Under the enthusiastic recommendation of Thomas Xu, a group of people set out. As soon as they stepped outside, they immediately realized that everyone in the gathering place had gone to watch the match. Even the ladies from the red-light district across the street were nowhere to be seen. A few who were slower to leave hurriedly grabbed their stools and rushed out. They hadn't gone far when they could hear the increasing clamor coming from the slums in the distance.
The singing competition is set in the largest open space in the slums, which was originally a picnic and barbecue area. There are plenty of tables and benches, and after dismantling some recreational equipment, the venue can accommodate six to seven thousand people for entertainment at the same time. Looking at the crowd, it truly resembles a sea of people!
When Jack and the others arrived, a large white movie screen had already been set up on the spacious stage. A dozen men and women, who looked like professionals, were busy around the screen. Two sizable diesel generators were placed on the asphalt road, rumbling to supply power to the venue, and four rows of high-wattage light bulbs illuminated the area as if it were daytime.
Watching the crowd moving back and forth and smelling the pungent odor of sweat, Jack felt as if he were at an outdoor movie in the countryside. Although there were many people here and the atmosphere was lively, it lacked one of the most distinctive features of the past: vendors shouting to sell popcorn and drinks. If there were more of these vendors, most people here would probably temporarily forget the painful doomsday and immerse themselves in this festive atmosphere.
Thomas Xu led the group boldly into the middle of the crowd. Everyone thought they would surely attract angry shouts from the crowd, as this would have been considered a low-quality act in the past. However, today was different; once people saw this group of well-dressed individuals, they all consciously made way. A few who almost shouted out quickly held their tongues and nodded respectfully to let them pass.
After pushing through without any obstacles to the center, the group finally understood why Thomas Xu had gone to such lengths to bring them in. The central area was different from the rest; it was a place reserved for the upper echelons of the gathering.
Dozens of genuine leather sofas were neatly arranged in the most prominent position. About ten attractive tall women were pushing small carts filled with drinks back and forth among the sofas, occasionally pouring drinks for the big shots sitting on the sofas, lighting cigarettes, or playfully bending over to let them pat their backs, happily receiving food that was handed to them.
In fact, the women who have survived in the gathering until today are basically the cream of the crop, having been filtered through the sands of time. The very few unattractive women are either skilled in some special way or are supported by emotionally attached husbands. Therefore, looking around, even those of average looks are not many; anyone picked out could have been a small star in the past. It is not an exaggeration to call this place a concentration camp for beauties.
"Hey! Brother Lin is here!"
As soon as Jack and the others arrived, the sharp-eyed Biaozi came running over with a headset, enthusiastically greeting Jack. Jack pointed at Biaozi's headset and asked, "What are you doing? Working part-time as security?"
"Hehe~ Tonight it's our turn to maintain order, but no one really dares to disobey. Mainly, we just catch those who dare to steal, give them a beating, and tie them to a pole for public display!" Biaozi said with a hearty smile, then led Jack and the others, saying, "Brother Lin, come with me. Qiang Ge specifically saved you a good spot!"
Jack nodded with a smile, leading everyone forward to a large set of leather sofas at the front. As soon as he looked up, he noticed that Ryan Qiang and his wife were already seated there. Upon seeing Jack approach, Ryan Qiang immediately stood up, warmly put his arm around Jack's shoulder, and said with a smile, "I thought you weren't coming! Today's training has really been tough on you, man!"
"It's nothing. If we can train this group well, it will enhance the survival capabilities of the entire settlement!" Jack replied with a smile, his tone quite casual.
"Jack, I always thought that my brother Qiang was the only fool left in this world who was so compassionate. Today, I've discovered that there's actually someone else who shares his ideals!"
Beside them, Luo Yudie waved over a girl with a cart, stood up, and personally poured two glasses of liquor, handing them to Jack and Ryan Qiang. She then smiled and said, "Like-minded people are now considered brothers in hardship; shouldn't you two have a drink?"
"Haha, good brothers in hardship! But I'm just a fake compassionate person; my brother Lin is the real hero! Come on, brother, let's have a toast!" Ryan Qiang laughed heartily, clinking his glass with Jack's and downing the drink in one go.
After chatting casually with Ryan Qiang and his wife for a while, the previously noisy surroundings suddenly quieted down. A poised and attractive female host walked onto the stage holding a wireless microphone. She was dressed in a black professional suit, her makeup perfectly applied, and her long hair styled elegantly with hairspray, giving her a very professional appearance.
The host walked to the center of the stage made of wooden boards and iron frames, gently tapped the microphone in her hand to signal for silence. Once everyone was quiet, she spoke in very standard Mandarin, "Thank you all for coming tonight. I am your host and friend, Ye Lan. Tonight, we will be holding the preliminary competition for the top ten out of twenty, with the final prize still being 300 pounds of rice and a Jinhua ham generously sponsored by several of our big shots! However, before the competition begins, I think we can have some other entertainment activities to give our contestants more preparation time and allow everyone to enjoy an even more exciting competition!"
"What are we playing? Are you going to do a striptease? Just right, since my boss plucked all the hair from your pants last night, why not do a white tiger dance for everyone to see!"
As soon as Ye Lan finished speaking, someone in the audience immediately shouted out in a lewd tone, causing everyone to burst into laughter. In the past, this might have made the somewhat famous Ye Lan lose her temper, but her expression remained unchanged, as if she was already used to such teasing. Instead, she sweetly replied, "Oh, Dog Brother, you're so annoying! What's there to see if I have no hair to dance with? If you want to see, I can dance for you slowly in your bed tonight, but you have to let me finish hosting the show first; several of our bosses are waiting!"
"Alright, everyone!" Ye Lan's voice suddenly changed again, returning to her dignified broadcasting tone. After a light cough, she said, "The main reason is that our esteemed Brother Yuan Dapao brought back a group of survivors this evening, exactly twenty or so. As for the men, I won't say much; those who dared to look for food stayed, while those who didn't have been sent to the slums to fend for themselves. However, there are several lovely young ladies among them! Brother Pao is always selfless, so he has brought those young ladies out to share with everyone. Anyone interested should come out and bid quickly; the fast get it, the slow miss out! Oh, and let me share a little secret with you all: one of them is a virgin! Lanlan just checked the goods with a flashlight, how about that? Pretty impressive, right!"
As she spoke, the former first-line female host from the provincial station smiled and waved to the audience below. Soon, six or seven young women were pushed onto the stage from behind the big screen. Without exception, they had their outer garments stripped away, leaving only their underwear. They were all shivering in the cold wind, hugging their arms and looking terrified at the crowd below.
"Damn it, I'm talking about Yuan Dapao. Are you running out of ammo, you son of a bitch? You dare to sell this kind of stuff? The woman who cleans my toilet is prettier than this!"
Mr. Tiger was the first to shout, sitting on a Thomas sofa about five or six meters away from Ryan, with a cigar thicker than his thumb in his mouth. His companion, Yan Yan, was obediently massaging his shoulders. Upon seeing the women on stage, he disdainfully turned around and shouted.
"Damn it, Tiger, can you see clearly before you shout? Although they have flattened their chests from hunger, several of them still look quite pretty. You should be thanking me for being so generous!"
It seems that Yuan Dapao was sitting in the crowd a few rows back, and it was hard to tell who was speaking. Then a loud voice boomed, "Ye Lan! You little slut, I told you to clean their faces, why haven't you done it? They look so filthy, who can see them clearly? If they can't sell tonight, I'll have my way with you... oh, wait, that would be something you'd actually want... Anyway, if they don't sell, you'll definitely be the one to suffer!"
"Oh dear~ Brother Pao, please calm down. I wasn't in a hurry to help you sell, I just got busy and forgot! I'm wiping it right now, I'm wiping it!"
Ye Lan was acting coy, but in a fluster, she hurriedly grabbed a wet cloth from Thomas in the audience and started wiping the faces of those dirty women. While wiping, she scolded, "Lift your heads up! If you can't sell, I'll be the one to suffer. I'll just hang you all at the entrance for all the poor folks in the slums to play with, and I won't let you off easily!"
"Ladies, the beauties have revealed their true selves. Everyone, take a look and see if they are both alluring and beautiful!"
Moments later, Ye Lan casually threw away the wet cloth, turned around, and slapped several of the women who refused to look up in the face without any hesitation. Then, she pinched one of their chins, forcing her to face everyone, and said into the microphone, "Come on, tell everyone about your profession, age, whether you're married, what your best skills in bed are, and what positions you like!"
The woman, whose face had been pinched into a distorted shape, was released by Ye Lan, revealing a pale yet relatively handsome face belonging to Thomas. She twisted her hands nervously and said timidly, "I... I am Thomas..."
"No one is asking for your name, and they aren't interested in knowing it!" Ye Lan impatiently interrupted the woman's words, urging her to quickly say something else.
"I... I am a saleswoman at a department store... selling shoes. This year... I am twenty-seven years old, married, and I am best at... I am best at..." The woman said, seeming to find it increasingly difficult to continue. Her originally pale face turned blood red, and finally, under Ye Lan's intimidation, she broke down and shouted, "I don't know what I am good at; any position will do!"
"Hehe~ Brothers and younger brothers, did you all hear that? A 27-year-old married woman can do anything, you know? Are you all tempted? The slums! It's time for the men from the slums to rise up! I know there are quite a few wealthy guys among you. Just the other day, one of you treated me for a night, and we had a great time together. Come on, men, it won't cost you much to take someone else's wife home to play with. What a bargain!"
Ye Lan held the microphone, swaying her curvaceous waist enticingly, continuously uttering captivating words. However, the woman beside her, in terms of appearance and figure, was quite ordinary, and even her past profession was unremarkable. As a result, there were hardly any interested parties. Moreover, this auction had already established rules, with a starting price of at least ten pounds of rice. The girls in the red-light district were far more beautiful than her, and they could easily entertain for just one or two pounds of rice, so no one wanted to waste their money.
Finally, Ye Lan, feeling parched and sweating profusely, found that no one came forward to buy this woman. In desperation, she cast a pleading glance at a man she had been involved with for a long time. This man was associated with Tiger Ye and was a former colleague and admirer of Ye Lan. Back then, Ye Lan was still using her real name, Xiang Xiaoying. Although the once proud Xiang Xiaoying now allowed him to play with her as he pleased, the mystery and novelty had faded with time. However, the bond from having been colleagues for a few years still existed. So, upon seeing Ye Lan's gaze, he reluctantly raised his hand and spent at least ten kilograms of rice to buy the woman back.
"Phew~" Ye Lan quietly breathed a sigh of relief, secretly regretting that she shouldn't have helped that Yuan Dapao sell the twenty pounds of rice. If it really can't be sold, given Yuan Dapao's stingy personality, he would definitely want all the rice back, and then have his men unleash a free barrage on her. That would leave her with nowhere to cry.
The auction is still ongoing. Aside from the initially slow-selling salesperson, the subsequent women, resembling kindergarten teachers, university students, and female civil servants, were relatively easy to sell. They were smoothly taken away by their respective men at prices that were neither too high nor too low. This lifted Ye Lan's spirits, who had been somewhat worried, and she happily jumped on stage to perform a lively and sultry dance to liven up the atmosphere. Of course, this is a very realistic era, and she definitely wouldn't dance in a striptease without a price to pay.
At this moment, only two women were left on stage: one was a seductive-looking woman with an abundance of charm, and the other was a petite girl who looked almost ready to collapse from fear. When Ye Lan walked up to the tall woman with a flirtatious expression, the woman surprisingly took the microphone from her hands, directly robbing Ye Lan of her right to speak.
With a seductive gait, the woman with a charming demeanor walked to the center of the stage. After striking a captivating S pose for the audience, she surprisingly cupped her breasts, which were wrapped in a red bra, with her hand and confidently said into the microphone, "You all see my pair, right? A perfect 36D bust, definitely not fake with silicone padding, guaranteed to feel real. And my butt, as you can all see, is even perkier than my breasts; I assure you, it will spring to life with just a pinch. I'm 1.72 meters tall, with legs that are 1.05 meters long. Wearing black stockings, I am definitely the best material for a female William control!"
Confidently, the woman turned gracefully on stage and then continued with a cool demeanor, saying, "Alright, that's enough about my figure. Let's talk about my profession. I'm sure many of you know the magazine 'Dressing Like a Woman,' right? I'm the editor-in-chief of that magazine, so my eloquence, cultivation, and insight are absolutely top-notch. But whether you buy me to be high-class or low-class, it doesn't matter. What I'm best at is calling it out to you in English; I can do it in French too. I won't bother with those outdated things like ice and fire because I have my own exclusive secrets... Oh? This brother asked me if I can use the Poison Dragon Drill? I can tell what you ate last night with the Poison Dragon Drill. So, do you think I can do it?"
Those present, Dexter friends, were excited. This woman was the most beautiful on stage and also the most refined. The various abilities she showcased captivated the men, and before she even finished speaking, the audience was already cheering loudly.
"Finally, I want to make a personal request. I am not comparable to those superficial people mentioned earlier, so my starting price must not be less than one hundred pounds of rice!"
The woman looked at everyone in the audience, slowly raised a finger, and after surveying everyone, she suddenly pointed at her belly button and said, "You see these three pink diamonds on my beautiful belly button? Let me tell you, these three pink diamonds alone cost over three million US dollars! Seven of the richest people in the country have pursued me, so if you bid low, you are absolutely insulting me and embarrassing yourselves! Alright, we can start the bidding now, starting price… one hundred jin!"
It was the first time that host Ye Lan had seen someone bragging about themselves on the auction stage, and for a moment, she didn't know how to react. When she finally came to her senses, she felt a surge of anger and wanted to grab the microphone, but was stunned in place by the woman's cold words. The woman closed the microphone and glared at Ye Lan, saying, "If you dare to take another step forward, I will immediately change the condition to whoever can make you kneel in front of me, I will go with him!"
The auction reached an unprecedented climax because of the woman's self-promotion. Every man who could afford to bid started shouting like they were on a blood rush, and even the people under Yuan Dapao almost couldn't help but want to bid to redeem this very unique woman, but were slapped back by Yuan Dapao.