Mind reading saves the whole family; I'm firmly in the role of a charlatan.

Chapter 201 The Last Item

"How...how much?" After a deathly silence, someone in the crowd asked this question tremblingly.

I knew this thing might be cheap, but I never expected it to be this cheap!
"fifty thousand."

"One hundred thousand."

"..."

Those who reacted quickly had already started raising the price, not for the broken stone itself, but mainly for the so-called mysterious tycoon.

Du Anrao also held up a sign for the first time, and Ms. Qiu looked over with a slight surprise: "Ms. Du likes this stone?"

“I think this stone looks really nice. It would be great to take it back to my great-uncle’s house as a rockery.”

Ms. Qiu: "???"

This stone...is it pretty? Ms. Qiu glanced silently at the grayish, dirty stone on the platform, not quite understanding Du Anrao's aesthetic sense.

However, since Du Anrao liked it, she reluctantly praised it as well: "Upon closer inspection, the shape is indeed very unique. Miss Du has good taste."

Du Anrao probably felt that the reason was a bit perfunctory, so he smiled and didn't say anything more, focusing on the customers who were raising the price.

Just as Xi Jingyue had guessed, the appearance of this stone deterred many experts who were interested in gambling on stones. Most of the people who raised the bid earlier were hoping to find a bargain because the starting price was low, and also to take the opportunity to get to know the so-called mysterious tycoon.

But once the price broke through 500,000, fewer and fewer people started bidding.

When Du Anrao shouted out 800,000, the few people who had been bidding with her silently put down their bidding boards.

"Eight hundred thousand, is there a higher price? Customer number eighteen has bid eight hundred thousand, eight hundred thousand once, eight hundred thousand twice, eight hundred thousand..."

Just as everything was about to settle down, a familiar voice suddenly rang out from the crowd.

"one million."

Du Anrao raised an eyebrow and looked in the direction of the sound, only to meet Du Tianci's smug little eyes.

"One million. Customer number fourteen has offered one million. Is there a higher bid?"

"One million five thousand".

"1500000."

"One million five hundred thousand! Customer number fourteen has bid one million five hundred thousand!"

Du Tianci's re-bid, and his unconventional increase in price, made it immediately clear to the guests below that he was engaging in malicious bidding.

Jiang Changbin's expression darkened slightly, and he looked at Du Tianci as if he were looking at a rat in a sewer. He knew the rat was disgusting, but he couldn't do anything about it.

Du Anrao's expression remained unchanged as he raised the price again: "One million five hundred and fifty thousand."

"Two million."

"Two million. Customer number fourteen seems to have a particular fondness for this stone, offering two million. Is there a higher bid?"

Hearing the host's cheerful praise, Du Tianci smugly glanced around, waiting for Du Anrao to continue bidding. However, he noticed that Du Anrao had somehow acquired a thermos, calmly unscrewed the lid, and took a sip of hot water to warm his stomach, showing no intention of raising the price further. Du Tianci's expression stiffened slightly; the panicked one suddenly appeared on his face.

Anyone with eyes could see that he was deliberately making things difficult for Du Anrao and maliciously driving up the price of the auction item; he didn't really want the stone at all.

If Du Anrao were to give up bidding at this point, he would win the bid for the broken stone. Why would he spend so much money to buy a broken stone that was destined to yield no treasure? Wouldn't that be like shooting himself in the foot?
In an instant, countless possibilities flashed through Du Tianci's mind, and he even began to speculate about conspiracies, wondering if Du Anrao had seen through his little scheme in advance and was intentionally setting a trap for him.

"Two million once, two million twice, two million..."

Just as the host's gavel was about to fall, Du Anrao finally slowly raised his sign again: "Two million five thousand."

"Two million and fifty thousand. Customer number eighteen has offered two million and fifty thousand. Is there a higher price?"

By then, Du Tianci was already covered in sweat. When he turned around, he found Du Anrao still smiling at him, even waving the bidding board in his hand, signaling him to continue bidding.

This blatant provocation ignited Du Tianci's anger, yet he feared that Du Anrao was deliberately trying to provoke him, setting a trap for him to fall into.

The hand holding the sign was clenched tightly, as if weighed down by a thousand pounds, and he dared not raise it again.

"Little brother, I'm not suggesting we just give up. This woman has Second Grandfather's backing now, so she definitely has more than just two million in her hands. No matter how much you like that stone, you can't compete with her."

Just as Du Tianci was about to give up, the voice of the person next to him struck him like a heavy hammer, making him subconsciously want to raise the sign in his hand again.

"Enough." Du Tianci was about to raise his sign when he was startled by Du Weilu's rebuke and didn't raise it in the end.

In that brief moment of delay, the host on stage had already delivered the final blow: "Two million and fifty thousand three times, sold! Congratulations to customer number eighteen for winning lot number eighteen, a raw stone weighing eighteen jin."

The host was stunned after saying this: "It seems that this lot number 18 is destined to be with the guest number 18. Every number is so auspicious."

Du Anrao smiled as he held up the sign, seemingly quite pleased with himself for spending so much money to acquire the stone.

Only Jiang Changbin and Xi Jingyue knew that someone's heart was bleeding at that moment.

Mr. Xi clearly stated that this stone was unremarkable and would likely be acquired for under a million. Who would have thought it would end up costing two million and five hundred thousand—double the original price! It's all that damned bastard's fault! He thought I was some kind of pushover just because he wasn't showing my teeth! Just you wait, those who dared to swindle me will pay for it all!

It was clear that this person was really heartbroken this time. After uttering some harsh words in his mind for a long time, he glanced indifferently in the direction of Du Tianci's family of three, his eyes calm and his expression indifferent, as if he didn't care about them at all.

Only the two people who knew her true feelings knew how much she cared about the extra million or so that had been spent, and they had already made a mental note of the whole family's situation.

As Xi Jingyue listened to her ramblings, which revealed a stark contrast between her inner thoughts and outward appearance, he couldn't help but smile. This girl was truly as petty and vengeful as ever.

The three members of the Du family on the other side also looked very unpleasant.

"I don't care how much you two fool around usually, but if you let this interfere with important business today, no one can save you!"

The two brothers shuddered in fright and realized the seriousness of the situation. They quickly bowed their heads and apologized: "Dad, we're sorry. My brother and I won't do that again."

"Yes, yes, we won't mess around anymore."

During a brief pause in their conversation, an insider from the auction house suddenly went on stage and whispered a few words to the host.

The host paused slightly, then nodded, put on a polite smile again, and said loudly, "I apologize, ladies and gentlemen, it may take up a little more of your time. The rough stone we just mentioned was originally the last item to be auctioned. However, due to a slight mishap, we have added another item to the auction."

(End of this chapter)