Chapter 208

Chapter 208: Wild Punches Beat the Master Craftsman

The smile on Manager Wen’s face faded. At last, a bit of his leader’s aura showed: “Guest number fourteen, are you questioning the fairness of our auction house?”

Du Tian Ci’s heart shook. He was about to say something more, but his father pressed him down without mercy.

“He is just a child talking nonsense. Manager Wen, please do not take it seriously. That is not what he meant.”

“It had better not be.” Manager Wen did not want to waste words on them. He spoke straight to the point: “If guests do not trust our auction house, you are free to leave first. Doing business depends on trust. Without trust, there is no need to continue.”

This was an open threat. If Du Tian Ci kept making trouble, the auction house would throw him out, and maybe even throw out all three of them.

Du Wei Shuai understood him. His face changed a bit, but he still had to sit down with a forced smile.

After all, even the Mr. behind them had to give the auction house some face here. How much less could these small lackeys like them do?

With the troublemaker handled, the auction could finally continue.

With more than 2 billion in her card, Du An Rao now had full confidence and kept bidding with no pressure. But soon she noticed that some guests who had not gone for the proof-of-funds check just now were raising their paddles again.

“These people…” She looked to the side without thinking.

“They did not go for the check just now,” Xi Jing Yue said with a small smile.

“So I did not remember wrong. Then they…”

“What they are doing now is within the auction house rules.”

In other words, whether or not to accept the proof-of-funds check was a personal choice. If they did not want to do it, the auction house could not force them.

In the same way, now that they wanted to bid, the auction house also could not stop them, because this followed the auction rules.

“It can be like that?!” Du An Rao could understand it, but she was still shocked.

Xi Jing Yue only smiled and kept quiet. When she had suggested that everyone who wanted to bid should go for the check, he had already guessed it would end up like this.

The little girl was smart, but she still thought too well of people and gave them too much credit.

This matter became a lesson for her. In the adult world, there was never a shortage of shameless people.

As long as the profit was big enough, face came second.

Du An Rao was indeed shocked, but only for a while.

Other people’s hands were on their own bodies. If they wanted to keep lifting their paddles, she could not stop them.

Her focus stayed on herself. In front of absolute money power, these shameless actions were not worth mentioning at all.

“Twelve hundred million.”

“Twelve hundred and ten million.”

“…”

“Thirteen hundred million.”

“Thirteen hundred and ten million.”

“…”

“Fourteen hundred million.”

“Fourteen hundred and ten million.”

“…”

Before this, several groups had been biting tightly at each other. Almost every time one person shouted a price, another would follow at once.

But when Du An Rao called out “Fifteen hundred million,” the whole auction hall went silent. Even those guests who had gotten a bit carried away also felt like a bucket of cold water had been poured over their heads.

“Fifteen hundred million? The price actually went up to fifteen hundred million. Even if the future of that plot in the South District is great, it is not worth that much, is it?”

“This is only the price of the land itself. Later they still have to spend a lot of money on building and promotion. How long will it take to earn it back? Is that woman crazy?”

“Someone already estimated the value of that South District plot before. The low end was eight hundred million, and the top was thirteen hundred million. With the government’s special support for that area these two years, the price went up a bit. But at most that brings it to the current level. If it goes any higher, it will lose money.”

“That is right. Any more than this and it is a loss. And if you add that wasteland in the Northern Suburbs, it will only lose more. See how those family representatives over there have already put down their paddles and given up?”

“Hahaha, this really is wild punches beating the Master Craftsman. Who would have thought that this land in the South District would end up in the hands of such a little girl? We are truly witnessing history.”

“What little girl? In the end, it is still the Ninth Master guarding her from behind, right? Maybe buying this land was the Ninth Master’s idea from the start, and this little girl is just the target pushed out front, just like those people over there.”

The others felt it was a pity to drop out of the bidding, but they still felt relieved.

Once the price had passed 1 billion, many of them were only hanging on for pride. Now it had risen all the way to fifteen hundred million. If they still refused to back off, they would look foolish.

Even if someone questioned them later, the blame on them would be light. After all, did they lose to a little girl? No, they lost to fifteen hundred million.

Compared to them, the father and two sons of the Du family were not so lucky.

“That is impossible. How could she have that much money? Second Grandfather, he… he…” Du Tian Ci wanted to say that the old man deserved to die, but when the words reached his mouth, he remembered all the people around them.

If he said that out loud now, it would probably reach Du De Sheng’s ears right away. By then, it would be hard to say who died first.

“Impossible or not, she has already called out fifteen hundred million. Dad, what do we do now?”

“What can we do? Mr. only gave us thirteen hundred million. The extra we shouted just now already used up all our family’s own money. Even if we win by shouting more, where would I find that much money to pay?”

With a dark face, Du Tian Ci still refused to accept that she would win the two plots: “Can we not borrow some from someone?”

“…Are you trying to kill me?”

Du Wei Shuai was almost angered to death by this unfilial son. After a long time, he finally said: “Forget it. Let her be smug for now. So many people are watching this land. I do not believe that a little girl like her can really keep it so easily. Just wait. Some people have the luck to hold a blessing, but not the life to enjoy it.”

Du Tian Ci froze for a second, then understood what he meant. The look he gave Du An Rao now had a bit of gloating in it.

But she did not care what these people thought. When she saw Manager Wen bring down the hammer on stage and announce that the last lot had been won by her, the big stone hanging over her heart finally dropped.

By now, all the lots at the auction had been sold. Those who had won items needed to follow the staff to the back to pay and pick up their goods. The guests who had gone home empty-handed could leave early.

As the honored guest who had taken two lots at once, of course Du An Rao had to follow the staff to the back.

It was worth noting that, maybe because they were bored or simply curious to see whether she could really pay that much, many guests who should have left early stayed behind instead. They followed after her, ready to watch the show.

And in the end, it proved that sometimes, leaving late really did let you see more drama and eat more melon.

Everyone followed Du An Rao and the staff all the way to the exhibition hall where they had first looked at the items. From far away, they saw an elderly man with white hair, leaning on a cane, waiting inside.

When they walked closer and saw his face clearly, someone in the crowd suddenly shouted in shock: “Him… how is he here?”