Chapter 85
Chapter 85 – Auction – Part 3
"20,000 GOLD!"
"40,000!"
"70,000!"
Shouts came from everywhere within the auction theater . The bid went from 20,000 to 100,000 within a few seconds .
Then .
"200,000 From the Yuan family!"
A voice came from the VIP section . Feng Ji was the one who shouted the bid which made everyone stopped what they were doing and turned around to gaze at him in admiration and awe .
"Shit! It's the Yuan Family . "
"I don't think I want to offend them . I'll stop here . "
"Me, too . I don't have enough gold anyway . "
The bidding also paused as there was no bidding after Feng Ji declared that he was from the Yuan family .
Tong glared at Feng Ji in discontentment . He was expecting the recipe to be auctioned around 400,000 gold or more . But because of Feng Ji and Yuan Shao's reputation, no one dared to bid further .
However, as a host, Tong could not voice out his thought . He had to continue the auction and prayed that someone came and bid for a higher price .
"200,000 going once!"
"250,000 gold!"
A voice came from another VIP section . It was the five fat merchants that had made a large deal with Tong . They were the prominent 5 merchants that were well-known in this city .
"Those guys want to compete with the Yuan!?"
"Are they seeking death? Yuan Shao will kill them if he finds out . "
"Wow, they got the balls of iron!"
Gossips and whispers buzzed within the crowd . They glanced at both VIP sections and enjoyed the drama as the auction of this item was out of their reach .
"260,000" Feng Ji continued to bid .
"300,000!!"
Feng Ji gritted his teeth . The budget they had was only 350,000 gold at the moment . He did not want to spend all of it because of a recipe, which could be easily stolen by any random workers within Tong's factory . By thinking this far, Feng Ji decided to stop .
However, because of his wicked and unyielding personality, he wanted to prank these 5 fatties a bit .
"310,000 gold . " Feng Ji bid .
"330,000 gold!"
"350,000 gold!!" Feng Ji bid again .
"400,000 GOLD!!"
On the other side of the auction, the five merchants sweated bullets as they had just bid everything they had . The 400,000 gold was all of their combined cash that they pooled together for this item . If someone were to bid higher, they would not be able to bid anymore .
Feng Ji observed the five men and laughed in his heart . He could guess that they had reached their limit, so he would not bid anymore and let these fools to take the recipe .
On the stage, Tong breathed out a relieved sigh . He appreciated the competition of Feng Ji and the five merchants . Because of that, he got the price he had initially estimated . If it went further, he would consider it a bonus .
"400,000 gold, going once!"
"400,000 gold going twice!"
"Four-"
Before Tong could finish his warning closure, another voice came from the audience .
"500,000 gold! I'll make my family great again!"
A familiar catchphrase came from the chubby man . It was Te Langpu who had shouted the bid .
'Dafuq was that? Why do I feel like I have heard that phrase before somewhere?'
Tong tilted his head and wondered . He definitely heard that slogan somewhere before but he could not remember it clearly . Because of the vague memory and unclear image, Tong ignored it and continued with the auction . After this thing was done, he would try to recall it .
"500,000 gold going once!"
The five merchants gritted their teeth in anger . If it was not because of the large deal they had made with Tong, they would have more than enough gold to overwhelm Te Langpu's bidding . They could only give up and try their luck again in the next item .
"500,000 gold going twice!"
"500,000 sold to the gentleman … Te Langpu?"
'Te Langpu? Te Lang Pu? Why is this name so familiar?'
Tong frowned as he said the name of the winner of the soap recipe auction . He was sure that he definitely knew this name and that catchphrase . He gazed upon Te Langpu again as if he wanted to ask who he was . Seeing the unique hairstyle and his face, the forgotten memory of over 400,000 years ago came back .
'FUDGE! ARE YOU SERIOUS!? THAT FUDGING TR*MP!!?'
Tong wanted to draw his gun and shoot him on the spot, but it would incur a backlash from the people . Therefore, Tong decided not to kill him at this place . He would track down Te Langpu and used his [Time Stop] skill to assassinate him later if he still strolled around in this city .
Tong sighed in his mind as he felt pity . He had used his [Time Stop] earlier or he would stop the time and kill Te Langpu in secret without caring about the consequences right now .
On the other side, as a former politician and a top businessman in the previous life, Te Langpu noticed Tong's facial expression and the subtle changes . He assumed that his identity as a reincarnator was more than 50% exposed . He had to leave this city if he wanted to avoid the direct confrontation .
'Hmm . Though I want to have a heart to heart talk like a civil gentleman do, the goddamn system probably tries to kill us again . Time to leave, perhaps . '
Te Langpu stood up and walked to the staffs . He asked them to settle the auction item and his gold, so he could leave the auction theater right away and left a few of his servants to deal with the minor details .
"Alright, it's time for our final item! This item will surely make everybody here drools, I guarantee you . The final item of the auction today is … the trade concession!"
The merchants got pumped up again . These people were familiar with concessions from the authorities as they usually bribed the officials to take part in it . It was the first time that a city official held a public auction openly in the public .
"In this concession, it doesn't hold one right of one product! There are salt, sugar, vegetable oil, whiskey, and … spice! All of these products that Julu government have will be sold to the right holder at 20% of the market price!"
Everyone in the theater stood up in shock . Twenty percent market price meant that the right holder could gain 400% profit by reselling everything they bought from the city government at the market value .
Feng Ji frowned as he glared at Tong .
'This brat is too bold . Giving rights to ordinary merchants can spell disaster if the right holder fails to meet the standard . Or is he expecting us to obtain the right?'
Feng Ji fell into deep thought . Then he glanced at the five merchants in the other VIP booth by accident .
'Right, those guys still have plenty of money . Zhang Tong can still rely on them . '
Thinking that Tong would rely on the five men, Feng Ji whispered to the leader of the representative .
"Please take this concession by any means necessary . I don't care if we have to loan more money for it . Just take it . "
The representative nodded . He was Feng Ji's servant in disguise, so he had to follow his order .
…
Te Langpu, who was leaving, stopped his feet on this track . He turned around to glare at Tong and cursed him in his mind .
'Spice and salt? Where in this alien world can Zhang Tong acquire all of that? Julu is too far from the coast . He shouldn't be able to possess any salt mine . Or … right . I forgot that he's also a reincarnator . '
Te Langpu figured that Tong should either have a skill that could create those salt and spice out of thin air, or he had bought a large amount of them with shopping tickets .
He ignored the auction and slowly walked out of the theater .
'It's none of my business . I got what I want . I'll just create a factory somewhere and rebuild my casinos while I'm at it . '
…
The crowd dispersed and left the theater . The auction ended successfully .
Feng Ji won the concession auction by bidding 500,000 gold . They had to loan the money from other merchants to bid for it . He immediately sent a messenger to the city hall right away that he would reserve every item they had for their next pick-up at the end of April .
Te Langpu did not bother staying in Julu for a night before his departure . He rushed his servants and left the city before nightfall with all of his winning trophies .
Despite his effort to hurry back to Ye City, an army of a thousand men stopped Te Langpu on the road . It was the army of Yuan family .
Te Langpu walked in front of his caravan . He was ready for a fight as he was confident in his cheat abilities .
Unexpectedly, a scholar rode a horse forward and greeted Te Langpu .
"My deepest apologies for stopping you at this time of the day . My name is Tian Feng . I wish to establish a partnership between us . Could you spare some of your time?"
Tian Feng had been stationing outside of Julu City since this morning . He came with the servants who attended the auction, but Tian Feng did not enter the city because he was wary of Tong .
Glaring at Tian Feng, Te Langpu nodded and sent a signal to his men to stand down .
"Yuan family, is it? What do you want from me? The soap recipe?"
"No, no . You misunderstood me . You see? Our master, Lord Yuan Shao has taken an interest in your financial abilities and your leadership . Would you be interested in working with us? We will give you a suitable compensation, lands, and noble status . As for the soap recipe, we could easily obtain it from the other sources . So you can keep it . "
