Chapter 489 — Just Add a Hundred Million

The only addition was a single line inserted into the introduction, something Lai the Fatso had specifically requested beforehand. So long as a seller's request was not too much trouble, the auction house would generally accommodate it.

"The next lot consists of three Longevity Detox Pills provided by Dr. Guan Pharmaceuticals. The reserve price is one million yuan per pill, and the three will be auctioned separately in three rounds!" The auctioneer paused there, because the hall had erupted into an uproar.

Very few of those present had ever heard of these Longevity Detox Pills, and Dr. Guan Pharmaceuticals was a name new to all of them. What sort of company was this Dr. Guan Pharmaceuticals, anyway? And what on earth were these Longevity Detox Pills?

Everyone in the hall was a person who cherished life and knew health supplements well, so if there truly existed such a wonder as a longevity pill, it was impossible they would not have heard of it. Yet this thing that had appeared at the auction was genuinely unknown to them.

And was a price of one million perhaps a bit too high? And that was for a single pill? Would anyone buy it? Though no one present was short of money, none of them were willing to throw their money away for nothing.

Especially for something so bizarre—who would be the first to try it?

The silence that followed the uproar seemed to fall within the auctioneer's expectations. Similar scenes played out at the auction every year, so he was not surprised. He continued his introduction: "These Longevity Detox Pills can expel impurities from the body. As everyone knows, people eat all manner of grains and produce, and toxins are bound to accumulate within the body. Some are discharged, but some remain. The longer they stay, the more toxins gather. The Longevity Detox Pills, however, can achieve the effect of cleansing the marrow and scouring the bones, expelling the toxins from the body and attaining the goal of lengthening life and renewing the very flesh."

Having finished, even the auctioneer himself scarcely believed the description of these pills. It sounded just like those miracle pills peddled by street charlatans, boasted of as though they were divine. If the pills truly had such effects, then a million really would not be expensive. But could such a thing exist?

"The first Longevity Detox Pill, reserve price one million. Bidding is open!" The auctioneer had already prepared himself for the lot to go unsold. If no one bid on the first, then no one would bid on the second or third either, and he could simply withdraw them and move on to the next lot.

Because the earlier auction of an antique vase had taken up some time with rather fierce bidding, it was impossible for the auction to finish within its projected schedule, so the auctioneer was doing his best to save time.

These Longevity Detox Pills might be beyond the understanding of others, but there were those in the hall who understood. Liu Tianyi understood. So did the Divine Doctor Kang.

The only thing was, the Divine Doctor Kang could not be certain whether these Longevity Detox Pills were the same as the one Kang Xiaofeng had brought him earlier, or whether someone had concocted a fraud.

"Ha, they've even invented a Dr. Guan. Isn't that an obvious imitation of your brand, Elder Kang?" Xiao Ji, seated not far from the Divine Doctor Kang, remarked with a touch of mockery. "I say this is certainly a swindle!"

He and Xiao Ben had only received their invitation today. Every year the invitation sent to his father had been gold, but this year's was red. Though they had still been allotted the three invitations due them, it was plain that the Xiao family's standing was not what it once was.

There was nothing to be done about it. Though Xiao Ji and Xiao Ben were furious, they were lucky enough to have received an invitation at all—what more could they demand? The more it went on, the more keenly Xiao Ji and Xiao Ben felt that they must ally themselves with the Kang family if they were to preserve their standing among the great houses.

The Divine Doctor Kang, however, furrowed his brow as though something had occurred to him, though he could not be sure. Dr. Guan… could this Dr. Guan be Guan Xuewen? Recalling that the man beside Kang Xiaofeng back then seemed to be on good terms with Guan Xuewen, could it be that the true owner of these Longevity Detox Pills was Guan Xuewen?

While the Divine Doctor Kang hesitated, someone had already risen to call out a bid.

"One hundred million!" Lai the Fatso raised the paddle in his hand.

"Huh?" The whole hall erupted, and even the auctioneer gaped at Lai the Fatso. He had served as the Yu family's auctioneer for ten years, yet never had he encountered a scene like today's. Someone bidding like that? An item with a reserve of one million, called out at one hundred million on the very first bid? How was that possible?

"Would the gentleman with paddle number one hundred eighty-three please repeat your bid? I did not quite catch it…" Though it was a humiliating thing for an auctioneer not to hear a bidder clearly, the auctioneer no longer cared, for the situation was simply too incredible. He truly could not believe Lai the Fatso would bid one hundred million. He felt certain he must have misheard.

The auctioneer was bewildered, but Yu Haitian, who had been sitting all this while in the auction seats below, knit his brows slightly. Though the Yu family was the host, they too took part in the auction, and at that moment Yu Haitian was seated beside a middle-aged man. If one looked closely, the man wore a headset over his ears.

The auctioneer did not know, but Yu Haitian was well aware: these Longevity Detox Pills had been provided by Lai the Fatso himself.

Buying back the very medicine he had supplied? Or was it to drive up the price? At auctions there were indeed people who bid falsely to inflate the price of their own lots. The organizers were well aware of this, and to prevent such occurrences they took their fee as a commission, with the Yu family's auction charging as much as twenty percent.

In this way, even someone wishing to inflate the bidding had to bear great risk. If the inflation succeeded, everyone was happy—the organizers' commission would not be reduced, and the seller got the price he wanted. But if it failed, the seller would have to pay to buy back his own lot, which is to say he would be forced to pay the organizers their twenty percent commission.

Of course, one could also refuse to buy after the sale was struck, but then one would still have to compensate the organizers a twenty percent fee. So in any case, that twenty percent was a certain loss, and ordinarily no one would casually inflate the bidding.

But for someone like Lai the Fatso to come right out and bid a hundred million, just like that, was nothing short of a joke. So although Yu Haitian was puzzled, he said nothing.