Chapter 571: Fierce Bidding

On stage.

The Auctioneer said, “The starting bid for this Qianlong Emperor’s white jade thumb ring is thirty million, with each bid increase not to be lower than one million. Bidding starts now!”

As soon as his words ended, countless people eagerly started bidding.

“Thirty-five million!”

“Forty million!”

“Fifty million!”

“…”

“Eighty million!”

“One hundred million!”

It wasn’t until the price soared to one hundred million that the pace of bidding slowed.

“One hundred and ten million!” The bidder was a former coal tycoon.

This former coal tycoon was named Chen Meng, who had previously made a fortune in the coal industry.

Now, with the coal industry no longer booming, he successfully transitioned to the internet.

Although he did not do exceptionally well, he made a modest profit and still appeared flush with cash.

He thought the Qianlong white jade thumb ring suited him very well.

Even though he had no chance of becoming an emperor, wearing something that belonged to one was excellent.

In the future, he could brag about it when meeting with internet magnates.

“One hundred and twenty million!” The bidder was an elusive tycoon.

This elusive tycoon was named Long Ce.

It is said that not many people knew about this elusive tycoon.

Even among the lower-tier tycoons, he wasn’t widely known.

But within the circle of super-rich, his name was renowned.

It is rumored that Paradise Island, a tourist hotspot in the Pacific, belonged to him.

The industries under his control had long reached the billion-dollar level.

Even figures like Jack Ma, Wang Jianlin, and Liu Qiangdong behaved courteously when they met Long Ce.

As the owner of Paradise Island, he saw himself as the emperor of the island.

Having something that belonged to an emperor seemed symbolic.

“One hundred and thirty million!” This time the bidder was the well-known Xu Jiaying.

Although Xu Jiaying’s Hengda Group had debts exceeding two trillion, it did not affect his spending over one hundred million to buy a Qianlong white jade thumb ring.

After all, with so much debt, the banks should be worried, not him.

Perhaps by obtaining this white jade thumb ring, he could resonate with the emperor’s spirit, and somehow his debt problems would be solved.

Then it would be good for him, good for the banks, and good for everyone.

Besides these three, there were no other bidders.

Super-rich tycoons like Liu Qiangdong, Zhang Yimin, and Ma Hua Teng did not bid.

These internet giants were not interested in such antiques.

In their eyes, spending over a hundred million on such an item was an incredibly foolish act.

“One hundred and forty million!” Chen Meng bid again.

“One hundred and fifty million!” said the elusive tycoon Long Ce indifferently.

Long Ce was determined to have the white jade thumb ring.

In his view, the thumb ring seemed to have appeared specifically for him.

As the owner of Paradise Island, he was the most qualified to own the white jade thumb ring.

No one present had more right to it than he did!

“One hundred and sixty million!” Xu Jiaying continued to bid.

Xu Jiaying didn’t lack money; after all, the money was the bank’s, and the bank’s money was from the hard-working masses who bought houses.

He could spend freely, with so many people working for him; money was not a concern.

Chen Meng did not bid again.

His psychological price limit was one hundred and fifty million.

Spending one hundred and fifty million to show off was already show-off enough.

If it were any more, it wouldn’t be worth it. Instead, it might lead to being considered a fool.

“One hundred and seventy million!” Long Ce raised the bid again, but this time he slightly furrowed his brow.

It wasn’t that he didn’t have the money to bid; after all, as a super-rich tycoon, spending one or two hundred million on an item was like a person with an annual salary of a million spending a few tens of yuan on a pack of cigarettes.

However, bidding too much for this item would make him look like a fool in the eyes of others.

He could also see that Xu Jiaying seemed to have a firm intention to win the bid.

As expected, Xu Jiaying raised the bid again, “One hundred and eighty million!”

Long Ce lightly frowned, “One hundred and ninety million!”

He said to his assistant, “Go and tell Xu Jiaying to let me have this item; I owe him a favor.”

“Yes.” The assistant nodded and quickly walked away.

Soon, he reached Xu Jiaying.

By this time, Xu Jiaying had just shouted a price of two hundred million.

Seeing Long Ce’s assistant approach, he couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows.

Before the auction started, he had exchanged a few words with Long Ce and knew that this was Long Ce’s assistant.

So, he took the initiative and asked, “Does Mr. Long have something to say to me?”

Long Ce didn’t hold any positions like chairman or president of any corporation.

Others referred to him as Mr. Long, and even his assistants did the same.

Since Paradise Island was his private island, some people used to call him Island Master Long.

At first, he thought this title sounded pretty good.@@novelbin@@

Being the master of an island was an extraordinary status, much more impressive than any title of chairman.

However, later a master advised him it was not good to let others refer to him like that, as it could lead to a bloody disaster.

This scared him quite a bit.

You see, super-rich tycoons like him are even more afraid of death than ordinary people are.

He stood at the summit of the social pyramid, having whatever he wanted, almost anything at his whim, except for the very few things that he couldn’t do.

Such a life was too wonderful.

A bloody disaster would be problematic indeed.

Once this concern became known among other wealthy individuals, they stopped calling him Island Master and uniformly referred to him as Mr. Long.

Long Ce’s assistant said, “Mr. Xu, Mr. Long says he hopes you can cede this white jade ring to him, and he will owe you a favor.”

Long Ce’s eyebrows lifted, a smile appeared on his face, and he nodded, “Alright, if he raises the bid again, I won’t compete.”

While others had to spend money to buy favors, he was earning a favor from Long Ce without spending anything—it was a huge gain.

After all, how many super-rich tycoons wanted a favor from Long Ce and couldn’t get it.

Having a favor from Long Ce gave his Hengda Group even more confidence in its debts.

“Thank you.” Long Ce’s assistant nodded and turned to leave.

Returning to Long Ce’s side, he conveyed Xu Jiaying’s words.

Long Ce nodded slightly towards Xu Jiaying, expressing his gratitude, then bid, “Two hundred and ten million!”

This time, no one else raised the bid.

“Two hundred and ten million once, two hundred and ten million twice, two hundred and ten million three times, congratulations to Mr. Long on obtaining this white jade ring!”

The auctioneer excitedly hammered down.

This was the most expensive item in the history of the Glorious Night auction.

Even at commercial auctions, it wasn’t every time that such expensive items came up for auction.

Being the one who auctioned off this item, he felt it was an honor.

Eager applause erupted from the audience.

This was the first time applause was heard for someone winning an auction item.

It was initiated by super-rich individuals like Xu Jiaying and Ma Hua Teng.

The others joined in the applause.

Xu Yang didn’t clap; although he had heard from Wang Xiaocong about Long Ce’s identity just now.

But he was a man with a system, not needing to please anyone.

Since he didn’t know Long Ce, there was no need to applaud for a stranger.

Wang Xiaocong, on the other hand, wasn’t as capricious, since sometimes he represented his father to some extent.

It wouldn’t be good if someone with an agenda took advantage of it.

So Wang Xiaocong clapped.