Some individuals carry themselves with an undeserved air of superiority, swelling with smug self-satisfaction. Others constantly undervalue their own worth, lacking confidence in everything they attempt. Wang Zhuo had always believed he was neither of these types, but now he realized he hadn't fully grasped the boundless potential of Wangchao Wuliang.

"Beep beep." The latest message from Fu Xinran flashed on the laptop screen: "Blue Island International has bid two billion!" The office fell silent, yet everyone could easily picture the pandemonium erupting in the auction hall. Two billion! And that was merely for the domestic market authorization for just five years.

Just how immense would the economic value of this research achievement prove to be? It was virtually immeasurable! "Wang Zhuo, this..." Li Guangyi was already flustered.

In the pre-rehearsed script, Guangyi Pharmaceutical was set to win the bid at 2.2 billion. This money wasn't meant to be paid in actual cash; instead, the two parties would execute a back-end profit-sharing agreement. But now, someone had directly thrown down a 2 billion bid.

If the gavel fell, Wangchao Wuliang could walk away with a clean 2 billion or even more. Faced with such colossal profit, Li Guangyi greatly feared Wang Zhuo might break his promise! "Don't worry!" Wang Zhuo met his eyes, speaking with firm resolve.

"What I promise, I will deliver. Even if events unfold outside our original plan, I will ensure you receive a satisfactory resolution!" With Wang Zhuo having said this, what more could Li Guangyi say? He could only grit his teeth, nod, and await the final verdict!

Patting Li Guangyi's shoulder, Wang Zhuo turned and asked Gan Lin in a deep voice, "At what bid amount, in billions, would it be worth changing our plan and taking this bid money outright?" Before the auction began, the analysis team at Wangchao Wuliang had modeled the market outlook and development trends for the coming years, forming a rough estimate of potential returns. If they partnered with Guangyi Pharmaceutical, they calculated how much they could earn over those five years. This figure was initially meant only for the reference of a few top executives, but now it was proving to be highly relevant.

"Three billion," Gan Lin replied instantly, without hesitation. "In our market assessment, three billion represents the absolute ceiling for five-year revenue. That means if a bidder offers three billion, with just one strike of the hammer, we secure the maximum projected return!" "That figure must be wrong!" Wang Zhuo declared immediately.

"Huangchao Group, Blue Island Investment, Venture International—these three dark horses have come prepared. They wouldn't all misjudge a single project. Our market evaluation must have a significant flaw.

Three billion is the wrong number!" Gan Lin nodded repeatedly, asking somewhat helplessly, "Then what do we do now? Should we ask Guangyi Pharmaceutical to raise their offer, or should we let these three bidders compete until the highest price wins?" Wang Zhuo looked at her face, flushed with a mix of tension and excitement, and offered a wry smile. "I can't make up my mind either..." He glanced back at Li Guangyi, who also looked utterly distracted.

On one hand, he desperately hoped Wang Zhuo would keep his word and let him secure the bid. On the other hand, he hoped Wang Zhuo would seize this chance to make a massive profit and immediately unlock the overseas market, allowing him to settle for the lower-risk contract manufacturing role. Just then, a video invitation suddenly popped up on the laptop, only to be quickly retracted.

In its place, a chat window appeared on the desktop. Wang Zhuo stared, realizing it was that slacker, Fei Long. Annoyance immediately flared, and he placed his hands on the keyboard, ready to fire off an angry message.

But Fei Long’s typing speed rivaled Fu Xinran’s. She was fast due to her background as a secretary, but Fei Long’s speed was equally lightning-quick, honed from countless hours spent chatting up girls online. Before Wang Zhuo could even finish typing his intended dismissal, Fei Long sent a long message: "Haha, I struck it rich today, cleared 200,000 profit!" Wang Zhuo paused slightly.

He knew exactly what Fei Long was capable of, and 200,000 was no small sum, especially as pure profit. This was suspicious. But this was hardly the time for trivialities.

Wang Zhuo was about to tell him he was busy when Fei Long sent another string of text: "Remember that case of Wangchao Wuliang I asked you for last week? Someone offered 3,000 yuan per bottle to buy it. The idiot was a reseller.

I managed to connect with his supplier and sold him the whole lot for 200,000!" Holy cow? Wang Zhuo’s eyes widened instantly—even wider than when he had used his X-ray vision on the beautiful doctor’s décolletage! Gan Lin, who was watching the screen, was equally bewildered by Fei Long’s message.

The sample case of Wangchao Wuliang held fifteen bottles. If Fei Long wasn't dreaming, didn't that mean each bottle sold for over ten thousand yuan? This sounded like pure fantasy!

Wangchao Wuliang was positioned as a functional beverage, priced slightly higher than Red Bull per bottle. Red Bull cost less than ten yuan a can! The difference between a price tag of under ten yuan and over ten thousand was like comparing Mount Everest to the Mariana Trench!

Fei Long was bombarding Wang Zhuo’s screen with all sorts of smug emoticons—Yoo-See Monkey, Perverted Rabbit, Kung Fu Panda, and more. Wang Zhuo decided typing was pointless and just dialed Fei Long directly. Once the call connected, Wang Zhuo immediately cut through Fei Long’s boisterous laughter.

“Tell me the key points of what happened, keep it brief and concise. I’m handling something important right now, I don't have time for your rambling!” Fei Long had intended to use the moment to beg for a few more cases, but Wang Zhuo’s severe tone made him realize something major must be happening. He immediately recounted the events as requested.

This is what happened: A classmate of his saw an advertisement in an informational pamphlet seeking to purchase gifted bottles of Wangchao Wuliang. Out of boredom, the classmate called the number and heard astonishing news: the buyer was offering 4,000 yuan per case, no matter the quantity. Four thousand yuan per case meant one thousand yuan per bottle.

Fei Long’s classmate immediately thought of how Fei Long casually drank this beverage like soda and realized the situation was bizarre, so he told Fei Long. When Fei Long reached this point, Wang Zhuo instantly judged that this classmate had absolutely no business sense. After getting the news from his classmate, Fei Long found the matter too strange to ignore.

He had to see the newspaper himself. There wasn't just one buyer; he called them all one by one. After comparing three offers, one buyer, sensing Fei Long's strong demeanor, finally offered 3,000 yuan per bottle.

But Fei Long was still unsatisfied. He hung up, rushed to the biggest online community in Jiangzhou City, Gou Pu Net, and spent 500 yuan in forum points to post a "red-flagged" message selling Wangchao Wuliang by the case. "The buyer showed up with the latest model Mercedes-Benz commercial van, carrying cash.

I think he was even more excited than I was when I got the money after he took the goods," Fei Long concluded happily. Listening to the account, Wang Zhuo sucked in a sharp breath. He finally managed to piece together the entire sequence of events.

The initial few thousand gifted cases of Wangchao Wuliang had indeed created the anticipated positive buzz. But just as these samples were about to run out, someone discovered a critical issue—before Wangchao Wuliang officially launched, these gifted samples were the nuclear deterrent at the banquet table! As the saying goes, scarcity creates value.

A clever individual did the math and recognized the business opportunity, thus beginning to hoard the supply. This was a market driven by extreme hunger; as long as one possessed the product, selling it was guaranteed. The hoarders even investigated through various channels and confirmed that no more promotional samples of Wangchao Wuliang would appear before the formal production launch.

Therefore, the few remaining samples on the market were the exclusive resources for this period! There's a saying: the price is set by the buyer. For the average citizen, one bottle of Wangchao Wuliang might just let them show off at a dinner party, saving them a day of discomfort the next morning.

They might be willing to spend ten yuan for it, but not a hundred. But for a salesperson dealing with a major client, one bottle of Wangchao Wuliang could help smooth over the drinking session, potentially securing an order worth hundreds of thousands. In that case, biting the bullet and paying one or two thousand yuan for a bottle becomes entirely reasonable!

But what about a higher-stakes scenario? Say, a provincial annual meeting for the Mobile Communications company. The provincial head is a heavy drinker, and he lines up ten bottles of Feitian Maotai on the table, boldly declaring that this year’s promotional budget is riding on the liquor—one million yuan per glass, anyone capable is welcome to prove themselves!

For the local managers below, extracting a 100,000 yuan kickback from a million-yuan budget is easily doable. If drinking one more glass earns them an extra 100,000 yuan, what would a bottle of Wangchao Wuliang, which can significantly boost anyone’s tolerance, be worth then? Selling it to them for 100,000 yuan a bottle, they wouldn't even think it too expensive!

China's drinking culture is deeply rooted, and in many modern social contexts, it has reached a point where 'no alcohol, no business.' Wangchao Wuliang was now acting as a cheat code and an external plug-in for banquets. It was no exaggeration to say that in certain specific situations, it played the role of turning the tide. ...

Fei Long's news arrived at the perfect moment. Now, Wang Zhuo understood why those three dark horses had appeared at the auction: Wangchao Wuliang's own team had been slow to recognize the subsequent implications of the promotional campaign, their grasp of the information clearly lagging behind those three interested parties! "Damn it!" Having clarified the whole sequence, Wang Zhuo slammed his hand on the table and stood up.

"What the hell are those guys in the Information Department doing? They didn't even notice such crucial intelligence. They should all be demoted!" Lu Weimin, standing nearby, silently mourned for the Information Department staff for three seconds.

He knew his cousin Wang Zhuo’s personality well. Though the young man usually maintained a nonchalant facade, when it came to decisive action, his style was absolutely iron-fisted. It seemed certain that some members of the Information Department would be dismissed, and the entire division might even be dismantled and rebuilt.

"Wang Zhuo, what do we do now?" Gan Lin asked anxiously. "Venture International has already bid 2.8 billion, and the other two don't seem ready to back down." After the bid surpassed 2 billion, the pace of bidding slowed down. The leaders of each bidding party began conferring in low voices, unlike the quiet composure seen at the start.

"Brother Li," Wang Zhuo gestured to Li Guangyi. "Go out and continue bidding for us. If they don't reach fifty billion, they shouldn't even think about it!"