The old Xu Youning was like a quietly-blooming jasmine that was beautiful but not ostentatious. People always paid more attention to her heroic spirit, which was rarely seen among girls.
Her new persona was much more like a red rose in the center of the parterre. Her makeup was exquisite and she took the lead. She amazed the audience as soon as she appeared.
Xiao Yunyun couldn’t help but exclaim. Mu Sijue’s eye was good, for having noticed a woman like Xu Youning.
Her eyes had been following Xu Youning’s back. The more she looked at her, the more she felt that something was wrong, as if something was going to break through the door of her memory.
Seeing this, Shen Yuechuan stretched out his hand and waved it in front of Xiao Yunyun. “What’s there to see about her? Come back to your senses!”
Right at this moment, a figure jumped into Xiao Yunyun’s mind. She pushed away Shen Yuechuan’s hand and said faintly, “It’s really her.”
“I can’t believe it took you so long to recognize it’s Xu Youning.” Shen Yuechuan looked cold and disdainful. He then told her a big piece of news. “She’s here to bid with us on behalf of Kang Ruicheng. So, how are you feeling now? Is it jaw-dropping?”
Xiao Yunyun said in a hurry, “I mean, it was really her whom I saw in the hospital!” She tried hard to recall the figure she saw in the previous morning, which was exactly the same as the figure of Xu Youning who was walking farther away.
In other words, Xu Youning did go to the hospital the day before.
Shen Yuechuan didn’t pay much attention to Xiao Yunyun’s words. He replied “oh” with no interest. Just as he was about to sit up straight, he suddenly realized what she just said and stared at her. “You said you saw Xu Youning at the hospital? “Why would she go there?”
“I don’t know.” Xiao Yunyun shook her head. “I saw her in the outpatient section of the first floor. I’m not sure if she was accompanying a patient to see a doctor or if she went for a consultation.”
Shen Yuechuan held his chin and stared at Xu Youning’s back, lost in thought.
At this time, Xu Youning walked to the front row of the auction house and sat down. She turned her head to glance back indifferently.
Many men present stared at her fiercely as soon as she walked in. As she turned back, the back row immediately kicked up. Some people even whistled and hooked their fingers at her. The flirtatious meaning was obvious.
However, Xu Youning had just turned back to see Shen Yuechuan and Xiao Yunyun.
She glanced at them casually. As expected, she saw a startled look on Xiao Yunyun’s face but Shen Yuechuan looked as if he was thinking about something.
It seemed that Xiao Yunyun had indeed noticed her the other day. Shen Yuechuan was probably wondering why she appeared at the hospital.
It wouldn’t matter. She had been on the alert for that. They wouldn’t find anything.
Thinking of this, Xu Youning sat down calmly and waited for the auction to officially start.
Just then, Shen Yuechuan suddenly turned his head and said to Xiao Yunyun, “Xu Youning may have gone to the hospital to see a doctor for herself.”
“I don’t think it’s possible.” Xiao Yunyun felt a little doubtful. “She looks very good.”
Shen Yuechuan mysteriously raised the corner of his mouth. “Would Kang Ruicheng let her come to the auction if it the problem was visible?”
As he spoke, Shen Yuechuan had already called Lu Boyan and directly asked him to send someone to check if there were any medical records of Xu Youning in the hospital.
After Shen Yuechuan hung up the phone, the auction had officially started.
There were many developers eyeing that land covetously. As soon as the auction was announced, the bidding cards were raised frequently, and the auction soon became intense.
Only Shen Yuechuan and Xu Youning refrained from raising their cards.
Shen Yuechuan had planned to bid in the end to shock the whole audience. Xu Youning didn’t raise her card because she suddenly received a call from Kang Ruicheng.
“The auction has begun, hasn’t it?” Kang Ruicheng asked in a relaxed tone.
“It has begun.” Xu Youning lowered her voice and said, “The man sent by Lu Enterprises is Shen Yuechuan, who is very smart. I’m waiting for him to bid.”
Kang Ruicheng agreed and said, “Lu Enterprises’ budget is 20 billion and the upper limit is 28 billion. You can stop bidding after raising the price to 28 billion.”
Groaning internally, Xu Youning felt as if something was falling rapidly in her heart, but she had to maintain a calm tone. “Why? “Didn’t you tell me that you were bound to get this piece of land and you wouldn’t let Lu Enterprises have it no matter what?”
“We didn’t get all the approvals because of Lu Boyan’s interference.” Kang Ruicheng said, “If we buy this piece of land, Lu Enterprises will definitely intervene in our development document. “By then, this land may not make any money for us. It will even waste our time and energy. “Being the case, why don’t we hand it to Lu Enterprises? But don’t let them have it easily.”
Xu Youning lowered her voice and said, “I’ve got it.”
Hanging up the phone, Xu Youning’s hand was feebly hanging close to her body. She was suddenly absent-minded.
She had sent an anonymous text message to Shen Yuechuan the night before, telling him that Kang Ruicheng was determined to get that land.
She wanted Lu Enterprises to raise the price and not let Kang Ruicheng have it easily, because no matter how much Lu Enterprises offered, she would follow Kang Ruicheng’s order to raise the price without limit and make Kang Ruicheng pay the greatest price to get the land.
However, a phone call from Kang Ruicheng had instantly reversed the roles. The Su Group would be the one raising the price. If Shen Yuechuan listened to her and kept raising the price, the one paying a great price to get that piece of land would be Lu Enterprises.
That way, she could no longer earn Lu Boyan and Shen Yuechuan’s trust. They would think that the purpose of her text message was to mislead them to raise the price.
Originally, she had planned to take this opportunity to win back Lu Boyan’s trust and to carry out her future plan smoothly.
But Kang Ruicheng’s call destroyed everything.
The most important thing was that she couldn’t figure out why Kang Ruicheng changed his decision at the last minute. He was still determined to get the land the day before.
When the price had been raised to 19.5 billion by a developer, Xu Youning suddenly thought of a possibility—Kang Ruicheng still didn’t trust her.
First, he pretended to be determined to make her believe that. Then, his orders left her no other choice but to raise the price. All of this was Kang Ruicheng’s plan to prevent her from revealing information to Lu Enterprises.
“20 billion!!!” The auctioneer’s high-pitched shout was heard on the stage, “President Lin of Linsheng Group offered 20 billion! “20 billion once, 20 billion twice…”
Xu Youning closed her eyes and raised the number card in her hand. “20.02 billion.”
“Miss Xu, who represents the Su Group, offered 20.02 billion!” The auctioneer continued to shout, “Is there anyone else offering a higher price?”
Twenty billion was not only the highest budget planned by Lu Enterprises, but also the limit of other companies; many people gave up after this point. When the auctioneer shouted, other people turned to look at Shen Yuechuan in the back row.
In the whole auction house, they knew that Lu Enterprises was the only one who had the strength to compete with the Su Group.
As it was long awaited, Shen Yuechuan raised his card calmly. “22 billion.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the people in the auction house suddenly exploded in cheers.
It was a project with a price above ten billion. Even the wealthiest company wouldn’t raise the price in such a big way. Shen Yuechuan’s behavior was almost crazy.
Xiao Yunyun couldn’t help pulling his sleeve. “Do you have to be so fierce?”
Fierce?
Shen Yuechuan liked that word very much. He raised his eyebrows complacently and said, “Wait and see.”
Compared with Shen Yuechuan’s high-spiritedness, Xu Youning looked sullen. “He’s raising the price crazily. Is it because he trusted my text message?” she thought. Should she stop right there and let Lu Enterprises get that land at a price of twenty two billion?
But if she stopped, how would she explain it to Kang Ruicheng after she went back? Would she tell him she was suddenly soft-hearted?
Even she wouldn’t believe such an excuse.
Her being soft-hearted might ruin all the future plans.
“22 billion and 3…”
When the auctioneer was about to settle, Xu Youning raised her card again. “22.5 billion.”
The people present looked at Shen Yuechuan once again. Shen Yuechuan, as if he didn’t know what he was doing, calmly shouted, “25 billion.”
Xu Youning tried her best to keep calm and said, “26 billion.”
As soon as she finished her words, Shen Yuechuan’s unhesitating voice rang out again. “27 billion!”
27 billion! That was almost a sky-high price beyond most people’s imagination. The auction house fell into a weird silence.
Other developers who participated in the auction were no longer curious about how much money would be used to make a deal for the land. Anyway, for Lu Boyan and the Su Group, money no longer had the same meaning.
They were more curious about who would eventually get a hold of that piece of land.
Xu Youning closed her eyes and shouted out the final price. “27.9 billion!”
“Miss Xu of the Su Group offered 27.9 billion!” The auctioneer’s exciting voice echoed in the auction house. “27.9 billion once! “27.9 billion twice! “27 point…”
At the crucial moment, everyone’s eyes were cast on Shen Yuechuan at the same time, waiting to see how high the price he would offer in the end. However—
“27.9 billion, sold! “Congratulations to the Su Group!”
Shen Yuechuan did not make a sound and allowed the auctioneer to make the last call. The land was finally sold at a sky-high price, but the whole auction house remained utterly quiet.
Obviously, Lu Enterprises’s final decision left everyone confused and shocked. Among all of them, Xu Youning was the one most shocked.
But after that, she let out a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, Shen Yuechuan had a little doubt about her. Otherwise, she would have stopped bidding once Shen Yuechuan offered 28 billion.
“The auction is over. Miss Xu, please come to the office with me.”
Everybody came back to their senses when they heard the auctioneer. They stood up to leave. Xiao Yunyun and Shen Yuechuan walked in front.
Xiao Yunyun couldn’t figure it out. She asked Shen Yuechuan, “Why did you stop bidding? “Our upper limit was 27 billion?”
“Of course not.” Shen Yuechuan said, “The land price was raised to a super-high price. In fact, no matter it was 27 billion or 30 billion, it wouldn’t make much difference for us.”
Xiao Yunyun was even more curious. “Then why did you stop bidding close to the end?”