Big Data Cultivation

Chapter 114: Chapter 314: Inside and Outside the Circle (Three more chapters for monthly pass)

The afternoon auction featured nine pieces of jade, and from the first piece, Henglong constantly placed high bids.

The first two pieces of jade were snatched up by other jewelers, and the third piece was once again desired by Mingrui.

After several rounds of bidding, it was down to Mingrui and Henglong. After Henglong placed another bid, Mingrui’s people wouldn’t have it, “The last piece was Li Dafu competing with me, and now it’s you, Hengrui, doing the same. Are you two colluding to drive up the price?”

These words were somewhat blunt, but in the business world, especially when rivals are gathered, it’s not necessarily a bad thing to speak one’s mind.

Mingrui’s complaint wasn’t without reason. The auction was taking place in Henglong’s venue, with Li Dafu responsible for inviting guests. Both companies had a good catch in the morning, and now they continued to drive up prices in the afternoon. What was this supposed to mean?

Keep in mind, the seller Feng Jun was a newcomer. Though everyone had heard some legends about Boss Feng, no one had met him before this. So… where exactly did this person come from?

Given these unusual occurrences, Mingrui had every reason to voice their suspicions: what exactly is the relationship between you three parties?

Was this Feng Jun a new jade source that Li Dafu and Henglong had found, and they were now jointly pushing out a representative?

A deputy director from Li Dafu participated in the auction, but the big boss Li Yongrui was also present, drinking tea with Feng Jun on the side.

Seeing the attention of everyone turning towards them, Chairman Li became angry, “We’ve only bought two pieces of jade altogether, and Henglong has already bought five. What are you thinking, dragging us, Li Dafu, into this?”

It was only natural for Li Dafu to buy two pieces of jade. They had interacted with Feng Jun before but hadn’t managed to purchase any jade. Feng Jun’s jade was all high-quality, and they had already decided to acquire several pieces today.

It was an unavoidable matter. Li Dafu was a large corporation and the leader in the Funiu jewelry industry. Their demand for jade was inherently high, and as a state-owned enterprise, they could enjoy some advantages from their scale and government support. However, compared to other competitors, they often lacked flexibility.

Thus, whenever high-quality jade appeared on the Funiu market, LiDafu’s response was always half a beat slower than others, and their competitors were more nimble. In such competition, Li Dafu was at a significant disadvantage and ended up with less merchandise.

Today, they were determined to secure several pieces of jade. Fortunately, they knew Feng Jun had many pieces, so they started by securing two and would decide on the rest based on the situation.

In the second half of the auction, the atmosphere had grown tense, and Li Dafu lost much of their interest in participating. It was Henglong that continued to bid, leaving Li Yongrui somewhat puzzled: how many pieces of jade did you need to amass before you had enough?

Now that he heard about the suspicions of price-rigging between Li Dafu and Henglong, he was not willing to be tarred with that reputation. He waved Liang Haiqing over, “Boss Liang, come here for a moment.”

Boss Liang was the Executive Vice President of Henglong. Above him was a Chairman cum General Manager who wasn’t really focused on the jewelry industry. Moreover, Boss Liang had already dealt with Feng Jun more than once, so his presence there today was enough.

When Li Yongrui signaled him, Liang Haiqing felt a headache coming on but still approached, smiling as he spoke, “Do you have any instructions, Chairman Li? We have quite a few guests today, my apologies if we’ve neglected you.”

Li Yongrui waved off the apology and spoke straightforwardly, “Boss Liang, it’s not about being neglected. I just have one question for you: The person bidding on behalf of your company, I don’t believe I’ve seen them before… They’re not from Zhengyang, are they?”

Ever since starting his career in this field, and ascending step by step to the position of chairman, he had met many people in the jewelry industry. It wasn’t just Funiu Province; he was familiar with anyone of note throughout all of Huaxia.

Chairman Li had felt that the bidder for Hengrui looked unfamiliar, but he hadn’t given it much thought. He was a busy man with countless issues to attend to and didn’t have the time to dwell on such trivial concerns.

It wasn’t until someone accused Li Dafu and Henglong of colluding to deceive everyone that he began to take the issue seriously. After a brief analysis, he came to a conclusion.

Hearing this, Liang Haiqing knew their little secret had been exposed. He didn’t try to hide it anymore and just laughed awkwardly, “This is a friend of mine from the capital. He happened to be passing through Zhengyang and insisted on experiencing the auction when he heard our company was holding one.” Damn! Li Yongrui silently gestured at the other man, disgusted. So Henglong had given up on the auction and casually passed on their bidding rights as a favor!

Chairman Li was displeased, “Boss Liang, I am the one who sent out the invitations. Your friend was uninvited; don’t you think this is a bit disrespectful to me?”

“You’re overstating it, Chairman Li,” replied Boss Liang with a smile. He had been busy greeting guests all around and did not come to have tea, partly because he had to exchange pleasantries with some old acquaintances he hadn’t seen for a while and also because he was concerned that if he sat down, Chairman Li might ask him at any moment who the Henglong bidder was.

He didn’t want any extra trouble, not in the slightest. But now that Li Yongrui had spoken openly, he could only argue his case, “My friend used Henglong’s bidding number, which means we gave up. No matter how you look at it, our company provided the venue. A little flexibility here shouldn’t be seen as too excessive, right?”

Li Yongrui shook his head slowly and then spoke up loudly, “I was wondering why Henglong, having already acquired three pieces of jade, would no longer need to challenge others by this point. It seemed that they should be somewhat more relaxed but now I see what’s really going on.”

He stated this very maturely, not insisting on continuing the investigation. However, he had succeeded in provoking the discontent of others.

Liang Haiqing cursed under his breath, “Old fox,” knowing trouble was brewing.

Sure enough, before he could speak, the boss of Mingrui took the lead, “Boss Liang, Henglong’s actions are quite unsavory. Our Zhengyang… our Funiu people’s jade trade—you’re letting people from the capital get involved. Isn’t this betraying your own side?”

In the business world, it’s all about cliques, and “betraying your own side” is a serious accusation. Even the government often employs local protectionism policies, not to mention the local populace.

That’s why Feng Jun would often lament, “A man is worthless away from his home, but goods are precious far from their source,” referring to this sort of xenophobic mentality.

Specifically, in the jade industry, it’s even more pronounced. You see, Funiu doesn’t produce jade at all. All of the jade comes from other provinces or even other countries, which is quite difficult. Prices for jade in the province have also been consistently high.

In such a context, having a jade trade fair featuring nothing but fine pieces is extremely rare. There was already talk that this fair could allow Funiu to look down upon all its neighboring provinces, and that a few more fairs like this could even change the landscape of the jade industry.

And now Henglong had quietly brought in people from the capital, wanting to let Funiu’s high-quality jade flow out—this was absolutely unbearable.

As soon as Mingrui stated its stance, others chimed in, “Boss Liang, Henglong may eat meat, but you must leave some soup for the rest of us, right? The decent jade we have in Funiu is already pitifully scarce. With what you’re doing, how can our brothers hold their heads high when mingling with peers outside?”

The speaker was a jeweler from a city below, with close ties to Li Dafu. Since Li Dafu had also been bidding earlier, he had kept quiet, but seeing Li Yongrui distancing himself, he jumped right in.

Seeing this, others followed suit, and Liang Haiqing truly incurred everyone’s wrath.

Caught off guard by the collective assault, Liang Haiqing was momentarily stunned but then jumped up high, “Everyone, do you really see me, Old Liang, as someone who betrays his own side?”

The scene went silent, with no one answering his question. Boss Liang was usually a decent man, but with the situation unclear, nobody dared to step forward and take the massive risk of staunchly defending him.

After a while, someone spoke up, “We’re all reputable people here. Let’s first listen to what Boss Liang has to say before jumping to conclusions.”

At this point, Liang Haiqing had no regard for anything else and pointed directly at Feng Jun, “This is Boss Feng Feng Jun. You must have heard that all the jade for this time’s event comes from him. He has a large quantity of high- quality jade. If he wishes, it’s no problem to have a trade fair of this scale once a month.”

“Yeah, right,” sneered the boss of Mingrui, the first to express disbelief, “Real or not, I can’t even imagine having it once a year, let alone once a month.” “That’s because you lack imagination!” snapped Liang Haiqing without mercy and then glanced at Feng Jun, “Boss Feng, it’s your turn to say something… Eh?”

Feng Jun, with a grim face, spoke up, “Boss Liang, do you think I need more trouble? When did I ever say I wanted to do this once a month?”

He couldn’t actually follow up on that, as the old saying goes, “Don’t flash your wealth.”

Liang Haiqing then realized he had made another mistake, so preoccupied with clearing his name that he accidentally put Feng Jun in a tight spot. He chuckled awkwardly, “Alright, my bad for talking too much. But the news about Wang Weimin, the young master of Jubaozhai being on the run, is not false, right?” —Boss Feng, even if I don’t say it, others have brains too. Do you think you can really hide it?

Upon hearing the name Wang Weimin, Feng Jun’s head heated up, and he forwent subtlety, raising a finger, “I’m now collecting information on Wang Weimin. Whoever can provide valuable information, I’ll sell them a piece of jade at half price… worth at least a million.”

Which circle did Wang Weimin mix in? The jewelry circle! Feng believed that releasing the information in this circle would be most effective.

Those present were wealthy, and ordinary rewards wouldn’t entice them, especially since Jubaozhai was also a powerhouse in the circle. If the informant leaked the news, it wouldn’t be easy for them to face others.

But… with a jade piece worth at least a million, sold at half price, that would save several hundred thousand at least. Money does indeed move people.

Some had already started looking around shiftily.

“Alright, let’s leave the digression here,” Liang Haiqing, seizing the moment, quickly added, “Let’s continue with the auction. Those who trust me don’t need to worry; there’s always a next time.”

He shouldn’t have said that because it made the subsequent auction even more intense.

(Third update, please vote for monthly tickets and recommendations.)

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