Is This The Right Way To Repay A Favor? Chapter 49
byRaising the Price
Some netizens say that the three most important elements of photography are people, people, and people.
Some people, the moment they stand there, no matter the angle or pose, every frame looks like a movie.
Jiang Zhou wholeheartedly agreed with this. He had followed Shen Zhiyu offline, and even when photographed from the most challenging angles, it never diminished his beauty.
Shen Zhiyu reviewed the photos and pointed out a few to Wang Lei, “Just these few. Send them to me.”
Shen Zhiyu picked up the kitten again. Wang Lei fiddled with the camera beside him, transferring the photos.
In less than two minutes, Wang Lei sent the photos to Shen Zhiyu.
The kitten had woken up and jumped onto the back of the sofa. Shen Zhiyu took off the crystal bead bracelet from his wrist and leaned over to play with the kitten.
“The photos have been sent to you,” Wang Lei said.
“Mm,” Shen Zhiyu replied softly, glancing sideways at Jiang Zhou, who was sitting next to the sofa. “CEO Jiang, finish the good deed?”
Jiang Zhou put down the phone he was pretending to look at. “What?”
“Help me touch up the pictures.” The kitten grabbed the bead bracelet and ran toward the TV. Shen Zhiyu tossed his phone to Jiang Zhou and chased after it.
His phone was already unlocked, and the screen displayed the original photos Wang Lei had sent.
The phone still carried the residual warmth of Shen Zhiyu’s palm. Jiang Zhou held it, feeling as if he were holding a hot potato.
“I’m not very good at it.”
“Is that so?” Shen Zhiyu caught the kitten. The kitten spat out the bracelet and lay on the floor, exposing its belly.
Shen Zhiyu put the bracelet back on his wrist, squatting in front of the TV to rub the kitten’s belly. His bright, clear eyes looked up at Jiang Zhou. “CEO Jiang is too modest. Just now you said you couldn’t take pictures, but they turned out quite well. Or…”
“Is CEO Jiang unwilling to help?”
Because of his squatting posture, the already loose V-neck draped open, revealing a large area of skin and smooth lines, creating a silent allure under the warm hotel lighting.
Jiang Zhou only looked once before forcing himself to look away, his voice carrying a slight tremor.
“Of course I’m willing, as long as you don’t mind.”
Jiang Zhou saved all the original photos sent by Wang Lei. Then he opened Shen Zhiyu’s phone interface and searched around, finding that Shen Zhiyu did not have any photo editing software.
Jiang Zhou reminded him, “You don’t have any editing software on your phone.”
“Oh, I forgot.” Shen Zhiyu was focused on playing with the cat and didn’t even lift his head. “Just download a random one for me.”
Jiang Zhou downloaded a photo editing app he frequently used and began editing seriously.
In truth, there was absolutely nothing wrong with Shen Zhiyu’s original photos straight out of the camera.
Jiang Zhou had saved all his previous promotional photos. Aside from collaboration shots, his selfies and departure photos clearly showed no editing.
He wondered why Shen Zhiyu suddenly wanted to edit them this time.
Perhaps it was as he said before the shoot—he was tired of the old style and wanted to try something different.
Jiang Zhou had systematically learned photo editing after becoming a fan of Shen Zhiyu.
He had a fan account dedicated to collecting Shen Zhiyu’s photos for secondary editing and creation. Due to his unique personal style and skill, he had accumulated a good number of followers and gained some fame within the fandom.
However, since Shen Zhiyu returned to the country, the account hadn’t produced any content for over two months.
In Taoyuan, too many eyes were watching, and Jiang Zhou didn’t dare to edit photos casually and risk exposure. After returning from Taoyuan, he intentionally tried to distance himself from Shen Zhiyu, so he hadn’t logged into the account either.
Shen Zhiyu’s appearance was already flawless. Jiang Zhou’s editing mainly focused on adjusting lighting, color, and overall atmosphere.
Jiang Zhou was skilled, finishing the edits in less than five minutes.
Shen Zhiyu glanced at the photos, found the style somewhat familiar, and gave Jiang Zhou a meaningful look.
Jiang Zhou felt a little uneasy under his gaze. “Is it not good?”
“It’s too good,” Shen Zhiyu smiled. “CEO Jiang truly is full of surprises.”
Jiang Zhou smiled shyly and awkwardly.
Wang Lei and the others, hearing Shen Zhiyu’s praise, also came over to look. The more they looked, the more familiar the style seemed, but they couldn’t immediately recall where they had seen it.
Shen Zhiyu uploaded the photos for his promotional post. “A different kind of surprise.”
Jiang Zhou only dared to take out his phone to check the trending topics after Shen Zhiyu left.
He saved the photos he had edited and scrolled through the comment section.
The comments were mostly fans gushing over the pictures, but one highly-liked comment caught Jiang Zhou’s attention.
“Why do I feel like this set of promotional photos really resembles the style of a certain fan editor?”
Jiang Zhou clicked on the comment and saw fans asking questions, many others agreeing, and even tagging his fan account.
Jiang Zhou hadn’t expected the fans’ eyes to be so sharp, able to spot clues from just a few pictures.
Jiang Zhou logged into the fan account, which he hadn’t used in a long time, and was immediately flooded with private messages.
Some fans sent him photos to edit, others asked why he stopped posting content, and many came directly from the highly-liked comment on the trending topic.
“Ma’am, the latest promotional photos were edited by you, right? It clearly has your touch!”
“Ma’am, have you been officially recruited?”
“Ma’am, now that you have insider access, please post more content!”
Wei Yan came over at the right time to remind him, “CEO Jiang, the auction is about to start.”
This charity auction was hosted by Liu Ye, an old friend of Languang Media, and invited many celebrities from the entertainment industry. The first half hour was dedicated to the red carpet.
Jiang Zhou rarely walked the red carpet for such events, usually heading straight to the inner venue.
Jiang Zhou put away his phone and went to the auction hall.
There were fewer media outlets inside, only those affiliated with the organizer were allowed to film.
Liu Ye introduced the new model for this charity auction: live online and offline bidding.
In addition to the people in the venue, netizens could participate in the bidding through the live stream after real-name verification. To reduce the risk of unsold items, online bidders were also required to pre-pay a six-figure deposit after verification.
Liu Ye was skilled at marketing and driving traffic. By inviting various celebrities to the event, the online live stream’s popularity had remained high since it started.
Shen Zhiyu’s seat was arranged in the center of the first row, making him the most prominent focus.
Jiang Zhou maintained his usual low profile, sitting in a corner of the third row. This position allowed him to observe that dazzling figure without restraint.
The auction officially began.
The first item was a snake-shaped necklace designed by a Thai designer, named Spirit of Naga. The design was inspired by the sacred snake “Naga” in Thai mythology, with chains forming the snake’s body, which was inlaid with deep and light green gemstones, giving it a profound and mysterious look.
The starting price was one thousand yuan.
For the first item, everyone raised their paddles one after another to warm up the atmosphere. The item was finally sold for one hundred thousand yuan.
Halfway through the auction, the auctioneer’s voice softened. “The next item is a painting.”
A painting with intense colors and vibrant, primitive vitality was displayed.
The painting was unsigned, but the naive and immature style suggested it was not the work of a famous artist.
The starting price was one hundred yuan.
The guests present politely raised their paddles, and the price gradually entered a plateau.
“Ten thousand yuan,” a collector called out.
The auctioneer looked around. “Any more bids?”
The auction hall fell silent for a moment.
Just then, in the corner of the third row, a hand with distinct joints steadily raised a number paddle.
Jiang Zhou calmly called out an astonishing price.
“One hundred thousand.”
All eyes instantly focused on the corner, and everyone’s gaze showed confusion.
In these charity auctions, many people would put up their children’s artwork as auction items, mainly to showcase the child’s work under the guise of charity, gaining exposure and a good reputation.
When this painting came out, with a starting price of one hundred yuan, everyone tacitly assumed it was the work of someone’s child. They bid politely, and ten thousand yuan was already considered a very high price limit.
Bidding it up to one hundred thousand was truly a case of having too much money to spend.
Online bidders and spectators were also surprised and confused.
“Who is this person? Spending one hundred thousand on a painting like this? Too much money and nowhere to spend it?”
“I can draw this too, can the big shot look at me instead?”
Some sharp-eyed netizens recognized him as CEO Jiang of Languang Media and sighed, “It really is the big shot with money to burn.”
Shen Zhiyu heard Jiang Zhou’s voice and turned his head. His gaze accurately pierced through the crowd, landing on Jiang Zhou holding the paddle.
A minute earlier, Shen Zhiyu had received a message from Jiang Zhou: “Teacher Shen, do me a favor, raise the price for this painting.”
Shen Zhiyu’s focus wasn’t on the request, but on the preceding address.
“Teacher Shen?”
Jiang Zhou immediately corrected himself: “Brother Yu.”
Shen Zhiyu glanced at him, then turned around and raised his paddle. “One hundred twenty thousand.”
Jiang Zhou’s eyebrows twitched almost imperceptibly. Without hesitation, he raised his paddle again to increase the price.
The two went back and forth, raising their paddles decisively. The price soared in their silent contest, reaching a staggering height.
The atmosphere in the venue was subtle. Everyone held their breath, watching the two lock horns over this single painting.
With Shen Zhiyu’s intense participation, the online comments exploded.
“Am I blind? I can’t see the divine stroke in this painting.”
“This painting can go up to five hundred thousand? I must be a frog in a well.”
Shen Zhiyu raised his paddle again, calling out a new price. “Six hundred thousand.” Then he turned to look at Jiang Zhou, his eyes seemingly asking, “Still raising?”
When he agreed to cooperate with Jiang Zhou to raise the price, Shen Zhiyu hadn’t expected the price to climb so high. When he followed up to three hundred thousand, there was actually a competitive edge involved.
He was also a little curious about what magic this painting held that made Jiang Zhou bid so high. As the bidding progressed, he even wondered if it might be a painting by Jiang Yue.
But after Shen Zhiyu called out “six hundred thousand,” Jiang Zhou suddenly stopped raising his paddle.
The auctioneer asked three times, but Jiang Zhou showed no intention of increasing the price.
The auctioneer brought down the hammer: “Congratulations to Mr. Shen!”
The hall erupted in applause.
Shen Zhiyu was slightly taken aback, but his professionalism prevailed. He quickly regained his composure, smiling and nodding to everyone.
The auctioneer did not immediately introduce the next item but instead explained the painting.
“This painting, Spring Garden, was created collaboratively by the children of ‘Xinya Special School,’ the beneficiaries of this charity initiative. It is the children’s depiction of spring as they see it.”
“Thank you, Mr. Shen, for your generosity in bidding this painting up to such a high price.”
“These children have also come to the venue today. Let us welcome them.”