Chapter 495 — An Old Friend in a Faraway Land
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
Yet even that smooth, evasive manner left everyone present excited and expectant. Vague promises always set the imagination racing.
"You certainly know how to talk—which amounts to saying nothing at all," Wei Zhao said with a faint smile as he watched Fatty Lai come down from the stage.
"Heh heh, well, of course. Can I just go around shooting my mouth off? That's all commercial confidence!" Fatty Lai said with a bashful grin. "Still, Boss, tell me—are we preparing anything for the third auction?"
"Preparing what?" Wei Zhao had not prepared anything, though if he started now, there was still time enough.
"I hear Miracle Doctor Kang is putting some premium wound medicines up for auction tomorrow—the kind that heal cuts faster and better than the ordinary sort," Fatty Lai said. "Why don't we auction some premium wound medicine too? I've already offended him beyond repair, and once our products hit the market we'll be rivals anyway, so there's no point worrying about making an enemy of him now!"
"Oh?" Wei Zhao's interest was piqued at the mention of Miracle Doctor Kang entering premium wound medicine in the auction. "Let me think. Let's see what we can come up with—something that might beat his!"
"Now that's what I like to hear! Just what I'd expect from you, Boss!" Fatty Lai nodded again and again. "You're right, too—if we just copied them, there'd be no fun in it. It'd look like we were imitating them!"
The lots that followed were all ordinary enough—relatively speaking, of course. For even these items, taken to any ordinary auction, would have ranked among the finest.
It was only here, among people who had seen it all, that such things failed to cause much of a stir. None of the bids that followed came close to the Life-Extending Detox Pill—not even a tenth of it.
Wei Zhao lost interest, and Fatty Lai naturally left his seat to handle the handover formalities backstage. After deducting what had been spent on the sheepskin map, the proceeds from the three pills were all deposited into Fatty Lai's account.
Once the formalities were done, Fatty Lai retrieved the sheepskin map and handed it to Wei Zhao.
Wei Zhao opened it, gave it a glance, and put it away. This was no place to study such a thing, and he had no intention of studying it just now—at least, he had no time for it at the moment.
Counting the piece he had at home, Wei Zhao had only two fragments of the map. How large the whole was, and into how many pieces it had been divided, he had no way of knowing, so the two pieces in his possession were, for the time being, of no practical use.
The only reason he had Fatty Lai bid on it at all was a collector's curiosity. He had no expectation that the map would bring him any benefit; it had simply been a passing whim.
The auction soon ended. Apart from the Life-Extending Detox Pill, not a single lot produced any comparable effect—each was settled after a few bids and a hasty close.
In truth, there was nothing special about the lots on the first day; it was the same every year, and this was how it ought to be. The Life-Extending Detox Pill had been the sole exception.
Wei Zhao rose with Fatty Lai and Guan Xuewen, preparing to leave the auction hall, but then he saw Miracle Doctor Kang looking their way—and at the sight of Wei Zhao and Guan Xuewen, Kang's expression visibly froze.
Wei Zhao gave him a nod and a smile.
Miracle Doctor Kang had long suspected Wei Zhao of being some rich family's young master. So when he saw him in the company of Fatty Lai and Guan Xuewen, he merely frowned and thought no more of it. In his view, Guan Xuewen's turn toward commerce had been entirely the doing of Wei Zhao and Fatty Lai.
The investor was probably Fatty Lai, and this Wei Zhao likely held a share or two as well—but Miracle Doctor Kang paid him no mind. The one he feared was Fatty Lai, that old hand at business.