Chapter 267: Since You Believe in My Judgment, Then You Can Have It! (Charitable Face)
Chapter 267: Chapter 267: Since You Believe in My Judgment, Then You Can Have It! (Charitable Face)
Gu Shengsheng said, "I know what to do now."
"Thanks, Mr. Lu. Since we’re so close, and you’ll be the biggest investor, I shouldn’t take my cut of the profits, right?"
"No need. We’re a couple. Half of what I earn is yours anyway."
Gu Shengsheng took the opportunity to record their conversation. "That’s right, thank you, Mr. Lu. Don’t you go back on your word later."
After that, Gu Shengsheng went to pick out an outfit for the Lotus Jadeite Public Auction.
She chose a simple black suit with a form-fitting pencil skirt that perfectly accentuated her stunning figure.
Since it was starting the next day, the simpler, the better.
The next day, Gu Shengsheng and Lu Shijing entered the jadeite public auction arm in arm.
Wang Ruiqian stepped forward and immediately started fawning over Lu Shijing.
Then, he saw Gu Shengsheng, but before any introductions could be made...
Gu Shengsheng spoke up, "Hello. You must be Wang Ruiqian?"
"Yes, Miss Gu. I must thank your husband for funding the opening of our jadeite public auction. He did it because he values me and wanted to help me out."
"I suppose you didn’t know about this, Miss Gu?"
Gu Shengsheng was speechless. ’So this Wang Ruiqian enjoys playing the part of a two-faced instigator? That’s just vile.’
’Then again, it makes sense. A person who wasn’t despicable and shameless wouldn’t have dared to kidnap my grandma.’
Gu Shengsheng, however, remained perfectly composed.
"I know. It’s our shared marital asset. As long as you don’t feel awkward using it, it’s all good."
"After all, my grandma was just walking down the street, perfectly fine, when you had her taken away. That’s quite something, isn’t it?"
"Wasn’t it all to get you here, Miss Gu?" he admitted brazenly. "My target was you all along. In the end, I still lost. I failed to get you on board, and now my capital is completely tied up."
"None of this was what I originally intended, of course."
’This was a matter that still stung him financially. He deeply regretted not managing to hire Gu Shengsheng back then. He had insisted on picking the stones himself, which led to one wrong step after another, a cascade of errors.’
’If only he had been a bit more conservative and stuck to his own methods, perhaps none of this would have happened.’
’But it was no use dwelling on it now.’
The group entered, and Lu Shijing headed upstairs.
Gu Shengsheng, meanwhile, went straight to the jadeite area to inspect the merchandise.
The material here was mainly divided into three types: fully revealed roughs, partially revealed roughs, and completely uncut stones. Purchasing any of them was a gamble.
This was no longer an era where everyone was a reckless gambler, so very few people would choose the completely uncut roughs.
After all, most of the people at the jadeite public auction were merchants in the jadeite trade.
Most merchants would choose the fully revealed roughs. With those, they could see exactly what the material contained and calculate how many bracelets and earrings could be made. They could ensure a certain profit margin after fully utilizing and processing the stone.
Those who wanted to take a bit of a risk would go for the partially revealed roughs.
The kind Wang Ruiqian had gambled on before, however, were the completely uncut ones.
A massive, multi-ton rough like that, left uncut, was an enormous risk. As a result, his massive loss had become a huge joke within the industry.
Because of that incident, it even seemed like the prices of the surrounding roughs had dropped somewhat.
No one dared to set their prices too high, fearing they wouldn’t be able to sell.
Downstairs, Gu Shengsheng examined the stones, taking notes as she went.
For her System, this sort of task was second nature. As she was looking, she happened to run into Chen Yufan.
Chen Yufan greeted her enthusiastically. "Sister Gu!"
Gu Shengsheng paused. "...Didn’t you take Yu Xi home? Why are you still here?"
"My dad took my sister home. I figured I didn’t need to leave, plus I was hoping to learn from you. I want to follow you and gain some experience."
"I figured you might come, so I’ve just been wandering around here."
Gu Shengsheng nodded. "Oh? Do you know anything about this?"
"I do, I do! I’ve watched all your livestreams. I even took notes on everything you explained."
’Coincidentally, Gu Shengsheng had been thinking about how many people were watching her. All the stone sellers were tracking her every move, and it was making her uncomfortable. She might as well use this kid to create a diversion.’
So, Gu Shengsheng wrote down a long list of lot numbers in her notebook and told him to simply bid on them at the auction.
Chen Yufan was stunned. "...Sister Gu, are you saying all of these will be profitable?"
"They are."
’Now Gu Shengsheng was absolutely certain. The people around her weren’t even pretending not to listen; every one of them was straining their ears to overhear.’
’Seriously? Is there something wrong with that Wang Ruiqian? Sending people to follow me this brazenly, hoping to pick up my scraps?’
After their conversation, Chen Yufan started texting Gu Shengsheng. ’Sister Gu, why don’t you go take a break? Leave the grunt work of walking around and buying things to me.’
’I’ll have a field day messing with them!’
He had come here precisely because he knew the people who had wronged Gu Shengsheng would be present.
He was here to help her. After all, Sister Gu had helped his family so much.
Gu Shengsheng understood now. This kid, Chen Yufan, had come here intending to help; he knew about her situation.
’These kids are all so perceptive,’ she thought.
Gu Shengsheng texted back: "No need. Just buy the ones I told you to."
"The list is real, but I’m going to give them a little surprise."
Chen Yufan had been a little anxious at first, but now he wasn’t worried at all.
’His original plan had been to meet with Gu Shengsheng publicly. That way, everyone would know they were on the same side, and they would target him instead. Then Sister Gu would be safe.’
’He never expected that Sister Gu would already know everything. He felt like a clown in comparison.’
Chen Yufan scratched his head, embarrassed. But now he was relieved. He didn’t have to think; he just had to follow orders.
Suddenly freed from the pressure, he felt emboldened.
After they finished inspecting the goods, all that was left was to wait for the auction the next day.
Gu Shengsheng had identified about five or six jadeite rough stones. Each one had a profit potential of one to three million, with a cost of around 500,000 to 1,000,000.
Not too expensive.
She had given Chen Yufan a list with about three items as well.
So, during the competitive auction the next day, there were people bidding against them on every one of these rough stones.
And Chen Yufan’s task was to drive the bidding for each of his items past ten million.
Chen Yufan was a bit nervous when the first rough stone came up.
But they had rehearsed the whole act.
At the very start, Chen Yufan placed a direct bid: "Nine million."
A proxy bidder on the other side countered, "Nine million fifty thousand."
Chen Yufan: "Ten million."
The other side raised their bid again. "Ten million fifty thousand."
Then, Chen Yufan ruffled his hair in frustration and made a loud, agitated phone call to Gu Shengsheng. "This guy is so annoying! Why does he keep raising my bid by fifty thousand?! Do we still want this or not?"
"It’s getting so expensive!"
Gu Shengsheng’s voice came from the other end: "Yes, we have to get it. We’ll make the money back."
Their opponents overheard this and felt even more confident.
So, they continued to raise their bids.
Then, sweating profusely, Chen Yufan shouted, "Sixteen million!"
The other side didn’t back down, continuing to bid. "Sixteen million fifty thousand."
They were utterly convinced that Chen Yufan would raise his bid again.
But to their surprise, Chen Yufan just dropped it. "Nope, not anymore. Can’t afford it."