After reminding Cui Wu, Zhou Suisui seemed to think of something. Her large eyes flickered, and the corners of her pretty lips curled upward.
She took out her phone, opened Su Wan’s Weibo post, and saved screenshots of the post and all the comments beneath it to her photo album.
That way, Su Wan wouldn’t be able to delete the post afterward and get rid of the evidence.
In the guests’ section, Xiang Lingxiao held up his bidding paddle. His provocative gaze swept over Jiang Zongyan and Zhou Sui’an as he said with feigned politeness, “I’m sorry, Mr. Jiang, CEO Zhou. Everyone wants beautiful things. At an auction, the highest bidder wins.”
Zhou Sui’an’s face darkened, his fingers tightening until his knuckles turned pale.
Disgusting.
These days, just seeing anyone from Tianyu made him feel sick.
Especially Xiang Lingxiao. He wanted nothing more than to tear him limb from limb.
Tianyu Group had originally been nothing more than an intermediary agent for Zhou Corporation. Later, no one knew where they had obtained their financial backing, but they began aggressively poaching Zhou Corporation’s employees, particularly its core engineers.
Zhou Corporation had just developed a new AI speaker, and the following month Tianyu announced that they had developed one too. Yet every single program was merely a superficial layer added over Zhou Corporation’s product.
Zhou Corporation had spent an enormous amount of manpower and resources developing a humanoid sales robot. Each unit cost a million yuan to produce, meaning they were already losing money just to establish a foothold in the market.
Then Tianyu turned around and launched a robot of its own. Aside from the design being slightly different from Zhou Corporation’s, the program and core controller inside were completely plagiarized from Zhou Corporation.
Having avoided the massive research and development costs, Tianyu could sell its humanoid robots for five hundred thousand yuan each and still make a profit.
The legal departments of the two companies had fought themselves bloody.
With such blatant commercial competition and malicious infringement, Zhou Corporation naturally won most of the lawsuits.
Yet Tianyu remained completely unrestrained, continuing to make things difficult for Zhou Corporation. As long as it made money, nothing else mattered.
After all, most consumers only cared about the price. They would never bother with the story behind it.
Tianyu Group grew stronger by the day, to the point that they had become arrogant and started thinking they were untouchable. They were now eager to force their way into the upper echelons, which was why tonight’s scene had unfolded.
Faced with Xiang Lingxiao’s provocation, Jiang Zongyan’s thin lips lifted in the faintest hint of mockery.
Without even raising his eyes, he said calmly, “Nine hundred million.”
“Nine hundred million!”
The entire venue erupted in another uproar.
“The Crown Prince has bid nine hundred million!”
“Wasn’t he only increasing the bids by a hundred at a time just now? How did he suddenly start increasing them by a hundred million?”
“That’s outrageously extravagant.”
“The money’s in his pocket. Can you control how much he bids?!”
“Besides, a hundred million is nothing to him.”
The dilemma was instantly thrown back to Xiang Lingxiao.
The official valuation of the Pink Heart was nine hundred million.
If he raised the bid any further and Jiang Zongyan suddenly gave up, he would have to buy it at a price far exceeding its valuation. The risk would be enormous.
But if he allowed himself to be intimidated by Jiang Zongyan, where would that leave the Xiang family’s reputation?
Xiang Lingxiao gritted his teeth and was about to raise his paddle again when the assistant beside him hurriedly tugged at his sleeve and reminded him in a low voice, “Second Young Master, you can’t raise it anymore! CEO Zhou already gave up. They’re clearly competing against each other. What if Mr. Jiang stops now? We’ll suffer a huge loss!”
“…”
Xiang Lingxiao’s eyes darkened, a trace of hesitation flashing through them.
He pushed the assistant’s hand away and raised his paddle again. “One billion!”
He was going to gamble one more time.
If he beat Jiang Zongyan today, he might lose another hundred million, but the Xiang family’s position in Tang City would rise several levels. From then on, no one would dare underestimate the Xiang family or Tianyu.
Most importantly, he didn’t want to admit defeat in front of Zhou Suisui.
He thought that a shrewd man like Jiang Zongyan would never stubbornly fight over a diamond worth far less than the price being offered.
At that moment, Jiang Zongyan finally lifted his eyes and looked at him. A faint, icy smile appeared at the corner of his lips.
Originally, he couldn’t even be bothered to spare a second glance at a man who had made his fortune selling counterfeit products based on stolen designs and, having just gotten a little full, already had no idea of his own limits.
He hadn’t expected Xiang Lingxiao to have some courage after all.
If it had been anything else, he would have stopped bidding and let Xiang Lingxiao suffer a silent loss.
But this diamond…
He was determined to have it.
Jiang Zongyan raised his well-defined hand and made a simple gesture toward the auctioneer—he was lighting the sky lantern.
In an instant, the entire auction hall fell silent.
Everyone was stunned. They even forgot to breathe.
Lighting the sky lantern meant that no matter what anyone else bid that night, he would match it without condition, wagering his entire fortune and seeing it through to the end.
Bidding at an auction was no child’s game. Every bidder had to undergo strict financial verification, and anyone whose assets were insufficient would not even be allowed to participate.
As the hundred-year-old wealthiest family in Tang City, the Jiang family was unmatched in terms of net worth.
Jiang Zongyan’s move clearly meant that he was serious.
He looked at Xiang Lingxiao, his deep eyes like a dangerous, icy pool shimmering with menace. His provocation was completely undisguised.
“Young Master Xiang, are you still bidding?”
“…”
The smile on Xiang Lingxiao’s face collapsed completely.
Even the assistant’s expression changed. “Second Young Master, you really can’t raise it anymore! We’ve reached the limit of our verified funds!”
Xiang Lingxiao’s face shifted from pale to livid.
After a long silence, he gritted his teeth and gave up, forcing out a stiff smile.
“Mr. Jiang certainly is generous. I admit defeat.”
Jiang Zongyan withdrew his gaze indifferently and ignored him. He merely lifted his chin toward the auctioneer.
The auctioneer had been waiting impatiently. He excitedly picked up the gavel and brought it down with a heavy strike.
“Sold! Congratulations, Mr. Jiang!”
According to the rules of lighting the sky lantern, the final sale price would be ten percent higher than the opposing bidder’s last offer.
In other words, the Pink Heart had been sold for the staggering price of 1.1 billion!
The venue exploded instantly.
“My God! 1.1 billion for a single diamond! Young Master Jiang is truly spending a fortune on the woman he loves!”
“That’s enough to make anyone jealous! Whoever marries Mr. Jiang will be able to enjoy a life of luxury without lifting a finger.”
“Oh, is it too late for me to have a daughter now?”
“I think it’s a terrible deal. It’s just a diamond. How could it possibly be worth 1.1 billion?”
“What do you know? If someone manages to collect all eight diamonds of the same design, their value will double immediately!”
“All eight? How could that be possible? The buyers of the previous seven were all anonymous. Young Master Jiang has made such a high-profile purchase this time, which clearly means the other seven aren’t in his hands.”
The speaker shook his head mysteriously. “The Jiang family’s affairs are hard to say…”
The auction staff carefully packed the Pink Heart and respectfully carried it over to Jiang Zongyan.
“Mr. Jiang, here you are! Congratulations once again!”
Jiang Zongyan reached out and accepted it. Then he glanced at Zhou Suisui beside him.
The little girl’s eyes were sparkling. She couldn’t hide her amazement and envy, staring unblinkingly at the diamond like a kitten watching dried fish or a mouse spotting a sack of grain.
He couldn’t help letting out a low chuckle before casually stuffing the jewelry box into his suit pocket.
“…”
Zhou Suisui choked.
How stingy! He wouldn’t even let her look at it?
The auction came to an end.
Zhou Suisui glanced at her silent older brother, gave him a disdainful snort, and pulled Cui Wu toward the exit.
“Come on. Let’s go home.”
“Leaving in such a hurry?”
Jiang Zongyan’s deep voice came from behind them.
Zhou Suisui stopped and turned around in confusion.
The auction was already over. What reason did she have to stay?
Several people nearby turned their eyes toward them, studying the scene curiously.
Jiang Zongyan slipped one hand into his pocket, the box of diamonds clenched in his palm.
His palm was feverishly hot, covered in a thin sheen of sweat.
He looked away and said calmly, “Let’s go. We’ll talk outside.”
“?”
Zhou Suisui raised an eyebrow and followed him out, puzzled.
There was definitely something off about him.
“Wait for me, sis!”
Seeing her leave with Jiang Zongyan without even waiting for him, Zhou Sui’an hurried after them, looking utterly pitiful.
Jiang Zongyan was definitely up to no good today.
Just as he was about to catch up, someone suddenly grabbed him by the wrist.
There’s one more chapter coming. Everyone can read it when you wake up tomorrow! Go to bed early~~ Good night.
