Chapter 531 — Haggle It Down a Bit More

"Heh heh, I'm selling it to you at half what I paid — isn't that cheap enough?" Kang Jinglong said with a smile. "I paid over a hundred million for it, you know!"

"Didn't you buy that snow lotus or whatever? This thing's just a freebie thrown in!" Feng Xiaoxiao sniffed. "Ten million. If that works, I'll have him buy it. If not, forget it — I'm a little girl, so what if I go back on my word?"

Feng Xiaoxiao's words were close to outright shamelessness, but her last sentence made the point plainly: she was a girl, and a young one at that. Even if she played the rogue, what could Kang Jinglong do about it?

Kang Jinglong drew a sharp breath. He had underestimated Feng Xiaoxiao. Earlier he had counted on Fatty Lai not backing out in front of everyone for the sake of his reputation — but it had never occurred to him that Feng Xiaoxiao would be the one to renege.

And once Feng Xiaoxiao reneged, no one could really say a word against her. She had simply said she no longer liked it, that she did not want it anymore — so naturally Fatty Lai did not have to buy it. Everything had been set off by Feng Xiaoxiao in the first place; if she did not want it, why should Fatty Lai buy it? There was no question of losing face at all!

Kang Jinglong frowned. This really was a bit of a bind. Things had gone against his expectations. When it came to Feng Xiaoxiao, there was simply no easy way to get the money out of her!

"Ten million? That's a little too low, isn't it? Not even enough to cover the odd change!" Kang Jinglong naturally could not keep insisting on fifty million; if he did, the deal would be dead for certain — they would simply walk away.

But the ten million Feng Xiaoxiao had named was also a little hard for him to swallow. They wanted to save face and save money at the same time — since when did such a fine thing exist?

"All right, twenty million, and that's the absolute limit! I'll remember this!" Fatty Lai said coolly. "Don't think you're so clever. We'll see each other again — just wait."

"Deal!" Hearing Fatty Lai's tone, Kang Jinglong knew he had no way to hold out. The other side had already gone back on their word. Still, something was better than nothing; selling it for twenty million seemed to him quite good already — what more could he ask?

After Kang Jinglong had gone, Fatty Lai was utterly prostrate with admiration for Feng Xiaoxiao. She was far too good at playing people! Kang Jinglong must have accumulated eight lifetimes of bad luck to run into her!

"I didn't realize you had so many tricks up your sleeve!" Wei Zhao could not help admiring Feng Xiaoxiao. In the blink of an eye, she had knocked another thirty million off the price.

"Of course! Heh heh, now you know what happens to people who provoke me, don't you?" Feng Xiaoxiao looked at Wei Zhao smugly. "Let's see if you dare cross me again!"

"Hah..." Wei Zhao shrugged and did not answer her.

Kang Jinglong returned to his seat with the check for twenty million. He had not gotten the fifty million he had expected, but even so, Divine Doctor Kang and Kang Guifeng were delighted! If it had been left to them to handle, whether they could even win the thousand-year snow lotus at auction would have been a question — let alone selling a worthless box for twenty million.

Though this storm over the thousand-year snow lotus had drawn plenty of attention, it came quickly and went quickly. Soon the auction was drawing to a close. In the meantime, the Kang family's Gold Wound Medicine in its gift-box edition, a staple of the auction every year, was smoothly snapped up as usual, with no surprises at all! And before the auction ended, the moment the Kang family had been most excited about arrived.

The auctioneer cleared his throat and announced loudly to the room: "Today, in addition to the items in the catalogue, we have added one mysterious lot as the grand finale of today's auction!"

"Whoa —" In an instant, everyone's attention was fixed on the auctioneer! Last-minute additions to an auction were not all that rare; there had been such cases before. But a lot that came out last, and was billed as the grand finale — that was something seldom seen!

So everyone opened their eyes wide, eager to see just what this so-called grand finale the auctioneer spoke of actually was!

"The final mysterious lot is brought to you by Divine Doctor Kang's Pharmaceutical Company — their latest technological product: the Beauty-Nourishing Skin-Restoring Gold Wound Medicine!" The auctioneer named the lot and continued: "Of this mysterious lot, there are only two pieces! And they are presale items — delivery in two months!"

Beauty-Nourishing Skin-Restoring Gold Wound Medicine? What on earth was that? Was it a kind of Gold Wound Medicine too? Most astonishing of all, there were only two of the things, and they were presale — no stock on hand! Just what kind of high-end medicine was this?

The auctioneer was quite pleased with the atmosphere in the room. Seeing everyone buzzing with discussion and speculation told him this lot had the potential to fetch a sky-high price. So he was in no hurry to go on; he waited until the crowd had discussed it enough before opening his mouth to explain: "This Beauty-Nourishing Skin-Restoring Gold Wound Medicine, as the name suggests..."

After the auctioneer had run through the effects of the Beauty-Nourishing Skin-Restoring Gold Wound Medicine once, the room erupted in an uproar! Medicines that repaired skin scars were not unheard of on the market, but their efficacy was nothing like the miraculous effects the auctioneer had described.

Not only did it leave no scar at all, it could even improve the skin. It sounded like a con — but those who had used Divine Doctor Kang's Gold Wound Medicine knew it was no con!

The men who heard the news took it fairly calmly, but the women around them went a little crazy. To hear that such a miraculous thing actually existed — how could they possibly contain themselves?

A wealthy merchant's wife who had come to the auction wasted no time in addressing her husband: "I still have the scar from my C-section, and it's hideous! You absolutely must buy me a bottle!"

This merchant was a henpecked husband. The moment his wife gave the order, he nodded again and again! Buy it — how could he not? Besides, once the scar was healed, it would be easier on his own eyes too, wouldn't it?

And so the merchant rolled up his sleeves and readied himself! The fortune in his hands was no small sum, so he carried himself like a man certain of victory.

Several other wealthy merchants had met with the same predicament, while the wives and young ladies of the great families were likewise itching to try, all set to show their prowess in a moment!

As for the men, their interest was not nearly so great. How many men cared a fig about the scars on their bodies? It wasn't as if they were off to be models!

"The opening bid for the Beauty-Nourishing and Skin-Regenerating Golden Wound Medicine is one million yuan, with each raise no less than five hundred thousand!" The auctioneer was well pleased with the response from the crowd. He had no idea that the very same medicine would be auctioned again tomorrow, and took today's lot to be the last of its kind. He was even preparing to drive the bidding to a record price.

"One and a half million!" Someone began the bidding.

"Two million!" The second bidder shot the first a look of contempt. Is that any way to raise a bid? For a treasure like this, you'd go up by a mere five hundred thousand?

"Three million!" Someone immediately outbid the second.

In no time at all, the price had soared to five million.

Among those present, only three parties had no intention of joining the bidding.