Chapter 531 — Chop It Down Some More

"Heh heh, I'm selling it to you at half price — isn't that cheap enough?" Kang Zhaolong said with a smile. "I paid over a hundred million for it, you know!"

"Didn't you buy that snow lotus or whatever? This is just a freebie thrown in!" Feng Xiaoxiao snorted. "Ten million. If you'll take it, I'll have him buy it. If not, forget it — I'm just a little girl, so what if I go back on my word?"

Feng Xiaoxiao's words were bordering on sheer shamelessness, but what she said afterward made her point plain: she was a girl, and a young one at that. Even if she played the rogue, there was nothing Kang Zhaolong could do about it.

Hearing this, Kang Zhaolong sucked in a sharp breath. He had underestimated Feng Xiaoxiao after all. Earlier he had been certain that Fatty Lai would never go back on his word in front of everyone, for the sake of face — but it had never once occurred to him that Feng Xiaoxiao would be the one to renege.

And if Feng Xiaoxiao reneged, no one could really say a thing about it. If she said she no longer liked it, that she didn't want it, then naturally Fatty Lai wouldn't have to buy it either. Everything had been stirred up by Feng Xiaoxiao in the first place; if she didn't want it, why should Fatty Lai buy it? So there was no question of losing face at all.

Kang Zhaolong frowned. This really was a bit tricky. Things had gone beyond his expectations — on Feng Xiaoxiao's side, it seemed, the money would not be handed over so easily.

"Ten million? That's a bit too little, isn't it? Not even enough to cover the odd change!" Of course Kang Zhaolong could not keep insisting on fifty million; if he did, there would be no deal at all — they would simply walk away.

But the ten million Feng Xiaoxiao had named was a little hard for him to swallow too. You want to save face and spend less money at the same time — where in the world does such a good thing exist?

"All right, twenty million, and that's the most!" Fatty Lai said mildly. "Don't think you're so clever. I'll remember this. From now on, we'll see."

"Deal!" Hearing Fatty Lai's tone, Kang Zhaolong knew he could not hold out any longer — the other side had already gone back on their word. Still, something was better than nothing; selling for twenty million seemed quite good to him, so what more could he ask for?

After Kang Zhaolong left, Fatty Lai was utterly and completely in awe of Feng Xiaoxiao. She was far too good at setting people up! Kang Zhaolong must have piled up eight lifetimes of bad luck to run into her.

"I never would have guessed — you've got quite a few tricks up your sleeve!" Wei Zhao could not help but admire Feng Xiaoxiao; in the blink of an eye she had chopped off another thirty million.

"Of course! Heh heh, now you know what happens when you provoke me, don't you?" Feng Xiaoxiao looked at Wei Zhao smugly. "Let's see if you dare to mess with me again!"

"Heh..." Wei Zhao shrugged and gave no answer.

Kang Zhaolong returned to his seat with the twenty-million check. Though he had not gotten the fifty million he had expected, even so, Divine Doctor Kang and Kang Guifeng were delighted. If it had been left to them to handle, whether they could even win the thousand-year snow lotus was a question — let alone selling a worthless box for twenty million.

Although this storm over the thousand-year snow lotus had drawn a great deal of attention, it came quickly and went quickly. Soon the auction was nearing its end. In the meantime, the Kang family's Golden Wound Medicine, deluxe edition — a fixture at every year's auction — was smoothly snapped up as well, with no surprises. And before the auction ended, the moment the Kang family had been most excited about arrived.

The auctioneer cleared his throat and announced loudly to those present: "Today, in addition to the items in the catalogue, we have added one mysterious item as the grand finale of today's auction!"

"Whoa—" The attention of everyone in the hall was instantly drawn to the auctioneer. Last-minute additions to an auction were not all that rare; there had been such cases before. But an item that appeared last, and was billed as the finale, was something seldom seen.

So everyone widened their eyes, eager to see just what this so-called finale the auctioneer spoke of might be.

"The final mysterious item is a brand-new technological product brought to you by Divine Doctor Kang's Pharmaceutical Company — Beauty-Nourishing Skin-Restoring Golden Wound Medicine!" The auctioneer announced the name of the item and continued: "There are only two of these mysterious items! And they are presale goods — delivery will be two months from now!"

Beauty-Nourishing Skin-Restoring Golden Wound Medicine? What on earth was that? Was it a kind of golden wound medicine too? Most astonishing of all, there were only two of them, and they were presale — no stock on hand! Just what sort of high-end medicine was this?

The auctioneer was quite pleased with the atmosphere in the room. Seeing everyone discussing and speculating, he knew this item had the potential to fetch a sky-high price. So he was in no hurry to continue his introduction; he waited until the discussion had more or less died down before speaking: "This Beauty-Nourishing Skin-Restoring Golden Wound Medicine, as the name suggests..."

After the auctioneer had gone through the effects of the Beauty-Nourishing Skin-Restoring Golden Wound Medicine, everyone in the hall was in an uproar! Medicines that repaired skin scars were not unheard of on the market, but their efficacy was nothing like the miraculous effects the auctioneer described.

Not only would it leave no scar at all, it could even improve the skin. This sounded like a con — but those who had used Divine Doctor Kang's Golden Wound Medicine knew it was no con.

The men who heard this news took it relatively calmly, but the women around them went a little crazy. Hearing that such a miraculous thing existed, how could they contain themselves?

The wife of a wealthy merchant attending the auction spoke up to her husband: "I still have the scar from my C-section — it's so ugly! You must buy me a bottle!"

The merchant was a henpecked husband. Hearing his wife speak, he nodded again and again. Buy it — how could he not? Besides, once it was cured, it would be easier on his own eyes too, wouldn't it?

So the merchant began rubbing his hands in eager anticipation. The wealth in his hands was no small sum, so he was determined to get it.

Several other wealthy merchants found themselves in the same predicament, and the wives and young ladies of the great families were likewise itching to try, ready to show their prowess in a moment.

As for the men, their interest was not so great. How many men cared about scars on their bodies? They weren't going off to be models.

"The starting bid for the Beauty-Nourishing Skin-Restoring Golden Wound Medicine is one million yuan, with each bid no less than five hundred thousand!" The auctioneer was very pleased with the effect in the room. He had no idea that the same medicine would be auctioned again tomorrow; he thought today's was the only batch, and was preparing to fetch a top-tier price.

"One and a half million!" Someone began bidding.

"Two million!" The bidder shot the first one a contemptuous look. Is that how you raise a bid? For something this good, you raise it by only five hundred thousand?

"Three million!" Someone immediately topped the second bidder.

In no time, the price soared to five million.

Among those present, only three groups had no intention of joining the bidding.