Hong Kong films: From street thugs to Hong Kong financial tycoons

As the melodious classical symphony in the hall gradually came to an end, the lights in the Peninsula Hotel's rooftop banquet hall dimmed softly.

A dazzling spotlight suddenly shone on the mahogany auction stage directly in front of them.

A white-haired auctioneer dressed in an elegant tuxedo walked onto the stage, cleared his throat, and bowed to the group of Hong Kong's top dignitaries with a beaming smile.

"Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the auction segment of the Victoria Celebrity Charity Gala. All proceeds from tonight will be donated to the Hong Kong Welfare Department Foundation!"

"Without further ado, let's present our first lot for tonight: a Qing Dynasty Qianlong Imperial Enamel Bowl with Floral and Bird Design, starting bid: HKD three million!"

As the hostess lifted the red silk covering the tray, an exquisite antique bowl was revealed to the crowd.

The celebrities in the audience began to raise their paddles. For these so-called old money families, the first few items were just a warm-up, mainly to show off their family's wealth and philanthropic practices in front of the media.

"Four million!"

"Four and a half million!"

Just then, Xu Shijie, sitting in the VIP seats in the front row, deliberately straightened his suit and tie, raised his number plate high, and shouted, "Eight million!"

The entire room fell silent, and everyone turned their attention to the eldest son of the Xu family shipping company.

Buying a bowl with a starting bid of three million for eight million—that's a pretty high premium.

Xu Shijie thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of being the center of attention. He stood up and deliberately put on the appearance of a compassionate and virtuous young master from a prominent family.

"Dear uncles and elders, this eight million is my humble contribution to the elderly living alone in Hong Kong. I urge you all to be lenient and allow Shijie to do charity with filial piety."

As soon as he said this, a round of enthusiastic applause and praise erupted from the crowd.

"As expected of the eldest son of the Xu family, his vision and background are truly beyond the reach of those nouveau riche!"

"Old Master Xu has a worthy successor! Eight million without batting an eye—that's the power of the Qian family!"

Amidst the chorus of praise, Xu Shijie turned his head smugly and looked defiantly at Lin Yao, who was sitting not far from him.

In his view, his generous donation of eight million yuan to charity would definitely intimidate this bumpkin who had appeared out of nowhere.

However, when he turned his gaze to Lin Yao's seat, the cold smile on his lips instantly froze.

Lin Yao didn't even glance at the auction stage. At this moment, the man was comfortably leaning back in his sofa chair, holding a toothpick and idly poking at the grapes in the fruit plate.

Sitting next to him, the stunningly beautiful Chingmy Yau was like a well-behaved young wife, carefully peeling a lychee, her fair fingers pinching the flesh, and gently feeding it to Lin Yao's lips.

Lin Yao opened his mouth and took a bite of the lychee, smacking his lips as he did so, and complained, "The lychees at the Peninsula Hotel aren't good enough, not sweet enough. Tomorrow, I'll have Old Chen rent an orchard in Lingnan and airfreight some fresh ones over."

"Okay, boss, I've got it."

Chingmy Yau nodded obediently, her eyes filled with admiration.

Holy crap, Xu Shijie was so angry he almost ground his back teeth to powder.

I'm spending eight million here showing off, and you're just eating lychees and chasing girls, completely ignoring me?!

"Hmph, all pretentious!"

Xu Shijie gripped the bidding paddle tightly in his hand, cursing viciously in his heart: When it comes to the final item, let's see how you pretend then. If you can't come up with the money, I'll strip you bare of your super-rich skin in front of everyone today!

The auction proceeded smoothly, with antique paintings and calligraphy, and precious jewelry being sold off one by one. Lin Yao didn't even touch the bidding paddle once, and even yawned several times out of boredom.

This only reinforced his image as a nouveau riche looking on the big stage. If he couldn't afford it, he should just say so. Why pretend to be so high and mighty?

Half an hour later, the auctioneer's expression suddenly became serious and excited. His hands trembled as he accepted a pure black velvet box from the hostess.

"Ladies and gentlemen, now for the grand finale of tonight's event!"

"This necklace, named Tear of the Deep Sea, is a rare treasure once worn by Queen Victoria of the British Empire. It is set with a 50-carat flawless Kashmir sapphire and 108 top-quality South African diamonds."

"Whoosh!"

The velvet box was opened, and an extremely intense blue light instantly illuminated the entire room. The sapphire seemed to contain an entire ocean, deep, captivating, and luxurious to the extreme.

All the socialites and heiresses present, including even the most composed ladies, held their breath the moment they saw the necklace, their eyes gleaming with a hungry, wolf-like green light.

Even Qiu Shuyi, who was sitting next to Lin Yao, couldn't help but gasp and covered her red lips with her small hands.

It's so beautiful! No woman can resist the ultimate allure of this kind of jewelry!

"The Tear of the Deep Sea Necklace, starting bid HK$30 million, minimum increment HK$1 million!"

The auctioneer roared and slammed his gavel down heavily.

Starting at 30 million, this price effectively eliminated 80% of the wealthy people present, as everyone was short of cash after the recent stock market crash.

The entire hall was silent for a full three seconds.

"Fifty million!"

A powerful voice broke the silence. Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw that it was Xu Shijie who had raised the bidding paddle. He immediately increased the bid by 20 million, making it a game-changer right from the start.

Xu Shijie stood up, straightened his suit, stared intently at Qiu Shuyi's stunning face, and deliberately raised his voice, saying, "A fine sword is given to a hero, and rouge is given to a beauty. This Tear of the Deep Sea is only worthy of the most beautiful lady in all of Hong Kong."

At this point, Xu Shijie glanced at Lin Yao provocatively and loudly mocked:

"Miss Qiu, you are a smart woman. You should understand one thing: if you follow those bumpkins who only know how to bluff, you'll only ever wear cheap plastic glass from street stalls your whole life."

"Why don't you come over for a drink? I'll personally put this fifty million necklace on your finger tonight!"

Whoosh—!

The entire room erupted in uproar. This was a blatant attempt to poach talent right in front of everyone, and with a whopping 50 million in cash. Young Master Xu was determined to use this nouveau riche surnamed Lin to rise to power and establish his authority!

All eyes turned to Lin Yao, eager to see how he would handle this humiliating disgrace.

However, Lin Yao remained slumped in his chair, even picking at his ears.

Just as Xu Shijie thought Lin Yao had backed down and was about to burst into laughter, Lin Yao lazily raised his right hand, pinched the number plate that he had never raised before between two fingers, and casually waved it.

"One hundred million."

A calm voice, as if chatting casually, drifted from Lin Yao's mouth.

Clang!

A wealthy businessman in the front row smashed his wine glass on the ground, shattering it into pieces. The entire banquet hall instantly fell into a deathly silence, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

A hundred million? Without hesitation, you doubled it. Are you buying groceries?

The auctioneer's hands were trembling so badly he almost dropped the gavel. His voice cracked as he shouted, "Mr. Lin... has bid one hundred million! Is there anyone bidding higher than one hundred million?"

Xu Shijie's face instantly turned a deep liver color, and the veins on his forehead throbbed.

Buying a necklace for 100 million? This isn't charity anymore, it's pure money burning. Although the Xu family has assets worth tens of billions, most of them are shipping fixed assets. Where are they going to get more than 100 million in cash?

However, they have already made their bold statement. If they back down now, where will the Xu family put their face in the old money circles of Hong Kong?

Xu Shijie gritted his teeth, as if a gambler had placed his last bet, and roared, "One hundred and ten million!"

He refused to believe that this country bumpkin really had that much cash; he was just putting on an act!

Lin Yao looked at Xu Shijie, who was covered in sweat and had bloodshot eyes, and sighed helplessly.

"Your way of raising prices is a complete waste of my precious sleep time."

As soon as he finished speaking, a crisp system notification sounded in Lin Yao's mind.

[Ding! Host is currently experiencing a high-society, glamorous, and embarrassing situation!]

[The Godly Rich Man's Prediction Panel has started scanning...]

[Target: Xu Shijie (Heir to the Xu Shipping Company)]

[Top Secret Intelligence: Xu's Shipping suffered a severe storm in North America last week, resulting in the sinking of three 10,000-ton tankers and heavy losses. The Xu family's cash flow has now completely dried up. The amount Xu Shijie will offer at tonight's auction is a high-interest bridge loan from a bank, secured by mortgaging three hillside villas, with a maximum limit of only 120 million.]

Upon seeing the information popped up by the system, Lin Yao's smile widened instantly, and his eyes became as mocking as an abyss. "Your underwear is already leaking, and you still dare to pretend to be sophisticated in front of me?"

Lin Yao slowly stood up from his chair. He didn't raise his paddle again, but looked directly at the auctioneer on the stage who was dumbfounded.

"Sir, could you please hold the hammer steady?"

Lin Yao placed his hands on the mahogany round table, his gaze like that of a beast reigning supreme, slowly sweeping over all the self-proclaimed superior members of the Qian family.

"Since Young Master Xu enjoys playing this stingy game of increasing the stakes by ten million at a time, then I won't play along."

Lin Yao extended five fingers and clenched them tightly in the air!

"Five hundred million."

Five hundred million—these three words were like five hundred nuclear warheads, detonating explosively in the Peninsula Hotel's rooftop banquet hall.

Everyone felt their eardrums buzzing, and their brains went into a state of paralysis for up to ten seconds.

"Five...five hundred million for a broken necklace?"

"This is insane! This guy is absolutely insane! Who carries 500 million in cash with them when they go out? He's inflating the price, he's definitely inflating it!"

"This is the most outrageous bid in the history of Hong Kong charity auctions; it's absolutely impossible for it to be fulfilled!"

Xu Shijie slumped into the chair as if his spine had been drained, panting heavily. He pointed at Lin Yao and shouted frantically as if he had grasped a lifeline.

"He's a fraud! He's absolutely a fraud, auctioneer! I demand on-the-spot verification of funds. If he can't produce 500 million, call security to arrest him immediately!"

The auctioneer on stage panicked. If the bid of 500 million yuan turned out to be a worthless check, the entire banquet would become a huge joke.

He wiped away his cold sweat and said cautiously, "Mr. Lin, according to the rules, bids exceeding one hundred million do indeed require on-site verification of the assets..."

"Asset verification?"

Lin Yao smiled contemptuously, slowly reaching into the inside pocket of his suit jacket and then flicking his wrist.

"Snapped!"

A HSBC top-tier black gold VVIP card, gleaming with a dark luster and engraved with a golden lion totem, spun out and landed steadily on an empty table in the front row.

"Go get the POS machine, swipe it now."

Lin Yao's voice was as cold as an emotionless machine, "The password is six eights. If you can't get five hundred million, I, Lin Yao, will jump off the roof of the Peninsula Hotel today."

Less than a minute later, HSBC's top finance executive stationed at the banquet came tumbling over, carrying a specially made encrypted card reader.

When he saw the black gold card on the table, he was so frightened that he almost knelt down on the spot. He tremblingly inserted the card into the machine and entered the numbers and password.

"drop--!"

"Transaction successful. Payment amount: HKD 500 million in full!"

The machine spat out a long receipt, its crisp sound echoing in the deathly silent banquet hall like a resounding slap across the face of every member of the old Qian family.

Real money, 500 million in cash, swiped instantly!!!

"Thump!"

Xu Shijie's knees buckled, and he slid directly from the chair onto the carpet, his whole body like a lump of mud. His face was ashen, and the arrogance in his eyes as he looked at Lin Yao was gone, replaced only by a deep-seated fear.

How terrifying are the assets behind someone who can swipe 500 million yuan in cash at any time?

This time, the Xu family has really messed with a real living devil!

Amidst the trembling, awe-inspiring gazes of the entire audience, the auctioneer swallowed hard and shakily lowered his gavel.

"Five...five hundred million Hong Kong dollars...sold! Congratulations Mr. Lin on acquiring the Tears of the Deep Sea!"

The hostess, carrying the velvet box containing the rare treasure, quickly walked up to Lin Yao and respectfully presented it to him.

Lin Yao casually picked up the priceless sapphire necklace that shimmered with a mesmerizing glow.

Just when all the celebrities thought he was going to keep this necklace as a family heirloom.

Lin Yao turned around and casually tossed the necklace with the five small goals into Qiu Shuyi's arms, just like throwing away a ten-dollar plastic bracelet from a street stall.

"Just take it and play with it. You can wear it casually with any clothes."

Lin Yao clapped his hands, seemingly annoyed that the dust on the necklace had dirtied his hands. Qiu Shuyi hurriedly caught the necklace, her whole body stiffening completely.

A necklace worth 500 million, just to play with and wear casually?

She looked up, staring blankly at Lin Yao's breathtakingly handsome face, her heart completely captivated at that moment.

Lin Yao didn't even glance at Xu Shijie, who was sprawled on the ground. He put his hands in his pockets, turned around, and walked towards the banquet hall entrance.

"Shuyi, let's go. This shabby gathering is too boring. Let's go back to sleep."

Behind him were hundreds of Hong Kong's top elites, their values ​​shattered and jaws agape. The pride of the old money family was crushed to dust under the absolute power of money.