AWB Chapter 480 The auction ends
Chapter 480 The auction ends
When the man bid 190 million, Zhang Qingyao's heart pounded with fear; she considered backing out. Her father had told her to buy the land for 100 million, but now the price had doubled, and she dared not bid any further. Yet, she remembered her father's constant admonitions and his determination to acquire the land, and she was caught in a dilemma. "190 million once," the auctioneer's voice rang out. "190 million twice," the auctioneer's voice echoed in Zhang Qingyao's ears like a death knell, forcing her into a predicament. The bidding man adjusted his glasses, his gaze seemingly unintentionally meeting that of the woman at the back. "190 million twice..." "Two hundred million!" The image of her father's wolfish eyes flashed through Zhang Qingyao's mind, and she finally mustered all her strength to bid the exorbitant price of two hundred million, collapsing limply into her seat afterward. Upon hearing Zhang Qingyao's bid of two hundred million, the muscles in the bidding man's face relaxed almost imperceptibly. A smile flickered in the eyes of the woman at the back. Jiang Kuikui, who had been watching the spectacle, turned to look behind her and met the woman's gaze. She gave her a friendly smile and then looked away. The auctioneer's voice boomed, "Alright, this lady has bid two hundred million. Anyone else want to raise the price?" After a few seconds, seeing no one else bid, the auctioneer called out two hundred million three times before finally setting the gavel. Jiang Kuikui and Shen Wanwan witnessed this frenzied bidding. Shen Wanwan asked a probing question: "Is Zhang Qingyao crazy? Two hundred million! Can her father really come up with that much money? I heard her family's company—no, her father's ex-wife's company—is having financial problems." Jiang Kuikui smiled: "Even you've heard about it, so it's probably pretty much true. We'll know the exact details in a few days." The auction ended, and immediately some eager observers rushed out. Jiang Kuikui and Shen Wanwan left the auction hall at a leisurely pace. A few days later, Shen Wanwan excitedly ran to share the firsthand news with Jiang Kuikui. When she arrived, Shen Yun was angrily staring at her phone. "The online atmosphere these days is terrible! Those people don't even know the facts, they just spread rumors and slander based on their words!" Jiang Kuikui didn't seem to care much about the negative trending topics about her, but these topics were making her mother angry. "Auntie, what happened?" Shen Wanwan asked. She had been following Zhang Qingyao's situation closely these past few days, afraid of missing a single piece of news. And sure enough, she had stumbled upon some juicy gossip, so she immediately ran over to share it with Jiang Kuikui. Before, no one in her family would gossip with her. Her older brothers weren't interested in gossip, Sister Jinyun was focused on her career, and they couldn't connect. As for Jiang Ningxue, she would never actively seek her out unless necessary. After Jiang Kuikui came back, she felt that she could talk to Jiang Kuikui very well, so she would come to see Jiang Kuikui every few days, and if she was lucky, she could get a lot of juicy gossip. Shen Yun said angrily, "The hashtag about 'blackening Kui Kui' from a few days ago is trending again, and there are even a few more trending topics about Kui Kui manipulating public opinion with her capital." "Someone is buying smear articles for my cousin," Shen Wanwan said confidently. Jiang Kui Kui: "Don't worry, I'll handle it. These smear articles will be gone by tomorrow." Hearing her say that, the two stopped worrying about the fabricated smear articles. They trusted Jiang Kui Kui's words. Jiang Kui Kui guessed why Shen Wanwan had come to see her, but she still asked, "What happened that makes you so happy?" Shen Wanwan's face turned red with excitement, "Cousin, Zhang Qingyao's family went bankrupt, and her father ran away!" "Who ran away?" Jiang Yibai heard about someone running away as soon as she returned and immediately came over. Seeing this, Shen Wanwan became even more excited, "Zhang Qingyao's father, he left behind a mountain of debt and ran away." Jiang Yibai: "Who is Zhang Qingyao?" Shen Wanwan: "Someone I know. Her father is the chairman of Weipu." As soon as Weipu's chairman was mentioned, Jiang Yibai had a vague impression. "Why did such a good boss run away?" Jiang Yibai had been busy with club matters lately and hadn't paid attention to this. Jiang Yibai immediately swarmed around Shen Wanwan like a possessed by a madman, making room for her. "Tell me quickly! I've only heard about his shady rise to power. Is he finally getting his comeuppance?" Shen Wanwan transformed into a village gossip station old lady, babbling on about what she knew. "It all started a few days ago when my cousin and I attended an auction." Jiang Yibai yelled, "What? You two went to an auction behind my back! Why didn't you invite me?" Shen Wanwan covered her ears. "Oh! That's not the point!" Jiang Yibai: "If that's not the point, then what is?" He looked at Shen Wanwan and Jiang Kuikui as if they were two heartless men. Shen Wanwan slapped his thigh hard. "Do you still want to hear it?" Jiang Yibai gritted his teeth. "Yes, I'll listen." Jiang Kuikui already knew the whole story from the system, but she still grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds with great interest, waiting for Shen Wanwan to ramble on. Shen Wanwan felt a great sense of accomplishment seeing that all three of them were eagerly waiting for her to speak. "Didn't Zhang Qingyao spend 200 million to buy a piece of land at the auction?" "200 million? A piece of land?" Jiang Yibai asked in surprise. "What location? How big is it?" Shen Wanwan: "It's a piece of land in the northern suburbs. I don't know the size, but that's not the point." Jiang Yibai couldn't help but say, "That's not the point?" Shen Wanwan glared at him. "Do you want to keep listening?" Jiang Yibai made a zipping motion with his hand over his mouth. Shen Wanwan continued, "I heard that Zhang Qingyao's father originally only gave her 100 million to bid for that piece of land, but she spent 200 million. Her father was so angry that he slapped her twice, and I heard she was beaten terribly. Do you know why Zhang Qingyao's father wanted to bid for that piece of land?" Jiang Kuikui and the other two shook their heads in agreement. "The reason he wanted to bid for that land was because his company was in a state of near collapse. He heard somewhere that the government was going to develop the area, and he wanted to make a fortune. But he didn't have enough working capital, so he invested all the funds in the company's account, thinking he could pay it back once he made a profit." "But right after the auction, it was confirmed that the news about the government developing the land was false!" Jiang Yibai couldn't help but gasp. "Goodness, not only did the money go down the drain, but there's a huge hole waiting for him. That guy must have been devastated." Shen Wanwan: "If it were me, the sky would have fallen." "Then the news of the company's broken cash flow spread, and their company's stock price plummeted." "When Zhang Qingyao's father saw that things were going wrong, he abandoned her, her mother, and a huge amount of debt, and ran away with the money."