Chapter Thirty-Six: The Auction

  Three days later, Zhao Rui received a call from Lin Baode, saying that the auction was scheduled for 3 pm the next day at the Sheraton Hotel, and the invitation letter had been delivered.

  Zhao Rui took a look at his class schedule and found that he had no classes in the afternoon, so he made an appointment with him to meet at 2:30 in the lobby of the Hilton Hotel.

  The Hilton Hotel is one of the earliest five-star hotels in Dong'an, located next to the West Wall, just a few minutes from the city center. The hotel has complete facilities and a beautiful environment. Although due to time constraints, the hardware facilities are slightly behind those of newly emerging five-star hotels, it is still a first-class service. Among the hotels in Dong'an, it remains one of the most popular ones and is the preferred choice for holding various conferences.

  Zhao Rui arrived at the Hilton Hotel at 2:20, a little earlier than scheduled.

  As he walked into the lobby, Zhao Rui took out his mobile phone and was about to call Lin Baode to ask where he was, when he suddenly saw Lin Baode sitting on the sofa in the northwest corner of the lobby, waving at him.

  Zhao Rui then put his mobile phone back in his pocket and walked towards Lin Bao De.

  "Professor Lin, sorry to keep you waiting." Zhao Rui walked over and shook his hand.

  "Not at all, I just arrived." Lin Baode smiled and took out two invitation cards from a small package, handing one to Zhao Rui, "Here you are, if you lose it, there's no way to get into the auction."

  Zhao Rui took the invitation letter and found that it was just an ordinary red card, without too many special places. However, in the lower right corner of the card, there was a strange seal printed on it, like a mysterious array, with a faint aura flowing on its surface. Probably this is the key to the invitation letter, which cannot be forged by ordinary people.

  "I thought the private auction you mentioned was going to be held on a stormy night, in an abandoned black house in the wilderness! I didn't expect it to be in a five-star hotel like this." Zhao Rui joked.

  Lin Bao De found this amusing and couldn't help but laugh: "Your imagination is too rich. What's referred to as a private auction, simply means that the auction isn't open to the outside world, it's only conducted within a specific small circle, not some kind of illegal activity, what's the point of making it out to be like that?"

  Two people took the elevator to the seventh floor of the hotel, then walked to a small hall in the northwest corner. The door was closed and two burly men stood outside, each holding an ancient instrument carved with mysterious symbols. Everyone had to show their invitation letter before they could enter.

  Zhao Rui and Lin Baode handed over the invitation letter, a big man used a strange instrument to scan it, making a "beep" sound.

  "Please come in."

  Two tall men handed the invitation back to the two of them, slightly bowed and made a courtesy, then pushed open the door and let Zhao Rui and Lin Baode in.

  The auction site has already arrived with over a hundred people, some sitting in chairs looking at the auction materials issued by the organizer, and some acquaintances standing aside chatting. There are no hotel service staff in the entire hall, probably all of them have been driven out.

  Zhao Rui and Lin Bao De were just about to find a place to sit down when suddenly, a young man in his early twenties with a handsome face walked over this way.

  "Mr. Lin, long time no see." The young man smiled politely and greeted Lin Bao De.

  Lin Bao De looked at him and nodded slightly: "Yes, it's been a while since we last met, Yun Feng."

  As he spoke, he turned his head to introduce Zhao Rui: "This is Yun Feng of the Dong'an Yun family. He's the right-hand man of Old Master Yun and a big shot with real power!"

  Yun Feng hastily said, "Professor Lin, please don't say that, it really makes me embarrassed. You are a renowned divine doctor and a good friend of Yun Xiong's old master, while I am just an ordinary employee of the Yun family. How can I be considered a person with real power?"

  He looked at Zhao Rui and asked: "Who is this..."

  "Haha, friend, a friendship that transcends age." Lin Baode replied.

  Yun Feng looked at Zhao Rui with some surprise, he knew that Lin Bao De's medical skills were excellent, but his temper was eccentric, and ordinary people didn't take him seriously. He had very few friends, so few that they could be counted on one hand. Even Yun Xiong, the leader of the Yun family, and the old housekeeper, showed great respect to Lin Bao De.

  But this young man in front of him was only just over twenty years old, yet Lin Bao De referred to him as a friend despite their age difference, which really made him feel unbelievable.

  What is it about this young man that makes Professor Lin value him so much?

  Yun Feng thought to himself, considering whether or not to ask about Zhao Rui's background, but after some thought, he decided against it. His task for today was to bid on some rare and precious medicinal materials at the auction and bring them back to turn in, no need to complicate things unnecessarily.

  Last time, Yun Lao Guan Jia ordered him to secretly investigate the mysterious demon that invaded Dong An. He spent a lot of effort and arranged many people, but still couldn't find any clues, which made the old steward very dissatisfied.

  To eliminate the negative impression left in the old steward's mind due to the previous mishap, he is now extremely careful and meticulous in his work, striving to do things perfectly and flawlessly. As for other things, he doesn't care about them much anymore.

  Of course, Yun Feng would never have thought that the mysterious demon he had been searching for everywhere was actually Zhao Rui standing in front of him! Moreover, he couldn't believe that this demon who made the entire Yun family extremely wary was not only attending the same school as Yun Fei but also happened to be her arch-nemesis!

  "The auction is about to begin, please take your seats." At this time, the auctioneer walked onto the stage and said a sentence.

  Lin Baode ended his conversation with Yun Feng and sat down in two seats with Zhao Rui.

  After everyone was seated, the auctioneer said on stage: "Now let's start with the first item, Changbai ginseng! The age of the ginseng is 500 years. The starting price is 5 million, and each bid increase is 500,000!"

  "Wow, the five-hundred-year-old Changbai Ginseng King!"

  "Unexpectedly, the auction started with Ginseng King!"

  "Changbai shanwang has been out of stock for a long time, I didn't expect it to appear this time!"

  The numerous bidders below were in an uproar, their eyes shining with excitement as they rubbed their fists and prepared to bid for it!

  "Five hundred and fifty million!"

  "Six million!"

  "Eight million!"

  “……”

  “……”

  The bidding price is like a rocket, soaring straight up, but there are still people constantly bidding.

  "Thirty-five million!"

  Yun Feng raised his sign for the seventh time to bid.

  "Three billion five hundred million, all at once!"

  "Is there anyone else following?"

  "Three billion five hundred million, twice!"

  "Three billion five hundred million, three times!"

  "Good! Deal!"

  The auctioneer's hammer came down.

  "Three billion five hundred million? But a single 500-year-old ginseng was actually sold for three billion five hundred million!"

  Zhao Rui shook his head in some disbelief, feeling that this 500-year-old ginseng was really not worth showing off, and unexpectedly someone was willing to spend so much money to grab it.

  Lin Baode smiled wryly and said in a low voice, "In your eyes, these items may not be worth much, but to others, they are all precious and rare medicinal materials that are hard to come by, even if you want to grab them, it's not easy to get them!"

  As he said this, he turned his head and took a look at Zhao Rui, and in his heart, he began to quietly ponder Zhao Rui's family background.

  Even now, he still can't believe that an ordinary college student could possess treasures like the Millennium Ginseng and the Ten-thousand-year-old Immortal Ginseng.

  He always felt that Zhao Rui had some unknown secrets hidden in him.

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