A Billion Dollar Exchange

185 We congratulate you

''Where have you been? I've been searching for you all over the place.'' Xin Yong asked, looking concerned. She sat down beside her, Liling had chosen a hidden corner in the hall, not wanting to attract any unnecessary attention.

''You did not walk in with him, right?" she asked again, a frown on her face.

''I did, didn't you see me?'' Liling answered, trying to sound as believing as ever.

''Actually I did see you, but when you were trying to escape as the camera was focused on Liu Wei!''

Liling rolled her eyes, seeing that she was not able to escape the wary eyes of her best friend.

''I did not want to.'' She replied, looking away. Her eyes scanned the crowd, searching for Liu Wei , she spotted him sitting at the VIP area and almost at the same time, their eyes met. Liling blushed as he mouthed a "HI", she did the same too, and they both smiled.

''Why? Did you realize what you've just done? This was the perfect opportunity to show that Richen that she is nowhere compared to you but you threw it all away.

You should have seen how she was flaunting her dress on the red carpet, my God, it can't even compare to your hankie!'' Xin Yong cursed beneath her breath. Her face was already red, showing her fume. Liling looked away from Liu Wei and turned to look at her friend again.

''There will be another time, okay? Right now, what we should be concerned about is how this party will begin, I'm so excited!'' Liling giggled lightly, showing off her perfect set of white teeth.

''What do I do with you?''

''My, my, my, what do we have here…''

The two girls were interrupted by a bustling and well familiar voice. Liling's gaze shifted from her friend to the direction of the sound.

There she was, standing hands at akimbo, staring down at two of them with a mockery smirk on her lips.

''Oh My…'' Richen burst into a hysterical laughter, which turned her face to a shade of red.

''No, seriously you guys should tell me what's happening here. Liling, are you seriously that shameless? After being evicted, you still summoned courage to attend the welcome party, maybe thinking that a miracle will happen?''

Richen continued laughing; she shook her head unbelievably as she stared down at the two of them. Xin Yong's face was already red with irritation. She glared at Richen and immediately wanted to retort but Liling nudged her with her arm.

Richen laughed alone as the two girls watched her and when she saw that they were not going to respond to her, she continued talking.

''Well, it's not a bad idea to act as an escort, you may never know who may be willing to let you climb unto their bed?again?and get you back into the industry, as a dancer or a makeup artist. You never can tell how your luck will shine, so do enjoy your time here.''

''Why did you let that bitch insult you like that and walk away. What is even wrong with you this night? Are you sick?, just talk to me.''

Xin Yong asked looking confounded. Liling turned to look at her angry face and giggled.

''There is a wise saying that goes like this, 'the real fool isn't the one who talks nonsense, but the one who replies to his nonsense even when he knows he'll be wasting his time'.''.

There was a second pause, after which the both of them bursted into an uncontrollable laughter.

They were cut off by the MC who just walked up the stage and began to address the crowd.

….

''Boss, Mr. Liu Wei is right here in the VIP reservation area, but the young lady is nowhere beside him, it appears she did not come to the party.''

His secretary whispered into his ears, making him look away from the Blondie whom he had come with, and at Liu Wei's direction.

Su Min's gaze remained on Liu Wei who talking to a staff, someone on uniform to be precise. True to what his secretary had said, she was not anywhere around Liu Wei. He used his eyes to search through the crowd but he could not spot her anywhere.

Maybe she went out for a while, to the restroom or something.

He thought to himself. His main aim of being at that gathering in the first place was to see that woman; there was no way he was going to leave there without seeing her.

Everyone was almost settled and the party had started in earnest.

The waiters began walking around sharing drinks. Xin Yong sat beside Liling to keep her company since Jin Yue was sitting with Liu Wei in the VIP area.

Many people were called up to give a speech or two, after which there were donations made by big time CEOs' and bourgeoisies. Liling and Xin Yong awed at how much money was realized in just a few minutes.

After the donations were made, a tall man obviously in his thirties was called up to the stage.

Liling, who had all the while been staring at Liu Wei, jolted back to reality when Xin Yong nudged her.

Her eyes shifted back to the person on the stage, and her heart almost jumped out of her mouth, when she heard his speech.

''…we welcome you all to X-dynasty and wish you a successful journey in your career. You all have undergone rigorous training and emerged successful among your mates. We congratulate you, and we promise to provide you with everything necessary to climb the ladder of fame and success.

Now, X-dynasty has an award for the best upcoming artist. She emerged best in the auditions and best in the training sessions, and because of her daunting performances, the company congratulates her. This is a bid to encourage everyone to work hard; you can't get to the limelight without hard work and commitment, I think I should stop here, not too good with words actually, ha-ha.''

There were whispers among the crowd, mostly from the new artists; they all wondered who the best among them was.

Richen was almost bursting in happiness. Since Liling was out of the way, the trophy would ordinarily be hers! To think that the whole world was watching this event, that was already enough popularity, she would need little or no effort to get fans when she finally makes her first debut. She struggled to remain calm on her sit in a bid to hide her happiness. Finally, she would show Liling that she was nowhere compared to her!

A woman walked up the stage to join the man; she was slender and looked like a model in her dinner gown. She was holding a tray which contained a gold plaited trophy and an envelope.

She handed over the envelope to the man when she reached him.

''We wish to call up the CEO of X-dynasty to

present the award. Mr. Liu Wei, it's an honor to call you up this stage to present this award, please a round of applause as he walks up the stage..''

There was a resounding applause as Liu Wei walked up to the stage and took the microphone from the man.

''I really didn't want to speak today but it seems I can't evade this, can I?''

Everyone burst out laughing at his joke. They calmed down after a while.

The man handed over the envelope to Liu Wei. Liu Wei?opened it and took out the piece of paper which was inside.