The phoenix crown and brocade ultimately went to someone on the first floor for five million. Considering it was entirely handmade, the price was quite reasonable.

Yun Zijin and her friends didn’t bid on the next several lots. It wasn’t until a Yuan Blue and White Porcelain vase was introduced that Lu Yunque and the others all sat up straight.

Needless to say, all of them wanted the porcelain vase.

"The starting bid is two million, with minimum increments of fifty thousand. Let the bidding begin!"

The moment the auctioneer’s words fell, people immediately started placing their bids.

"Three million!"

"Three million five hundred thousand!"

...

The bidding on the first floor was fierce. While Lu Yunque’s group watched closely, they still hadn’t placed a bid.

"Seeing how you all are, it looks like everyone wants this Yuan porcelain. Maybe I should join in on the fun?"

Yun Zijin remarked out of the blue. Li Yuexing immediately tried to talk her out of it. "Please don’t! Sister Yun, I’m begging you, can I call you Sister Yun? My grandfather specifically told me I had to win this!"

The mere thought of Yun Zijin’s bidding style from the last auction filled Li Yuexing with a familiar sense of dread.

"My grandfather also specifically requested this item. I hope Miss Yun will do me the favor of letting this one go."

Fu Ze also spoke up, explaining his situation to Yun Zijin.

Lu Yunque, however, remained silent. He was confident in his financial standing and didn’t need Yun Zijin to go easy on him.

"I can sit this one out, but what’s in it for me?"

Yun Zijin placed her hand on the bidding device and looked at Fu Ze and Li Yuexing.

"This is a card for 50% off everything at our family’s national supermarket chain. It has no expiration date."

Li Yuexing pulled a card right out of his wallet and handed it to Yun Zijin.

His family’s supermarkets cater to the high-end market, so their prices are much higher than ordinary ones.

Over time, that fifty-percent discount would add up to a lot of savings.

"I own a Western restaurant. Take this card, and your meals there are on the house."

Fu Ze also produced a card.

Yun Zijin raised an eyebrow. She had only been joking and didn’t expect to actually get perks like these.

"Alright then. I’ll gladly accept your thoughtful gifts. I won’t bid on this Yuan Blue and White Porcelain."

Yun Zijin slipped the two cards into her clutch.

Lu Yunque was already keying in his first bid.

"Wait! Brother Lu, you’re bidding too?"

Seeing Lu Yunque’s action, Li Yuexing and Fu Ze were completely dumbfounded.

If Lu Yunque was going to bid, didn’t that make their "concessions" to Yun Zijin completely pointless? They’d just been played for fools.

"I never said I wouldn’t bid."

Lu Yunque wasn’t the least bit embarrassed. Everyone was here for the auction; the decision to bid on an item was their own to make.

"Wait a minute. If we were all going to bid anyway, why were Fu Ze and I the only ones who had to bribe Miss Yun?"

It was only then that Li Yuexing truly realized what had happened. He and Fu Ze had done all the work just for Lu Yunque and Sheng Hao to reap the benefits.

Yun Zijin shrugged. She couldn’t be blamed; they had done it of their own free will.

Sheng Yang sat beside them, keeping his eyes down and his mouth shut, doing his best to minimize his presence.

"If you two don’t place a bid soon, this Yuan Blue and White Porcelain is going to be won by Mr. Lu."

Seeing the two of them still looking dumbfounded, Yun Zijin offered a kind reminder—she had taken their gifts, after all.

Lu Yunque glanced toward Yun Zijin, the faint smile on his lips tightening into a straight line.

He even seemed a little forceful as he keyed in his bid.

Li Yuexing and Fu Ze hurriedly keyed their own bids into their devices.

"Suite 5 bids eight million! Er... Suite 5 now bids ten million!

Looks like the competition in Suite 5 is getting a little heated! Do I have a higher bid! Do I have a higher bid!"

The auctioneer had been high-energy all day, and by now, his voice was starting to get a little hoarse.

"Suite 1 bids twelve million! Twelve million! Any advance on twelve million! Anyone! Twelve million, going once!

The honored guest in Suite 5 bids fifteen million! Do I hear a higher bid!

Twenty million! A bid of twenty million from our honored guest in Suite 5! Twenty million, going once!"

Inside Suite 5, Lu Yunque, Fu Ze, Li Yuexing, and Sheng Hao had entered a fever-pitch bidding war.

Since she wasn’t participating, Yun Zijin sat back leisurely, eating fruit.

"Why don’t you just jump the bid to fifty million?"

That should scare off the other suites, and then you can just compete amongst yourselves.

Yun Zijin’s strategy was to intimidate the competition with a huge price jump.

"The color on this Yuan Blue and White Porcelain is excellent, but its condition isn’t perfect. Fifty million is a little steep."

Lu Yunque and his friends might be rich, but they weren’t about to be chumps.

Every dollar they had was earned through their own hard work. They didn’t mind spending it, but they absolutely refused to be taken for a ride.

Lu Yunque thought for a moment before finally keying in a bid of thirty million.

This was his limit. Any higher, and it wouldn’t be worth it.

Fu Ze and the others also quickly keyed in their bids. They each had their own limit; now it was just a matter of who had set the highest one.

Fu Ze bid twenty-eight million, Li Yuexing bid twenty-five million, and Sheng Hao bid twenty-six million.

And with his thirty-million-dollar bid, Lu Yunque ended the bloodless war.

Down on the stage, the auctioneer was enthusiastically calling the bid. When the gavel struck for the third time, the Yuan Blue and White Porcelain officially belonged to Lu Yunque.

The ones who’d lost out the most were Li Yuexing and Fu Ze. Not only did they fail to win the item, but they had also given Yun Zijin those perks for nothing.

It was a textbook case of suffering a double loss.

"Um... should I give the cards back to you?"

’I really don’t need the money,’ she thought, ’and they look pretty heartbroken. Giving the cards back could be a small comfort.’

"No, no! What’s given is given. We’re not upset about a couple of cards."

What mattered was that they hadn’t won the Yuan Blue and White Porcelain, not the cards they’d given away.

"How about this: if there’s something else you like later, I’ll let you have it?"

"Don’t mind them. Sheng Hao and I only joined the bidding because our grandfathers instructed us to win the Yuan Blue and White Porcelain.

They expected this outcome. They’re just putting on a show, so don’t let them get to you."

Lu Yunque mercilessly called their bluff. ’As if a little discount card and a free-meal card were enough to make Yun Zijin yield to them for the rest of the auction. They could dream on!’

Fu Ze and Li Yuexing rubbed their noses sheepishly and gave Yun Zijin a hollow laugh.

’We were just intimidated by Yun Zijin’s wealth! If we couldn’t outbid her, couldn’t we at least try to find a shortcut?’

"Oh, is that right? In that case, I won’t hold back anymore, then?"

Yun Zijin gave them fair warning.

She’d seen quite a few things she liked when she looked at the auction catalog.

"Bid on whatever you want. If they can’t win, it just means they’re not skilled enough. Don’t worry about it."

Yun Zijin nodded. ’I’m going to win every single thing I’ve taken a liking to today!’

’Her savings kept piling up, but she wasn’t spending nearly enough. Not spending any of it made Yun Zijin feel strangely unsettled.’