Chapter Ninety-Nine: Lin City, Part Six

Han finally looked away and turned his attention to the item on the stage, the very thing he had come for this time. Though he had no idea what it was for, his boss insisted on obtaining it, so Han had no choice but to come in person to the auction.

The flower thief was also very interested. Such a beautiful thing carried poison; who would not be drawn to it? What a pity he was a flower thief, not a burglar. Otherwise, he would surely have made a move. If he stole it, he might never have to worry about his future again.

Lengxue also understood Qianyin’s thoughts and glanced at the item on the stage. If it could be found in the ground in so many places, why not just dig up a few? Was spending money to buy it really useful?

“Two hundred and ten billion.”

“Two hundred and twenty billion.”

“Two hundred and thirty billion.”

“Two hundred and forty billion.”

It seemed everyone wanted to take the item home at once, so the bids rose in increments of ten billion each time.

Mr. Jin still sat there with his eyes closed, sleeping. He had merely come to see how high the price could go. He did not care about anything else, nor did it matter to him who ended up buying it.

Han was in no hurry at all. Let these clowns keep raising the price; in any case, the item would be his in the end.

Qianyin also wanted to wait until this group had driven the price to its limit before deciding whether to buy. If the price exceeded what she had in mind, then there was nothing to be done; she would have to rob Mr. Jin instead. Surely Mr. Jin would not have the heart to ask her for too much money.

Quite a few people were watching Mr. Jin. A titan of the jade trade, and yet he had no intention of bidding. Could this item be his? The beauty on stage had not said who owned it. Was she protecting the one who possessed this Seven-Color Radiant Jade?

“Three hundred billion.”

The flower thief felt that bidding up so slowly was far too tedious, so he lifted the price straight to the figure he believed was acceptable. He did not have that much money, but his boss did. Ha.

As soon as he spoke, everyone turned to stare at him. Had this fellow swallowed the gall of a bear and the courage of a leopard? To raise the price so high right away—how many opponents was he trying to crush? Was he really not afraid of being robbed?

Qianyin also glanced at the flower thief. Was this guy trying to die? Then she realized something was wrong. Where would he get the money? So it was the boss who wanted this thing. In that case, there was no way she could let them have it.

“Three hundred and one billion.” Qianyin was not stupid; a little fun like this was fine, but if she drove the price too high, she would not have the money to pay. Besides, Mr. Jin had no intention of getting involved. If she poked the hole too big, no one would clean up after her.

The beauty on stage had actually been quite pleased at first, because the price had exceeded her expectations. But seeing Qianyin ruin the bidding like this made her somewhat unhappy, though she dared not show it.

“Little beauty Qianyin, that’s not very nice of you. If you’re going to bid, at least bid higher. Such a tiny increment,” the flower thief said, openly picking a fight and completely ignoring the killing intent in Han’s eyes. He only wanted to have some fun; there was no malice behind it.

Han did not know that Qianyin wanted this item, otherwise how would he dare bring people here to snatch it? Did this flower thief have a hole in his brain? He was openly trying to steal it. If Qianyin found out, she would be furious with him.

“If you have nothing better to do, don’t raise the price so much. Look, now everyone’s gone quiet. We should take it slow and play along, since there’s still so much time left. Besides, this is already the last item,” Qianyin said, completely unconcerned. She simply had no money—so what?

If they wanted to take this item away easily, they could forget it. If the boss wanted it, fine—then pay with blood.

Only then did the flower thief look at the people who had fallen silent. Indeed, each of them wore a murderous expression. He coughed a few times in a show of embarrassment, then said, “Three hundred and two billion.”

The beauty on stage was infuriated. It had been a perfectly good auction; why make such a mess of it? Why couldn’t they just keep raising the price all at once? Why must they drag it out like this? How long was it supposed to take?

“Three hundred and three billion.” Qianyin was prepared to play this game all the way through, since no one else was in a hurry anyway.

Mr. Jin, who had been resting with his eyes closed, looked up at Qianyin, then at the other man. He did not know that fellow. Why was he butting heads again? Did he have a grudge too?

That much money was already enough for him. If the price kept climbing, would someone really chase after him with a knife? Mr. Jin had already begun considering how the money should be divided. He was still somewhat suspicious: was this money coming from that fellow, or from Qianyin? If it came from Qianyin, he definitely could not take it.

“Ah...” The flower thief sighed and decided not to bid anymore. He had never intended to make Qianyin pay for it anyway. He would leave this task to Han to handle. He had only wanted to mess around a little; there was nothing else to it.

The beauty on stage glanced at the flower thief. Why had he stopped speaking? Go on, then. Keep raising the price.

“Four hundred billion.” Han raised the bid directly. If Qianyin bought this thing, she would surely waste a great deal of money. In any case, it was something the boss wanted, and the boss would accept spending however much it took.

Qianyin looked at Han with interest and said, “Five hundred billion.” It was not that she wanted to oppose Han; she wanted to oppose the boss. Seeing the boss bleed heavily for this was something she delighted in.

The other tycoons present all drew in sharp breaths. What industry were these two from? Which generation of bosses were they? Were they some newly emerged dark horse? How could they possibly have so much money?

The girl was sitting so close to Mr. Jin. Could she be one of his people?

Then whose person was this man?

Han frowned slightly. That was too much. Did Qianyin really want it?

Molan also felt that Qianyin had gone too far. At that price, probably even his family could not afford it. If the people on the other side gave up later, Qianyin would have to pay an enormous sum.

Lengxue looked at Han’s expression and found it rather amusing, so he said nothing. Qianyin simply had no money, and he did not believe Mr. Jin would do anything to her. But if the other side drove the price this high and then could not pay, that would be a different matter.

Just as Molan was about to stop Qianyin, Anfeng tugged at his sleeve and shook his head, signaling him not to interfere. Molan truly could not understand these two. Were they so rich they were setting money on fire? Buying one piece of Mr. Jin’s jade and spending this much?

“Five hundred and fifty billion.” Han decided to add another fifty billion. By raising the bid, he was telling Qianyin: if you keep bidding, I won’t buy it. If you keep shouting nonsense, then you can pay for it yourself.

Qianyin obediently fell silent. If she kept going, she would go bankrupt. Her possessions had not come easily; she was not about to hand them over so lightly.

Seeing that no one else was bidding, the beauty on stage also breathed a sigh of relief. After all, this price had already far exceeded her expectations. It was enough. Going any higher would cause a few problems.

“At this price, I believe no one will raise the bid again, so let us settle it here. Please have this gentleman go backstage to complete the transaction.” With a sultry smile, the beauty turned and left, leaving behind the many “spectators” in the hall.

The other bosses were all staring this way, each full of curiosity: why had Mr. Jin not bid, and why had he not said a single word from beginning to end?

Thus Qianyin’s group, along with Mofan, Han, and the others, all went backstage. Unrelated people were not allowed in, so whatever happened there could not be pried into.