152: Chapter 152 The Bystanders Have Their Own Hidden Motives

After the incident with President Liu, the way everyone present looked at Lin Xiao changed.

There was confusion, astonishment, and greed...

Lin Xiao felt unnerved by their stares and couldn't help but shrink his neck.

"What's going on? Why do they keep looking at me like that?"

"Ah, could it be that they can't bear to give me a reward, so they want to offer themselves instead?"

"Wow, don't repay kindness with ingratitude!"

At this moment, a Rich Woman dressed in gaudy, bejeweled attire stepped forward.

With Lin Chuge's introduction, Lin Xiao learned that this Rich Woman ran an influencer agency and had countless influencers under her banner.

She had also taken advantage of the era of rising short videos to make a huge fortune.

"Lin Xiao, are you interested in becoming a streamer at my company?"

The Rich Woman said with a smile.

Lin Xiao didn't even want to be a celebrity, let alone an influencer.

For one, he had no talent, and for another, he couldn't be bothered to chat with people.

Moreover, the Rich Woman's company wasn't a good place; it was a total mess inside.

Seeing that the Rich Woman was about to say something else, he quickly waved his hand. "Sorry, I have no interest in being an influencer, and besides..."

At this point, Lin Xiao stopped.

He probably wasn't in a position to say the rest.

The Rich Woman didn't press him.

Generally speaking, any further explanation after a refusal was just a casual excuse to save face.

Whether or not one listened to such excuses didn't really matter.

But soon, Lin Xiao's inner voice rang in her mind.

"Besides, that influencer agency is a den of wolves!"

"That perverted husband of the Rich Woman is an old lecher. As long as someone is somewhat attractive, they've basically been ruined by him—he doesn't care about gender!"

"Am I crazy to go there and be a poor little lamb?"

"But come to think of it, the Rich Woman is actually the most pitiful one."

The Rich Woman's face turned pale, then green.

It was only her strong heart, tempered by years of dealing with people insincerely, that kept her from losing her composure in front of everyone.

She managed to squeeze out a smile with difficulty. "Alright, if you change your mind in the future, you can come find me."

After saying that, she quickly walked away.

Originally, her husband was supposed to attend this Auction with her today, but yesterday he said there was something urgent at the company that he needed to handle.

Now that she thought about it, he probably just wanted to take advantage of her absence to go harass those streamers again.

This thought made her tremble uncontrollably.

In the end, just like President Liu earlier, she sat down in a spot very close to the door.

Poised and ready!

As soon as the door could be opened, she would be the first to rush out!

She wanted to see what kind of expression her dear husband would have when caught in bed!

...

With these two precedents, the way others looked at Lin Xiao became even more complicated.

For many, their initial gratitude became less pure.

At the same time, they also thought about the recent rapid progress of some Lin family projects, which might all be related to Lin Xiao.

This speculation made the gazes of some people even more greedy.

Many of them started plotting against Lin Xiao, wanting to extract some information from him.

However, they were also wary, worried that the dark secrets of their own companies would also be dug up.

Finally, someone could no longer hold back.

A slightly younger man stood up and walked toward Lin Xiao.

"A-Xiao, this is Brother Zhang, a young talent with great expertise in stocks."

Lin Chuge continued to introduce him to Lin Xiao.

Lin Xiao nodded, catching the subtext in Lin Chuge's words.

By not mentioning his family background, it meant this person wasn't from an established family, nor was he a Rich Second Generation.

By not mentioning his company, it meant this person focused primarily on individual development.

In short, he had neither a family background nor a stable job.

Even if he had emerged as a dark horse and made a name for himself in recent years through stock trading, he couldn't be considered a reliable person.

"Lin Xiao, thank you so much for saving us. You don't look very old, and I'd like to make friends with you."

Brother Zhang sat next to Lin Xiao with a full smile, appearing very amiable.

If it were any other young person, they might not think there was anything inappropriate about it.

But Lin Xiao had no interest in people who had no relationship with him; he only cared about money.

And this Brother Zhang was just offering empty words of thanks without showing any real gesture—that would have been fine, but he actually wanted to be friends with him?

"Dream on!"

Did he really think he was a three-year-old child?

Lin Xiao couldn't help but want to roll his eyes.

It was only because of his status as the young master of the Lin family, and the fact that his actions outside represented the Lin family, that he held back.

For the sake of saving face, he nodded indifferently. "Mm, hello."

Everyone present was a shrewd person.

Anyone with eyes could see that Lin Xiao was not interested in making this friend.

Yet, this Brother Zhang—whether he was thick-skinned or just not very bright—not only didn't leave but actually started chatting as if they were real friends.

He did most of the talking, while Lin Xiao nodded perfunctorily.

As he spoke, he finally turned to the main topic.

"Lin Xiao, I wonder if you have any insights into the recent stock market?"

As he spoke, he leaned in closer, trying to get chummy with Lin Xiao.

But Lin Xiao kept dodging backward, as if he had encountered a plague god.

"Ahhh, stay away from me! Don't touch me!"

"Especially that finger of yours, it just picked..."

The inner voice paused here for a moment.

Everyone pricked up their ears.

A finger? Picked what?

Some people hadn't yet recovered from the previous scandal involving the Rich Woman's husband, and since Brother Zhang was quite handsome, they thought they might hear some scandalous gossip again.

But soon, Lin Xiao's inner voice continued.

"It picked a toe!"

"That's a toe with athlete's foot!"

"It's clearly something that can be cured, but he just loves that rich, pungent smell. He refuses to treat it and, when he has nothing to do, he just picks at it and sniffs it!"