The entire auction hall was abuzz with talk of the perfume.
Those who hadn't managed to bid on the perfume yesterday were all stirring with anticipation. In their eyes, it wasn't just perfume; it was a miracle drug.
Just then, Chen Kun and Dong Rui walked in from outside. They were here today to auction off the remaining ten bottles of perfume. The moment they appeared, everyone in the hall crowded around them.
Chen Kun and Dong Rui heard all the whispers. They were stunned! They hadn't expected the perfume provided by Jiang Yi to be so miraculous. If they hadn't heard it with their own ears, they wouldn't have believed it was real. At first, they thought it was just ordinary perfume.
"Mr. Chen, do you still have the perfume you auctioned yesterday? I want to buy all of it, and I'll offer fifty thousand for each bottle."
"I'll offer a million! I'll take as many as you have."
"Mr. Chen, I'll offer two million, and you can give them all to me."
...
The crowd surged forward, clamoring to buy the perfume from Chen Kun and Dong Rui, each person vying for it desperately. The auction hadn't even officially begun, but they were already bidding! The auction staff were dumbfounded. In all their years in this profession, they had never seen an auction item so popular.
"Manager Dong, why don't we just sell them directly? Two million per bottle is more than ten times yesterday's price," Chen Kun said to Dong Rui.
"No, they must be auctioned. No private sales!" Dong Rui replied with a smile. "Since these perfumes are so popular, auctioning them might yield unexpected rewards. Besides, the Chairman wants us to auction them to build our reputation. Only through auction can we enhance the fame of this perfume and let everyone know how precious it is."
"You're right. Fortunately, you reminded me, or I might have messed up the Chairman's grand plan!" Chen Kun said with a smile.
Dong Rui scanned the crowd and announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, there were originally only twenty bottles of this perfume. Ten were auctioned yesterday, and today we've decided to auction only five bottles!"
"Miss Dong, aren't you auctioning too few?" the woman in the red dress asked Dong Rui.
"This perfume is too precious. To date, only ten bottles remain, so we can only auction five," Dong Rui explained. "I don't need to elaborate on how miraculous and precious this perfume is; you all know very well."
After speaking, Dong Rui and Chen Kun walked away. The crowd hurried back to their seats, took out their phones, and began preparing their funds. They knew well that to obtain this perfume, they would have to endure a fierce 'battle,' as everyone present had their sights set on the five bottles being auctioned today.
Jiang Yi smiled slightly as he observed this scene. The perfume he had developed was even more successful than he had imagined.
"I wonder who developed this perfume. It's truly miraculous," Li Qing marveled. Jiang Yi raised an eyebrow but remained silent. Li Qing, full of curiosity, wanted to see what this wondrous perfume looked like.
Half an hour later, the host walked onto the stage and took the microphone. "Ladies and gentlemen, the first item for auction today is the Beauty Perfume, developed by Tiansheng Group. To give everyone more opportunities to bid, we will only auction one bottle at a time..."
"The starting bid is one hundred thousand!"
...
The moment the host finished speaking, the crowd below erupted in frantic bidding. In just one hour, the price soared to over six million. A mere bottle of perfume had fetched an astronomical price. No one had ever seen such an expensive perfume.
"Seven million..." the woman in the red dress declared through gritted teeth. The price of seven million exceeded the psychological threshold for many. No one else stepped forward to bid. The woman in the red dress displayed a hint of triumph.
"Eight million. I'll take all five bottles being auctioned today!" a faint voice suddenly called out from within the crowd.
The woman in the red dress immediately showed anger. She turned to look in the direction of the voice and saw an old man with white hair, holding a dragon-headed cane, exuding an air of authority. This old man clearly wasn't ordinary. Standing beside him was a girl of about eleven or twelve. The little girl was exquisitely beautiful and, seeing so many people looking their way, she quickly hid behind the old man.
Upon clearly seeing the old man's appearance, many people trembled inwardly. This old man was none other than Bai Zhen, the chairman of the Jiang Province Chamber of Commerce. He held sway over the entire Jiang Province business community, earning him the title of the foremost figure in Jiang Province's commerce. Moreover, Bai Zhen was known as one of the three great powers of Jiang Province, on par with the Governor. Even a powerful commercial family like the Chen family had to show deference and respect to Bai Zhen.
Everyone present was shocked at their first sight of Bai Zhen. No one had expected Bai Zhen to personally appear in Jiang City, let alone come to the auction hall to bid on perfume. This was big news. Amidst their surprise, people felt a surge of excitement. Such a prominent figure like Bai Zhen was legendary to them, and this was the first time they were seeing him in person.
"Chairman Bai, your presence at our auction company truly brings glory to our establishment!" the general manager of the auction company rushed over to flatter him.
"I am here for the perfume," Bai Zhen stated. "I came to Jiang City for an inspection and happened to overhear the wife of the Jiang City Chamber of Commerce's chairman talking about the miraculous effects of this perfume, which prompted me to come personally." He continued, "I want all five bottles of perfume. Is that alright?"
"Yes, of course..." the auction company's general manager quickly nodded. Doing so would damage the auction company's credibility, but they had no choice. Bai Zhen was not someone an auction company could afford to offend. As for the others in the auction hall, they dared not object. No one dared to provoke Bai Zhen casually; with a single word, he could bring down anyone in the business world. Even the Jiang City Chamber of Commerce had to obey Bai Zhen's directives.
Bai Zhen had his subordinate pay for the items, then took the five bottles of perfume and left with the little girl. The crowd could only watch helplessly as Bai Zhen departed with the perfume.
"Mr. Chen, why don't we auction off the remaining five bottles from Tiansheng Group as well? We'll surely get a lot of money," the auction company's general manager said to Chen Kun with a broad smile.
"That won't do," Chen Kun replied indifferently. "We clearly stated earlier that we would only auction five bottles today." The auction company's general manager looked helpless and dared not say anything further. Tiansheng Group was not someone their auction company could afford to offend, so they dared not press Chen Kun and Dong Rui. Afterward, Chen Kun and Dong Rui left directly! Jiang Yi was seated in a corner, so they didn't see him. Jiang Yi didn't greet them either. The perfume had been auctioned off, and Jiang Yi had no interest in staying longer. He left the auction company with Li Qing.