343: The conspiracy behind the auction

Although the private room was small, it was fully equipped with everything one could need.

Su Yue followed the Hotel Manager into it and couldn't help but glance at him, saying, "You don't need to look after me, go check on the people downstairs."

The auction had already begun, so the Hotel Manager had no reason to keep circling around him.

Hearing that Su Yue didn't want him to stay by his side, the Hotel Manager took out a business card from the inner pocket of his clothes and respectfully placed it on the table, saying, "If anything comes up, you can contact me by phone."

Afterwards, he looked back at the security personnel and said, "The two of you keep General Manager Su company. If General Manager Su is unhappy, you won't need to come tomorrow."

The security personnel knew the Hotel Manager had such authority, so they nodded in agreement and stood by Su Yue's door.

Hearing the sound of the door closing behind him, Su Yue subconsciously picked up the business card from the table and murmured, "Hotel Manager Mu Tong, I'll see how you handle this auction."

Since Mu Ruguang had already arrived, Su Yue believed that Mu Ruguang would definitely give them an explanation.

Unconsciously, Mu Tong arrived on the stage downstairs and distributed the auction list to everyone present.

Just as he had expected, Tao Qingbai's ceramics were placed at the end, essentially serving as the grand finale.

And this item was the only thing most people cared about, also serving as the main attraction of the auction.

In just a few minutes, sounds came from the doorway.

Su Yue couldn't help but glance at the doorway and saw Mu Ruguang entering with his Secretary, both looking anxious.

From his expression, it wasn't hard to tell that he must have encountered something troublesome.

Su Yue pointed to the seat next to him and chuckled, "President Mu, may I ask what brings you here to see me this time?"

Hearing Su Yue's calm voice, Mu Ruguang couldn't help but place the appraisal report on the table and said, "This time, you must help us, otherwise... we have a cooperative relationship with your Yuantu Investment Company."

Yuantu Investment Company had significant investments in their hotel. If Muxin Hotel's shares plummeted, Yuantu Investment Company would surely also suffer losses.

However, Su Yue didn't fall for that tactic. He turned the appraisal report around and placed it back in front of Mu Ruguang, saying, "I was the one who told you about this matter, so I naturally know the quality of the ceramics inside."

Seeing that Su Yue was completely unwilling to look at his appraisal report, Mu Ruguang took a deep breath and said, "Let's discuss how to handle this matter."

Since Su Yue hadn't responded for a long time, the Secretary stepped forward from the side and said, "How about... we withdraw the last two auction items? Anyway, they won't be able to tell anything."

Hearing the Secretary's plan to withdraw the final auction items, Su Yue couldn't help but burst into laughter, saying, "Don't think everyone here is a fool. Most of them are here because of the last two auction items."

If they rashly withdrew the last two auction items, Muxin Hotel's reputation would surely collapse further.

How could Mu Ruguang not know he couldn't withdraw the auction items? He slammed his hand on the table and said, "Go find that old scoundrel Mu Tong for me! I want to see if he has a way to handle this matter."

In his opinion, Mu Tong was the one who caused this trouble in the first place, so he had to provide a solution.

Just from Mu Ruguang's words, it was clear that he now held deep resentment towards Mu Tong.

If Mu Tong wasn't willing to come here, Mu Ruguang would very likely go to his place to cause trouble.

Perhaps because the Secretary had never seen Mu Ruguang so angry, she didn't react for a long time.

Seeing that the Secretary was slow to react, Su Yue couldn't help but say to Mu Ruguang, "President Mu, your Secretary doesn't seem very smart."

Hearing Su Yue's reminder, Mu Ruguang immediately glared at the Secretary and said fiercely, "Didn't you hear me? I told you to go call Mu Tong over."

Only then did the Secretary finally react. She immediately walked out, afraid of being yelled at by Mu Ruguang.

They had originally thought Mu Tong would have a backup plan, but who knew this matter was far beyond their control?

After about ten minutes, the Secretary returned to the auction private room, looking very nervous, and said, "Boss, Mu Tong is gone."

Mu Ruguang's eyes widened upon hearing that Mu Tong had disappeared. "What did you say? Wasn't he just at the hotel?"

Strictly speaking, he was the one who single-handedly organized this auction.

As the main person in charge, he had no reason to leave here.

Now, Mu Tong not being at the hotel could only mean one thing: it was highly possible that he had been bribed.

Meanwhile, the auction downstairs had reached a fever pitch.

It wouldn't be long before Tao Qingbai's ceramics were brought out, and by then, they would be beyond help.

Just at this moment, Su Yue's phone in his pocket rang.

Su Yue glanced at the number on the screen and couldn't help but look towards Mu Ruguang, saying, "Excuse me, I need to take this call."

Mu Ruguang was already overwhelmed with Mu Tong's matter, so how could he have time to care about Su Yue's business?

He just waved his hand dismissively and walked out with the Secretary, seemingly wanting to discuss Mu Tong's situation.

At the same time, Su Yue took his phone and went to the window, casually answering the call, "Why do you have time to call me?"

Hearing Su Yue's familiar voice, Lan Zijun finally felt relieved and said, "I heard things over there are quite a mess, even reporters have gone. If you have fakes there, I'm afraid..."

Although Lan Zijun didn't state the consequences, Su Yue had already imagined them in his mind.

Muxin Hotel's reputation was already on the brink. If fake items appeared at the auction, their reputation would surely collapse completely.

Without this auction, Muxin Hotel could have used the method Su Yue had previously suggested to re-enter the ranks of high-end hotels.

But now, many high-end individuals had come to attend the auction. Once their reputation was ruined in their eyes, Muxin Hotel would surely lose its place among high-end hotels.

Su Yue didn't understand the meaning of Lan Zijun's call and couldn't help but ask, "Should our Yuantu Investment Company intervene in this matter?"

Strictly speaking, the auction should be considered an internal matter for Muxin Hotel. As an investment company, they didn't need to step in and manage it.

Hearing Su Yue ask her, Lan Zijun quickly replied, "We just had a meeting to discuss this matter, and we unanimously agreed to leave it to you to handle. You must handle it well."

Having just made the investment, no one wanted Muxin Hotel to ruin their plans because of such an incident.

Su Yue understood Lan Zijun's meaning and hung up the phone.

Just as he was about to return to the auction private room, Mu Ruguang and the Secretary walked over from a distance, both looking furious.

Judging by their appearance, it seemed like they had found something out.

Su Yue couldn't help but glance at the two of them and chuckled, "Seeing you two so anxious, has something happened?"

Mu Ruguang subconsciously glanced at the security personnel at the private room door and pointed towards the stairs, saying, "You two stand guard over there. No one is allowed up without an invitation."

With such a major incident happening at Muxin Hotel, Mu Ruguang couldn't let outsiders know what was going on.

As the security personnel left, Mu Ruguang pointed to the private room and said, "Come inside with me, and I'll tell you the details."

Afterwards, he glanced in the Secretary's direction and told her to stay at the door.

The matter involved many internal issues, and he didn't want outsiders to know about the internal conflicts at Muxin Hotel.

In just a few seconds, Mu Ruguang and Su Yue entered the private room.

Su Yue nodded towards Mu Ruguang with his chin and said, "Time is money. We don't have much time left. Speak."

According to the current pace of the auction, they would likely reach the finale stage in at most half an hour.

By then, if they didn't have Tao Qingbai's authentic work, Muxin Hotel would surely be finished.

Mu Ruguang placed a document on the table and took a deep breath, saying, "Family shame shouldn't be aired publicly, but we don't have a better option now. Please take a look."

Su Yue didn't understand Mu Ruguang's meaning. He picked up the document from the table and found that it only contained a few photos.

Just from the photos, it could be analyzed that Mu Tong was very likely bribed by someone else.

Perhaps because he was worried Su Yue wouldn't understand the content of the document, he pointed to another person in the document and said, "According to our investigation, this person should be General Manager Guo, the Vice General Manager of Huashi Hotel."

Huashi Hotel was also a hotel with a long history, considered to be on par with Muxin Hotel.

Once Muxin Hotel encountered problems in the industry, Huashi Hotel would definitely be the hotel that profited the most.

Su Yue squinted his eyes at the content in the photos and chuckled, "Just one or two photos don't prove anything."

They couldn't possibly take two photos downstairs to explain the situation and then tell everyone the ceramics were fake.

Most of the people who could come to the auction were powerful and influential individuals. No one was willing to spend a fortune just to play games here.

Once they found out the grand finale item of the auction was fake, they would surely attack en masse, not giving them any chance to breathe.

Mu Ruguang understood Su Yue's meaning and placed another bank statement on the table, saying, "This is Mu Tong's recent income statement. Look, this sum of money was given to him by Huashi Hotel."

Su Yue looked at Mu Ruguang continuously giving him such documentary evidence, his face full of displeasure, "The evidence you're giving me now is of no help to our current situation at all. You should be thinking about how to deal with what comes next."

As someone from Yuantu Investment Company, he certainly didn't want the company he invested in to have any problems.

Listening to Su Yue's words filled with anger, Mu Ruguang silently lowered his head, "Please see if you have any way to handle this on your end? We can cooperate with you as much as possible."

In his opinion, since Su Yue could persuade him, he could also persuade the people downstairs.

However, it was easy for Su Yue to persuade one person, but it was almost impossible for him to persuade everyone in a packed venue.

Moreover, there were definitely people sent by Huashi Hotel in the crowd, after all, these people wanted to witness Muxin Hotel's embarrassment up close.

Only then could they widely publicize their own hotel and make it famous.

Su Yue shook his head under Mu Ruguang's somewhat disappointed gaze, "I'm not a god. I can't persuade them."

Speaking of this, Su Yue seemed to have thought of something and chuckled, "But there's always a way out. I do have a method."

In his mind, the last auction item absolutely had to be auctioned off.

As long as they replaced the final auction item with a real one, those people would surely have no recourse.

This way, Muxin Hotel's reputation would not only be saved, but Huashi Hotel would also lose face because of this matter.

In Su Yue's opinion, for Huashi Hotel to do something like this, there must have been guidance from an expert behind it.

Mu Ruguang listened to Su Yue's analysis for a long time but still didn't understand what he needed to do, his face full of surprise, "What do we need to do? Just tell me, and I promise to listen to you."

He was now like a desperate patient seeking any doctor, understanding that he had no better option and placing all his hope on Su Yue.

Su Yue looked at the time on his watch, then went to the balcony to glance at the auction items below, "There's still time. Have the auctioneer delay for two or three hours. Destroy the fakes as soon as possible; don't keep them here."

Mu Ruguang knew Su Yue must have a way, so he readily agreed and immediately walked out.

He needed to tell the auctioneer downstairs to delay the time, otherwise, according to the current auction process, they would reach the final item soon.

In just a few minutes, Mu Ruguang returned to Su Yue's side, "The matter has been instructed. May I know what you need us to do?"

In his opinion, Su Yue must need him to do something; otherwise, it would be too unrealistic for him not to contribute anything.

Su Yue glanced at Mu Ruguang and extended his hand towards him, "I need you to transfer all the money from this auction to the charity foundation. There shouldn't be a problem with that, right?"

The auction was originally meant to rectify their reputation. Mu Ruguang surely wouldn't care about such a small amount.

Indeed, hearing that Su Yue needed him to provide the money, Mu Ruguang patted his chest and said, "No problem. All the funds will be at the disposal of your Yuantu Investment Company."

By now, Muxin Hotel was hanging by a thread. He could only involve Yuantu Investment Company to make the two companies partners on the same ship.

Su Yue saw that Mu Ruguang wanted to drag him into it and couldn't help but laugh, "Let's issue a joint statement in the name of both our companies. I have something to do now. Remember to delay the time."

Time was pressing. He didn't waste time at the venue and immediately left the hotel.

Since his car was parked across the road, it took him slightly longer than others.

And at this moment, he already had a plan in mind to handle this matter.