hollywood melon man

Chapter 713 Charity Auction

"Welcome everyone to the charity auction of the Fruit Charity Foundation. I am today's host, Ivanka."

Many celebrities attended this charity auction, including Tom Cruise and his wife, Leo and his new girlfriend, the Cantaloupe Farm sisters, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, and so on.

There was also George Lucas, Spielberg, and even David Ellison and Michael Ovitz.

Although Qi Li Ross was reluctant, she had to appear. After all, Gilbert Jr. had just created quite good results for Warner Pictures this year, so she had to come.

Robert Iger, Kevin Feige, and other executives from Hollywood giants were in attendance.

What’s even more noteworthy is that Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and others also came.

Today's charity auction can be said to be a grand gathering of celebrities from the West Coast, and celebrities from the East Coast are also indispensable.

There are also reporters at the scene. After all, if you want to put on a show, you have to let people see it. Otherwise, what's the point of arranging all this?
"Next, please invite the sponsor of our charity auction, Director Gilbert Landrini Jr. to come on stage and speak."

Amidst warm applause, Little Gilbert took the stage.

“In the past, I have been committed to the development of charity. I hope that through my influence, more people can pay attention to other parts of the world.

Many people in these places cannot afford to eat, and their children cannot receive a good education. They also cannot watch TV, read comics, or play games like our children.

I have always emphasized that charity is a process whose purpose is to help those in need.

This time I went to China in person and witnessed the huge disaster with my own eyes.

Although we have different cultures and different countries, we are all human beings and live in a community with a shared future.

I hope everyone will be compassionate, put aside prejudices, and lend a helping hand. Thank you all.”

Applause broke out again and little Gilbert walked off the stage.

Steve Jobs applauded and said to Gilbert Jr., "Your concept is good. A community with a shared future. It's a very advanced term."

"It's not my original idea," Gilbert said. "In fact, it was a concept proposed by a big shot in China, and I think it makes sense.

We must be clear about one concept: the resources on Earth are limited, and sooner or later we will exhaust all the resources bestowed upon us by Mother Earth.

We have two choices, either die on Earth or get out.”

“So that’s why you and this guy named Elon Musk are into space exploration?”

"He might be after the stock market, but I like toys, and rockets are my toys." Little Gilbert invited, "How about it? Are you interested in participating?"

Jobs refused: "Forget it, I'd better run my Apple company!"

The charity auction will begin soon, and most of the items are provided by tonight's guests.

For example, George Lucas provided the early design drafts of "Star Wars", and Spielberg provided a treasured record of Harry Lillis Crosby, a famous tenor from the 1920s and 1930s.

The most eye-catching one was Larry Fink, whose collection was astonishing.

"The collection provided by Mr. Larry Fink is a bronze artifact from ancient China, dating back more than 2,000 years."

When introducing the exhibits, Larry Fink stood up and gestured to everyone. Little Gilbert looked back curiously, and Larry Fink nodded to him.

"This guy is the founder of BlackRock Group, and I've had contact with him." Jobs obviously knew him: "He is in the same group as those who want to carve us up."

"What does he mean by that?" asked little Gilbert.

"I don't know," Jobs shrugged. "Maybe he's trying to sell himself to win your favor?"

"Really?" Gilbert Jr. didn't care. The item Gilbert Jr. offered was not as valuable as Larry Fink's, but just a piece of experimental film he shot in college.

Unexpectedly, because of this film, the women of Cantaloupe Manor almost got into a fight with Larry Fink.

The previous auctions went smoothly and raised a lot of money for charity.

Since the items provided by Gilbert Jr. were put up for auction, it was naturally impossible for Naomi Watts and others to let the items go out.

The starting price was $5,000, and Naomi Watts bid, “One hundred thousand dollars.”

Normally, if you show such a strong desire, the others will know better and not fight for it. But today is different, Larry Fink took action.

He held up the sign and called out the price: "One million dollars."

When the price came out, everyone was shocked.

This so-called experimental film is actually not worth much, what is valuable is the name of Gilbert Jr. Naomi Watts made a move, and it is clear that she will not cheat outsiders.

But who would have thought that Larry Fink would suddenly take action.

Little Gilbert frowned and whispered to Jobs, "Something is wrong. You will decide the situation later."

Jobs said he understood, and it was not unexpected for Gilbert Jr. Soon the film was sold for $5 million, the highest price among all the items auctioned tonight.

Naomi Watts glared at Larry Fink, who was clearly going to take the lot, yet he was still smiling, which made the Cantaloupe Farm sisters very angry.

"Wow, it looks like Naomi and the others are going to scratch Mr. Fink to death." Tom Cruise watched the scene with interest.

Nicole Kidman asked, "You just want to watch the fun?"

"Of course not, I want to join in."

Before Tom Cruise could even join in, Jobs stepped in and ended the game.

"Ten million dollars."

"Ouch!"

The whole audience was shocked. Ten million dollars was enough to buy the bronze artifact provided by Larry Fink, but in the end it was just an experimental film.

The ladies at Cantaloupe Manor stopped bidding when they saw Gilbert Jr.'s signal. Larry Fink also stopped bidding when he saw that it was Jobs.

Jobs sat down and joked with Gilbert Jr.: "You have to pay me back this money."

Little Gilbert was like a dead pig that was not afraid of boiling water: "Steve, be kind, you are contributing to charity."

The last item to be auctioned was the bronze ware. Perhaps knowing that Gilbert Jr. liked Chinese culture, Larry Fink got this thing to attract Gilbert Jr.'s attention.

This is a bronze pot, a common oval pot with a lid in the Western Zhou Dynasty, with a height of 58.5cm. According to the introduction, this bronze pot was collected by Shiquan Laoren and was lost later.

This type of bronze ware is relatively precious and expensive, and is very popular among collectors.

Soon the auction price reached 540 million US dollars. Although it was not as high as porcelain, it was also a very, very high price.

Larry Fink was very much looking forward to it, hoping that Gilbert Jr. would bid for the item. But until the item was sold, Gilbert Jr. never bid a price.

This made Larry Fink very confused. What on earth was Gilbert thinking? Wasn't he interested in Chinese culture?

(End of this chapter)