30: Chapter 30 Ten Thousand Mu of Forest Land

After the raw jewelry materials were auctioned off, it was time for the finished jewelry. The bracelet Cao Xiao was auctioning was scheduled just before the final finale piece. Cao Xiao had little interest in these finished pieces; if he truly needed jewelry, he could just get some raw materials and make it himself for less than half the cost. There was no need to waste money competing with others in an auction, where prices tended to be somewhat inflated.

After waiting for a long time and feeling somewhat drowsy, it was finally time for the bracelet to be auctioned. Although Cao Xiao had just come into a large sum of money, no one would complain about having more. Naturally, he hoped this blue amber bracelet would fetch a high price, so he sharpened his focus on the scene.

"This next item is a blue amber bracelet provided by Jicui Pavilion, named aurora. The material of this bracelet is not the 'sky blue' variety, which is considered the best among blue amber, but please take note of its shifting colors and internal texture. This is a work of genius creativity, and combined with the perfectly matched tones, that is why it was named aurora. As everyone knows, blue amber is scarce, and gathering enough raw material for such a bracelet is incredibly difficult. Without further ado, the starting price for the aurora blue amber bracelet is five million, with minimum bid increments of one hundred thousand. Please place your bids." The auctioneer introduced the bracelet with great effort as it displayed dazzling colors under the lights.

"Number 3 bids 5.1 million, Number 12 bids 5.2 million, Number 31 bids..." After the auctioneer's introduction, no one bid immediately. Many people were whispering and discussing among themselves. After a short while, people began to bid, though they were very cautious, increasing the price in increments of just one hundred thousand.

"Number 12, 7.3 million."

"...8.9 million."

"...10 million."

As the auctioneer continued to call out the bids, the price rose by one hundred thousand at a time until it reached 10 million. However, there were still over a dozen people participating in the bidding. Given the situation, it was expected to break 15 million.

"The gentleman at Number 7 bids 14 million."

Just as the price slowly reached 13.4 million, Bidder Number 7 seemed to grow impatient and suddenly raised the price to 14 million. Sure enough, as soon as this price was announced, only four bidders remained.

By the time the price reached 16 million, everyone's patience had worn thin. The increments were no longer one hundred thousand, but rose by three to five hundred thousand at a time. When the price broke 18 million, only Bidder Number 15 and Bidder Number 22 were left. Bidder Number 22 suddenly raised the price to 19 million and then set his paddle aside, appearing to have made his final bid.

Number 15 seemed to see a glimmer of hope for victory and unhesitatingly added another one hundred thousand, then prepared to wait for the auctioneer to announce the result. However, what he didn't expect was that Number 22, who had seemed ready to give up, quietly raised his paddle again. After the auctioneer called out a price of "19.2 million," Number 15 turned around in surprise to look at Number 22. He froze for two seconds with a look of utter disbelief; this person was playing with him! To act like they were giving up and then suddenly bid again was a total waste of his emotions. Then, he grew annoyed, raised his paddle, and added five hundred thousand.

Number 22 looked at Number 15 with some confusion, not knowing why Number 15 had suddenly jumped the price by five hundred thousand. When he saw Number 15 looking at him with irritation, he thought back and realized what had happened. He gave a sheepish smile and put his paddle down. However, Number 15 was still watching him, wanting to see if he would raise it again. He could only turn his head awkwardly to chat with a friend nearby. It wasn't until the auctioneer called the price for the second time that Number 15 turned back.

"The gentleman at Number 15 bids 19.7 million, for the... alright, this gentleman bids 19.8 million." But just as the auctioneer was about to declare the sale, another hitch occurred.

Number 15 was instantly infuriated. He turned back to glare at Number 22, only to find that Number 22 hadn't raised his paddle at all and was still chatting with his friend. Someone else was coming out to cause trouble at this point! His gaze swept around, trying to see who was being so obnoxious, but he surprisingly couldn't figure out who had just raised their paddle.

"The gentleman at Number 33 bids 19.8 million. Are there any higher bids? 19.8 million once, 19 million twice, 19... alright, the gentleman at Number 15 bids 20 million." Number 15 didn't see who it was, but he wanted to spite that person. At this point, it wasn't about the money anymore. Having been toyed with twice, he would pay more just to get his revenge.

"The gentleman at Number 33 bids 20.1 million." Having finally waited for that person to bid, Number 15 finally spotted this Number 33 who had appeared out of nowhere. However, his temper instantly vanished because the gentleman at Number 33 was an elderly man over seventy years old. A man of that age wouldn't be trying to spite him; it could only mean the old gentleman truly liked the bracelet. But the frustration bottled up in his chest was uncomfortable. Since he couldn't take it out on an old man, he would spend money to vent. Once his wallet felt the sting, he would be able to calm down.

"The gentleman at Number 15 bids 21 million."

"Number 33 bids 21.1 million."

"The gentleman at Number 15 bids 22 million."

"Number 33 bids 22.1 million."

"My friend, I am not intentionally trying to compete with you. I truly love this bracelet because I once had a very similar blue amber bracelet that I gave to my wife, but that bracelet disappeared along with her back then. Our bidding has already exceeded the actual value, and I have no more money. 22.1 million is my final bid. I implore you, sir, to let me have it." Before Number 15 could bid, the old man at Number 33 stood up and spoke sincerely to him.

"I'm sorry, old gentleman. I won't bid anymore. Please, take the bracelet." Number 15 felt somewhat ashamed. While he was spending money to vent his anger, he was also making things difficult for this old gentleman. He knew what the old man meant by his wife and the bracelet disappearing together; that war had destroyed too many beautiful things that should have remained. Earlier, when everyone had discovered that Japanese person, this old gentleman had struck that man's back hard with his cane. He still vividly remembered the expression of extreme hatred on the old man's face at that time.

The auctioneer announced the sale, and Cao Xiao's bracelet finally sold for 22.1 million. After paying the 5% commission to the auction house, Cao Xiao would receive 21 million. After deducting the 7.5 million for the 'wudang misty clouds painting' and the 4.15 million for the raw jewelry materials, he would still pocket 9.35 million. Once the auction house transferred the funds, Cao Xiao would have nearly 70 million in cash in his card.

The competition for the following three finale jewelry pieces was very intense, with none of them selling for less than 50 million. Cao Xiao had originally planned to leave after the jewelry session ended, but Liu Guitang stopped him and asked him to wait until the final real estate auction was over so they could leave together.

Cao Xiao had already bought a villa and didn't need to buy another. Even if he wanted to make a real estate investment, he would wait until his funds were more abundant. Otherwise, his 70 million would be completely insufficient. To make money from real estate investment, the scale couldn't be small; otherwise, even if the housing prices doubled, he wouldn't earn much. If he were to invest, he would choose the Biyuntian area. Currently, Shengfeng was auctioning off scattered properties, so he planned to just watch.

There weren't many properties in this Shengfeng auction, and they were all high-end luxury residences, each starting at over five million. Cao Xiao was boredly playing with his phone, occasionally paying attention. Suddenly, a beautiful landscape of mountains, water, and orchards appeared on the large screen behind the auction stage. Cao Xiao thought the auction had ended and a travel advertisement was playing. It wasn't until he heard the auctioneer's introduction that he understood what was happening. Looking at the scenery on the screen, this woodland was actually quite good, covering an area of 10,000 mu. It was located in the Baiyun Mountain range, fifty kilometers away from Huanghe City—or rather, it was on the outskirts of the Baiyun Mountain range. This was woodland contracted by a private owner. Originally, since the implementation of the 'returning farmland to forest' policy, such state-owned wild woodland could not be contracted by individuals. However, this owner had great influence and obtained a contract permit through his brother-in-law, who was an official. He got the woodland at an extremely low price and then invested a large sum of money to transform it into a sightseeing orchard. Unexpectedly, after two years of transforming most of it, his brother-in-law was taken down for corruption, and the owner was also sent to prison.

The woodland was reclaimed, and because it had been transformed into an orchard, its land use type was no longer considered wild woodland. The authorities didn't want to invest another large sum of money to manage it, so they prepared to transfer it. Unexpectedly, it had been listed for nearly two months without any interest. The reason was simple: the lease fee was too expensive, and after taking it over, one would have to invest heavily in the orchard and facility construction. Furthermore, the use of the land was restricted to forestry or agriculture. This meant that through planting and breeding, the investment could not be recovered in the short term. Therefore, they brought it out this time and entrusted Shengfeng to auction it. What was being auctioned was only the contracting rights. Of course, even after winning the auction, an annual lease fee would have to be paid. The starting price for the auction of the contracting rights alone was 30 million. This was because the previous owner had already invested 50 million in transformation costs; half the area of the woodland had been turned into an orchard, and supporting facilities like irrigation were already in place. The fruit trees had also reached the fruiting stage and would enter high production next year. A road network had been built within the orchard, and the external road was a two-lane asphalt road connected to the national highway. There was also a three-story rural villa with a footprint of one mu and a usable area of 2,000 square meters. That woodland was essentially a private estate. If purchased, one would also need to pay a lease fee of 1,000 yuan per mu to the management agency every year, totaling 10 million. The lease price would be readjusted every five years, increasing by at least 10%. In agriculture, if management isn't good, the risk is high; a pest outbreak could result in zero harvest for the year and a loss of 10 million. Consequently, when the auctioneer opened the bidding, no one bid. Only after two people added two increments did it go silent for a long time. The first person to bid went completely silent after their initial call, and the atmosphere was about to turn cold. The auctioneer lingered for a while, but with no more bids, he prepared to start the closing steps.

"31 million once, 31 million twice... this gentleman adds 500,000. Any other bids? This orchard is a rare find; it's not easy to find such a large piece of land in the country. Once construction is complete, this will be a beautiful private estate. It's right next to the nationally famous Baiyun Mountain, with a mild climate and fresh air. You can turn it into your own private vacation manor..." Seeing that someone had finally bid, the auctioneer's eloquent tongue began to rattle off praises for the place again.

The bidder was, of course, Cao Xiao. He had made this decision after considering it for a while. The good scenery and the potential for a vacation manor weren't his reasons for buying it. What truly tempted him was that the woodland was large enough and its location was very secluded; except for the entrance, the other sides were surrounded by the virgin forests of Baiyun Mountain, and the terrain was somewhat rugged. It was very difficult to contract such a large piece of woodland in the country. He had too many secrets. If he had such a large, secluded piece of forest, he could entirely build a secret base underground. He wouldn't have to worry about being discovered when doing classified work in the future. At the same time, he wanted to turn it into an underground shelter; if he ever had nowhere else to go or his safety was threatened, he would have a place to take refuge. His tunneling abilities didn't need much explanation; relying on himself and the industrial mother machine, he could construct a sturdy and massive underground base. As long as the geology allowed, he could build the base to the deepest parts of the earth. Provided there was air and living supplies, no one could do anything to him hiding in the endless depths of the underground, except for geological disasters or the sci-fi concept of a Star Destroyer cannon. The contract period for this woodland was thirty years. Because the land use type had been changed to agricultural land, it couldn't be handled under the maximum seventy-year term for forest land and could only be calculated according to the thirty-year term for cultivated land. Thirty years was enough for Cao Xiao. With the powerful Intelligent Industrial Mother Machine, it would be embarrassing if he were still stuck on Earth in thirty years. Besides, even when the term expired, he would have the right of first refusal for the contract. Therefore, this place was perfect as an entrance to an underground base. Thinking of this, he was incredibly moved and quickly placed a bid before the sale was finalized.

The first bidder still didn't react; Cao Xiao even suspected that person was a shill brought in by Shengfeng. The second bidder sluggishly added one increment, and Cao Xiao immediately raised it again. After two rounds, that person gave up. Cao Xiao obtained the contracting rights for this woodland at a price of 34.5 million. Once he paid and finished the handover procedures, this woodland would belong to him for the next thirty years.

Cao Xiao waited for a while after the auction. Liu Guitang also spent over 20 million to buy a luxury mansion in the city center. At 5:30 PM, this Shengfeng Summer Auction concluded. Cao Xiao, Liu Guitang, and Old Chen went to the Shengfeng staff to handle the handover procedures. Not only did Cao Xiao have no income, but he also had to pay Shengfeng 21 million. Cao Xiao entrusted the handover procedures for the woodland to Liu Guitang to handle for him. He was going home tomorrow, and the matter of the Intelligent Industrial Mother Machine's authority upgrade needed to be implemented as soon as possible.