Chapter 202

Chapter 202: Bundled Sale

As soon as the host said that, the guests started talking again.

Tonight’s auction was surprisingly chaotic, one strange thing coming after another.

Still, compared to the earlier two surprises, adding one more lot right before the end was not that rare. The bosses here were more interested in what this final lot actually was, to make an auction house like Duobao Pavilion open a special door for it and let it parachute in as the grand finale.

The host took the important documents his colleague handed over and announced loudly: “The final lot we’re adding tonight at the last minute is…”

As he spoke, a bidding contract appeared on the big screen behind him.

“A City B South District Lakeside commercial land contract?”

“That’s the South District Lakeside lot! My god, why is that land being auctioned here? Are they crazy?”

“It really is that lot? I thought I was seeing things. That land is the hottest plot in all of City B in recent years. All the major families in the country have their eyes on it and have been asking everywhere for a way in. I never thought… it would show up here.”

The speaker seemed to realize something and instinctively covered his mouth. The others also reacted, their expressions turning odd as they looked around. No one had expected a private auction like this to bring out a contract for land ownership.

Not many members of the big families had come today. The few heirs who were here were all stunned for a moment by this sudden change, then overjoyed at the thought that they might be able to pick up a bargain.

Once the joy passed, the smart ones were already calling home to raise funds. Some guests who had ties with the big families quickly took the chance to pass on the news as well.

But compared to those who had close relatives on site, these latecomers were still a step behind and could only think of other ways to make up for the gap.

Du An Rao knew nothing about this so-called South District Lakeside area. Hearing everyone’s chatter, she frowned slightly and asked the person beside her on instinct: “Is this land really that popular?”

“Very popular. The South District has been the main tourist and commercial development area of City B for the last ten years. Nearly a hundred mu of commercial land along the lakeside is the key focus of the coming years. Without exaggeration, whoever gets this land and develops it can lead their family up a whole new level.”

“It’s that amazing?!” Du An Rao looked shocked. “No wonder everyone is so excited. Who wouldn’t be tempted by a sure-thing moneymaker, especially one that makes this much money!”

Jiang Chang Bin could not agree more. It was not like he had never heard of this land before. But forget someone like him, even people as well known in City B as the Yu family, like Yu Qing Ting, did not really count when standing in front of the competitors for this lot.

He had never expected to personally witness the final ownership of this land at an auction tonight. It really was like witnessing history.

While Jiang Chang Bin had already placed himself firmly in the role of a tourist just here to watch, Du An Rao did not see it that way. After thinking for a moment, she suddenly turned to Xi Jing Yue and quietly asked: “Mr. Xi, your family has investments in so many industries. Have you ever thought about developing this land?”

Xi Jing Yue froze for a while before answering: “When there’s a chance to make money, who would willingly let it slip away? But…”

“But?”

“But even a strong dragon cannot beat the local snake. My family’s main battlefield is not in City B. We do have plans to expand here, but our foundation is still shallow. Without outside help, swallowing this land on our own would be very difficult.”

After he finished, he changed the subject: “Do you like this land?”

“Not really…” Du An Rao had just started to shake her head when the host on stage finished his loud introduction of the value of the South District Lakeside land. Then he suddenly took out another document and went on: “The auction for the South District land today is a bit special. It has to be auctioned jointly with another piece of land.”

“Jointly? What does jointly auctioned mean?”

“It means a bundled sale. If you buy this land, you have to buy another piece of land together with it.”

“There’s such a thing? And the other land is… the wasteland in the Northern Suburbs?!”

The other document in the host’s hand was, sure enough, the land use contract for the Northern Suburbs wasteland.

Seeing that contract, many guests who had just been eager to get a slice of the Lakeside Parcel in the Southern District froze. Some big family guests who had been full of confidence and itching to start bidding suddenly began to back out in advance.

Du An Rao was full of question marks: “What’s the deal with this Northern Suburbs wasteland? From their reactions, it’s like…” that land was poisonous or something!

“The Northern Suburbs wasteland is the large stretch of barren land on the northern outskirts of City B. The terrain is complicated, the surroundings are deserted, and even plants have trouble growing there. On top of that, people say that a long time ago the whole area used to be a graveyard. The yin energy there is really heavy. Forget human traffic, you barely even see animals there on normal days.”

“Exactly, exactly. I passed by there once with Qing Ting when we had business nearby. Saying that nothing grows for miles around is not an exaggeration. All these years, I’ve never seen any place in City B as desolate as that one.”

Everyone knew that anything being sold as a bundle was never something good. If the South District land was a sweet bun that everyone was hungry for, then the Northern Suburbs land was a poisoned apple that everyone wanted to avoid.

Before this, that land had already gone up for auction many times. Every time it ended in no sale.

Its price had dropped from hundreds of millions all the way down to tens of millions, and even then no one wanted it.

No one knew which genius had come up with the idea of bundling it with the South District land. It was basically forcing people to pay extra for a piece of junk if they wanted to make money off the good land. It all depended on what people chose.

[No wonder they’re backing out. Isn’t this just openly telling everyone they’re looking for some rich sucker to clean up their mess?]

Jiang Chang Bin and Xi Jing Yue: “…”

Put that way… it did sound about right.

Jokes aside, Du An Rao did not think that a project worth more than a billion, maybe even over ten billion, had anything to do with her. She adjusted her mood, ready to just watch the drama and, at the same time, look forward to seeing what treasure might be inside the stone she had just bought.

When she turned her head, she suddenly met the gazes of the Du family father and sons not far away. Du Wei Shuai was still rather steady. Even if he was excited inside, he did not show it on his face. You could only read a bit of the truth from the light in his eyes.

His two sons did not have that kind of self-control. Their faces were flushed as if they had just picked up a priceless treasure.

Du An Rao’s brows drew together slightly. In a flash of lightning, it was as if something suddenly came to her.

[Wait a second. Northern Suburbs wasteland, the Northern Suburbs of City B, barren land? I knew that place sounded familiar. Isn’t that the… that, that… ]

Jiang Chang Bin and Xi Jing Yue: “???”

What that? Say it already!