Chapter 206

Chapter 206: Bring It On, Who’s Afraid of Who!

“Proof of funds?”

As soon as Du Tian Ci said this, the room exploded in noise again.

Everyone present was familiar with proof of funds.

Before they entered the auction hall, all the guests had already done a proof-of-funds check. The minimum threshold was 20 million, to stop guests from winning items they could not afford to pay for.

But doing another proof-of-funds check in the middle of an auction was a first, even for this auction house.

Especially when the winning bidder for this lot had not been decided yet. To suddenly ask to check the guests’ funds now looked like an insult no matter how you saw it.

“This…” The host was also stunned by this sudden move from Du Tian Ci and the others. After a long moment, he finally said: “Sorry, we are not allowed to ask guests to redo a proof-of-funds check during an auction, and our auction house has never had such a case before.”

But it was like Du Tian Ci did not understand this gentle refusal, or he understood it but did not want to let go of this chance to step on Du An Rao.

“Just because it did not happen before, does not mean it cannot happen now. Before this, your auction house probably also rarely auctioned items at this price level, right?”

That was true. Since Duobao Pavilion Auction House was founded, the most expensive lot it had ever sold was only 800 million. It had never sold anything for more than 1 billion.

Today, these two plots of land being sold as a bundle were already making history no matter how you looked at it.

“This…” The host choked for once and could only turn for help to someone who could really make decisions.

Soon, a handsome middle-aged man rushed up onto the stage: “Hello, guests. I am the auction house’s general manager. My surname is Wen. We have already fully understood the request made by guest number fourteen. But to respect every guest here, our house does not have the right to check anyone’s funds at will, unless…”

Manager Wen looked over at Du An Rao from a distance: “Unless the guest is willing to accept the proof-of-funds check.”

Jiang Chang Bin gave a cold laugh: “This Manager Wen talks in an interesting way.”

Du Tian Ci pushed the problem onto the auction house. The auction house pushed it back onto Du An Rao. No one wanted to step into this muddy water, but no one could escape it either.

Xi Jing Yue’s eyes grew a bit cold, and he also smiled: “Maybe this is his first time handling a deal this big. Manager Wen is not very sure in his heart either.”

When he said this, several people nearby could not help laughing. To call someone inexperienced in such a fresh, gentle way was a skill by itself.

Even though Jiang Chang Bin usually could not stand him, this time he had to admit that this person’s words were sharp and very satisfying.

When he heard Manager Wen say that, Du Tian Ci felt he had the auction house’s support. His confidence rose even more. He called out to Du An Rao from afar: “You are not scared, are you? If you really are, then just admit defeat to us. Promise not to keep bidding and we can let this matter go. Our Lord is generous and will not keep digging into it.”

“You do not need to provoke me. Your tricks do not work on me.” Du An Rao did not even look at him. She looked straight at Manager Wen instead and said: “There is a saying, if you are upright, you do not fear a crooked shadow. Since your house wants to check, I can cooperate. But I also have one request.”

With this sentence, she put herself on the same level as the auction house and perfectly ignored a certain person’s existence.

Manager Wen’s eyes darkened a little: “Please say it.”

“You can check my funds, but I ask that everyone who is interested in this lot, and plans to keep bidding on it with me, must also accept a proof-of-funds check. Otherwise, I will not accept being the only odd one out.”

[It is just a proof of funds. Bring it on, I am not afraid of anyone. I can also use this chance to brush away a few rivals.]

What a sly girl.

In just one second, Xi Jing Yue guessed what Du An Rao planned to do. He turned to look at the few bidders who had just been competing hard against her. Sure enough, several of them suddenly changed their faces, looking very serious.

This land auction had been added at the last minute. Besides Du De Sheng, who had prepared 1 billion early on for Du An Rao to spend as she liked, and besides Xi Jing Yue, who himself had a huge amount of free investment funds, most people could not gather more than 1 billion in cash in such a short time. Even the few big families with deep roots in City B were the same.

The ones now looking troubled were likely those who did not want to wait until they had enough money. They wanted to win with a verbal bid now and only transfer the money when it was time to close the deal later.

They never thought someone would jump out halfway and force a proof-of-funds check right in the middle of the auction.

These people suddenly fell into a dilemma. If they accepted the check, the money had not arrived yet. If they refused, Miss Du had just said that everyone who wanted to bid had to do the check.

If they did not do it, then even if they thickened their skin and kept bidding later, would the auction house and the other guests not suspect they were causing trouble on purpose or simply could not afford these two pieces of land?

For a while, many people started to feel unhappy and angry at both Du An Rao and the group with Du Tian Ci.

As for Du An Rao, she was at least a bit better off. She had been forced to accept the doubt. Dragging others into the water was not very moral, but she still had some reason on her side.

Also, she had Du De Sheng behind her. Even if people were unhappy with her, they could not really do anything to her.

But it was different for the two brothers of the Du family. They were the ones who started all this. Before this, the Du family joining the bidding had already annoyed many people. Now with this mess, they had become the thorn in everyone’s eye and the pain in everyone’s flesh.

The two brothers suddenly felt the hostile looks coming at them from all sides. They felt like they were sitting on needles, and cold sweat broke out on their backs.

They could only secretly feel lucky and tell themselves that everything they were doing now was to finish the task given by that Lord. As long as they got it done, that person would never let anything happen to them.

For the guests who were about to be checked, Du An Rao’s suggestion might be a bit hard. But for the auction house, it was only good and not bad at all.

After thinking for a moment, Manager Wen nodded and said: “Guest number eighteen’s request is reasonable. Everyone here, do you have any other opinions?”

What opinions could the other guests have? Most people there were only watching the drama and had no wish to get involved.

Only a few people were really caught up in this. Some of them had already decided to risk their pride and play dead by not answering. Some were very confident and not afraid of being checked.

“In that case, will the guests who need to do a proof-of-funds check please follow us to the private boxes outside. You will each receive a one-on-one private check. Please be at ease. The amount of money in your bank cards will be used only as a reference. Our house will keep everything secret.”

When Manager Wen said this, several people, including Du An Rao, stood up and followed the staff toward the boxes.

The box for Du Tian Ci and the others was right next to Du An Rao’s. Before going in, Du Tian Ci snorted with his nose in the air and walked in full of pride, as if he had already decided that there was no way Du An Rao had that much money.

Du An Rao: “???”

[At this point, I still do not understand. Who gave him the courage to doubt my money power? Was it Liang Mou Ru?]

Because they were not at ease about letting her go alone, Jiang Chang Bin and Xi Jing Yue had followed along with her.

“Pfft…”

They almost burst out laughing when they heard her inner grumbling.

—