"Boss Lin is joking. When I was your age, I still needed my parents to support me, and you were already a boss." Li Yang smiled and extended his hand to shake hers.
Lin Xiaoyu's small hand was soft, as if devoid of bones, feeling exceptionally comfortable.
She said with a smile, "Brother Li is too modest."
"You two stop the polite banter. Find a place to sit down quickly," Sister Shui smiled, pulling them to sit in the front row.
Zhao Degang, who had entered earlier, was already seated in the front row. Seeing them approach, his face darkened. He glanced at Li Yang and said, "Boss Shui, don't say I didn't warn you. I'm very upset about what just happened. Even if it's a loss this time, I won't let you take a single good stone from here."
"You know why."
"You want me to drive my friends away?" Sister Shui said.
Zhao De sneered, "If you can really do that, I'll let you have a slight advantage during the bidding later."
"Dream on. If I could betray my friends like that, my Rich Man's Jade Gambling Field wouldn't have reached its current scale." Sister Shui said as she pulled Li Yang's hand and sat down.
Zhao De said with some annoyance, "Don't regret it."
"I never regret," Sister Shui responded firmly.
Zhao De's expression turned even uglier. "Fine, fine, fine. You won't shed tears until you see the coffin. You woman, you'll have a hard time later."
"You may not be able to do it," Sister Shui said indifferently.
At this moment, a man walked over. "Secretary Zhao, the investigation is complete."
"Secretary Chen, please tell me," Zhao De immediately asked.
Secretary Chen glanced at Li Yang and the others, then leaned close to his ear and whispered, "I've investigated this kid. He's the only son of the Li family, a prominent antique family in Jiangcheng, Li Yang."
"He's always been a regular at the Rich Man's Jade Gambling Field. Yesterday, he found an Emperor Green jade there. I heard that even Zheng Youcheng, the dealer, suffered a loss at his hands. His eyesight is extraordinary."
"Did such a thing happen?" Zhao De's expression changed. No wonder the woman surnamed Shui wasn't worried about his threats; she had found support.
Secretary Chen whispered, "Boss Zhao, I suggest it's best not to confront them this time, or you might suffer a loss."
"What are you afraid of? My eyes aren't useless either. Besides, since this kid has such good eyesight, we can just hitch a ride with him." Zhao De gave a cold smile and glanced at Li Yang.
Li Yang's ears twitched, and he heard their hushed conversation. The corners of his mouth curled slightly. He turned to speak to Sister Shui, pretending he hadn't noticed anything.
"Cough, cough, cough."
A moment later, a host of medium build walked onto the stage. He adjusted the microphone and said with a smile, "Thank you, esteemed bosses, for taking time out of your busy schedules to attend this jade rough auction. Our boss is unable to personally greet all of you due to some urgent matters. Please accept my apologies."
"You're too kind," everyone replied with slight smiles.
The host continued, "Enough with the pleasantries. Let's get straight to the main event. Item number one, approximately half a meter long, one meter wide, and seventy centimeters high. The skin is fine, and the transparency is quite high. The starting bid is one hundred thousand, with each increment no less than five thousand yuan. Esteemed bosses, please begin bidding."
As soon as he finished speaking, someone immediately pushed a jade rough onto a trolley, its size similar to what he had described.
Li Yang's gaze swept over it. "Jade rough, with thirteen internal cracks. Low quality, worth fifty thousand."
"Li Yang, what do you think of this stone?" Sister Shui asked.
Zhao De's ears also perked up, intending to eavesdrop.
Noticing this, Li Yang's lips curled slightly. He smiled and said, "This stone looks ordinary, but it's actually excellent. I think there's a high chance of finding high-ice-grade lavender jade inside, worth at least ten million."
"So much?" Sister Shui was surprised.
Li Yang nodded and said, "This is just a conservative estimate. The actual value might far exceed ten million. So, Sister Shui, you can directly bid a high price and secure this stone. You'll make a considerable profit."
"Okay."
Sister Shui, without a doubt, immediately raised her paddle. "Eight hundred thousand."
"How much?"
"Wow, beautiful Shui, everyone has only bid up to one hundred and thirty thousand, and you've suddenly bid such a high price?"
"The boss of the Great Gambling Field has a grand style, indeed."
"Everyone, I have some urgent matters at my store and need to leave quickly. I apologize for suddenly increasing the price so much. Please bear with me." Sister Shui said with a smile.
Hearing this, everyone understood. "No wonder. So Boss Shui is in a hurry to return and doesn't want to bid slowly, wanting to end the auction quickly!"
"Eight hundred thousand once, eight hundred thousand twice." The host raised his hammer, about to strike the third time.
Just then, Zhao De called out, "Wait, I bid one million."
"Zhao De, what do you mean by this?" Sister Shui frowned.
Zhao De chuckled and said, "As I said earlier, I definitely won't let you have it easy. So, no matter how much you bid for this stone, I'll match it."
"If you have the guts, then keep bidding."
"Alright, Zhao De, I'll raise the bid. Two million," Sister Shui said.
This bid caused an uproar in the venue. "My heavens, they're really going at it!"
"Such a huge jump in price. Boss Shui must be acting emotionally."
"Boss Zhao probably won't follow this bid anymore."
Boss Zhao sneered, "Three million."
He still dared to follow?
Sister Shui was slightly surprised and whispered, "Li Yang, do you think he overheard what you just said?"
"He shouldn't have. Sister Shui, he probably really wants to make things difficult for us. Don't worry about him. If you raise the price one more time, he definitely won't dare to follow." Li Yang said.
Sister Shui nodded in agreement. "Alright then, I bid four million!"
"Five million!"
"Six million."
"Eight million!" Zhao De shouted.
Sister Shui was about to bid again, but Li Yang, who had just advised her to keep bidding, suddenly grabbed her arm and said with a smile, "Alright, Sister Shui, don't bid anymore."
"What's wrong? Isn't there still profit margin in this stone?" Sister Shui looked at him, puzzled.
Li Yang smiled and said, "I'm sorry, Sister Shui. I lied to you just now. Actually, this stone is worth at most fifty thousand. I deliberately said that to this guy, otherwise, how else would he fall into the trap and bid a high price?"
"Ah?" Sister Shui blinked in surprise.
Zhao De's expression changed. "What did you say, you brat? You tricked me?"
"Tricked? That's a nasty way to put it. I was just joking with Sister Shui. Who told you to eavesdrop and believe it so easily?" Li Yang said with a playful smile. "Boss Zhao, congratulations! You've lost eight million!"