God of Illusions

Chapter 145: During the Auction! (1)

Translated by: pokka

Editor: Reckeva

“Thirty million going once—thirty million going twice—Sold!”

Yun Jingshuang declared and slammed his hammer down. Everyone heaved a sigh of relief. This price was still acceptable.

“Ladies and gentlemen, you probably still don’t really understand the benefits of this cooperative right. Let me elaborate.”

Bai Xiaofei couldn’t keep calm anymore after seeing the first right only sold for thirty million. Although he had expected these people to deliberately control the price, he didn't think they would do it to this extent.

“Only ten cooperative rights will be sold, with no more available from today onwards. This will be the case no matter how much time passes. A new right will only be issued when the holder of a right leaves the academy without transferring it to someone else first. In other words, this is a permanent right. I personally believe that the earlier bidder has gotten himself quite a good deal!”

After Bai Xiaofei’s explanation, Xie Guangyun laughed heartily. Actually, no matter how much the four bosses bidded, Bai Xiaofei would not take any money from them. After all, four quotas had already been internally allotted to them.

This was Bai Xiaofei’s way of thanking them. Without their support, many parts of Bai Xiaofei’s plan wouldn’t have been able to progress as smoothly as it had. The rest of the bosses sank into a long contemplation, analyzing Bai Xiaofei's statement. At the same time, they were trying to determine the actual value of this cooperative right.

“Now, let us proceed with the second right.”

Yun Jingshuang slammed his hammer down, announcing the continuation of the auction.

“I bid thirty million!”

Chu Dangyang did not give anyone a chance to do anything and immediately raised the price to Xie Guangyun’s previous final price.

“Everyone, there are eight rights left. Give me some face and don’t fight with me over this one. Okay?”

Chu Dangyang stood up and cupped his hands as he persuaded everyone present. Unfortunately, his plead seemed to have achieved the “opposite” effect.

“Thirty five million!” Someone else made a bid as well. The regret from having given up on the first bid was apparent on his face.

“Thirty six million!” Chu Dangyang countered. He looked every bit like someone intending to fight over this to the end. Even so, the increase in his calling price wasn’t that large.

“Forty million!”

Once again, the other bidder called out a new price.

“Neither of us will benefit if this continues. Why don’t you wait for the next round? Forty one million!”

“Since you know that this won’t benefit anyone, why don’t you give up then? Forty five million!”

The other bidder stood up with a “don’t take me for an idiot” expression on his face.

“Forty six million. Trust me. There are eight more rights for sale after this. The price won’t go any higher than this. Just look at the first bid, it was sold for only thirty million!” Chu Dangyang shouted himself hoarse, not intending to stop bidding.

“If that’s the case, you should wait for the next round then. Fifty million!” The two continued howling at each other. This was when Jin Erpan was supposed to be stepping up but now the only thing he could do was smile bitterly.

If it wasn’t for the fact that he had already met all the bosses who were working with Bai Xiaofei, he would have definitely believed that this guy here was Bai Xiaofei’s man. Look at how zealously he was bidding! He was performing even better than him!

The fierce competition between the two seemed to awakened something in all the people present.Gradually, more and more people joined the bidding war as well. With such competition, it did not take long for the price to reach 120 million!

Bai Xiaofei finally had a satisfied smile on his face. This was how things should have been. Although Xie Guangyun hadn’t been able to increase the tempo of the bid, he had still played the role of the “lucky” one well, making the auction more intense.

Even now, the price was continuously going up.

“180 million going once—180 million going twice—“

“F*ck! This is my final bid! If anyone can offer a higher price, I, Chu Dangyang, will concede my defeat! 200 million!”

Chu Dangyang stood up and called, looking like someone who had only been able to make this bid after mustering up a great deal of courage.

Indeed, nobody dared to compete against him anymore. This was also the end of his mission. With the final price of 200 million, the starting price for the next round wouldn’t be too low as well.

“There is one more thing I need to tell everyone. Actually, I have already earned my first batch of income from the Blossom Pavilion before this. That was the income earned through selling the rights to know the beauties of the Blossom Rankings. I made around 250 million from that.”

Everyone was startled when they heard this declaration. As far as they were concerned, there was no need for Bai Xiaofei to lie to them about this. After carefully thinking about the requirements the Blossom Pavilion had released recently, it was indeed possible for him to earn that much so long as people were willing to spend.

Regret filled the room once more. As everyone wallowed in regret, Yun Jingshuang slammed his hammer down, announcing the start of the third round. This time, Jin Erpan or Lin Lang did not need to help inflate the price. Someone else immediately took the initiative to raise the price to 150 million. And this was merely the start. The competition was extremely intense for the subsequent three rights. They were each sold at the respective price of 450 million, 510 million, and 480 million. The crowd grew more and more agitated as the bidding continued.

It was then that Bai Xiaofei made another announcement.

“Now that five rights have been sold, we will be taking a thirty minute break. I hope everyone will make good use of these thirty minutes.”

Bai Xiaofei and Yun Jingshuang retreated from the stage with a smile. The bosses under the stage were slightly stunned. But a few of them were able to catch on to what Bai Xiaofei was trying to say. These people immediately stood up and left the auction hall.

Raising money! Bai Xiaofei was giving them the time to raise more money! With someone taking the lead, some of the others understood what was going on as well. Gradually, the number of people leaving increased... By now, most of them already realized that they had underestimated the true value of this cooperative right.

After retreating from the stage, Bai Xiaofei gathered the five bosses who had already purchased their rights. He took out five contracts with a smile on his face.

“Dear bosses, please take a look at the contract. Our conditions are listed on them. If there are no problems, we can proceed with signing.”

All five of them started studying the contract. Xie Guangyun and Chu Dangyang had initially believed that they were only there to make an appearance. However, after reading through the contract, they looked at each other before looking straight at Bai Xiaofei. It was fine for them to be making a profit from this. However, they seemed to have earned way too much!

“Although the price you two paid wasn’t that high, an auction is similar to a gamble. Since I participated in this gamble, I will of course acknowledge the result. This is only what you deserve. I believe our cooperation will be a pleasant one.”

Bai Xiaofei did not speak forthrightly; yet it was clear what he meant. Xie Guangyun and Chu Dangyang immediately understood what he was trying to say. Apart from “touched”, the two had no idea what other word they could use to describe how they felt right now.

“Brother Bai, I have a question. What is your estimated value of this contract?”

Xie Guangyun was touched, yet he did not forget to do Bai Xiaofei another favor. After all, a network existed between merchants. The other three bosses here might be connected to others outside of this room as well.

“If it is based on my estimated value, all five of you have bought this cooperative right at a very, very cheap price.”

Bai Xiaofei paused slightly, keeping them guessing for a while before he slowly replied, “Priceless!”