Chapter 17: The Auction Begins

In this world, you only need to have rights or strength.

Then you can have all the say.

You can even decide the other's life or death, but only if you are strong enough.

Otherwise, the one who holds life and death will be the other party.

Jiangnan entered with Murong Wan, then found a seat and sat down.

The organizer of the auction is Governor Tian Wenshan of Jinghai City.

But even though he is the city's governor, in front of Jiangnan he is just a junior.

Usually, those who try to curry favor with Jiangnan are either high‑ranking officials governing a region or princes and ministers.

A mere governor can indeed be ignored, even commanded.

At this moment, Tian Wenjing sat in the front row, accompanied by staff from the Governor's Office.

The auction rules are explained by the auctioneer on stage.

Roughly, each group has the right to bid, but the starting price cannot be lower than 500,000.

And once the bid succeeds, the Governor's Office staff will immediately sign a contract with you; thereafter the development project and work plan will be closely monitored by the Governor's Office.

After all, undeveloped land is originally allocated by the Governor's Office to enterprises in Jinghai City to improve the city's economic environment.

If someone wins it and develops a shoddy project, any accident…

The higher‑ups would blame them, and the entire Jinghai Governor's Office would suffer.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the auction now begins!"

"The item is an undeveloped area outside the northern district of Jinghai City, with a minimum opening bid of 500,000!"

"Begin!"

The auctioneer on stage made a grand gesture.

In a short while,

All the guests present became excited and began shouting their bids.

"Tianhai Group, 600,000!"

"Beiluo Group, 800,000!"

"Xingheng Group, 1,000,000!"

The auction gathers the top enterprises of Jinghai City!

Those seated in the audience are all chairmen of various groups, so their bids are naturally generous.

Just as Murong Wan was about to bid, Jiangnan suddenly pressed her hand.

"Wait a moment, Li Shi Group hasn't bid yet."

"I want her to watch with her own eyes how, just as she is about to reap the fruit of victory, someone mercilessly takes it away!"

Jiangnan showed a sinister smile.

This made Murong Wan, sitting beside him, a little stunned, but she still heeded Jiangnan's suggestion and lowered the hand she was about to raise.

At that moment, Li Lishu could no longer hold back; she lifted her bidding paddle and shouted, "1,500,000!"

When that number was announced, all the guests turned their eyes to Li Lishu's spot.

After all, everyone in Jinghai Upper Circle knows that behind Li Shi Group stands the Nan Shen Group.

If they contest Li Shi Group for this development land, they would inevitably offend the Nan Shen Group.

After a moment of thought, the guests all voluntarily withdrew their bids.

No one wants to offend two groups over a single development site, especially since Nan Shen Group is one of the Fortune Global 500; its weight alone can boost an entire city's economy.

Not to mention how much support and benefits Li Shi Group has received from Nan Shen Group over the years, both overtly and covertly.

Almost everyone in Jinghai Upper Circle knows this.

Otherwise they wouldn't have given up on the spot!

When Li Lishu saw that no one was contesting her, she showed an even more delighted expression.

As long as she can win this development land, she can recover for Li Shi Group the losses from Nan Shen Group's previous cancellation of cooperation.

She must seize this opportunity.

Seeing that none of the guests raised their bids, the auctioneer was about to seal the deal.

Suddenly, at that moment,

"2,000,000," Jiangnan suddenly said.

Murong Wan immediately raised her paddle and bid, "Murong Group, 2,000,000!"

Boom!

With those words,

all the guests' gazes converged on Murong Wan.

The Murong Group, of course, is known to everyone present.

Although not as strong as Li Shi Group, the Murong family's influence in Jinghai is also considerable.

For this development land, the Murong family might not be unable to beat the Li family.

What puzzles everyone is why the Murong family suddenly became interested in the development land.

The Murong Group has always been involved in the pharmaceutical and medical fields.

Logically, even if they win it, the land would be like a chicken rib for the Murong Group—tasteless to eat, a pity to discard.

However, when Li Lishu saw Murong Wan suddenly raise her hand to bid, she showed a flash of anger and muttered, "Damn it, this Murong Wan, is she out of her mind?"

"How dare she compete with me for this development land, when the Murong Group's business is not in construction—why is she fighting me over this?"

Just as Li Lishu was puzzled, Wu Jun, sitting beside her, suddenly said, "Sister, do you think Brother Jiangnan made Murong Wan bid?"

Hearing that, Li Lishu glanced at Jiangnan, who was sitting beside Murong Wan, and a cold expression appeared on her face.

"You, Jiangnan, it's one thing to have no ability yourself, but to be whispering in Murong Wan's ear—truly a useless freeloader who can't do anything right."

Li Lishu was a bit angry, but under the current circumstances she had to press the advantage, otherwise Murong Wan might indeed snatch it away.

The next second, Li Lishu raised a placard and shouted on the spot, "three million!"

Li Shi Group bids three million, is there a higher one!

The auctioneer said something to the guests present.

However, none of the people in the audience intended to compete with Li Lishu for this.

Except for Murong Family's miss Murong Wan.

Seeing Li Lishu start the bidding, Murong Wan immediately turned her head toward Jiangnan.

"Continue bidding," Jiangnan said in a flat tone.

Then Murong Wan began the second round of bidding.

four million!

five million!

six million!

seven million!

After intense bidding, the highest price Murong Wan offered was nine million!

Li Lishu only reached seven million, which truly made everyone present all surprised.

Normally, such a development plot tops out at five million.

But now the price has reached nine million, about to break ten million!

A ten‑million development plot—no one can even imagine that!

At this moment, Li Lishu, upon hearing Murong Wan's highest price, stopped even further.

Because Li Shi Group's funds amount to only eight million!

If she were to keep bidding against Murong Wan, it would inevitably exceed the budget!