The Uncrowned King of the Peninsula

Chapter 136 Highlight Moment (Two in One)

Just as Yu Qinghao said, this charity dinner was just ordinary and nothing special.

It wasn't until halfway through that some noise came to the fore when Woo Kyung-ho, on behalf of Kakao Entertainment, announced the auction of three of IU's handmade souvenirs.

"There is one last handmade souvenir from IU xi. The current price is 300 million. Is anyone willing to offer a higher price?"

The first two pieces have been sold, each for about three or four million yuan. Only the last piece is left, which is a small coaster made of handmade wool.

Yu Qinghao waved the gavel in his hand like an auctioneer. "I have good news for everyone. The total amount raised for tonight's charity dinner has reached 94 million. Is there anyone willing to bid higher? Please raise your sign."

It was about to reach the 100 million mark, and Yu Qinghao seemed to be hinting at something. Everyone present understood that this was an opportunity to show off. Six million to buy a chance to show up was not expensive for many people present.

The enthusiasm for bidding suddenly increased, shouts of "six million" rang out, arms were waving, and the atmosphere on the scene became lively.

"Okay! Deal!" Yu Qinghao slammed the gavel on the table. "The last charity donation, IU xi's handmade souvenir, sold for 600 million!"

"Tonight's dinner raised a total of 100 million yuan for charity! Thank you everyone!"

Applause broke out at the scene, and the big screen cut to Lee Ji-eun's face at the right time. Her eyes were wide open and her right hand was covering her mouth, as if she couldn't believe it.

"IU xi, you can't believe it?" Yu Qinghao made a gesture of invitation to her and clapped his hands, "Please come up and confirm it."

The applause from the audience became even louder, and Pei Yongjun also started clapping.

Spotlights dropped from the sky, and Lee Ji-eun stood up, gently covering her chest with her right hand, with a happy expression on her face. She turned around and bowed to everyone around her.

"Thank you, thank you." As her body turned, her eyes met Pei Yongjun's.

He didn't know if it was an illusion, but Pei Yongjun seemed to feel that she winked at him coquettishly.

He was slightly startled. Lee Ji-eun had already walked onto the stage and stood next to Woo Kyung-ho. Her white pearlescent dress sparkled under the bright lights, making her look bright and charming.

Pei Yongjun then noticed that she was wearing black high-heeled shoes with thin and high heels, which just made the white and tender half of her calves exposed under her skirt look perfect.

Nothing is revealed, but there seems to be an indescribable charm.

Pei Yongjun blinked.

"IU xi," Woo Kyung-ho asked, "What are your thoughts now?"

"Now, I only regret not doing more." Lee Ji-eun wrinkled her nose in a naive way, looking as if she was very regretful, which caused a burst of laughter.

"Thank you all for your love, thank you!" As the laughter died down, she bowed again to the audience, her expression much more sincere. "I will always remember your kindness."

Another round of applause.

Yu Qinghao took over the conversation, "Now, let's see who contributed this love!"

"Yes..." He stretched out his words, looking at the card in his hand, then raised his head to look at Pei Yongjun, "Editor-in-Chief Pei Yongjun from Hanjiang Sports!"

"Thank him!"

When the applause broke out, Bae Yong-jun was slightly startled, while Woo Kyung-ho on the stage was still talking non-stop.

"Thank you! Thank you, Editor-in-Chief Pei! Please come up and take this souvenir filled with love and kindness."

Bae Yong-jun stood up and looked at Lee Ji-eun again. She was looking at Bae Yong-jun with a smile and clapping. When she noticed his gaze, she tilted her head slightly and blinked gently, as if there was a smile in her eyes.

Bae Yong-jun walked onto the stage and passed by Woo Kyung-ho when he heard him whisper, "Count it in."

"Thank you, Editor-in-Chief Pei. Thank you. Please accept it." Lee Ji-eun picked up the small woolen coaster from the booth and handed it to Pei Yongjun with both hands.

A light touch with your fingertips, slightly cool and smooth.

The two stood side by side as if they were presenting an award, and bowed slightly to the audience.

On the stage, Bae Young-joon and Lee Ji-eun stood side by side. The man was wearing a neat suit, with a handsome figure and sharp eyes. The woman was bright and charming, and her pearly white dress matched the suit perfectly, making the two of them look quite a perfect match.

The flash cameras clicked and the audience applauded, as if for this reporter who had recently become famous.

"Who is this?" Some people still don't know who Pei Yongjun is.

"You don't know? Didn't you see the news about Goo Hara, Jung Joon-young, and Lee Seung-ri a while ago?"

"Ah! Is that the one who reported this? Wow, impressive!" The man suddenly realized, "He's good-looking, he must be a big shot."

"Who says it isn't?"

The lights shone on Pei Yongjun, the applause surrounded him, and the flash lights kept flashing, making him look more heroic and making people admire him in their hearts.

There was whispering in the audience, but Bae Yong-jun on the stage suddenly heard Lee Ji-eun's whispering voice next to his ear.

"Editor-in-chief, please help me, don't be angry~"

Pei Yongjun tilted his head slightly, but could only see Li Zhien's smiling face, and could not tell that she was talking at all. "I'll treat you to dinner tonight."

"Thank you, Editor-in-Chief Pei! Thank you everyone! I'm truly moved today, so I just discussed it with the company and decided to donate 5000 million from the last concert's proceeds as part of tonight's charity."

Lee Ji-eun raised the microphone and raised the amount to 150 million.

The applause became louder, and the highlight of today's dinner belonged to Lee Ji-eun and Bae Young-joon.

"Thank you, Editor-in-Chief Pei! Thank you, everyone!" IU smiled. "I've prepared two more songs for you. Let me go backstage and prepare."

Next was Lovelyz's performance, followed by a speech from Kakao Entertainment, and finally IU's solo performance, before the dinner ended.

She lifted her skirt and bowed slightly, looked at Pei Yongjun, then turned and walked backstage.

Walking down the stairs, on both sides of the backstage entrance, there were Lovelyz and a group of dancers waiting to go on stage.

"IU-senpai-nim!"

"Senior-nim, you are awesome."

The crowd gathered on both sides, like flowers, to welcome IU as she came down from the stage.

Although Lee Ji-eun is not very old and many people are older than her, her debut experience and status and fame in the circle are much better than the mediocre second-tier girl group Lovelyz. Everyone's attitude is full of respect, envy and excitement.

Li Zhien also wore a kind smile, waved to the people on both sides, and slowly squeezed out of the crowd, "Thank you, thank you, everyone, work hard, I'll go first... Ouch!"

She uttered a low cry of surprise and felt someone's foot stepped on, "Sorry, sorry."

Everyone quickly gathered around and asked with concern.

"It's okay, it's okay, I'm fine, are you... okay?" Lee Ji-eun looked at the girl in front of her.

She was not tall, with long black hair hanging down her shoulders. She was wearing a dancer's outfit. Under her bangs, her big eyes were staring straight at the stage. She stood there blankly, as if she didn't even notice Lee Ji-eun who was so close to her.

"Are you okay?" Li Zhien didn't know what was wrong for a moment, so she raised her hand and gently touched her shoulder, "You..."

The girl suddenly turned around and glanced at Li Zhien with a panicked look in her eyes. "I'm sorry, senior nim, I..."

As she was speaking, she couldn't continue and bowed deeply to everyone, "I'm sorry, I'm not feeling well. I'll go out for a while."

"I'm sorry, everyone!"

She turned and ran out.

Everyone from Lovelyz nearby was stunned.

"Ah! Kwon Eun-bi! Are you crazy?" The person who looked like an agent next to her was the first to react and suddenly became anxious, "We're about to go on stage, where are you running to!" The girl ran away without looking back.

"Xiba! I'm going after her!" The agent ran after her.

"Oppa!" A girl from Lovelyz was the first to react. The others were stunned. No one expected to encounter such a thing.

"Why did Concubine En leave? Is there something wrong?"

"How should she go on stage? She's the first one to go up during the prelude?"

"What should I do? Why did Oppa chase me out? Now..."

As the prelude of the music sounded, everyone was in chaos. Bae Young-jun and Woo Kyung-ho had already left the stage in front, leaving the stage empty and looking a bit ugly. More people came on stage to fill the seats, but the inexperienced Loveylz members had no idea what to do.

The only agent who could make the decision got angry and ran away.

"It's okay!" Lee Ji-eun's voice rang out, and everyone looked at her hurriedly.

"I'll go up first, you guys get ready immediately." Lee Ji-eun looked calm.

There was no formal announcement for the dinner.

"But, Senior-nim, it's our song..."

"I can sing, do you mind?" Lee Ji-eun blinked, picked up the microphone again, turned and walked towards the stage.

Suddenly, in this narrow backstage corridor, IU's petite figure seemed taller, and the word "senior" left a deep impression on the Lovelyz members.

IU returned to the stage, "AH-choo!"

Her soft and sweet voice burst out, and she winked at the audience coquettishly. She easily controlled everything on the stage. Her pearlescent dress sparkled under the spotlight, and she looked like an elf in the forest.

"Oh my god! Senior-nim can really sing our songs!"

"Ah, Senior-nim, so handsome..."

"So beautiful..."

Everyone stared at it intently.

------

In a private room of a high-end Japanese restaurant, Bae Yong-jun was sitting and drinking. There was a man and a woman sitting next to the table. They were Woo Kyung-ho and Lee Ji-eun.

"Ah! What else can these guys do?!" Yu Qinghao's face was slightly flushed with alcohol. "They can cause trouble just by coming to a commercial performance. Really!"

When Yu Qinghao saw that it was Lee Ji-eun who came back, he immediately knew that something had happened.

"Then you have to thank Ji-eun." Bae Yong-jun looked at Lee Ji-eun beside him.

Lee Ji-eun, who came up to save the stage, was very experienced on stage. She first sang a few lines of Lovelyz's song along with the music, then signaled to cut the music, smoothly switched to her own song, and left the stage.

Except for a few people including Woo Kyung-ho and Bae Young-jun, almost everyone present thought that this was a joint performance and applauded.

After the song was over, Lovelyz regrouped on stage and everything continued smoothly. IU reappeared at the end of the dinner and sang the closing song.

"Yes, Kyung-ho oppa, thank me quickly~" Lee Ji-eun looked at Yu Kyung-ho with a smile.

"I'll calculate the performance fee for you, double it." Yu Qinghao waved his hand generously.

The three of them ate and drank. Lee Ji-eun didn't drink at all, Bae Young-joon only had a sip, but Woo Kyung-ho drank quite a lot. By the time he left, he was obviously drunk.

"Let me take Director Yu back." Bae Yong-jun glanced at him and said to Lee Ji-eun.

"Hmm..." Li Zhien did not agree immediately, "Director Yu's words..."

She looked at her agent who came to pick her up, "Oppa, please take Director Yu back to where we went last time."

The agent nodded and helped Yu Qinghao into Li Zhien's nanny car.

The nanny car drove away, and when Bae Yong-jun came to his senses, he found that Lee Ji-eun did not go with it.

"Director Yu's family has some..." Li Zhien blinked at Bae Yongjun. It seems that Yu Qinghao's background may also have some special features. "I won't go with him."

Thinking of Woo Kyung-ho's rise to the top of Kakao Entertainment at such a young age and his rather unscrupulous style of doing things, Bae Young-jun nodded slightly in thought.

"Editor-in-chief, you sent me to Holao..." Li Zhien smiled at Bae Yongjun, then remembered something, "Forget it, I'll send you there."

"Send it to me?" Pei Yongjun was stunned.

Li Zhien pointed to Bae Yongjun's car on the side of the road and nodded, "Okay, I'll give it to you."

------

Pei Yongjun sat in the passenger seat.

"Are you fastening your seat belt?" Lee Ji-eun's crisp voice came from the driver's seat next to me.

"Ah."

"Let's go!" Li Zhien excitedly raised her fist and shouted, "Let's go!"

She stepped on the accelerator and the car rushed forward, then it jerked and stopped dead in its tracks.

"Well?"

"Mine is a manual transmission."

Pei Yongjun pointed to the clutch under her feet.

It seems that all her cars are automatic.

"Oh, sorry, sorry, I didn't notice." Li Zhien stuck out her tongue a little embarrassedly, "But I can drive, this is what I learned."

"Don't worry, I will get you home safely."

The car moved slowly and finally got on the road.

However, Lee Ji-eun did not brag. She drove well and soon became fluent.

"Thank you, please take me back." Pei Yongjun said.

"You're welcome. We're friends, so we should be loyal to each other." Li Zhien glanced at him. "Besides, you should take good care of Sulli's editor-in-chief, right?"

She chuckled a few times and talked about tonight's dinner. "Thank you for your cooperation tonight. I hope I didn't scare you."

"I'll help you with the donation."

"No need, I'll do it." Bae Yong-jun didn't take it seriously and just acted a little with Woo Kyung-ho and Lee Ji-eun.

"Really?" she asked while driving.

"Really, friends should be loyal." Pei Yongjun repeated her words.

"Ah! Editor-in-chief, stop imitating others!" Li Zhien waved her fist and then burst out laughing, "I'm driving."

(End of this chapter)