I Got Together With the Fake Heiress - Chapter 52

As expected, as soon as Wen Yunqing announced that bidding could begin, someone offered a respectable price.

“Seven million yuan!” The bidder was a young man. Let’s call him Bidder No. 1 for now.

“Eight million yuan!” Bidder No. 2 quickly followed up with a bid.

“Ten million yuan!” Bidder No. 1 immediately increased the price by two million in one go.

Bidder No. 2 hesitated slightly and temporarily withdrew from the bidding. The scene was quiet for a short while, then people began to bid intermittently. After five minutes, the price stabilized at around 13.6 million yuan.

“Fifteen million yuan!” Bidder No. 1 used his last bidding opportunity, offering the highest price he could bear!

The discussion in the venue didn’t stop. Fifteen million yuan was almost the ceiling. Industry insiders estimated that this rough stone, once processed, could sell for about twenty million yuan, but there were costs involved in cutting, carving, and selling. After deducting those, they would only make a profit of about a million yuan.

Seeing that no one continued to bid, Wen Yunqing didn’t deliberately try to inflate the price. She directly gave an account number to Bidder No. 1. Once the money was transferred, this half of the stone was immediately given to him.

“Ahem, next is this Spring-with-Color rough. The rules are the same as before. Gentlemen, you may start bidding!” This time, 081 also participated, recording everyone’s bids and bid counts along with Li Li.

“Thirty million yuan.” The bid came from an elderly man dressed in a traditional Tang Suit (Tang Zhuang), followed by four or five bodyguards.

“Young friend, long time no see. I wonder if you still remember me?” The old man in the Tang Suit was considered a semi-acquaintance. Wen Yunqing had sold her very first piece of cut jadeite to him.

“Of course, I remember. The jade pendant that Old Master Tang mailed was very beautiful. I like it a lot,” Wen Yunqing said with a smile. The two jade pendants were stored in her spatial ring and would be ready after about one more month of nourishing.

“Thirty-five million yuan.” A new bid quickly interrupted their brief exchange of greetings.

Old Master Tang did not immediately increase his bid, choosing instead to wait for others to continue shouting. When the price surged to forty million, he made his second bid.

“Fifty million yuan.” The old man added ten million in one breath, as if money were blown in by the wind, his tone completely flat.

When the price of fifty million was announced, the venue became a flurry of activity. After about a minute, someone continued to bid, trembling slightly, “I’ll add one hundred thousand!”

After he finished, the scene slowly quieted down. It was estimated that this price had nearly reached its peak.

Wen Yunqing looked at Old Master Tang. “Old Master, this piece of Spring-with-Color?”

Old Master Tang smiled, bidding very generously. “Fifty-one million yuan. If you are willing to sell the other half to me as well, I can offer this same price for it.”

Wen Yimeng gasped. If he offered another fifty-one million, this rough stone would be worth over a hundred million yuan! This was absolutely absurd!

Wen Yimeng stared blankly at Wen Yunqing. “Should we sell it?” The scale of the Yuhuang Pavilion (Jade Emperor Pavilion) was quite modest. This half of the Spring-with-Color had both advantages and disadvantages for it.

The benefit was that Yuhuang Pavilion could use this piece of Spring-with-Color to build its reputation, but the drawbacks were also obvious. Yuhuang Pavilion did not have enough resources and might not be able to find the best carvers and consumer base. Furthermore, it could easily attract the attention of others in the industry.

“No, we’ll keep the remaining half. We’ll process it and sell it at Yuhuang Pavilion in Xinshi,” Wen Yunqing decided to keep the stone. Take a gamble, and perhaps a bicycle can turn into a motorcycle. Once Yuhuang Pavilion rises up, it will be a sustainable harvesting… a sustainable profitable asset!

Hearing Wen Yunqing’s reply, Old Master Tang felt a little regretful, but he didn’t say much and continued to wait where he was.

Don’t misunderstand; Old Master Tang wasn’t waiting to gather money or anything, but was waiting for Wen Yunqing to continue cutting the remaining stones. Old Master Tang’s intuition told him that more treasure would definitely emerge from the remaining five pieces.

Wen Yimeng now had a sense of her own luck and didn’t pick and choose. She simply instructed the master cutters to cut the stones in the order they were placed.

The first piece failed as expected.

The second piece, a Bean Green Grade, barely broke even.

The remaining three were all chosen by Wen Yunqing. As expected, they all yielded good quality jadeite inside. While not all were high-ice grade, their value had multiplied several times based on the original purchase price.

Wen Yunqing sold one piece and handed the remaining two to Li Li for safekeeping.

“081, take me to the ten-thousand-per-kilogram area,” Wen Yunqing said.

“Understood, Boss, this way please.” 081’s attitude was extremely respectful. He directly invited the two of them to board the warehouse’s transport cart, which towed several sections, and set off.

Curiosity, surprise, shock, dumbfoundedness, numbness.

These were roughly the psychological changes of the onlookers. They watched as Wen Yunqing moved to the high-end area and then let the person next to her start choosing stones.

Why were they shocked? Of course, because the way the two chose stones was completely absurd. They didn’t closely inspect the rough stones—no, to be precise, they didn’t inspect the rough stones at all. They simply walked around with a flashlight, and whichever stone the light fell upon, they bought it.

With the Spring-with-Color selling for a high price of fifty-one million as a safety net, Wen Yimeng felt more confident. She selected over ten rough stones in one go, squandering over ten million yuan.

“081, help me cut open all these rough stones!” Wen Yimeng rubbed her hands together. She refused to believe that she couldn’t cut anything good today!

“Yes, Boss, I’ll arrange it right away!” 081 couldn’t help but wipe the sweat from his forehead with a tissue. Don’t misunderstand, he wasn’t nervous; he was just tired from helping move the rough stones.

It must be said that the high-end section did have its advantages. Even with Wen Yimeng’s completely random selection, every stone contained jadeite. Although some pieces were of very ordinary quality, at least none of them were a complete failure.

When the last stone was being cut, Wen Yimeng finally heard the words: Huge Gain.

“This clarity is very close to Imperial Green (Diwang Lu)! It’s a shame the area is too small to make a bracelet. It will probably only be enough for a pendant or a small plaque,” the master cutter said.

“Young friend, this piece of jadeite?” Old Master Tang was quite tempted. Although this piece couldn’t be made into a bracelet, it could be made into an archer’s thumb ring.

“I won’t sell it,” Wen Yimeng shook her head. “This is the first time I’ve ever cut Imperial Green. I want to keep it as a memento.”

Old Master Tang was stunned, but quickly realized that a person who could buy jadeite so casually and on such a large scale probably wasn’t lacking money.

The cut jadeite was mostly handed over to Li Li for safekeeping, to be transported to Yuhuang Pavilion in Xinshi.

Li Li had already made a call when the Spring-with-Color was cut. She called eight more people, and the group of eleven people escorted this batch of jadeite, valued at nearly a hundred million yuan, out of the warehouse.

“Ah, I’m hungry.” As soon as they left the warehouse, Wen Yimeng half-leaned on Wen Yunqing. She had been so focused on cutting stones and was overly nervous that she had ignored her hunger.

“What do you want to eat?” Wen Yunqing lifted her wrist to check the time. It was almost four o’clock. They had been in the warehouse for about five hours.

“Hmm, how far is it from the meeting place?” Wen Yimeng remembered that they were supposed to take a group photo at five this afternoon.

Wen Yunqing opened her phone to check. “It’s over an hour away. We probably won’t make it in time. Shall we ask the class monitor to Photoshop us into the picture later?”

Wen Yimeng blinked. After two seconds of hesitation, she nodded in agreement. “Okay, then let’s find a place to eat nearby!”

Not long after they walked out, Wen Yunqing noticed a few small tails following them. After a brief thought, she realized what was happening: they must have been targeted because they made so much money at the auction earlier.

Wen Yunqing was very confident in her own abilities, so she didn’t ask Li Li to stay and protect them. Instead, she let the group of eleven escort the jadeite.

Thinking that she and her girlfriend would be reporting to the law department in a few months, Wen Yunqing silently recited the Twenty-Four Character Motto (a Chinese set of socialist values) in her mind, temporarily suppressing the idea of preemptively eliminating the threat.

I am a good person who abides by the law. As long as no one actively does anything to me, I won’t kill or injure anyone. If someone really is foolish enough to try something, then I won’t have a choice.

Following the navigation on her phone, after walking for more than ten minutes, Wen Yimeng found a specialty restaurant. Looking at the decor, it adopted a fresh and natural style.

“Hello, what would you two like to order?” A staff member came over with the menu after they were seated.

Wen Yunqing took the menu, glanced at it, and then handed it to Wen Yimeng. She looked around with her peripheral vision and spotted three somewhat familiar figures.

They actually followed us. It looks like they’re determined to get some benefit. The fact that they dare to do this suggests the local public safety is likely quite poor.

“What would you like to drink, soda or juice?” Wen Yimeng asked.

Wen Yunqing thought for a moment, then looked up at the staff member. “Do you have any specialty drinks here?”

“Yes, we have freshly brewed fruit wine. It’s only about 10% alcohol. Would the two of you like some?”

“No, I don’t drink,” Wen Yimeng had not forgotten her painful lesson. She didn’t care whether it was 10% or not. As long as the word ‘wine’ was in it, she would avoid it if she could!

“Then how about watermelon juice and pear juice?” Wen Yunqing couldn’t help but smile.

Wen Yimeng glared at her, dissatisfied. “Let’s just order these dishes for now. Please prepare some boiled water for us.”

“Okay, please wait.” The staff member noted the order and quickly brought over a pot of plain boiled water.

Wen Yimeng’s observation skills weren’t as sharp, but she also noticed something was wrong while waiting for the food. She glanced at the people sitting at a nearby table and couldn’t help but whisper.

“Yunqing, those people look somewhat familiar. Could they be coming for us?” Wen Yimeng asked.

Wen Yunqing reached out and tapped the back of Wen Yimeng’s hand twice. “Most likely. But there are so many people around. They wouldn’t dare do anything to us in public.”

“I don’t think they have good intentions. Should we call the police?” Wen Yimeng secretly looked at them. These people all look like they can fight! “Or should we call Li Li and her team back?”

“Yimeng, are you doubting my abilities?” Wen Yunqing raised an eyebrow. She had stressed to Yimeng many times that she was very strong, truly!