Chapter 39: That ugly bag?

Lijuan who had never been to an auction stood at one end of the hall observing what was being done. She saw people of different colors, races and tribes all gathered there greeting each other.

There was a large banner on stage with "HELP FOR ALL FOUNDATION" written boldly on it.

"Wow!" She exclaimed silently. The whole place looked really beautiful.

A beautiful lady stood on the stage to announce that everyone present to bid for the items was to go to the registration stand for registration.

Lijuan quickly rushed to the registration stand to do just that. She was going to register using her mother's details after all. She noticed she seemed like the youngest among the bidders and it made her shift uncomfortably.

She was directed to a seat by one of the protocol ushers after she showed him her invite and waited patiently for the event to kick off.

She had thought it was going to look like some of the auctions she watched on TV but this was quite different. There were round tables decorated beautifully which had bottles of wine, table waters and little chops on it. It looked more like a dinner party than an auction.

The items to be auctioned were displayed beautifully on the stage. Her eyes fell on the beautiful diamond necklace and she checked her phone to be sure it was the same necklace her mother had talked about since that was the reason for her presence there.

She noticed a black furry handbag which made her roll her eyes as she wondered who was going to be crazy enough to buy something that ugly. Her eyes also fell on the magnificent red mesh flower print knee high boot, she didn't need anyone to tell her it was a limited edition design.

Lijuan drooled as she looked at the shoe on display, she really wished she could get it for herself but she couldn't spend recklessly. She had already spent a lot lately.

A musical band set up on the stage and gave a rendition of 'Diamond on the soles of her shoes' by Paul Simon as they waited for everyone to settle down.

By the time the chorus ended the bidders were all seated holding big paddles which they were to use in getting the auctioneer's attention.

"Greetings, ladies and gentlemen. I would love to sincerely welcome everyone of you to this year's annual charity auction. All proceeds from this tonight's event will be donated to 'Help For All' foundation."

"'Help For All' is a non-profit organization which provides shelter, food, clothing, medicine and so many other services to poor people in different Nations of the world annually."

"For those who do not know me I'm Dr Pamela Anderson and it is my utmost pleasure to introduce the auctioneer for tonight...Miss Stephanie Elias...."

"Oh God! They aren't planning to keep talking right now..." Lijuan muttered under her breath impatiently when Miss Stephanie began another round of speech. She checked her watch and noticed she had about two and a half hours more before her family returned home. How long was this going to take anyway? Couldn't they just skip all the introductions and just go straight to the point? How was she ever going to get back to the house tonight if they were still saying irrelevant things at this point?

She thought of something to keep her busy and logged into the dating site. There, she saw a message from Sexy Yun asking whether she was okay since she hadn't been online since morning.

A smile crept up her face as she told him she was okay and had a lot keeping her busy.

"Bidding starts from Ten thousand dollars..." The auctioneer said at the background.

She noticed she also had a message from Yanju and checked. "Babe, I'm very positive I'll be in town tomorrow. Are you free? Let's meet up."

"Eleven thousand dollars"

"Fifteen thousand dollars"

"Twenty thousand dollars"

Lijuan rolled her eyes at his message, "What a scam." She muttered under her breath and was about to send him a message before she quickly took note of what was happening around her..

"Twenty five dollars"

"Thirty thousand dollars"

Her eyes fell on the stage as she heard the auctioneer wait for someone else.. "Thirty thousand dollars... going... going..."

"Forty thousand dollars" She said standing up, getting everyone's attention who turned to look at her.

"Forty thousand dollars? No one else?" The auctioneer asked.

"Okay then, the bag is going for Forty thousand dollars" She announced happily as the others clapped.

"Huh? Bag?" Lijuan asked with wide eyes. She had thought they were bidding for the necklace since it was the first in line. How come in the little time she had zoned out they had talked about bidding for the bag first? And now she noticed it was the same ugly bag!

"Yes Bag. That is what you just bid for." The auctioneer said with a polite smile.

Yang Lei and everyone else turned to look at her.

'Oh God! What was she up to again?' Lei asked himself.

Lijuan gave a nervous laugh as she glanced around. "I'm sorry, I got lost for a second. I'm here for one of the necklaces not the bag. Kindly disregard what I just said." She said with a shaky laugh as color flooded her face.

The smile on the auctioneer's lip went stiff... "As you can see the bag is the only item currently displayed on the stage. I announced the terms and conditions of the auction the moment I mounted the podium."

"There is nothing we can do about that. You'll just have to get the bag." The auctioneer said with a tight smile.

One, she didn't like the bag. Secondly, she had just bidded it for Forty thousand dollars! There was no way she could pay for it and also pay for the necklace.

"But.."

"We will take it." Yun who have been watching from the doorway announced.

"And you are?" The auctioneer asked with a frown at the intrusion.

"Her fiance. I'm sorry for interrupting the event. She forgets herself sometimes so I was supposed to be here with her. I'm sorry." Yun said with a slight bow as he joined Lijuan who was looking at him with a frown.

Yang Lei looked from him to Lijuan with a scoff. Who was he fooling? If only he knew all she had been up to he wouldn't be so quick to call her his fiancee.

"Okay. Now we will move on to the next item. Everyone please pay attention so you don't bid for something else." The auctioneer said making everyone laugh.

"What are you doing here?" Lijuan asked Yun with a frown. How come he was always around to witness all her embarrassing moments? It didn't help her to remember the kiss incident at that point.

"Keep your voice down. You don't want to create more scenes tonight." Yun said in a hushed whisper.

"I can't get that bag. My mother will kill me." She said in a very quiet voice.

"Consider it a birthday gift from me then." Yun said casually. He couldn't help but wonder how she would have been able to get herself out of the mess she just created.

"Why are you here?" Yun asked.

"For the auction obviously. I need to get a necklace. Why are you here? Did you follow me here?" She asked narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

"Why do you need the necklace and with whose money are you getting it?" Yun asked ignoring her question.

"It's a gift for my mother and I'm getting it with her money." Lijuan told him with a proud smile.

"Is she aware you're doing this?"

"Something like that." Lijuan answered without meeting his eyes.

"Shhhh." The lady sitting on the next table with them said.

You can't buy the necklace without her permission." Yun said in a hushed whisper.

"She wanted to get it, I have to help her get it." Lijuan insisted.

"I can't let you act so rashly." Yun told her in a tone that suggested the argument was over.

"Why? Who are you to tell me what I can do or not do?" Lijuan fired back angrily.

"Your boyfriend. Or have you forgotten? Isn't that what you made everyone believe?" Yun asked in amusement. He didn't know what was wrong with him or why he was getting more involved in her business but he knew he just didn't want her to get in any more trouble with her family.

"I already broke up with you." She reminded him.

"That's not the point right now. You've gotten yourself a bag. We can leave now." Yun suggested. "I'm pretty sure your family doesn't know you are here."

"That ugly bag? If you were a lady would you want it?" Lijuan asked shaking her head.

"Too bad you bid for it with such a huge sum. Just see it as charity which it is. Don't think too much about it." He said as he tried not to laugh at her predicament.

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