102: Harboring ulterior motives and secretly plotting

According to the conference procedure.

The sealed bids must be officially submitted before 20:00.

It is now 18:10.

Just looking through the 500 sealed bids.

Would take at least two hours.

Plus needing to determine the price and write the bidding documents.

No matter how she calculated it.

There was simply not enough time!

Lilac had spent the entire day compiling bids for all the rough stones.

Following Uncle Ming's advice, she had submitted a bid for each one.

However.

She felt very uncertain.

Ding Qiufeng had the Divine Eye Master.

His ability to judge rough stones far surpassed Uncle Ming's.

The bids they submitted would definitely be much more accurate.

Ultimately.

The vast majority of the good material.

Would be secured by Ding Qiufeng.

This competition.

Ding Qiufeng was guaranteed to win!

Lilac's only hope now was Chen Yang.

Unfortunately.

Chen Yang still hadn't returned.

She was secretly annoyed.

"This guy, failing me at the critical moment!"

"Where exactly did he go?"

Nevertheless.

She still remembered.

Chen Yang had once said.

He intended to resubmit the bids during the last hour.

Lilac could only wait patiently.

Uncle Ming looked at Lilac's expression.

She seemed very worried.

He couldn't help but probe:

"Young Miss, do you not have confidence in our bidding?"

Lilac retorted impatiently:

"They have the Divine Eye Master, how could we possibly win?"

Uncle Ming felt secretly pleased.

But on the surface, he looked remorseful.

"Young Miss, it's all my fault..."

Lilac waved her hand.

"Uncle Ming, please don't take it personally. I'm just too anxious; I didn't mean to blame you."

"If we're simply not as skilled, what can we do?"

Uncle Ming paused, then asked again:

"So you are currently... waiting for Chen Yang?"

Lilac nodded.

"Yes, he has better luck. I wanted to borrow his good fortune to increase our chances of winning, but it seems..."

Uncle Ming was dumbfounded.

"Young Miss, although this business relies on a certain amount of luck, relying entirely on him, isn't that a bit...?"

Lilac sighed deeply.

"Do you think I want to?"

"The key is, besides luck, what else can I rely on now?"

Uncle Ming immediately fell silent.

That's true!

Was there any chance for Lilac to turn the tables?

Haha!

Of course there was no hope!

On the surface, he looked unconcerned.

But inwardly, he was overjoyed.

This time, as long as he helped Young Master Ding win the competition.

He would gain tremendous benefits.

Time passed minute by minute.

Just as Lilac was about to despair.

Chen Yang arrived right on time.

He stepped into the rough stone gambling hall precisely at 19:00.

Lilac had been anxiously waiting.

She rushed over quickly.

Complaining:

"Chen Yang, where did you run off to?"

"I was worried sick!"

"There's only one hour left, how are you going to look through all 500 sealed bids?"

Chen Yang smiled faintly.

"I was delayed by a small matter."

"Fortunately, I managed to rush back."

"Next, you and Uncle Ming should head back."

"You've worked hard all day. I'll just wander around by myself."

Lilac panicked.

"You... aren't going to help me... look?"

In that instant.

She recalled Chen Yang's earlier warning.

She stopped herself in time, not saying too much.

Chen Yang winked.

"I don't know how to gamble on rough stones, how can I help you?"

He pointed to the hundreds of rough stones on site.

"I'll just take a look around and try my luck. If I feel like one stone is good, I'll buy it for you. I can't let you lose too badly, right?"

Lilac was completely speechless.

Fuming, she took Uncle Ming and left the rough stone gambling hall.

Uncle Ming felt assured.

The sealed bids were the main event.

If Lilac lost on the sealed bids.

She would likely lose 80% of the competition.

Moreover.

Young Master Ding had prepared ample funds.

Lilac would have even less chance during the open bidding.

Uncle Ming found an opportunity.

He stepped away from Lilac and secretly sent a message to Ding Qiufeng.

"Lilac has no moves left. She is guaranteed to lose the sealed bids."

All of Lilac's sealed bids were based on Uncle Ming's advice.

How could she possibly win?

Ding Qiufeng received the message.

He was ecstatic.

He replied with a message.

"Keep up the good work. Apply some pressure during tomorrow's open bidding. I guarantee that you and your son will achieve great success!"

Uncle Ming was delighted.

He returned to Lilac's side.

And immediately put on a heavy, somber look.

His face was etched with worry.

Inside the rough stone gambling hall.

Chen Yang quietly activated his Golden Eyes.

Starting from sealed bid No. 1.

He breezed through them, appearing to stroll leisurely, yet also seeming to be counting.

Until sealed bid No. 500.

He had reviewed them all.

The entire process took less than ten minutes.

In that short time.

He memorized all 50 of the best rough stones among them.

He returned to the 50 rough stones.

Using his Golden Eyes, he checked everyone's bids inside the bidding boxes.

Any bids that were too high and offered little profit were immediately eliminated.

That left 20 rough stones.

The jadeite inside them was of excellent quality and high value.

They almost entirely encompassed the top ten highest-grade jadeite pieces from the sealed bids.

Furthermore, because the external appearance was ordinary.

None of the bids submitted were very high.

Chen Yang quickly filled out the bidding documents.

On every single bid.

He increased the price by anywhere from 1 yuan to 10,000 yuan.

This was to prevent suspicion that the reserve price had been leaked, which would invalidate the bids.

To prevent any accidents.

Chen Yang timed it perfectly.

At the very last moment before the deadline.

He submitted all the bids.

With a relaxed expression, he returned to the hotel.

Lilac had been waiting anxiously for a long time.

She eagerly rushed into Chen Yang's room.

She leaned close to Chen Yang's ear and whispered her question.

"How was it? Did you get everything sorted?"

His ear was tickled.

Chen Yang felt a little itchy.

He wanted to move closer, yet was afraid of touching something he shouldn't.

After all, her "weaponry" was quite formidable.

"You didn't reveal anything, did you?"

Lilac shook her head like a rattle-drum.

"No, I didn't tell anyone."

Chen Yang asked.

"What was Uncle Ming's reaction?"

Lilac thought for a moment.

"He seemed very worried and ashamed."

Chen Yang nodded.

"You should continue acting naturally, pretend that I didn't do anything and that you are very disappointed."

Lilac pressed him urgently.

"Did you actually submit the bids or not?"

Chen Yang smiled.

"I submitted 20."

Lilac was immediately disappointed.

"20?"

"Out of 500 sealed bids, you only submitted 20?"

Chen Yang gave a wry smile.

"Don't be discouraged!"

"Although there are only 20, they definitely won't disappoint you!"

Lilac was very skeptical.

"Really?"

Chen Yang spread his hands.

"Whether it's real or fake, the bidding is closed now, you can only pray that it's real!"

Lilac glared at him fiercely.

"If it's fake, just wait until I... until I... bite you!"

Chen Yang chuckled.

"Really bite? How will you bite me?"

Lilac's face instantly flushed red to her ears.

She stomped her foot and ran away.

Chen Yang shouted after her.

"I worked hard all day, aren't you going to feed me?"

An hour later.

Chen Yang, Liu Sisi, Lilac, Xiaoyue, and the others finished dinner.

Liu Sisi suggested going out for a walk.

Chen Yang immediately expressed his support.

Lilac didn't want to go.

But Chen Yang forcibly dragged her out.

He didn't know anything about the underground rough stone gambling market.

Without Lilac leading the way.

How could he find a huge bargain?

As soon as they left the door, Chen Yang steered the conversation in that direction.

"Xiang Xiang, the main battle is tomorrow. Should we warm up tonight?"

Lilac looked confused.

"How do we warm up?"

Chen Yang pretended to be confused too.

"Let's find a place, buy a few stones, and try cutting them on the spot?"

Lilac suddenly understood.

"You want to gamble on rough stones!"

"Fine, I'll take you to the Jade Street for a look."

Chen Yang was thrilled.

He urged them to move quickly.

The distance was short, and the group arrived after a leisurely walk.

The architecture here was antique and charming.

People were milling about, and it was exceptionally lively.

Most of the shops sold jade articles and jadeite.

There were also a few.

That displayed rough stones of various sizes.

There were semi-gambling rough stones with windows cut into them.

And also fully gambling rough stones without windows.

Chen Yang watched with great interest, but he did not make a move.

He was an eccentric billionaire, after all.

Unless it was top-grade jadeite, he truly wasn't interested.

"Bang!"

Suddenly, a crisp sound entered his ears.

Immediately following that.

"Ah!"

A familiar woman's cry of surprise came from the shop next door.

Chen Yang felt puzzled.

"That voice... why does it sound familiar?"

"Who is it?"

Liu Sisi looked anxious and ran into the shop.

Chen Yang's heart skipped a beat.

He quickly followed her and rushed inside.