This should have been a solemn day, yet it kicked off absurdly with an early morning prank by Guan Yaying.
Because the Shengshi Dynasty needed to draw a clear line with Xiaoqing, and since Qi Fei and Guan Yingying had participated in the initial hype, Wang Zhuo didn't bring them along for the trip, heading to the venue alone.
At precisely three in the afternoon, the International Conference Hall on the top floor of the Huajiang Grand Hotel in Jiangzhou City was packed. The top-floor hall of this five-star hotel, the largest in the city, hosting this bidding conference, once again demonstrated Wangchao Wuliang's immense strength and future prospects to the world.
In reality, this bidding conference was a staged performance; most bidders were shills Wang Zhuo had arranged beforehand, such as Ding Ren's soda factory, the two pharmaceutical plants represented by Guo Jiandeng, the small pharmaceutical plant in which Cai Yuantu held shares, and Ning Yao’s involvement as an individual investor.
Besides these, there were several pharmaceutical peers brought in by Li Guangyi; all of them were there today simply to play the foil, providing a backdrop for Guangyi Pharmaceuticals to ultimately win the bid at an astronomical price.
Additionally, there were some enterprises or groups genuinely attracted by the Wangchao Wuliang tender advertisement and who had come in person. These genuine bidders accounted for about half of the total number, which was within Wang Zhuo’s expectations.
Interestingly, some potential bidders were turned away because Wangchao Wuliang required a steep bidding deposit of ten million yuan, a harsh condition that deterred many, becoming a talking point in media reports.
Today, Wang Zhuo wore unassuming casual clothes and a pair of plain glasses, sitting in a corner of the guest seating area, thus avoiding attracting much attention.
Sitting next to him were the sisters An Qi and An Qi. Faces like Gan Shuang, Qi Fei, Guan Yingying, and Siyuan were inconvenient to show up here. Coincidentally, the two sisters were free today to catch up with Wang Zhuo, so they were brought along.
“Master, did you really invent the formula for this sobering medicine?” An Qi lowered her voice, leaning close to Wang Zhuo’s face to whisper near his ear.
The girl’s warm breath made Wang Zhuo’s ear tingle slightly; he nodded with a smile as his reply.
An Qi, on his right, glanced at him with curiosity, unable to imagine how this student who had seemed lost just two years ago had suddenly transformed into a researcher.
Recently, she had dug deeper into Wang Zhuo’s background and was profoundly shaken. She came from the Xing Gu team, where only one colleague had ever personally shot and killed a criminal. Yet, Wang Zhuo, in the Red House case, had assaulted an officer, snatched a gun, and shot a criminal dead—a headshot, no less. This fact deeply shocked her.
Those who studied Wang Zhuo’s file remembered the headshot most vividly. In truth, they didn't know that the sharpshooter at that time was someone else, a heroine, but Wang Zhuo had taken the blame for her.
At this moment, there was a new development on the rostrum: the host invited the auctioneer onto the stage, along with the notary from the Jiangzhou City Notary Office.
Wang Zhuo glanced at his watch—three twenty-seven. It was about to start.
The notary began reading the notarized documents, followed by the auctioneer’s humorous warm-up—and precisely at three-thirty, the auction began!
“One hundred million! Bidder number thirty is the first to offer—one hundred million yuan, exactly!”
The auctioneer’s excited voice resonated throughout the hall.
Wang Zhuo’s expression remained calm and collected. An Qi couldn't help but nudge him gently with her elbow, whispering, “Will it sell for very high?”
This sultry former beauty pageant winner, ever since discovering her sister had “slept with Master first,” found the title "Master" difficult to utter, intentionally dropping the address whenever she spoke to Wang Zhuo.
The peak of the auction was far from here, and Wang Zhuo’s focus wasn't entirely on the bidding. Hearing her question, he suddenly became aware and whispered back, “Why don’t you call me Master anymore?”
An Qi’s face flushed almost imperceptibly. Wang Zhuo’s sharp eyes immediately caught the detail, making him wonder inwardly, why would she be shy about that?
Shaking off the wandering thoughts, An Qi whispered, “You haven’t answered my question yet, Master.”
Wang Zhuo was quite pleased with her subdued manner. He chuckled, leaned close to her ear, and confided, “It’s just a play; the ending has long been rehearsed.”
An Qi suddenly understood, and she felt unexpectedly honored. That Wang Zhuo would reveal such a critical business secret to her clearly showed significant trust. Unconsciously, the psychological distance between them narrowed considerably.
Wang Zhuo, however, felt a slight pang of regret after speaking. He reflected that telling An Qi the secret was unnecessary; blurting it out without thinking felt like an instinctive move to use a little trick to draw closer to her!
He couldn't help but laugh and cry at himself. Had his persona as a ladies’ man evolved to the level of an elusive phantom, untraceable at any time or place?
“Eight hundred and fifty million! Dynasty Group bids eight hundred and fifty million!”
The host’s impassioned voice suddenly snapped Wang Zhuo back to reality. His eyes shone with astonishment because the Dynasty Group was one of the publicly solicited bidders—not one of the shills he had arranged beforehand!
His phone vibrated quietly at that moment. He quickly pulled it out to check: it was from his beautiful secretary, Fu Xinran: “Pay attention, the situation has changed.”
It turned out Fu Xinran had seen him whispering with two unfamiliar beauties on the rostrum and hadn't been paying attention to the auction. Seeing the Dynasty Group emerge like a dark horse, she sent the text to alert him.
Dynasty Group? Wang Zhuo was frantically searching his memory for information about this group when a new twist suddenly occurred in the bidding!
“Blue Island Investment, number six, Blue Island Investment! Bidding one billion yuan!”
What the heck! Wang Zhuo was momentarily stunned. Blue Island Investment was one of the largest speculative capital groups in Zhejiang, usually dealing in businesses worth tens or hundreds of billions, constantly speculating everywhere with large amounts of hot money. Why would they show up to bid?
“Number fifty-one, Venture International, bidding one point two billion yuan!”
The host’s shout this time finally made Wang Zhuo unable to sit still. Venture International’s foundation was certainly no weaker than Blue Island Investment’s. If Blue Island’s appearance was a coincidence, then Venture’s entry proved one thing: plans change fast, and the situation was spiraling out of control!
“Cough… um.” He cleared his throat and gave a forced smile to the An Qi sisters, “I need to use the restroom.”
One second he was the calculating general, assuring An Qi that “everything is under control,” and the next, the situation had drastically changed. The awkwardness he felt was indescribable!
The Master hurried off. An Qi and An Qi exchanged glances. The younger sister asked, “Why did he leave? Did something happen outside?”
The elder sister, however, was more discerning. She noticed the strange shift in the atmosphere of the hall and smiled slightly when recalling Wang Zhuo’s slightly flustered appearance, explaining in a low voice, “The situation exceeded his control; now we have a good show to watch.”
Hearing her explanation, An Qi frowned, “Sister, why are you gloating when Master might be in trouble?”
“Silly girl.” An Qi’s teasing remark was layered with double meaning. She felt too embarrassed to mention the fact that her sister had already given her virginity to the Master so soon after meeting him, but inwardly, she felt her sister was hopelessly naive: “Your Master is about to get rich! The higher the price goes, the more he earns, right?”
Little did An Qi know that the speed at which the "red sausage" was delivered was much faster than she imagined—it happened the very day Wang Zhuo and An Qi met! If she had known that, it wouldn't just be a matter of losing face; An Qi would surely experience the feeling of her sister’s five-finger magic hand, and Wang Zhuo would be tracked down and beaten!
Only after her sister’s explanation did An Qi truly understand. While she was naturally displeased to see her crush flustered, if that embarrassment could bring in hundreds of millions or even more in revenue, what complaint could she possibly have?
Thus, An Qi also sat there chuckling along with her sister, enjoying the chaos of the uncontrollable situation!
Putting aside the two sisters enjoying the show in the guest section, Wang Zhuo rushed backstage only to find utter disarray!
Seeing him enter, Gan Shuang immediately rushed over, “Wang Zhuo, what’s going on? Those people weren't the ones we arranged beforehand, were they?”
“I don’t know either,” Wang Zhuo shrugged with a wry smile. “This isn't encountering dark horses; it’s like running into black men.”
Lu Weimin, standing nearby, forced a laugh, “They’re screwing you over, but the one who can’t sit still is Old Li.”
As he spoke, Li Guangyi pushed the door open. He was one of the main actors in today’s play, and seeing several strange actors suddenly stealing the spotlight, one after the other, he was completely bewildered!
“Wang Zhuo, who are those bidders?”
“I didn’t arrange them.” Wang Zhuo scratched his head and smiled sheepishly. “Looks like there’s a complication. Wait a moment, I’ll have Fu Xinran come back immediately!”
Gan Shuang quickly interjected, “But Sister Fu is one of our company’s representatives. According to the rules of notarization, she can’t leave the rostrum.”
“Then what do we do?” Li Guangyi immediately became anxious. “The bidding outside has already reached 1.9 billion! Isn’t our reserve price 2.2 billion?!”
Wang Zhuo suddenly had a flash of insight, snapping his fingers, “Text her! Her typing speed is fast!”
Gan Shuang immediately brought him a laptop. He quickly typed a message to Fu Xinran: “Who is handling the negotiations with those dark horse bidders?”
Fu Xinran replied instantly: “Business Divisions One and Two. The feedback from negotiations is quite positive. They requested a meeting with you, but both Ms. Zhang and I politely declined.”
After reading her reply, Wang Zhuo, Gan Shuang, and Li Guangyi were momentarily stunned. Lu Weimin, standing beside them, whistled, “They’re bidding over a billion without even meeting the top executive?”
His question was exactly what Wang Zhuo and the others were wondering. Wang Zhuo’s mind raced, feeling that he had missed a critical link, but he couldn't pinpoint where the problem lay.
Just then, a message notification sounded on the laptop. He quickly looked down at the screen.
“Boss, there’s new information!”
“Ms. Zhang just told me that these three bidders have been meeting with her quite intensively over the past week.”
“She only received them as a matter of official procedure. They repeatedly requested to see you, but then Ms. Zhang told them you only oversee R&D and not operations, and only then did they stop insisting.”
Layers of fog seemed to be gradually clearing, but the final answer remained elusive. Wang Zhuo regretted letting the plump Aunt Zhang, the Vice President, sit on the rostrum with Fu Xinran. If one of them had been by his side to ask detailed questions, that would have been better!
“Our goal was just to create a sensational effect through hype. Why would someone genuinely put up real money to get involved?” Li Guangyi asked with a wry smile, “That’s nearly two billion!”
Wang Zhuo also scratched his head. Did someone actually intend to spend over a billion to bid for Wangchao Wuliang’s five-year domestic authorization? Was his formula truly worth that much?