Chapter 138: Speechless yet somewhat regretful

"Since it goes to the highest bidder, if I don't consider profit or loss, what's the maximum I can bid?"

Ling Yue said this, clearly intending to buy.

The raw stone appraiser was silent for a moment. "120 million is the absolute limit."

"What if I want to ensure I win the bid for this raw stone?"

Yu Shuo's eyes widened instantly; she knew Ling Yue's financial strength all too well!

She hurriedly tugged at Ling Yue's sleeve and whispered, "Miss Ling, bidding too high disrupts the market."

Ling Yue tilted her head. "Will I get beaten up?"

"You'd be an enemy of the industry!" Yu Shuo nodded seriously.

Just look at this! Just think about it! You can't even spend your money!

"I see." Ling Yue felt a bit weary.

She silently took out the bid sheet and first copied down the raw stone's identification number.

Then she wrote down her membership number, left her phone number, signed her name, and indicated the bid amount in both Arabic numerals and capitalized Chinese characters.

Having heard from Yu Shuo that it was best not to write round numbers like 120 million to avoid clashing with others' bids, Ling Yue bid 121.6 million yuan.

She then dropped the bid sheet into the corresponding bid box.

Next, they looked at a "small bid king" stone.

Although it was called a "small bid king," its size was actually larger than the one they had just seen. Both ends of the stone had been cut, and the windows on the front and back showed significant variations.

The entire cut surface had many cracks. The intact, crack-free parts of the windows were mostly "Spring-Colored" (lavender, white, and green mixed together), ranging from waxy, waxy-melted, and waxy-ice to ice-grade textures. Fortunately, one of the bangle spots was a full-color ice-grade Imperial Violet.

According to the raw stone appraiser, this piece of raw material could produce at least 280 bangles. The most valuable part was, of course, that one full-color ice-grade Imperial Violet bangle spot, so the auction price for this material should be around 18 million to 23 million.

Ling Yue wrote down a bid of 23.89 million.

Afterward, they looked at some smaller, high-quality stones. Ling Yue kept looking, while Cheng Jiao wrote, paid deposits, and submitted bids.

Yu Shuo wasn't idle either; whenever she spotted something promising, she took action immediately.

Ling Yue had cleared out the good stock from her warehouse, and the company had now assembled six procurement teams to head to the Myanmar region and various major public auctions within the country to purchase more.

She had brought 20 million in funds this time; if she could buy one high-quality jade piece worth ten million, it would be a trip well spent.

It seemed she likely wouldn't be able to compete with Ling Yue.

However, it didn't matter; this was only the first auction.

...

Watching the time pass two in the afternoon, the foot traffic in the factory area grew larger and larger.

After writing nearly 150 bid sheets.

Yu Shuo grabbed Ling Yue's hand. "Alright, that's enough. If you keep bidding, that group of peers over there is going to surround us."

Ling Yue: "???"

She turned her head to look not far away. A group of people were looking in her direction, and their speech seemed to be accompanied by pointing.

Ling Yue frowned, feeling very regretful. "I still have quite a few stones I haven't looked at... So, I can't bid too much either?"

Yu Shuo nodded. "Indiscriminate bulk buying will be considered by the organizers as a violation of fair trade principles. If you persist, not only will you be blacklisted by the organizers, but you might even face isolation from the industry. Information spreads very quickly between the various public auctions in this line of work; word travels fast, and if you want to go to other auctions to buy raw stones in the future, it's highly likely you'll be barred from entry."

Ling Yue was silent; Ling Yue was speechless.

And she summarized it in one sentence: It's not as good as browsing a night market stall.

There are way too many rules.

"Fine." She helplessly stopped.

The public auction would close bidding at seven in the evening, with results released at ten tomorrow morning.

It was currently four in the afternoon, and a light rain began to drift from the sky.

Dark clouds spread across the sky, as if it were a precursor to an incoming storm.

Yet, outside the auction area, people were still coming and going, with no sign of dispersing at all.

Yu Shuo took the black umbrella handed over by her assistant, opened it, and held it over her own and Ling Yue's heads.

"I've booked a Cantonese restaurant. I visit it every time I come to Pingxi. The food is excellent. Although it's a small shop, it's almost impossible to get a seat during meal times. Would Miss Ling like to join me?"

There's good food!

Ling Yue's eyes lit up instantly. "I'm going."

They say you are who you associate with, and Ling Yue's subordinates were all foodies.

Thus, Yu Shuo led a long line of people with eyes shining like lightbulbs to a small shop located by the side of the road.

The storefront was dilapidated, and the tables and chairs were worn out.

There was no reservation system; first come, first served.

It was only five o'clock, yet a long queue had already formed at the door.

Judging by their accents, most of them were locals.

The owner would start working promptly at six.

Waves of delicious aromas wafted out from the small restaurant, hooking Ling Yue's appetite.

The table turnover rate was quite fast.

Soon it was their turn. Because there were so many of them, they barely managed to fit by pushing three tables together at the entrance.

The shop's menu was very simple—a plastic cover with black text on a white background. It was only one page long, including the congee, totaling thirty dishes.

Ling Yue swallowed her saliva. "Fry the whole page."

Yu Shuo glanced briefly at the number of people at the table—16 in total.

"Won't that be a bit too much?" Of course, it wasn't that Yu Shuo couldn't afford it, but she was worried about waste.

Ling Yue waved her hand and pointed to the several burly men sitting beside her. "They can eat; I'm actually worried it won't be enough."

Liang Hanlin gave a silly smile: Miss is so kind!

Zang Lanyi: So much food, it smells so good, I'm so hungry~

Yu Shuo looked at the five big guys and instantly gave up the idea of trying to persuade them otherwise.

Although there were many customers, the shop was small, with only eight tables in total, so the dishes didn't take long to arrive.

Things like dry-steamed pork ribs, pine nut char siu cups, steamed pork intestines with black bean sauce, fresh lily bulb and shrimp cubes, pan-seared white eel slices, taro-crusted crispy pigeon, cordyceps and partridge soup, fish fillet and seafood congee...

Ling Yue was in heaven.

Eating so many dishes in one meal, tasting a bit of everything—it was wonderful!

After eating and drinking to their hearts' content, they went to browse the Pingxi night market.

Ginger milk curd and double-skin milk were must-haves.

Ling Yue saw Zang Lanyi's stomach go from flat to round.

She broke off three digestive tablets and downed a chicken biscuit; Ling Yue then broke off a small piece to try.

Besides Zang Lanyi, there were also Liang Hanlin and the other four heroes, all of whom were big eaters. They held various snacks in their hands, all letting Ling Yue take the first bite.

So, how could shopping ever be the same regardless of who you go with?