Chapter 147: Ghostly Opera Singing

Just as the host was looking expectantly at the middle-aged bald man, hoping he would push the price up to 550 million, the man suddenly raised his hand and uttered a sentence that left the host dumbfounded.

"I withdraw my bid!"

As soon as these words fell, an uproar broke out in the entire hall. No one understood why he would withdraw his bid. If it was simply to inflate the price, there was clearly no need to declare a withdrawal, which would undoubtedly bring him retaliation.

Lin Feng was slightly startled. Could it be that he had encountered someone inflating the price just like he used to?

"Withdrawn?" Although disappointed, the host maintained his professional spirit and announced: "Withdrawal is the right of every bidder. Five hundred and ten million going once, five hundred and ten million going twice."

The host deliberately paused for a moment, but still no one placed a higher bid, so he had no choice but to strike the gavel: "Five hundred and ten million, sold! The final buyer is Chairman Lin of Jianfang Real Estate Company. Let us congratulate him!"

Warm applause erupted throughout the venue. Although this lot was not the highest-priced item of the entire auction, as the finale lot won by Lin Feng, it deserved respect in its own right. The reason was simple: this was the unwritten rule of the auction house. The person who wins the finale lot naturally deserves such applause.

"Director Lin, congratulations, but I've never seen you interested in bronzes before, have you?" Bamboo Pole didn't say anything, but Secretary Li looked somewhat curious. Over this period, she had stayed by Lin Feng's side almost every day and was well aware of his penchant for antique artifacts. However, the antiques Lin Feng had previously produced were all small objects, and he had never touched bronzes before.

Lin Feng smiled. "Just out of curiosity. I've never dealt with bronzes before, so I bought it to take a look. If this sword is genuine, it's worth this price, and I've even scored a massive bargain. Let's go. Once the auction ends, we'll sign the contract, and then we still have four billion in funds to collect, haha!"

Since all transactions were handled backstage, Lin Feng went straight to the backstage area after the auction concluded. The person in charge of the auction was a manager from Tianqi Auction House. While signing the contract, Lin Feng hinted to him that he wanted to meet the boss of Tianqi Auction House to discuss business cooperation.

Lin Feng originally thought the manager would agree, especially since a small auction house like this would greatly benefit from partnering with a large corporation. To his surprise, the manager politely declined.

Lin Feng didn't push the matter further, but hearing Mo Tianxing say that the boss of Tianqi Auction House was on par with him inevitably left him feeling slightly unsettled.

After all, he was able to excel far beyond others precisely because he cheated by using the Hand of Grasping. But if someone else could match his level, what use would the Hand of Grasping be to him?

This reminded Lin Feng of Shui Qinghan from the antique appraisal competition, the only person he truly admired. Unfortunately, Shui Qinghan was no ordinary person either. If he could find Shui Qinghan, Lin Feng believed he could convince him to share some insights about people of their kind.

***

"Director Lin, our boss has a rather eccentric personality and has rarely shown his face in public since opening the auction house. Business cooperation matters are handled almost entirely by me, so please forgive any inadequate hospitality, Director Lin!" After stamping the contract with the seal of Tianqi Auction House, the manager handed the bronze sword to Lin Feng. "As for this bronze sword, our boss said that regardless of its price, it can only be obtained by someone destined for it. It seems Director Lin is that destined person. Allow me to congratulate you in advance, Director Lin."

Lin Feng naturally didn't take these words to heart. This was merely a technique used by businessmen, especially in the antique trade. The cost of an artifact was negligible and could not amount to much, so why could it command such exorbitant prices?

Was it not because of personal interest? Because of faith? Because of history?

Therefore, in Lin Feng's eyes, the bullshit talk about a "destined person" was nothing more than a marketing tactic. If the manager hadn't said that to him, would he feel good inside after spending so much money just to buy back a sword?

However, in the antique trade, one could not complain about high prices; after all, such matters had always been a case of the willing buyer and the willing seller.

After retrieving the bronze sword packaged in a wooden box, Lin Feng walked out of the backstage area. At that moment, President Liu had also finished signing his contract. He walked over with a beaming smile and said apologetically, "Director Lin, I'm terribly sorry. I suddenly received a call from Chairman Mo instructing me to bid on this plot of land, saying you would need it. Since the auction had already started, I didn't have time to notify you, so I just went ahead and bought it. How about we find a place to transfer the contract?"

Lin Feng nodded. It seemed it was indeed the case. Mo Xiaonian, that girl, only ever came up with these messy antics for him. Still, he had to admit that although Mo Xiaonian had been staying at home during this period, she had helped him out a great deal. Take this time, for instance: if Mo Xiaonian hadn't helped him secure this land, it would have taken him quite a while longer to find a suitable green ecological plot. That would have delayed his project, and the longer a project dragged on, the greater the loss to the company's profits.

After signing the contract with President Liu and transferring the ownership of the first green ecological construction land, Lin Feng sought out President Wu, who had won the second green ecological land. According to the agreement between him and President Wu, forty billion out of the eighty billion transaction price belonged to him.

When President Wu saw Lin Feng approaching, all the smiles vanished from his face. Anyone in his position would likely feel the same; handing over forty billion out of eighty billion to someone else—especially in an irreversible deal with Lin Feng—was not something that would make anyone happy.

However, President Wu was also a smart man. He knew that if he breached the contract, Lin Feng was fully capable of driving his family to bankruptcy. Handing over this forty billion now might mean he could reap some benefits if good opportunities arose in the future.

With this thought, President Wu cheerfully said, "Director Lin, hehe, I've already finished the transaction with their staff. This card has six billion in it, and as for the remaining two billion, consider it a small token of my appreciation. I hope Director Lin will continue to include me if there are opportunities like this in the future!"

Lin Feng looked at President Wang in astonishment. He didn't know what had prompted President Wang to make such a gesture. They had originally agreed to split it evenly, which meant forty billion each. This fellow was quite self-aware, cutting another half out of his own forty billion as a tribute to him. One had to realize that two billion was no small sum to anyone, especially to a miser like President Wang, yet he was actually willing to cough up two billion.

However, Lin Feng naturally felt no shame in accepting such a gift and calmly pocketed it.

Secretary Li and Bamboo Pole standing nearby were both extremely shocked that Lin Feng could increase the profits of this event by such a huge margin. For a businessman to turn a profit of eighty billion before the project even commenced was nothing short of a myth.

***

Returning to Yiqing Garden that evening, the moment he stepped through the door, Mo Xiaonian treated Lin Feng to a tight hug. "Someone made quite a lot of money today. Is there a dividend coming my way?"

"Tch, who knows how long I'll have to work to pay back all these shares!" Lin Feng carried Mo Xiaonian out and placed her on the rocking chair on the patio. "How did your stock market returns go today? I heard several directors in the company have been wearing long faces lately. After asking around, I found out they lost money in the stocks, claiming the stock market has been fluctuating quite a bit recently!"

"That's because they're fools!" Mo Xiaonian rolled her eyes. "虽Though money in the stock market is easy to make, people always get sucked in. Many cannot avoid getting sucked in, which is why they often end up losing everything in the stock market. But have you ever seen me wear a long face?"

"You've forgotten how you get when the stock market fluctuates and you suffer losses!" Lin Feng pinched Mo Xiaonian's little nose. He still remembered that shortly after he moved in, Mo Xiaonian threw a tantrum for several days because of a stock market fluctuation. At that time, Lin Feng had no idea what she was mad about and remained baffled for days until Mo Tianxing told him never to provoke Mo Xiaonian when the stock market fluctuated, otherwise the consequences would be severe.

Just as he mentioned this, Lin Feng noticed Mo Xiaonian's face beginning to flush with agitation—a sign that she was about to lose her temper. Having long since figured out her temperament, Lin Feng quickly said, "Hehe, calm down, my good baby. What do you want to eat tonight? No matter what you want, I'll cook it for you!"

"I want to eat you!" Mo Xiaonian declared fiercely.

Lin Feng gave a wicked smile, scooped Mo Xiaonian right up into his arms, and headed toward the bedroom. "Hehe, you want to eat me? If you wanted to eat me, you should have said so earlier. I'll let you eat me right now, how about that?"

"Bastard, put me down quickly, you bad egg!" Mo Xiaonian cried out in surprise. "You bad egg, my 'relative' is visiting today, you're not allowed to do this."

"It's fine, running a red light occasionally is acceptable, you know!" Lin Feng chuckled mischievously as he tossed Mo Xiaonian onto the soft, oversized bed. "Hehe, before dinner starts, you're just the appetizer."

………………

The next morning, Lin Feng arrived at the company glowing with vitality. The project managers of the green ecological project team were already waiting for him in the conference room. Lin Feng handed over the blueprints and data of the first green ecological land acquired from President Liu yesterday, instructing them to redesign the project around this construction land and begin construction at the absolute fastest speed.

Meanwhile, the internal company staff had already learned about how Lin Feng had outmaneuvered Longsheng Real Estate Company at the auction held by Tianqi Auction House last night—forcing them to buy the second piece of green ecological land at an exorbitant price of eighty billion, while acquiring another piece of land at a low cost. Lin Feng's prestige within the company rose to yet another soaring height.