"Oh my… It looks like Ma Chao left his hair dye in too long," Cao Cao commented, clicking away from the photos. "Oh my. It's pretty bad."
"What, Cousin?" Xiahou Dun asked, setting a cup of instant coffee down on his boss's desk.
"I doubt it'll affect the bidding. Ma Chao is Ma Chao after all," he chuckled and slid his fingers across his iPad. "Let's see- oh, my eldest son has changed his description…" He was silent for a few moments before chuckling. "This is most definitely Guo Nuwang's work."
"So your son's keeping a mistress on top of a girlfriend," Xiahou Dun said blandly. "I suppose he takes after his father…"
"Or his mother… She seems to add another girlfriend to the roster every week…"
"That's different. There is nothing wrong with having many friends. Although I do not see the appeal…" Xiahou Dun grumbled.
"Dun, I assure you, it's not quite friendship I'm talking about…"
Xiahou Dun stared blankly.
Cao Cao sighed. "You need to get out more. Besides, I rather like Guo Nuwang. She's his girlfriend, well, unofficially at least, and his manager and financial advisor and his political advising committee rolled into one. And to tell you the truth, I'd like him to have more than a trophy wife…"
Xiahou Dun grunted noncommittally. "But you introduced your son to Ms. Zhen."
"So I did, so I did. Anyways, how is my favorite fabulous couple… Oh, how adorable. They're playing polo together… And somehow that degenerated into a sackrace," Cao Cao chuckled, peering at the files marked Gan Ning and Ling Tong. "How cute. How cute."
"A sackrace?" Xiahou Dun muttered. "What are they, ten years old?"
"It takes a good heart to enjoy child's play. Besides, the bidding for their auction is exceptional… This has to be the most expensive pancake breakfast ever. Who could be paying so much for-" Cao Cao reread the description and quickly searched up the phrase 'Gan Ning tight tank top.' A few images came up.
Xiahou Dun curiously looked over his cousin's shoulder and started to stare as well. "Oh."
"Yes. Oh my."
"Oh."
"Well. That certainly explains why the bidding for the pancake breakfast is so high… Hmmm, strange, how is Lu Xun pulling in higher than the Qiaos? Actually, perhaps not that strange…" He opened a file of a snapshot of Da Qiao, revealing a wraith-like apparition. "The only ones who'd willingly step near her right now are the Ghostbusters… A shame for Xiao Qiao," he added, spying the lively, bright-eyed girl in the back of the photo. "Her sister is really pulling her bidding down."
"Hmph."
"Perhaps not so strange for Lu Xun… I looked up a few of the bidders. All undergraduate business majors with especially rich parents, who all happen to be looking for internships…"
"Is that suspicious?"
"No. It is exactly as I predicted." Cao Cao chuckled and closed his files. "Well look at this. Our Zhang He is really hitting up the charts… But only among the very young. The majority is from high school or college… Compare this to Zhao Yun where the far majority is over forty."
"Hmmmm."
"Xu Huang is auctioning off a chance to teach football to underprivileged inner-city children. I admire his compassion, but as I told him before, this limits him to only football players… But then again, is that not his main fanbase anyways? Ah, my dear little hero… He told me it's a chance to do more good while doing good. Do you know why I disagreed, Xiahou Dun?"
Xiahou Dun tilted his head and watched his cousin, waiting for him to continue.
"Because with an extra, oh, I don't know, hundred grand or so that he's lost by restricting his bidders to only very good players, he could have helped a lot of people. Besides, what's the difference? He's already going down every week to those kids… Oh, Sun Ce's bidding has suddenly-" Cao Cao's eyes widened. "Look at that. Look at that. Somehow he convinced his little ice princess to join in!" The media mogul/stock trader/rare earth mining CEO/God knows what else laughed aloud. "Is that not so sweet…"
"I wonder why he joined…"
Cao Cao thoughtfully rolled a breath mint between two fingers. "Xiahou Dun, have you noticed something about Zhou Yu?"
"He's a prissy snob."
"No, he's serious. Everything has to have a reason. Everything he does ends up work-related. It's like… It's like he doesn't think that he deserves to have fun."
"That certainly explains things. I can admire a work ethic like that, but I still do not like Zhou Yu much," Xiahou Dun said plainly.
"It's not a work ethic. It's a mental problem in my books. But have you noticed something about Sun Ce?"
"He's a loud-mouthed braggart."
"….Well yes, that too. But the thing about Sun Ce is that he makes people want to have fun." Cao Cao sipped the now-cold coffee. "Even Zhou Yu."
Xiahou Dun was silent for a moment. "And I suppose he needs that?"
"Both of them do."
"Zhou Yu has never struck me as the playful or charitable type. I wouldn't pay to go prancing along the beach with a walking sulk," Xiahou Dun replied.
"These women would. But don't you see? It's a competition now… Between fans of Sun Ce, fans of Zhou Yu… And fans of both. A three-way free for all."
"This drives their bidding up?"
"My bets are on them. Before, I predicted Ling Tong, Zhao Yun, and Sun Ce pulling in the most… Now with Zhou Yu on board their bidding is going to be driven mad. Xiahou Dun, it's not only the amount of fans. It's the resources and the competition."
"I see."
"But really… I retract my earlier statement. Anything can happen…"
"Anything?"
"Anything."
