Salute To The General (Nathan Cross) novel Chapter 296

At 7 p.m. in the evening, when night fell and the city was all lit up, Nathan and Penny arrived at the Grand Hyatt Hotel to attend the charitable auction. The couple had brought along with them a third wheel, Kylie Tonkins.

Penny looked elegant and graceful, and was absolutely stunning. On the other hand, Kylie was sweet and adorable.

Flanked by two beauties, each with their own merits, Nathan Cross was the focus of many other guests as they turned their attentions to the three of them the minute they walked in.

Jude Hay came forward to welcome them accompanied by two assistants. His eyes sparkled with desire as he sized Penny up in a gorgeous evening gown. With a broad grin, the man said, "Welcome, Mr. Cross, Ms. Smith! You guys really made it here."

Penny replied with a chuckle, "We're raising funds for our alma mater tonight. How can I miss it!"

There was a good turnout at the charity auction, with the majority being entrepreneurs and business men who were alumni of Channing University.

The guests were all allocated to different tables, and each table had a unique number card for them to raise in order to indicate their interests in the items at auction.

Naturally, Nathan, Penny and Kylie were seated at the same table, while Jude Hay and his two subordinates sat at the table beside.

The emcee for tonight's charity auction was Yale Xenakis, who was one of the most well-known and experienced auctioneers in the city.

He was able to accurately appraise any item just by taking one look at it, be it ancient relics or modern luxury goods.

As such, apart from being the emcee, Yale Xenakis was also appointed the main auctioneer of the event.

After announcing the start of the auction,

Yale Xenakis invited Jude Hay, the auction organizer and the President of Channing Charity Foundation, up on stage to say a few words. The second opening speaker was the Principal of Channing University.

The charity auction officially began after the speeches by the two men.

The entrepreneurs and businessmen started contributing items for the auction. However, those were mainly invaluable or ordinary items such as personal calligraphy works, cheap antiques, old watches, or even unwanted branded handbags which belonged to the wives of those alumni.

Some were auctioned off for a few thousand, while some, which were worth a bit more, fetched tens of thousands.

Nathan finally understood that these people who attended such charity events were not sincere about doing their parts for charity. Instead, their main purpose for attending such an event was to extend their network and widen their business social circles.

The majority of the attendees had shared the same objective, which was to establish some useful business contacts and hopefully have some fun in the meantime.

No one was serious about donating big sums of money for charity.

After all, they had all worked hard to accumulate their wealth, and did not intend to spend it in such a manner.

As Yale Xenakis noticed the lackluster response and he said humorously, "Dear esteemed guests and alumni, since everyone seems to be lacking enthusiasm, why don't I make a suggestion? The person who donates the item with the most proceeds at the charity auction tonight will get to enjoy a dance with a beautiful lady. What does everyone think of this idea?"

After all, the person whom Penny Smith would be dancing with, was the top donor of this charity auction.

Jude Hay started the ball rolling by donating a Bentley, which was auctioned off for five million. The proceeds would go to Channing University.

The man had instantly become the top donor of the event.

There were silent cheers and whispers among the crowd, applauding Jude Hay for being the greatest philanthropist in Channing with his generous donation. Everyone had presumed that the first dance with Penny Smith would go to Jude Hay.

In fact, Jude Hay had done that with the intention to impress Penny Smith, hoping to smitten the woman with his charm.

He had not forgotten to deride Nathan Cross while trying to win Penny over.

"Nathan, you have been watching the auction for quite a while now. Aren't you donating something too? Are you so down and out that you don't have anything presentable to contribute?" Jude Hay asked.

Nathan Cross became the center of

attention at once. Everyone was waiting to see what he would do next.

Penny got nervous too. It was the first time she and Nathan attended a charity auction, and the couple had not brought along with them anything as their contribution. As a result, this had landed them in their current predicament.