set of enamel-painted porcelain wine vessels and trays that he actually liked, planning to display them at home and use them while drinking with Mr. Ling.
Then, entirely on his own initiative, he bought Ling He two sets of designer menswear and expensive leather shoes. Ling He kept pretending he did not want them and repeatedly kicked the toe of Yan’s shoe under the table in protest. Whenever Yan Xiaodao loved someone, he always wanted to offer that person the best things he could find.
Each successful bid sent the emcee into another flood of enthusiasm. Long sentimental speeches rolled across the hall, drawing out the rhythm of applause and emotion. Every time, several village children who looked like primary-school students sat beside the host until an adult signaled them to stand. With timid eyes that sometimes carried a trace of melancholy resistance, they bowed expressionlessly to the audience and accepted symbolic checks covered in astonishing strings of digits. The children had been temporarily “requisitioned” from remote counties in Jizhou Province. They had never seen numbers like these written on a check. After the money passed through layers of commercial deductions and local interception, not much meat would be left to fall into the children’s mouths.
From the corner of his eye, Ling He watched Chairman Jian sitting at the head table.
The main spotlight repeatedly swept across the man’s face. Jian Mingxun kept nodding and smiling, leaning forward to thank the guests who paid for auction lots. The loss of face his family had suffered during the Mai Yunliang affair was being repaired by Chairman Jian inch by inch, at exhausting cost.
Jianyue Mingliu Group was the largest taxpayer and investor in Linwan New District. Chairman Jian Mingxun had spent years cultivating the image of a man devoted to good works. He held titles in both political and business circles and commanded enormous respect. The romantic scandal involving his younger brother and Ms. Zhao could almost be called the largest stain on Boss Jian’s reputation in half a lifetime, but even that little episode was gradually being forgotten. It would never shake the Jian family’s deepest interests or position.
……
The auction was nearing the end of its first half. A few people had begun standing and drifting toward the exits in preparation for the intermission.
Ling He also excused himself for ten minutes. Yan Xiaodao did not notice which corridor he disappeared into.
At that moment, the emcee read out the names of Baoding Group Chairman Qi Baoshan and Vice President Yan Xiao, praising them lavishly before inviting the staff to present the items Master Qi and Mr. Yan had contributed to the auction.
Yan Xiaodao inclined his body respectfully toward Boss Jian at the head table. Jian Mingxun waved back with a genial smile. Reporters’ camera flashes crackled at exactly the right moment, preserving a scene of perfect harmony.
An usher carried the donation onto the auction table. Inside a presentation case of expensive wood and blue velvet stood a dazzling Swiss wristwatch.
The blue case was far too familiar. The flash of light stabbed Yan Xiaodao directly in the eyes.
This was not the item he had brought at all. He had originally contributed two pieces from Master Qi’s collection. Qi Baoshan enjoyed antiques: an expensive Go set with Hetian-jade stones and a black meteorite board, along with a valuable red-coral miniature screen.
But what had appeared on the auction table was this watch case.
Yan Xiaodao drifted for a moment, wondering whether it was the item he had preserved himself, but the projection screen showed details clearly enough for him to recognize that it was not the same watch. This one came from the same brand, exquisitely and lavishly made. A European painting decorated the dial, surrounded by aquamarines and small diamonds. It had clearly crossed the line from consumer accessory into collectible investment, a diamond-set limited edition bought to be displayed and admired.
The emcee praised the piece in increasingly elaborate language. The audience became interested. Guests who had left for the restroom began turning back, and many people raised bidding paddles for the limited-edition diamond watch.
Someone at the neighboring table commented knowledgeably, “That limited collectible came out more than ten years ago. Only sixty-eight were made worldwide. It sold out the moment it was released. Never thought I’d see one again.”
Yan Xiaodao’s breathing stalled. His face remained calm. It was already impossible to stand up and stop the bidding. He turned sharply toward Ling He beside him.
Obviously, Ling He had quietly gone backstage and switched the auction item with the organizers.
Ling He was even calmer than Yan, staring ahead with composure. He had waited a long time for this moment. There was finally no need to hide anything in public. This watch was the precious “collectible” he wanted to throw onto the table today, a piece valuable enough to stir a thousand waves with one stone.
At the chairman’s table, Jian Mingxun’s face turned dull and rigid beneath the lights. His hands remained instinctively in the posture of applause, but his wrists were trembling and spasming. The main stage light had no sense of tact and kept sweeping over Chairman Jian, revealing a blue-green mask across his face, as fragile as if it had been pieced together from eggshell. It looked so fragile one tap might shatter it. Sweat ran constantly from the edges of the mask, threatening to wash away whatever glue held it to his skin until the false face could no longer stay in place.
The watch had been expensive to begin with. The auction price climbed rapidly into the millions. Excitement spread through the hall as camera flashes fired again and again.
Among everyone present, it seemed only three people truly understood what this meant.
Yan Xiaodao reached out and gripped Ling He’s hand. No wonder Mr. Ling had dressed himself in splendid clothes tonight.
Ling He possessed a watch extremely similar to the one that had belonged to Mr. Mai, same brand but a more expensive model. It looked almost new, perhaps never worn at all.
Chairman Jian did not once dare look toward them. He hid his trembling and spasms beneath the body already damaged by polio.
After so many twists, everything had returned to its starting point, as though some invisible hand had arranged the circle in advance.
In the very place where Mr. Mai had held his final concert, Yan Xiaodao once again saw a watch like this. The object seemed to symbolize an identity carried on the body, like the Spiritual Jade worn by Second Master Bao at his neck.
Elio’s Notes: “Second Master Bao” refers to Jia Baoyu in Dream of the Red Chamber, whose jade pendant is inseparable from his identity and fate. The narration compares the watch to that kind of identifying token.
But this beautiful ornament was crawling with poisonous insects and scorpions. Diamonds flashed with savage eyes, and the case seemed soaked through with the smell of blood.
……
Chairman Jian quietly whispered several words to an assistant, who hurried backstage.
The bidding on the famous watch was therefore interrupted on a pretext, disappointing the audience and stirring complaints. The emcee announced the end of the auction’s first half and invited everyone to take a tea break before the second. Naturally, the conspicuous watch never appeared again. Master Qi’s Go set and coral screen returned to the program and reclaimed the audience’s attention.
Yan Xiaodao pulled Ling He out of the hall. Right there in the brightly lit corridor, without caring who saw, he wrapped Ling He in a hard embrace. He was distressed and helpless at once. “Baby… you… hah.”
He still had not completely understood. “What exactly did Jian Mingxun do?”
“When the King of Chu loved slender waists, everyone below learned to read his tastes and exhausted every method to cater to them.” Ling He struck straight through with characteristic sharpness. “Boss Jian has had bad legs since childhood and can’t stand straight anyway. He was naturally suited to bending his back and bowing his head.”
Yan Xiaodao’s thoughts grew heavy. “So what happened to the Jian family’s second son… you did that deliberately?”
Ling He did not deny that his original moves had been calculated. Instead he threw more details onto the table. “When I set the trap aboard the Cloudtop, I sent messages to five people: Master Qi, Secretary You, Deputy Director Tan, Jian Mingxun, and Liang Tong. At the time I didn’t know where Lord Ting was. I was naive enough to think he was secretly sending information to me. In reality, he sent two blond killers because he wanted the simple solution of killing me directly.”
Tan Shao’an had been the person secretly passing notes and information to Ling He. As for the other four, Yan Xiaodao firmly believed that wealthy, well-connected Boss Jian occupied a role much like Liang Tong’s. Behind a commercial empire rich enough to rival nations, there had to be years of cooperation in corruption and completely unscrupulous exchange of power for profit.
The charity auction soon ended smoothly, without further disturbance, and every sector achieved the appearance of perfect harmony.
The hall emptied and the event dispersed. Yan Xiaodao happened to glance across the departing crowd and noticed a media reporter carrying camera equipment who looked strangely familiar.
The man brushed past quickly. Perhaps realizing Mr. Yan had recognized him, he secretly flashed a look and disappeared.
Yan Xiaodao remembered. This was one of Captain Xue’s plainclothes officers. He had seen the man a few days earlier during the pursuit of Guo Zhaobin at Splendid Imperial Court. Chairman Jian really was in trouble.
Jian Mingxun limped out of the venue leaning on his cane, his slightly plump face piled with modest smiles as he shook hands with prominent guests from every circle and thanked them one by one. From a distance he looked like a squat winter melon, his face and build perfectly embodying the words solid and honest. He looked exactly like a trustworthy man.
Clad in dark navy velvet, Ling He appeared directly in front of Chairman Jian and extended his right hand.
The expanse of dazzling blue made Jian Mingxun’s hands and feet tremble. His agitation blurred his vision until he seemed to see not a man but a mountain made entirely from blue velvet watch boxes blocking his road. His crippled leg bent even farther in fright.
Yan Xiaodao finally understood. Ling He had practically worn the watch box on his body tonight.
The two men shook hands. Ling He nodded politely. “Chairman Jian, we meet ‘again.’ After all these years, I trust you’ve been well.”
“I’ve been well.” Jian Mingxun’s voice was hoarse. “Thank you, Mr. Ling and Mr. Yan, for attending and supporting the event. Thank you.”
Ling He said, “When there’s time, I’ll personally visit Chairman Jian another day. Old acquaintances should catch up.”
Jian Mingxun had seen enough storms to maintain his manners. He nodded as if accepting fate. “All right. Another day, I’ll certainly invite Mr. Ling to reminisce.”
Ling He smiled calmly. “I’ll wait for Chairman Jian’s invitation.
“And the Swiss watch Mr. Yan put up for auction. There’s no need to return it. Keep it yourself. Add it to your collection and enjoy looking at it.”
……