The afternoon auction featured nine pieces of jade, and from the first piece, Henglong constantly placed high bids.
The first two pieces of jade were snatched up by other jewelers, and the third piece was once again desired by Mingrui.
After several rounds of bidding, it was down to Mingrui and Henglong. After Henglong placed another bid, Mingruiâs people wouldnât have it, âThe last piece was Li Dafu competing with me, and now itâs you, Hengrui, doing the same. Are you two colluding to drive up the price?â n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
These words were somewhat blunt, but in the business world, especially when rivals are gathered, itâs not necessarily a bad thing to speak oneâs mind.
Mingruiâs complaint wasnât without reason. The auction was taking place in Henglongâs venue, with Li Dafu responsible for inviting guests. Both companies had a good catch in the morning, and now they continued to drive up prices in the afternoon. What was this supposed to mean?
Keep in mind, the seller Feng Jun was a newcomer. Though everyone had heard some legends about Boss Feng, no one had met him before this. So⦠where exactly did this person come from?
Given these unusual occurrences, Mingrui had every reason to voice their suspicions: what exactly is the relationship between you three parties?
Was this Feng Jun a new jade source that Li Dafu and Henglong had found, and they were now jointly pushing out a representative?
A deputy director from Li Dafu participated in the auction, but the big boss Li Yongrui was also present, drinking tea with Feng Jun on the side.
Seeing the attention of everyone turning towards them, Chairman Li became angry, âWeâve only bought two pieces of jade altogether, and Henglong has already bought five. What are you thinking, dragging us, Li Dafu, into this?â
It was only natural for Li Dafu to buy two pieces of jade. They had interacted with Feng Jun before but hadnât managed to purchase any jade. Feng Junâs jade was all high-quality, and they had already decided to acquire several pieces today.
It was an unavoidable matter. Li Dafu was a large corporation and the leader in the Funiu jewelry industry. Their demand for jade was inherently high, and as a state-owned enterprise, they could enjoy some advantages from their scale and government support. However, compared to other competitors, they often lacked flexibility.
Thus, whenever high-quality jade appeared on the Funiu market, LiDafuâs response was always half a beat slower than others, and their competitors were more nimble. In such competition, Li Dafu was at a significant disadvantage and ended up with less merchandise.
Today, they were determined to secure several pieces of jade. Fortunately, they knew Feng Jun had many pieces, so they started by securing two and would decide on the rest based on the situation.
In the second half of the auction, the atmosphere had grown tense, and Li Dafu lost much of their interest in participating. It was Henglong that continued to bid, leaving Li Yongrui somewhat puzzled: how many pieces of jade did you need to amass before you had enough?
Now that he heard about the suspicions of price-rigging between Li Dafu and Henglong, he was not willing to be tarred with that reputation. He waved Liang Haiqing over, âBoss Liang, come here for a moment.â
Boss Liang was the Executive Vice President of Henglong. Above him was a Chairman cum General Manager who wasnât really focused on the jewelry industry. Moreover, Boss Liang had already dealt with Feng Jun more than once, so his presence there today was enough.
When Li Yongrui signaled him, Liang Haiqing felt a headache coming on but still approached, smiling as he spoke, âDo you have any instructions, Chairman Li? We have quite a few guests today, my apologies if weâve neglected you.â
Li Yongrui waved off the apology and spoke straightforwardly, âBoss Liang, itâs not about being neglected. I just have one question for you: The person bidding on behalf of your company, I donât believe Iâve seen them before⦠Theyâre not from Zhengyang, are they?â
Ever since starting his career in this field, and ascending step by step to the position of chairman, he had met many people in the jewelry industry. It wasnât just Funiu Province; he was familiar with anyone of note throughout all of Huaxia.
Chairman Li had felt that the bidder for Hengrui looked unfamiliar, but he hadnât given it much thought. He was a busy man with countless issues to attend to and didnât have the time to dwell on such trivial concerns.
It wasnât until someone accused Li Dafu and Henglong of colluding to deceive everyone that he began to take the issue seriously. After a brief analysis, he came to a conclusion.
Hearing this, Liang Haiqing knew their little secret had been exposed. He didnât try to hide it anymore and just laughed awkwardly, âThis is a friend of mine from the capital. He happened to be passing through Zhengyang and insisted on experiencing the auction when he heard our company was holding one.â Damn! Li Yongrui silently gestured at the other man, disgusted. So Henglong had given up on the auction and casually passed on their bidding rights as a favor!
Chairman Li was displeased, âBoss Liang, I am the one who sent out the invitations. Your friend was uninvited; donât you think this is a bit disrespectful to me?â
âYouâre overstating it, Chairman Li,â replied Boss Liang with a smile. He had been busy greeting guests all around and did not come to have tea, partly because he had to exchange pleasantries with some old acquaintances he hadnât seen for a while and also because he was concerned that if he sat down, Chairman Li might ask him at any moment who the Henglong bidder was.
He didnât want any extra trouble, not in the slightest. But now that Li Yongrui had spoken openly, he could only argue his case, âMy friend used Henglongâs bidding number, which means we gave up. No matter how you look at it, our company provided the venue. A little flexibility here shouldnât be seen as too excessive, right?â
Li Yongrui shook his head slowly and then spoke up loudly, âI was wondering why Henglong, having already acquired three pieces of jade, would no longer need to challenge others by this point. It seemed that they should be somewhat more relaxed but now I see whatâs really going on.â
He stated this very maturely, not insisting on continuing the investigation. However, he had succeeded in provoking the discontent of others.
Liang Haiqing cursed under his breath, âOld fox,â knowing trouble was brewing.
Sure enough, before he could speak, the boss of Mingrui took the lead, âBoss Liang, Henglongâs actions are quite unsavory. Our Zhengyang⦠our Funiu peopleâs jade tradeâyouâre letting people from the capital get involved. Isnât this betraying your own side?â
In the business world, itâs all about cliques, and âbetraying your own sideâ is a serious accusation. Even the government often employs local protectionism policies, not to mention the local populace.
Thatâs why Feng Jun would often lament, âA man is worthless away from his home, but goods are precious far from their source,â referring to this sort of xenophobic mentality.
Specifically, in the jade industry, itâs even more pronounced. You see, Funiu doesnât produce jade at all. All of the jade comes from other provinces or even other countries, which is quite difficult. Prices for jade in the province have also been consistently high.
In such a context, having a jade trade fair featuring nothing but fine pieces is extremely rare. There was already talk that this fair could allow Funiu to look down upon all its neighboring provinces, and that a few more fairs like this could even change the landscape of the jade industry.
And now Henglong had quietly brought in people from the capital, wanting to let Funiuâs high-quality jade flow outâthis was absolutely unbearable.
As soon as Mingrui stated its stance, others chimed in, âBoss Liang, Henglong may eat meat, but you must leave some soup for the rest of us, right? The decent jade we have in Funiu is already pitifully scarce. With what youâre doing, how can our brothers hold their heads high when mingling with peers outside?â
The speaker was a jeweler from a city below, with close ties to Li Dafu. Since Li Dafu had also been bidding earlier, he had kept quiet, but seeing Li Yongrui distancing himself, he jumped right in.
Seeing this, others followed suit, and Liang Haiqing truly incurred everyoneâs wrath.
Caught off guard by the collective assault, Liang Haiqing was momentarily stunned but then jumped up high, âEveryone, do you really see me, Old Liang, as someone who betrays his own side?â
The scene went silent, with no one answering his question. Boss Liang was usually a decent man, but with the situation unclear, nobody dared to step forward and take the massive risk of staunchly defending him.
After a while, someone spoke up, âWeâre all reputable people here. Letâs first listen to what Boss Liang has to say before jumping to conclusions.â
At this point, Liang Haiqing had no regard for anything else and pointed directly at Feng Jun, âThis is Boss Feng Feng Jun. You must have heard that all the jade for this timeâs event comes from him. He has a large quantity of high- quality jade. If he wishes, itâs no problem to have a trade fair of this scale once a month.â
âYeah, right,â sneered the boss of Mingrui, the first to express disbelief, âReal or not, I canât even imagine having it once a year, let alone once a month.â âThatâs because you lack imagination!â snapped Liang Haiqing without mercy and then glanced at Feng Jun, âBoss Feng, itâs your turn to say something⦠Eh?â
Feng Jun, with a grim face, spoke up, âBoss Liang, do you think I need more trouble? When did I ever say I wanted to do this once a month?â
He couldnât actually follow up on that, as the old saying goes, âDonât flash your wealth.â
Liang Haiqing then realized he had made another mistake, so preoccupied with clearing his name that he accidentally put Feng Jun in a tight spot. He chuckled awkwardly, âAlright, my bad for talking too much. But the news about Wang Weimin, the young master of Jubaozhai being on the run, is not false, right?â âBoss Feng, even if I donât say it, others have brains too. Do you think you can really hide it?
Upon hearing the name Wang Weimin, Feng Junâs head heated up, and he forwent subtlety, raising a finger, âIâm now collecting information on Wang Weimin. Whoever can provide valuable information, Iâll sell them a piece of jade at half price⦠worth at least a million.â
Which circle did Wang Weimin mix in? The jewelry circle! Feng believed that releasing the information in this circle would be most effective.
Those present were wealthy, and ordinary rewards wouldnât entice them, especially since Jubaozhai was also a powerhouse in the circle. If the informant leaked the news, it wouldnât be easy for them to face others.
But⦠with a jade piece worth at least a million, sold at half price, that would save several hundred thousand at least. Money does indeed move people.
Some had already started looking around shiftily.
âAlright, letâs leave the digression here,â Liang Haiqing, seizing the moment, quickly added, âLetâs continue with the auction. Those who trust me donât need to worry; thereâs always a next time.â
He shouldnât have said that because it made the subsequent auction even more intense.
(Third update, please vote for monthly tickets and recommendations.)