Chapter 111: You're Finished, Kid
A thought seemed to strike Patriarch Ma, and he gave a cold command. "Send a few men to the auction house right now."
"Whatever that damn mutt and the Chu Family bid on, drive up the price on all of it!"
"Once the price is high enough, let them win it!"
"First, we'll make the Chu Family bleed a little, and then we'll teach him a lesson!"
"I refuse to believe the Chu Family would actually go against my entire Ma Family for some stinking Daoist!"
"Yes!"
The butler scurried away.
The Auction House.
This was the second day of the auction, featuring primarily rare medicinal herbs.
The number of bidders was much larger than the day before. After all, everyone only has one life; no matter how much money you have, you need to be alive to spend it.
Precious medicinal herbs could often save a life.
The auctioneer on stage energetically introduced the item. "This is a genuine Bezoar Pill from Jiren Hall, a full century old!"
"As you all know, back then, these were made with real bezoar, a priceless and unobtainable ingredient!"
"The starting bid is two hundred thousand, and each increment must be at least one thousand!"
The crowd below began to call out bids.
Xiao Ye had his eye on this Bezoar Pill as well. He had no use for it himself, but he could give it to Lin Aoshan.
If he wasn't around, this was the kind of thing that could truly snatch someone back from the brink of death.
Thinking of this, he said nonchalantly, "Raise the bid."
Beside him, Assistant Huo understood immediately. "Number 1 bids two hundred fifty thousand!"
"Number 7 raises to two hundred eighty thousand!"
"Number 15 raises to three hundred thousand!"
Xiao Ye lost his patience. "Four hundred thousand!"
He had increased the bid by one hundred thousand in one go. As expected, the floor went quiet.
After a moment, just as the auctioneer was about to bring down the gavel, another bid came from Number 7.
"Number 7 raises to four hundred and one thousand!"
Xiao Ye kept up. "Five hundred thousand!"
"Number 7 raises to five hundred and one thousand!"
Assistant Huo's brow furrowed. He felt that the other party wasn't genuinely trying to buy the Bezoar Pill, but rather seemed to be deliberately driving up the final price.
This sort of thing often happened at smaller auction houses, but a major one wouldn't stoop to such tactics, much less ruin its own reputation.
He said nothing and continued to bid for Xiao Ye. "Number 1 bids six hundred thousand!"
Xiao Ye was currently in the Chu Family's private box. As one of the top families in South City, Box Number 1 was their exclusive domain.
Number 7 went silent, apparently giving up on the bid.
The auctioneer was beaming. A century-old Bezoar Pill fetching five hundred thousand would have been the absolute limit, yet today it had gone for six hundred thousand!
This was a high price that no other auction house had achieved, and it would serve as another feather in his cap in the future!
"Excellent! Congratulations to Number 1!"
The next few traditional Chinese medicinal herbs were of decent age and well-preserved.
For Xiao Ye, you could never have too many of these things. There would always come a day when they would be useful.
"Number 1 bids one hundred fifty thousand!"
"Number 7 bids two hundred thousand!"
"Number 1 bids three hundred thousand."
"Number 7 bids three hundred fifty thousand!"
Now, it was just Xiao Ye and Number 7 left, continually raising their bids.
Xiao Ye was rich and simply didn't care about the cost.
Besides, for this auction house to establish itself in South City, it naturally had to cooperate with the local influential families, and the Chu Family was one of its partners.
Otherwise, Chu Yan wouldn't have had the authority to kick out an auction house manager yesterday.
A portion of this money went to the seller, a portion went into the auction house's pocket, and a portion, naturally, went to the Chu Family.
Xiao Ye raised his bid, "Five hundred thousand!"
Number 7 went silent.
For the rest of the auction, whenever Xiao Ye showed interest in an item, someone would inevitably drive up the price.
And the person in Box Number 7 was, without a doubt, the most frequent offender.
If they had bid on other items, it might have been less suspicious.
But they bid on whatever Xiao Ye bid on.
As for the lots Xiao Ye ignored, they didn't even bother to raise their paddle.
They were clearly trying to pick a fight.
It wasn't just Xiao Ye and the Chu Family; even the other attendees noticed something was off.
Assistant Huo's expression was grim as he stared intently at Box Number 7. "Mr. Xiao, should I go and give them a warning?"
"It's normal business competition. No need."
Xiao Ye put down his phone and smiled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.
"They want my money? Let's see if they're worthy of taking it!"
"Continue bidding normally. Whatever they bid, we'll just add ten thousand."
Assistant Huo nodded and diligently poured Xiao Ye a cup of tea.
If anyone from the Huo Family Company saw this, their jaws would surely drop.
Was this really the same decisive and feared chief assistant they all knew?
「Three hours later, the auction ended.」
Assistant Huo had not only called out the bids but had also recorded everything. "Mr. Xiao, we won a total of seven items."
"At normal prices, the total should have been around six million."
"But because of what Number 7 did, we paid nearly double that price."
Xiao Ye nodded, drained his tea in one gulp to wet his throat, and said, "Alright, I know. Let's go."
The two left the private box. Chu Yan had other matters to attend to and hadn't stayed for the entire auction.
Outside the Auction House.
Just as Xiao Ye stepped off the red carpet, a man blocked his path.
The man looked to be in his thirties, with a vicious expression and the same sanpaku eyes as Ma Ping from yesterday.
"Kid, you dared to touch someone from my Ma Family? You're finished! Don't think you can act so arrogant in South City just because you have the Chu Family backing you!"
"The Chu Family isn't powerful enough to own the sky! And their backing is nothing compared to the Ma Family's!"
"Right now, in front of everyone, get on your knees and apologize to my Ma Family."
"Then, you'll come back with me to be dealt with as we see fit. If I'm in a good mood, I might even let you live!"
Afraid that others wouldn't hear, the man yelled out the string of threats at the top of his lungs.
His sinister expression, along with the henchmen surrounding them, made it clear that if Xiao Ye refused, they would resort to force.
Hearing this, the onlookers began to whisper among themselves.
"The Ma Family is at it again. I knew they wouldn't let this go."
"We all know what the Ma Family is like. Even with the Chu Family's help, this kid is in for a hard time."
"The Ma Family loves to play dirty. He's not a member of the Chu Family, so they can't protect him forever!"
Seeing Xiao Ye remain silent, the man's eyes narrowed, his gaze growing even more vicious. "Kid, didn't you hear what people are saying?"
"So what if the Chu Family protects you? You think they can watch over you twenty-four hours a day?"
"Let me tell you, I have countless ways to kill you!"
'How can these Ma Family people be so long-winded? It's hurting my ears!'
Xiao Ye had been in a decent mood, but seeing the Ma Family member's ugly display, his interest instantly vanished.
He said flatly, "Your ugliness offends me. What an eyesore."
"Being born ugly isn't your fault, but coming out and scaring people is."
The Ma Family member froze. He never imagined Xiao Ye would say something like that.
When he snapped out of it, his face instantly turned the color of pig's liver. "You…"
BAM!
Xiao Ye threw a heavy punch, striking him square on the bridge of the nose. "I'll do a good deed today and clean up the city's appearance!"
"AHH!!" The Ma Family member collapsed to the ground, writhing in agony.
Assistant Huo, suppressing a laugh, opened the car door. "Mr. Xiao, if you please."