The auction for the charity dinner continues.
Chen Lun withdrew his thoughts and put them aside for the time being, planning to return to the winery and then tell everyone in the circus about his decision.
At this time.
On the auction stage, the host said in an enthusiastic and high-pitched tone:
"The next lot is from the Harrington family, one of the sponsors of our charity dinner. It is Miss Tracy's collection of cosmetics - 'Azite' custom lipstick!"
He waved his hand, and two ladies in red uniforms came onto the stage, holding a high-end wooden gift box and a lipstick made entirely of gold and decorated with broken gemstones.
"'Azte' is the most famous top brand in the Royal City. The ladies and young ladies of the upper class are crazy about it. Even the Duchess of the Sun Royal Family has praised it... This custom lipstick was a birthday gift for Miss Tracy last year when she turned 18. It has never been opened and has been treasured until now. It is extremely valuable."
The host held the microphone and explained to everyone.
"The starting price is 560 gold pounds, and each bid increase must not be less than 10 gold pounds!"
"570 gold pounds!"
"580 gold pounds!"
"600 pounds of gold!"
As the auction began, many gentlemen below the stage began to raise their hands and bid. Most of them were prompted by their wives or daughters' eyes, and a small number of them were trying to win Miss Tracy's favor.
Chen Lun glanced at Fuluoyin beside him and saw that she was facing the one-way floor-to-ceiling window with a dazed expression. He couldn't help but smile.
He picked up the square microphone next to the sofa, pressed a button, and spoke softly:
"A thousand gold pounds."
The auction stage below suddenly fell into silence.
Many distinguished guests looked up at the second floor. They didn't know who was bidding, but those who could sit in the box were most likely big shots of higher status.
They stopped bidding, not because they thought it was too expensive, but because they didn't want to cause displeasure to the big shot because of a lipstick. Only Tracy and Huo Yiner, who were sitting in the front seat, knew who had just bid.
Miss Tracy's expression was a little complicated. She glanced at the opaque black glass window on the second floor and sighed inwardly...
"Mr. Jack, it's for the girl next to him... the blind lady named Flo Yin."
The host came to his senses and cleverly smoothed over the situation.
"The distinguished guest in Box 2 directly offered 1,000 gold pounds! Wow! It seems that Miss Tracy is very popular!"
Many gentlemen and ladies present cast meaningful glances at Tracy, but she only forced a smile, and a bitter taste gradually spread in her heart.
Soon, the host struck the gavel.
Tracy came to the second floor with two waitresses in red uniforms and knocked on Chen Lun's door.
"Mr. Jack, thank you for your support of this dinner. I would like to thank you on behalf of the residents of Peacock City."
Tracy forced a smile and handed the lipstick over personally.
After Chen Lun took it, he noticed that the other party was in a bad mood, but he did not say anything to comfort him. He just replied politely:
"You're welcome. It's just a small favor."
Tracy felt extremely sad, but she still forced herself to lift her skirt and bow, then led her people away.
Until the door closed again.
The ethereal voice of Flo Yin came:
"She seems to like you very much."
"Maybe it's just your illusion."
Chen Lun responded and looked at Fuluoyin with a smile.
Flo Yin shook her head and said with certainty:
"I could sense her depressed mood, which was... a kind of disappointment and pain from not getting what she wanted."
Chen Lun played with the exquisite lipstick in his hand that was worth an entire winery, and said slowly:
"I have always considered Miss Triller as just a friend. She may have some misunderstandings about me... Flo Yin, my heart is too small. It can only accommodate one person."
Flo Yin stared at him blankly, a blush gradually appearing on her cheeks.
Chen Lun couldn't help but sigh inwardly when he saw such a beautiful scenery.
He handed over the lipstick and chuckled:
"I saw you seemed quite interested in it just now, so I'm giving it to you."
Flo Yin pursed her lips and said hesitantly:
"1,000 gold pounds, you don't have to spend so much money on me... Besides, I've never used this kind of thing."
"No, I don't even think it's worthy of you, Floin."
Seeing this, Chen Lun unscrewed the lipstick and brought it to Flo Yin's lips.
"If you haven't used it, then try it. When the empire was first established, this thing was even considered by the secular world to be a power borrowed by women from the devil... an evil power used to seduce men, because few men at the time could resist its charm."
The crimson paste gently touched Fuluoyin's moist lips, and was slowly applied under Chen Lun's delicate and steady force.
During this process, Chen Lun also quietly explained to Fuluo Yin:
"In the more distant past, when the technology at the bottom of the empire was still very backward, lipsticks at that time would use materials such as spermaceti, white jade powder, red ochre, and even crocodile feces and lead, which were harmful to the human body... But humans' determination to pursue beauty would ignore these side effects."
Flo Yin's expression became more and more gentle, and she felt her heartbeat gradually speeding up. Listening to the low voice that was as close as a foot, feeling the familiar and reassuring breath, the whole person seemed to float high in the sky, flying towards her final destination, the moon.
She seemed to see a ray of light in the boundless darkness, warm and hot.
That was the light she pursued and protected, the light emitted by Lord Jack.
It is also called the light that lasts till death.
After a moment.
"Do I... look good?"
Flo Yin sat upright on the sofa, pursed her lips slightly, and asked.
After a while.
The voice sounded again, with a hint of surprise in its tone.
"Of course... No one is prettier than you."
Instead, it became even more gloomy.
"I finally understand why people say it is an evil force, Floin."
The next moment.
Flo Yin felt a layer of warmth against her lips.
A familiar smell is getting closer.
The beam of light shone from the darkness and hit her face. It was not dazzling, but gentle, friendly, and comfortable.
At this moment, Flo Yin seemed to have forgotten everything. The only thing left was the heartbeat coming from her ears, which gradually overlapped with her own, forming a song of tacit resonance.
I don’t know how much time has passed.
Flo Yin came to her senses and found herself nestled in a warm embrace. Jack's gentle laughter could be heard from above her head:
"I'm sorry, Flo Yin, I was bewitched by your evil power."
Flo Yin burst out laughing.
She didn't say anything, but silently put her arms around the man's back and hugged him tightly.
The two of them stopped talking, as if they had tacitly agreed not to ruin the atmosphere of the moment.
After a moment.
Fuluo Yin sat up from Chen Lun's arms, raised her head, blushed and spoke softly:
"Thank you, Master Jack."
Chen Lun looked down at the girl and was once again amazed. Her long blond hair was tied up, with a few strands falling down from one side of her ear. Her fair and delicate face was tinged with red. Under her tall little nose were bright red lips... But a touch of red cream crossed the border from the corner of her mouth, which made her look incredibly beautiful but also a little funny.
That was his masterpiece.
It's not that the application is uneven, but...
"What's wrong?"
Flo Yin noticed something and asked in confusion.
Chen Lun used his thumb to wipe away the extra red on her lips, then wiped the color on his own lips, and chuckled:
"Nothing, I just think that although the scent of roses is nice, it's not as good as the scent on you."
Flo Yin knew he was talking about the smell of lipstick.
She felt a joy in her heart that was stronger than all the previous times combined.
*
*
*
Chen Lun did not bid much in the subsequent auction, but near the end, he took a fancy to a small retro wooden bookcase and bought it for 300 gold pounds.
When Huo Yiner led two male servants to bring the bookcase up, Chen Lun discovered that there were more than a dozen old books inside. He flipped through them casually, but was surprised to receive a prompt box on the panel that one of the books was a mysterious book.
"From the general content, we can infer that this is a book containing extraordinary knowledge of the deep sea faction. If nothing unexpected happens, it is about Sequence 8 - Navigator."
Chen Lun was quite satisfied with this unexpected surprise.
Perhaps the original owner of the bookcase did not know the value of this mysterious book, which allowed him to successfully pick up a bargain. It was not much profit, but it was enough to make him happy.
And it happened to be the deep-sea faction that was missing from all the Sequence 8 supernatural knowledge that Chen Lun had collected.
'At present, we are still lacking the sun, deep sea, earth and magic to complete the ten paths of sequence 8 transcendental knowledge. With this mysterious book, there are only three paths left.'
He thought to himself.
After the auction, the charity dinner continued with the purpose of leaving some "social time" for the guests present, allowing these gentlemen and ladies to exchange their experiences with the collections. Of course, this was just a polite way of putting it.
In fact, it is to strengthen relationships and increase opportunities for contact and cooperation between each other.
Chen Lun was not interested in this. After taking back the little white snake from the private room next door, he took Fuluoyin and left early.
After leaving the box and going downstairs, he saw Huo Yiner and Tracy chatting and laughing with several gentlemen and ladies in the hall. He did not go over to disturb them, but found a few male waiters, gave them a tip of two silver cups, and asked them to move the bookcase he had photographed to the carriage outside.
When Chen Lun and Fuluoyin were about to get on the carriage, a tall and thin middle-aged man in a formal suit came up to Chen Lun, took off his hat politely and extended his hand.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Jackspeight. I'm Amos, the head of the asylum. Could you please take up a moment of your precious time?"
The man smiled and his tone was sincere.
Chen Lun gently patted the back of Fuluoyin's hand twice. The latter smiled, tacitly let go of the hand that was holding his arm, and got into the carriage first.
Afterwards, Chen Lun followed Amos and slowly strolled aside.
"Want one?"
Amos asked as he pulled out a pack of cheap cigarettes.
Chen Lun smiled politely and waved his hand to decline.
"Sorry, I smoked these cheap cigarettes when I was young, so I'm used to it."
Amos thought Chen Lun disliked the low quality of the cigarettes, so he lit one for himself and explained with a chuckle.
But Chen Lun shook his head.
"Don't get me wrong, Mr. Amos, I just don't smoke."
"I see."
Amos showed an expression of understanding.
The two walked all the way to a remote tree in the distance, and neither of them spoke a word during the process.
It was not until Amos finished smoking a cigarette that he said in a deep voice:
"Mr. Jackspeight, Miss Mona nominated you to join the Imperial Inquisition. Are you aware of this?"
Chen Lun couldn't help but be shocked, but he remained calm on the surface.
After thinking for a moment, he deliberately showed a surprised expression.
"Huh? Sorry, I didn't know that."
"I won't hide it, Mr. Jack. Miss Mona and I actually belong to the same camp, the so-called 'conservatives'. Now, this matter about you has caused quite a stir among the top management of the shelter... But the specific result has not yet been determined. It depends on whether you can do something beneficial to the empire next."
Amos's expression turned serious.
"Including me, the conservative members actually know your past deeds and hope that you can join the Imperial Inquisition... But after all, you are not an internal member, so this matter is extremely difficult."
Chen Lun suddenly fell into deep thought.