How can you become a star without money?

Chapter 152 In short, it can be summed up in one word: chaos.
Of the 13 items auctioned, Wang Yao won 5, truly deserving the title of 'philanthropist'.

But the final two lots and the grand finale were the real targets of tonight's auction.

The penultimate item to be auctioned was a model of the joint exhibition hall for private enterprises.

It is a life-size model of the pavilion of the same name at this World Expo, symbolizing the first official appearance of a private enterprise on the international stage. This item is of extraordinary significance.

That's also the target of all the wealthy businessmen tonight.

The starting bid was 1 yuan, and it reached 200 million yuan in less than three minutes.

This continuous bidding war was much more exciting than what Wang Yao had experienced before.

Wang Yao didn't rush to bid, because this thing was meaningless to him, and he felt that there was something fishy about its value. After observing it carefully for a while, he discovered some rules and signaled Zhang Meng to raise her paddle.

Zhang Meng swallowed hard and raised her bidding paddle.

"245 million".

The audience erupted in another uproar, expressing their approval of Wang Yao's financial resources.

The wealthy business guests, however, displayed a variety of expressions.

“266 million,” a wealthy businessman surnamed Zhou said in silence.

Wang Yao smiled and nodded, ceasing his bidding.

The wealthy businessman did not go on stage to speak, but instead had someone else accept the payment on his behalf.

The final grand finale is Master Zhou's painting, "Peace and Prosperity".

The starting bid is also 1 yuan.

But the next second it was pulled up to a terrifying price.

"999 million." The bidder was a wealthy businessman named Dai Zhikang, who was the chairman of Shanghai Securities Cultural and Creative Company.

This company specializes in art packaging and operations.

He is also a key member of the creative team that will collaborate with Yang Zi on the underworld box office of "Ye 3" and launch a crowdfunding film model.

After he made his bid, everyone at the head table wore meaningful expressions.

The host seemed somewhat taken aback and began trying to flatter and ease the tension.

All eyes in the venue were on this middle-aged man in a Tang suit with a refined smile.

Even though the host was speaking enthusiastically on stage, a strange silence still permeated the venue.

Truly, they were completely silent.

Dai Zhikang's seat was not in the first row, but in the center of the third row, which happened to be the center of the entire venue. What's even more amazing is that the six tables around him were empty, making the whole scene seem as if it were created just for him.

Dai Zhikang, sitting in that position, could survey everyone present without moving, while others would have to turn their heads or bodies to see him.

What a spectacular finale!
When Kang Zhikang's gaze finally met Wang Yao's, his narrowed eyes seemed to flash with contempt and mockery, as if he were looking at a child.

Wang Yao squinted, his fingers tapping lightly on the table.

Seeing this, Ren Quan's heart jumped into his throat. He lowered his voice and said, "This is not something we can play around with. This is a private equity tycoon."

"How much can he estimate for a painting worth ten million?" Wang Yao countered.

"Whatever the estimate is, it has nothing to do with us!" Ren Quan said through gritted teeth.

"Let's give it a try." Wang Yao thought about the more than ten million that was still sitting on the Tianhuo accounts.

Moreover, he felt that this acting general manager must be determined to get the painting, right?

Since you're so keen on doing charity work, then do more!

"Ten million."

Wang Yao personally held up the sign.

Ren Quan felt a sudden darkness engulf his vision.

There was an uproar.

Blasted.

Dai Zhikang seemed somewhat surprised as well. His originally smiling eyes slowly opened, but because his expression did not change, it appeared as a forced smile.

“1100.” Dai Zhikang spoke again, looking at Wang Yao.

“1200.” Wang Yao smiled and nodded in acknowledgment.

Everyone instinctively held their breath, and you could even hear many people swallowing at the same time.

Su Mang's face was filled with despair.

I never expected the play to be performed like this.

The people at the core multi-billion dollar table whispered among themselves, wondering if the play was going right.

“1300.” Dai Zhikang’s lips twitched slightly.

Everyone could feel the strange sparks that flew when the two looked at each other.

It wasn't just a simple tension or confrontation.

Instead, they seemed somewhat bewildered and confused.

In particular, Dai Zhikang's expression changed noticeably, from being calm and confident at the beginning to being doubtful and cautious, and even stiff as if facing a formidable enemy. He had clearly lost his composure.

If given the chance, Dai Zhikang really wanted to grab Su Mang and ask him whether this kid was a plant or a rich second-generation heir with too much money to burn.

Fortunately, Wang Yao did not lift it any further.

"Thank you, Mr. Dai, for your contributions to public welfare," Wang Yao said with a smile as he stood up.

Dai Zhikang was taken aback for a moment, then subconsciously clasped his hands in a fist salute, saying, "Young brother, you are so young yet you care so much about the world. You are worthy of our learning."

Those few seconds of silence felt like minutes to him.

"Please, Mr. Acting." Wang Yao bowed respectfully, then surprisingly turned and left his seat.

Everyone was stunned again, even the media didn't react.

what does this mean?
Is it because he was young and hot-blooded that he stormed off the stage in anger after losing an argument?

What kind of drama is this?
Zhang Meng got up and pulled Zheng Xiuyan to follow, leaving Liu Yifei with a conflicted expression.

Actually, she also really wanted to slip away with them.

Ren Quan stood up with a stiff smile and explained, "He said he went to the back to settle the bill first."

Upon hearing this, the audience seemed to come alive, and a chorus of compliments for Dai Zhikang filled the air.

Wang Yao did indeed go to settle the bill. After signing the contract with Su Mang and agreeing to transfer the money to the company the next day, he took Zhang Meng and Zheng Xiuyan and said goodbye.

Su Mang didn't try to stop him. Although she had a million questions about Wang Yao, she knew very well that the sooner Wang Yao left, the safer the event would be.

Although the auction is over, there's still a social event to come. Who knows what kind of trouble this guy might cause next?
Today's process was truly agonizing and painful.

But the data reported in real time by the back-end staff made her feel very gratified.

Thanks to Wang Yao, the "Shi Ba" gala dinner has garnered over 100 million views online. The organizers didn't even need to use backup publicity plans to exceed the expected traffic exposure, effectively saving at least several million yuan in promotional costs.

Of course, the biggest beneficiaries are undoubtedly Wang Yao and Xinghuo E-commerce.

Two days before attending the banquet, Wang Yao had already purchased all the related terms "Wang Yao" and "Spark" from Baidu's online store.

At the same time, Xingdian's official website was well-packaged, clearly introducing its services such as clothing brand stores, mini-cartoon merchandise stores, and Taobao Girl agency operations.

During the auction, Wang Yao kept Zhou Cong updated on the progress and data in real time, and the search traffic for the major Taobao stores was increasing by 20 per hour.

Meanwhile, the topic of "Fairy Robe" associated with Zhang Meng on public media also received tremendous exposure.

Of course, there are many more rumors about Wang Yao.

The Chinese online community hasn't yet entered the "CP hype" phase, but it still has a considerable fanbase for CP pairings, especially on Baidu Tieba.

Overnight, at least six or seven new fan forums were created for Wang Yao as a potential romantic partner.

The pairing of a young tycoon and a female celebrity is inherently a hot topic and will never go out of style.

But no one has ever seen such a chaotic version as 'young tycoon X multiple female celebrities' before, and the controversy and criticism spread extremely quickly.

In short, it can be summed up in one word: chaos.

Before Wang Yao, the Hong Kong entertainment circle had already thoroughly explored the topic of wealthy businessmen cheating, but those were always 1v2. However, tonight Wang Yao was clearly 1vN, which was quite a spectacle for netizens.

Almost none of the female celebrities who interacted with Wang Yao at the dinner party escaped unscathed.

Even male celebrities Huang Xiaoming and Ren Quan were reported on for simply exchanging a few words with Wang Yao. Some of these reports were media-driven, while others were orchestrated by their management companies.

In short, Wang Yao is the core source of the traffic.

"Mr. Wang, you've become quite famous." Zhang Meng returned to her car and saw Wang Yao focused on his work, so she didn't dare to disturb him. She also took out her iPad to check her day's achievements.

She gained nearly 30,000 followers on Weibo alone, and her previous Weibo posts sharing stills from "Fairy Robe" were flooded with comments from netizens. Some inquired about her relationship with Wang Yao, while others wondered about Wang Yao's relationship with the pretty girls in the stills.

"I can only say that netizens are still too repressed." Wang Yao couldn't help but chuckle.

The desire of modern netizens to ship couples is more terrifying than he imagined.

However, the online buzz is real. As long as Wang Yao doesn't officially announce it, he'll become a walking scandal machine for all the female celebrities.

This is so useful.

"Mr. Wang, the company has called and texted me so many times. I feel like I'm going to be executed if I go back." Seeing that Wang Yao had power, Jessica Jung held her phone and looked at him pitifully.

"Don't worry, I'll take you back to the hotel later and have Sister Meng take a couple of photos of us. If the company wants to punish you, just show them the photos, and your President Kim will know what to do," Wang Yao said dismissively.

As long as Kim Eung-min and Lee Soo-man still expect Girls' Generation to make money, they will have no choice but to sit down and negotiate.

It has to be said that it takes several years or even more than a decade of hard work to make an artist/group successful, but it is indeed very easy to destroy them.

This is why Korean entertainment agencies have almost obsessive management requirements for their artists—the costs are too high.

This is especially true for teams like Young Girls who are in their growth phase.

"You're even more terrifying than the company. Does this mean I'll be blacklisted?" Jessica Jung felt like she was about to faint.

She really didn't expect that she would get into such big trouble.

She wanted to accumulate leverage to fight against the company, not give up her acting career.

“It’s okay, little sister. At worst, you can quit the girl group and come work with me. You can live the same life as a celebrity designer.” Zhang Meng put her arm around Zheng Xiuyan’s shoulder to comfort her.

Wang Yao didn't have time to deal with them in the evening, so the two chatted a lot and became much closer.

"Waaah, sister, you have to take me in!" Jessica Jung believed her.

"Don't worry, I'm still counting on you to come back and pay the final payment for me," Wang Yao said with a smile.

Jessica Jung froze, only then remembering that she had signed a loan agreement.

She really had no choice but to follow orders.

Wang Yao took her to the Peninsula Hotel and booked a standard room. He then had Zhang Meng find a paparazzi angle to take some photos in the underground parking garage. Sure enough, after Jessica Jung sent the photos to her manager...

The harassing text messages from the agent stopped, and less than half an hour later, the president, Kim Young-min, personally called Wang Yao.

"President Wang, what do you mean by this? I sincerely wanted to cooperate with you on the global development of artist IPs, and this is how you treat our sincerity?" Jin Yingmin suppressed his anger.

They've already taken our girl group's IP license, so be it.

Are they even planning to take down the people now?
"President Jin, it's too late today. Let's find some time tomorrow afternoon to have a good talk. These are all misunderstandings," Wang Yao said with a smile.

"You've misunderstood!" Jin Yingmin was furious upon hearing this.

"President Kim, you wouldn't want these photos to appear in Dispatch's inbox, would you?" Wang Yao's voice suddenly turned cold.

Jin Yingmin was stunned. He never expected that someone would dare to threaten him!
But then I thought, Wang Yao isn't Korean, so why would he be afraid of him?

He instantly lost his temper.

"President Wang, I was just too anxious, and my tone was a bit off; I meant no harm," Jin Yingmin said gently, suppressing his anger.

"I understand. After all, it's getting late, and we should rest," Wang Yao said with a smile.

"Um, there shouldn't be any other types of photos, right?" Jin Yingmin felt a chill run down his spine.

This break is so ambiguous.

He actually believed that there was nothing between Wang Yao and Jessica Jung, mainly because he believed in the company's more than ten years of training and brainwashing of Jessica Jung, otherwise there would definitely be more than just this level of photos.

But he wasn't sure if anything else would happen after tonight.

"Don't worry, Miss Zheng and I are innocent for the time being," Wang Yao chuckled.

"Hehe, that's good. I also trust President Wang's character." Jin Yingmin chuckled twice and hung up the phone.

He then sent Jessica Jung a long post, assuring her that the company would handle her case leniently and that she shouldn't make a big mistake because of a momentary impulse.

After Wang Yao analyzed and translated the short essay word by word, Jessica Jung finally felt relieved.

"Go to sleep." Wang Yao patted her head.

"Together?" Jessica Jung blinked.

She now feels that it might be safer to have something happen between her and Wang Yao.

"Are you going to repay kindness with enmity? Don't worry, you still owe me money, I won't abandon you." Wang Yao chuckled.

Finally, persuaded by Zhang Meng, Jessica Jung reluctantly entered the hotel.

"How about I go keep her company?" Zhang Meng noticed that Wang Yao seemed quite interested in this Korean girl.

“No need, where are you going?” Wang Yao asked.

Zhang Meng glanced at the driver smoking outside the car with a complicated expression.

Wang Yao understood and told the driver he could go home first.

"Looks like Sister Meng has made a decision? But the show still has a few days until it airs, why don't you reconsider?" Wang Yao said with a smile after dismissing the driver.

"Since Mr. Wang has already let me wear such an expensive dress, wouldn't it be heartless of me not to make a decision soon?" Zhang Meng smiled charmingly.

"It seems that sentiment is not as important as clothes," Wang Yao sighed, then took out two contracts that he had prepared in advance from his bag.

“If I sign this, I’ll truly be serving President Wang wholeheartedly.” Zhang Meng picked up the partnership agreement, her tone subtle.

After signing the contract, she will give up her acting career for at least two years to fully cooperate with the clothing company's development, and during this period, her income will likely come from the base salary plus commission of a regular employee.

Compared to another contract guaranteeing an annual income of 500 million, it's truly a matter of a single thought making a world of difference.

After signing her name with the antique art pen that Wang Yao had bought for 80 yuan, Zhang Meng looked up at Wang Yao's face, her eyes gradually becoming misty.

She recalled what Wang Yao had said on the night they first met.

'Fate is inescapable.'

Because fate will keep posing questions until you provide a new answer.

"As expected, there's no escaping it."

"What?" Wang Yao looked up instinctively after hearing Zhang Meng's murmur.

"It's nothing. I've never stayed at this hotel before. Besides, if I run around in such expensive clothes, I can't afford to pay for any damage. I'll go get a room and pack up the clothes so you can take them back." Zhang Meng shook her head, her face flushed.

“The company has rented a suite upstairs. You can go up and change.” Wang Yao took out the room key and handed it over.

"Why rent this place? Okay, never mind." Zhang Meng paused for a moment, then her gaze turned strange.

"It's for work, don't overthink it," Wang Yao said seriously.

"Okay, sure." Zhang Meng blinked, took the room key, and carefully lifted her skirt to get out of the car.

Wang Yao was about to tidy up the contracts when he noticed that Zhang Meng had run back again.

"What's wrong?" Wang Yao thought she had forgotten something.

"The clothes are expensive and difficult to take off. In case Mr. Wang tries to extort money from me, could you come up with me? Could you give me a hand?" Zhang Meng asked shyly, leaning on the chair.

His breathing was a little rapid because of nervousness or excitement, and his eyes showed a sparkling yet determined longing.

Wang Yao frowned and silently stared at her for a moment before taking out a contract from his bag.

Zhang Meng's initially pleading gaze froze when she saw the contract title, and her eyes instantly turned angry. "President Wang, what kind of person do you take me for!"

She wasn't just angry; she was simply unbelievable.

This was even more outrageous than the first time she received a room key hinted at by the producer.

Moreover, this contract was clearly not prepared just for her.

How can this young man have so many tricks up his sleeve?!

"I hope everyone's relationships start out purely; I'm a slow starter," Wang Yao said, rubbing his nose.

Zhang Meng stared fiercely at Wang Yao's face, then after a long while, she snorted coldly, picked up a pen, and signed her name beautifully.

Seeing this, Wang Yao pondered for a moment. "It seems it really is difficult to remove. I'll do my best to help."

Zhang Meng gritted her teeth and said, "I hope you won't let me down, little brother."

This haute couture gown is so complicated.

Wang Yao and Zhang Meng worked until dawn, and finally Zhang Meng couldn't keep going any longer and they stopped.

After taking a cold shower, Wang Yao checked the trending topics on Weibo before going to bed.

I was surprised to find that the number one topic was discussions about starting one's own business.

A junior majoring in an unpopular e-commerce field becomes a billionaire.

When these elements are put together, they can spark huge discussions and controversies.

I strongly suspect this is a recruitment advertisement from the e-commerce industry/school!
Wang Yao glanced at the comments and replied to one of the trending topics.

"I'm a recent graduate from Zhejiang University and I haven't even found a job yet, while others are already billionaires in their junior year? That's awesome!"

Wang Yao thought for a moment and replied.

"Graduating from Zhejiang University is awesome."

Images of some of the auction items

(End of this chapter)