"Congratulations, Mr. John. Please head to the conference room later, and we'll sign the contract!" After the auction ended, Boss Huang He left quickly, but naturally, some of the company's middle management approached John to discuss the signing.
Upon hearing this, John breathed a sigh of relief and readily agreed, stating he would go sign immediately.
After the representatives from Jiangnan Group left, the representatives from the other four television stations all approached him. However, their expressions seemed peculiar, giving John a sudden sense of foreboding.
"Tsk, tsk, John, you were so formidable, you caught us completely off guard!"
"Indeed, we never expected your company's bottom line for you to be so outrageous. It's truly magnificent, a tale that will surely be told in the industry!"
"Brother John, you've made history in the television industry this time. Your name will be etched in the annals!"
"John, the brothers will treat you to drinks later. Thank you for this!"
The four men spoke enthusiastically, even showering John with praise, which only made him more bewildered.
"Gentlemen, no need for drinks. What exactly do you mean? I competed fairly with you today without using any underhanded tactics. You don't need to be so sarcastic with me!" John said, somewhat annoyed.
"Ah, how can you say we're being sarcastic? We're genuinely impressed with you!"
"Yes, spending nearly 700 million to acquire the exclusive broadcast rights for a television series – isn't that creating unprecedented history? Shouldn't your name be recorded in history for this?" the two said with a chuckle.
"Seven hundred million?" John blinked, then quickly understood. His face stiffened as he said, "Gentlemen, I believe you may be mistaken. We only spent 140 million to acquire the television series *Misty Journey*. The previous agreement has been canceled, and there's no mention of 700 million!"
"What?" The other four changed color simultaneously. Tony stepped forward and said sternly, "John, have you forgotten the secret agreement we signed the day before yesterday? And this afternoon, you specifically confirmed the agreement with the four of us. Why are you reneging on it now? Your signature and the company seal are still wet on that contract!"
"What nonsense are you talking about? I clearly sent you a text message saying that if the price exceeded 30 million US dollars, the previous contract would be void. You all replied agreeing to my terms, so why are you spouting such nonsense now?" John gritted his teeth.
"You're talking rubbish! When did we ever agree to void the contract, and when did you send us such a text message?" Tony stepped forward again. Just as he was about to grab John's collar, a strong arm stretched out, and a robust figure stepped between them.
Immediately, over a dozen security guards rushed over, separating everyone completely. Someone said, "Gentlemen, let's not fight. Let's talk things through. This is not the place for arguments!"
"We're not arguing; I'm just reasoning with this untrustworthy scoundrel!" Tony roared angrily. The surrounding security guards, sensing the escalating situation, each took control of their respective sides, forcefully separating the five parties.
John, who had spent 140 million US dollars on the exclusive broadcast rights, was respectfully escorted back to the reception room by security, where beautiful office ladies served him tea and water.
As for the representatives of the other four television stations, they were unceremoniously escorted out and denied further entry to Jiangnan Group.
"These scoundrels, they won't honor their word!" John was furious. He pulled out his phone and reread the text messages he had sent earlier. Confirming that they had all replied, his anger intensified.
In John's view, those four guys were clearly colluding behind his back, deliberately deceiving him into believing they had agreed to cancel the contract. However, they had deceived him, employing this disgusting tactic to extort over a hundred million US dollars in bid-padding fees from his company.
These scoundrels, their methods were too ruthless.
John sat sulking alone in the conference room, while the representatives from Jiangnan Group, who were supposed to sign the contract, never appeared. It was said they were busy signing with other television stations first.
After all, first come, first served. Since the television stations from other regions had reached agreements earlier, they naturally had to sign first. However, the service lady assured him that their group's负责人 would personally meet with John to sign, guaranteeing the highest level of treatment.
As John waited in anger, his phone rang. The furious voice of his company's chairman came through, questioning him about the situation and why he had driven the price up to an astonishing 142 million US dollars.
John was startled and quickly explained what had happened, along with the reason for spending an extra 2 million US dollars.
"I don't care about the extra 2 million. I only want to know why you drove the price to this point, knowing you had signed a bid-rigging agreement with other companies. Are you planning to make our company lose over 500 million US dollars for no reason?" the chairman questioned furiously.
"Sir, I clearly canceled the contract with them. They agreed via text message!" John hastily explained.
"Idiot! A contract is written on paper, but their agreement is just a string of electronic symbols. As long as they delete the text messages, there's no evidence to prove they agreed. Even if your phone has it, it's not enough, because they'll claim you forged it!"
"Why are you so stupid? When you sign a contract with others on paper, you should also cancel it on paper, not trust some text messages!" The chairman grew even angrier, and John instantly broke out in a cold sweat. After a moment, he said meekly, "My apologies, sir. I saw a sixth party trying to pick up *Misty Journey* at a bargain price, and I acted out of panic, so..."
"What bargain pick-up? As long as we five major television stations disagree, no sixth party can broadcast this television series nationwide. Even if they acquired it cheaply, the five of us could jointly reclaim it. What is going on in your head?"
"Sir, what if this sixth party isn't a sixth party at all, but a pseudonym or puppet of one of the other four companies?" John retorted.
"That's still better than you wanting to pay each of the other four 142 million US dollars in bid-padding fees! Those damn guys are already preparing to pop champagne, celebrating their pure profit of 142 million US dollars. Do you want me to be fired by all the directors in anger?" This passage had actually undergone some optimization. In reality, when the chairman said this, there were at least seven or eight unspeakable words.
"Chairman, this contract isn't exactly a legitimate one, and it's certainly not something we can expose. At worst, we can just disavow it..." John said, like a cornered dog.
"Nonsense! Do you want to give the other four legitimate reasons to deal with us? In less than a year, our CNN will be torn to shreds, and all of us will be unemployed!" The chairman cursed again. This was truly an incredibly foolish idea.
"There is only one way forward!" the chairman said helplessly after a barrage of scolding. "I ask you, have you signed with Jiangnan Group yet?"
"No, they said they had to sign with other television stations first and asked me to wait for a while!"
"That's excellent! If you had already signed, everything would be ruined. Fortunately, you haven't signed yet. I order you to leave immediately, leave the headquarters of Jiangnan Group, and return to your country!" the chairman said quickly.
"..." John was stunned for a moment but immediately understood the chairman's intention, which was to abandon the bid. Even though he had successfully bid, he was to refuse to pay and leave, completely forfeiting the exclusive broadcast rights for *Misty Journey*.
This was a solution born of desperation.
According to the secret agreement between the five television stations, one party that acquired the exclusive broadcast rights for *Misty Journey* had to pay the other four parties an equal amount. There was a loophole in the contract: as long as CNN did not pay and truly purchase the exclusive broadcast rights for *Misty Journey*, the preliminary condition of the contract could not take effect, and the subsequent clauses requiring payment to the four parties would naturally become invalid.
The reason this was called a solution born of desperation was that doing so meant CNN would completely abandon *Misty Journey*. Not only that, but the 5 million US dollars in deposit paid by each party would also be forfeited.
To prevent fake or phantom bids during the auction process, it was natural for the auctioneer to collect a deposit from the bidders.
If the auction was successful, the deposit would be included in the purchase price. If the bid was unsuccessful, the deposit would be returned in full. Now that CNN was directly abandoning the bid, the 5 million US dollars deposit would naturally be forfeited.
Although this meant a direct loss of 5 million US dollars, it was the best solution. It was far better than actually paying over 500 million US dollars in bid-padding fees to the other competitors or facing pressure from the other four parties.
After giving this order, the chairman decisively hung up the phone, not giving John a chance to speak further. John could only cast a melancholy glance at the conference room and then turned to leave, startling the service lady inside. She thought she had failed to provide adequate service, causing this distinguished, important customer to storm out.