The jade in this lot—before it was carved—had a lot of variegated colors. And so, compared to jades of pure colors, the quality was not very high.

It was only that the diorama was carved by a jade-carving master—the unseemly colors were removed where needed, and what remained were incorporated into the design and exquisitely carved into white lily-of-the-valley flowers and green leaves, and at the bottom, there was a carving of a life-like little, white deer looking up and delicately sniffing the bell-shaped flowers.

The jade became completely superior because of the exquisite carving skills.

The initial asking price of 900,000 was already not low, and the item was not worth more than 1 million and 200,000, so the auctioneer intended to use the item to hype up the atmosphere, and after the bidding was over, he would take out the finale.

Who would have known that the two people sitting at the back who hadn’t raised their paddle even once throughout the entire auction suddenly wanted to grab the same item now.

Many people at the auction were looking back at them.

“160,” Ji Mushan said, holding up his paddle.

“180.” Cheng Liu followed suit.

He Bai turned his head to look at Cheng Liu sitting in the back row. He was about to get up and go over but was stopped by his sister. “Don’t disturb others in the middle of bidding.”

He Bai hesitated for a moment and could only sit down again.

“200.” Ji Mushan turned to look at Cheng Liu, and said with a gentle tone, “Young President Cheng, I’ve been waiting for this lot for a while, I wonder if you could back down a little for me?”

Cheng Liu raised her sign and simply mentioned ‘300’, then shook her head and replied, “President Ji, I’m sorry, I think fair competition is better.” She was going to give her boyfriend a gift tonight ah!

“…”

Ji Mushan came to this auction only because he took a fancy to this jade ‘lily-of-the-valley with deer basin’, but he never expected that Cheng Liu would pop up halfway to grab the same item he wanted.

The two grooves between his eyebrows got deeper, and his aura suddenly became fiercer.

Cheng Liu was not afraid at all, and pointing to the jade ‘lily-of-the-valley with deer basin’ said, “Mr. Ji, it’s rare for me to come out and spend money. This… it’s what I have my heart set on.”

Ji Mushan said no more, simply turned his gaze away, and directly raised his paddle, “400.”

There were murmurings in the hall, and now everyone was looking at the two of them. This was a true fight.

The fact of the matter was, this was a fellowship-style charity auction. The auction today was set up as an opportunity for everyone to get to know each other and network a little. There were tacit unspoken rules in attending it.

Except for the finale lot that has not yet been presented, most guests will deliberately avoid aggressively vying for an item. If someone raised the price a bit more than others did, it meant they really wanted it, and other people would graciously give way.

Who would have thought that a real fight would suddenly start over an ordinary jade diorama?

There were whispers circulating across the auction hall.

“Is there a quarrel between President Ji of Tianqi Auto Company and President Cheng of Shenyin Technology?”

“I haven’t heard of it. They should have nothing to do with each other?”

“Didn’t Shenyin cooperate with a car company in City G? Is it because of this?”

“Not likely.”

The auctioneer on the stage was already hitting the hammer for the second time: “4 million twice…”

“520,” Cheng Liu interrupted, holding up a paddle—not only getting ahead of President Ji’s bid, but also choosing a special number.

Hearing this, Ji Mushan glanced at her, and said coldly, “After all, still a young woman.”

But for some reason, the two grooves between his eyebrows became lighter.

… …

At this time, Director Li, who was sitting in front, said something to his wife, ran over, pulled a chair and sat in the row behind and between the two contenders. He reminded them in a low voice, “No matter how high you’re willing to bid, it can’t be too high. That honor goes to the finale. Right now, it hasn’t come out yet, and you are slapping everyone in the face.”

Later, if it turned out that their final bidding price was higher than the finale’s, it would make the whole auction unsightly.

“President Ji,” Director Li persuaded, “Young President Cheng is young and vigorous, so don’t meet her head on. It’s just a jade diorama, no need to hurt your friendship.”

Ji Mushan didn’t say a word; he came for the jade ‘lily-of-the-valley with deer basin’ today, and money was not a problem for him.

“If President Ji really likes this work, I know that jade-carving master, and I can ask him to make another one for you. I just heard that he got a new piece of good jade a few days ago, and four million should be enough.” Director Li’s eyes fell on the jade ‘lily-of-the-valley with deer basin’. He remembered something and added, “And the master said that that piece of jade is very suitable for carving flowers and plants.”

“This is the piece of jade in his hand,” Director Li found a photo from the WeChat chat history. “President Ji, take a look. I ordered a jade ornament from the master before, and the cycle from order to delivery was not long. If President Ji wants to send something as a birthday present for his son, it would totally be in time.”

Director Li didn’t lie—that piece of jade was really nice.

Finally, Ji Mushan put down the paddle in his hand. “Mr. Li, please send the master’s WeChat to me.”

Director Li immediately forwarded the jade-carving master’s  WeChat account to Ji Mushan. “I’ve already mentioned you to him, President Ji, just tell him what you want him to carve.”

After Ji Mushan added the WeChat, he put away his phone, stood up and looked down at Young President Cheng, “Young people today are crazy.” 

Then he walked out of the auction room.

Cheng Liu looked down and lifted the bidding card in her hand, not caring at all.

At this time, the auctioneer on the stage had already struck the final blow, announcing on the spot that Cheng Liu had successfully won this jade diorama.

Director Li looked at Ji Mushan’s retreating back and heaved a sigh of relief. He shook his head at Cheng Liu and said, “Young President Cheng, you owe me a favor.”

Cheng Liu took the documents and pen from the auction staff, quickly signed her name and turned around, “Thank you, Director Li, for your help today.”

“It was nothing.” Director Li gossiped and asked, “Do you really have a boyfriend?”

“We’ve been dating for half a year,” Cheng Liu said without guilt.

Director Li was surprised. “Half a year? I haven’t seen you post on Moments before.” With her grand movements from yesterday to today, there was no reason he wouldn’t have learned about her boyfriend before this.

Cheng Liu’s gaze skittered away, and she coughed. “Now you know.”

“But to be honest,” Director Li gave her a thumbs up, “Young President Cheng is better than me when I was younger.”

He was also this age when he was chasing his wife, but back then, it was impossible for him to spend five million at a single throw just to buy a gift.

Sure enough, only Young President Cheng can do it!

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T/N: The ‘lily-of-the-valley + deer’ carving is placed on top of polished black jade ‘basin’. I’m imagining something like this, except wayyy more exquisite, and there’s a deer 🙂

If you’re confused about the bidding amount, the counting is a bit different. ‘160’ is not 160 thousand but 160 ten thousand (1,600,000). So the winning bid is 520 ten thousand or 5.2million. 

And I’m sure y’all know by now that 520 is netspeak for ‘i love you’ as the numbers phonetically sound like ‘wo ai ni’— which was why Ji Mushang was side-eyeing Cheng Liu for being young and in love hahaha.