Chapter 500

Several bigwigs kept raising the auction price, and it quickly reached a sky‑high price of 250 million.

The Paimaiguan Xiaojiejie who had originally been determined to win.

At this moment, she also hesitated a bit.

She took out her phone and made a call: "Hello, Master Yao, the auction price has already been called to 250 million at the scene, do you still want… the final bid, it was Boss Ma who called… okay, got it…"

After finishing the call with her boss behind the scenes.

The Paimaiguan Xiaojiejie expressed her stance on the spot: "I withdraw, congratulations Boss Ma."

"Thank you, beautiful lady, for yielding."

In the midst of chatting and laughing, Boss Ma clasped his hands in a salute, showing how much he likes martial arts.

Spending 250 million to bid on a broken watch worth less than 200, at first glance this is as absurd as a melodramatic brainless drama, melodramatic to the extreme.

But sensible people all understand that this is actually just a power game.

What's being played is human relations and worldly wisdom.

Using Boss Ma's words: "I have no interest in money; to me, money is just a number." You think he's showing off, but he really is showing off.

A person with a net worth of several billion spending 250 million on a watch is like a person with a net worth of several thousand spending 2.5 on a watch.

The nature is the same.

After the auction ended, Lin Dongfan hosted a banquet at a private restaurant in Dongcheng to thank the enthusiastic bidders. The invited were Xu Jijun, Zhuangbi Ma Zong, Tuding Zhou Zong, Manager Liu, and Paimaiguan Xiaojiejie.

Liu Qingmei also wanted to join the fun, but she wasn't invited.

She returned to the hotel room full of anger, and as soon as she entered, she lashed out at Wei Shouqin: "I told you to go, but you didn't; today you've made me lose all face, it's all your fault!"

Saying that, she swung her LV bag and hit Wei Shouqin.

Wei Shouqin raised his arm to block a few times: "I've told you, Lin Dongfan is the director of the Anti-Corruption Bureau; I can't go bidding at that kind of occasion, why won't you listen to advice?"

"He's just a small bureau chief? You're a full department head, what's there to be afraid of? Making excuses!" Liu Qingmei swung her bag at Wei Shouqin again.

Wei Shouqin was feeling extremely depressed.

If it weren't for his wife's inability to bear children, he'd now be hoping Liu Qingmei gets pregnant; he really doesn't want to indulge Liu Qingmei.

What the hell is this!

At least he's a graduate of Jianglan Zhengfa University; even if he doesn't go into politics, he should understand the game of cat and mouse, right? He has zero political sense.

Wei Shouqin endured his temper and explained: "My rank is half a level higher than his, but it's useless. Guo Lichun of Haishan is also a full department head; he's a real power holder, a bigwig who controls a region, far stronger than me—can't just be arrested on a whim. This kind of thing can't be left to chance."

"Lin Dongfan himself is a corrupt official! He dares to arrest you? He doesn't want to live!"

"He's also a corrupt official?"

Wei Shouqin looked as if he had discovered a new continent, his eyes instantly lighting up with hope.

He eagerly asked: "Do you have evidence of his corruption and malfeasance?"

"He pulled out a broken watch worth less than two hundred at today's auction, wore it for years, and yet it fetched a sky‑high price of 250 million!"

Liu Qingmei gets angry whenever she talks about this.

Fuming, she complained: "The Sea Blue Chain I bought cost only 100 million, yet his broken watch sold for a sky‑high price of 250 million! Isn't he telling everyone that my sky‑high‑priced Sea Blue Chain isn't even as good as his broken watch? He's deliberately slapping my face, making me lose face."

……！！！

Wei Shouqin, stunned speechless, stood there as if petrified, his mind momentarily unable to process.

A broken watch, sold for 250 million?

Wei Shouqin asked in disbelief: "You couldn't have made a mistake, could you? It's really a broken watch worth less than two hundred? Are you sure it's not a rare famous watch?"

"I'm not blind!" Liu Qingmei, still furious.

Wei Shouqin immediately raised his voice: "Too much! Spending 250 million on a broken watch, no need to slap faces like that! Which big idiot bought it—did he spend ghost money?"

"Boss Ma bought it!"

"Which Boss Ma?"

"The Boss Ma who said he has no interest in money."

"Holy shit!"

Wei Shouqin's eyes almost popped out, he went numb, completely unable to understand the auction logic here.

He then felt a bit of regret.

Regretting not having gone to the scene to witness this incredible sight in person.

But one thing is certain: Zhuangbi Ma Zong is definitely not a big idiot; he's really using his brain to make money, relying on strength to get onto the Forbes rich list.

Wei Shouqin questioned doubtfully: "Why would Boss Ma spend so much money to bid on a broken watch?"

"What else could it be? This is basically under-the-table bribery!" Liu Qingmei said with certainty: "Surely Boss Ma has something he wants Lin Dongfan to help with; openly giving money wouldn't be appropriate, so he went through the auction process."

"If you put it that way, then that possibility really exists."

Wei Shouqin pondered thoughtfully, that merchants using auctions to bribe is nothing unusual, and Lin Dongfan, as director of the Anti-Corruption Bureau, knows these tricks better than anyone.

This is no small amount.

If Lin Dongfan's account suddenly gained 250 million in assets, once investigated, his trouble would be huge—he'd have to go to jail.

But!

But if the money is swallowed via auction, the result is different: the source of the money is legal and compliant, at least on the surface there's nothing wrong, and it saves the hassle of laundering money.

Thinking of this.

Wei Shouqin excitedly asked Liu Qingmei: "Want to vent some anger?"

"Nonsense!" Liu Qingmei complained resentfully: "Today I almost got kicked out of the auction by them, lost all face, it's all your fault! If you had been sitting there, would they dare treat me like that?"

"Honey, calm down first."

Wei Shouqin laughed and pressed Liu Qingmei to sit on the edge of the bed.

Following the principle of 'better a dead Taoist friend than a dead poor Taoist'… wait, no! It's actually the social directive of 'strike first to be strong, strike later to suffer'.

Wei Shouqin decisively came up with a plan: "Want to vent some anger? That's simple enough—just go report him to the Anti-Corruption Bureau. Believe it or not, he'll be locked up tonight."

"I had wanted to report him before, but I just couldn't make up my mind—I didn't know if this would work." Liu Qingmei felt a bit lost.

"You've studied law for nothing."

Wei Shouqin chuckled and added: "He actually got a sky‑high price of 250 million for a broken watch. Even if it's legal on the surface, it won't stand up to investigation behind the scenes—because the auction price far exceeds the watch's real value, which is unreasonable and suggests possible covert bribery. Once the matter blows up, the higher‑ups will have to investigate whether they want to or not."

"If what you say is true, he's done for this time?" Liu Qingmei laughed excitedly.

Wei Shouqin gave a noncommittal nod: "250 million isn't a small sum—it's more than enough to ruin him."

"Haha, then I'm relieved—I'll go report him right now."

Liu Qingmei said that and rose, heading straight for the Supreme People's Procuratorate Anti-Corruption Bureau; tomorrow is New Year's Eve, and she desperately hopes Lin Dongfan will spend this year's Eve behind bars.