Chapter 2508 — Yang Qiqi's Disappointment
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
"Hm... you've got consignment items and auction items both. Settle them together?" Lu Xiansheng glanced at Wei Zhao's number plaque and asked.
"Together, please," Wei Zhao said.
"Very well." Lu Xiansheng nodded and began to calculate. He spoke vaguely, mentioning only "consignment items" without saying what Wei Zhao had consigned, so no one would grow suspicious—after all, so many things went under the hammer at a single auction. Who could tell which lot Wei Zhao had consigned?
Lu Xiansheng ran through Wei Zhao's bill and found that he still owed Wei Zhao nearly forty million, the equivalent of over six million Swiss francs. So he asked directly, "Will you take a transfer or cash?"
"Cash," Wei Zhao said. For the time being he did not want to expose his true identity. The matter of the pills—the later it was known, the better. Given the relationship between the You family and the ** Traders' Association, it would probably be no trouble at all to dig up information on Wei Zhao. So Wei Zhao tried to leave behind nothing that could be traced to him—a bank card number, for instance.
True, Wei Zhao held an anonymous account abroad, but he had used that account many times and told a number of people about it. Anyone with the will to inquire would have no difficulty tracing it back to Wei Zhao.
"Very well." Lu Xiansheng handed Wei Zhao a slip of paper, along with the pure yellow jade Wei Zhao had won at auction, and said, "Just go to that window over there to collect your cash."
"Many thanks!" Wei Zhao took the slip, carefully stowed the pure yellow jade, and went to another window, where he handed over the paper. The ** glanced at it, turned, and went into the back room to prepare. Before long he emerged lugging a leather case, which he handed to Wei Zhao. "Sir, your money is here. You may count it if you like."
"That won't be necessary." Taking the case, Wei Zhao headed straight for the door. The cases were all a fixed size; even for a mere ten thousand Swiss francs, the ** Traders' Association would still use a large leather case. This too was for the sake of secrecy—so that others could not judge from the case's bulk how much money was inside, nor guess what the consignor had actually put up for auction.
Naturally Wei Zhao was not fool enough to count the money on the spot—that would have been as good as a confession. If anyone added the sum to the earlier price of the pure yellow jade, it would not be hard to work out the total that the pills had fetched. Besides, Wei Zhao did not believe the ** Traders' Association would cheat him on such a matter.
Lu Xiansheng, for his part, showed nothing. But after Wei Zhao left, a sharp gleam flashed in the eyes of the Heaven Rank vice president. He had not told Lu Xiansheng of his plans—after all, powerful as the ** Traders' Association was, it was on the whole an organization that prized fairness and justice, and Lu Xiansheng was a rather upright man. His position might not rank as high as vice president, but as the chief auctioneer and appraiser of the market, his standing within the ** Traders' Association was extraordinary. He might even refuse to defer to a Heaven Rank vice president—and there would be nothing the vice president could do about it.
This was, after all, a man of special talent within the ** Traders' Association—even the president treated him with courtesy.
What the Heaven Rank vice president meant to do, however, ran counter to the Association's own code of honor. His ** had tried to extort bribes and been killed; for him to go seeking revenge made no sense at all. If the president ever learned of it, he would certainly not let the matter pass lightly—and if one of the rival vice presidents got wind of it, it would cost him a layer of skin. So the Heaven Rank vice president had no intention whatsoever of telling Lu Xiansheng.