Returning to the mountain village, starting with mushroom picking to get rich

After the banquet, Bianchi sent a driver to take Yang Lin back to the hotel.

"Boss, how's it going?"

Su Rong and the others gathered around, asking with concern.

"It's nothing. Their baron is a passionate martial arts enthusiast. After seeing me single-handedly defeat a group of thieves in Rome, he wanted to befriend me and start a business partnership."

"Once the Baron is ready, our mushrooms can flow into Europe from his side," Yang Lin said casually.

"That's a big deal already?... No wonder he's a boss!"

As everyone marveled, their gazes toward Yang Lin grew increasingly admiring.

……

The Alba International Matsutake Mushroom Exhibition proceeded as scheduled the following day.

Compared to yesterday's opening day, the number of visitors today is clearly even greater, and the atmosphere at the venue is even more enthusiastic.

Moreover, without any deliberate targeting from the organizers or covert suppression from competitors, Xianglong Company's exhibition booth was easily accessible and became the center of the region.

It received a lot of exposure and won many positive reviews and praise from tourists.

Of course, the most lively place in the event venue was the auction hall of the exhibition.

Today is auction day, and many visitors to the venue are drawn by the various rare and precious items up for auction.

Most of them probably don't have the capital to participate in the bidding.

But that didn't stop them from coming to see the excitement and feast their eyes.

……

"Note that the exhibit to be auctioned is a cluster of truffles weighing a total of 892.31 grams, from the southern foothills of the Alps. As you can see, these seven rare truffles are very cleverly interlocked together..."

In the auction hall, a graceful, blonde, blue-eyed female auctioneer was eloquently introducing the auction items.

On the huge screen behind them, images and information about the auction items were being continuously played.

The auctioneer's every move, every smile, seemed to possess a captivating charm that allowed him to control the rhythm.

As soon as the starting price for each item was announced, many people followed suit, raising their paddles to bid.

Yang Lin closed his eyes to rest in the private room, while Su Rong and the others watched the auction intently.

Although they already knew that their company's bid was being treated as the grand finale and auctioned off later.

But they didn't want to miss any of the exciting details.

Even if what's being introduced now isn't the company's auction item, they find it fascinating to watch a group of wealthy foreigners arguing over a few mushrooms.

Before anyone knew it, several items had already been sold at the auction.

All of them are top-quality matsutake mushrooms, and each one looks excellent.

The cheaper ones cost a few hundred or a few thousand euros per cluster, while the more expensive ones cost tens of thousands of euros per cluster.

……

Backstage, as each item was sold, the auction gradually reached its most talked-about climax of the year.

The battle for supremacy between the kings of fungi from the East and West.

This was a publicity stunt orchestrated by the organizers before the event even started, after they had bribed the media.

In order to capitalize on the hype surrounding the competition and to meet the expectations of the guests.

Both items will be auctioned at the same time, and their origin will not be disclosed.

At that time, the signs held by the guests will be in two colors.

Holding up a red sign means bidding for item A, and holding up a yellow sign means bidding for item B.

This was a revolutionary auction.

"We're about to introduce another item from Mr. Morgan; hasn't he arrived yet?"

With the grand finale just around the corner, Bianchi couldn't help but ask his attendants a question.

The reason is simple: of the two items participating in the King of Mushrooms auction, one was provided by Yang Lin and the other by Morgan.

"No, not at all." Upon hearing the Baron's question, the attendant reported in a practiced tone:

"Mr. Morgan, Mr. Henry, and Mr. Kane... apparently had an accident this morning and have gone to the hospital for treatment, so they are unable to attend the event in person."

Upon hearing this, Bianchi's heart skipped a beat: "What a coincidence?"

The names mentioned by the attendants were all businessmen who had secretly suppressed Yang Lin during yesterday's opening ceremony.

To make matters worse, he had just mentioned these acquaintances yesterday evening.

"Tell me, what kind of accidents happened to them?"

"I'm sorry, Your Excellency, we don't have any further details at the moment," the attendant said.

"That's alright, I think I need to find out for myself."

Soon, Bianchi dialed Morgan's number.

"Thank God, my friend, you can still get through to me on the phone..."

After making contact by phone, Bianchi quickly arrived at the hospital where Morgan and the others were receiving treatment.

"I am truly touched by your visit. You are the first person to come and see me." Morgan said, looking very excited from her hospital bed.

Today is the most important day of the exhibition, but Baron Bianchi is not here to oversee the event.

Instead, they put aside their busy schedules and made a special trip to visit him; how could anyone not be moved?

"Don't get agitated, my friend. Can you tell me what's going on?" Bianchi asked.

"I don't know," Morgan replied dejectedly.

Everything was fine until yesterday.

Unfortunately, just as I was getting ready to participate in the event today, I suddenly experienced some unusual symptoms.

I felt dizzy, my vision blurred, and my ears were ringing; I could barely stand steadily.

After a hospital check-up, the symptoms disappeared, and no matter what they did, they couldn't find the cause of the problem.

"So how are you feeling now?"

"I'm alright, just feeling a bit weak, probably because I haven't eaten and I've been through a lot," Morgan said.

Bianchi then visited and offered his condolences to several other people.

Their situation is similar to Morgan's, only much better overall.

The symptoms I'm experiencing are milder now, and I don't feel much weakness. I can be discharged at any time.

I didn't choose to be discharged because I was worried about the symptoms recurring.

So he decided to stay at the hospital with Morgan and learn more about the situation from him.

"Could it be you... Mr. Yang?"

Upon hearing the strange symptoms described by everyone, Bianchi couldn't help but think of Yang Lin.

I've heard that there's a kind of internal energy hidden within the kung fu of the Dragon Kingdom.

This energy is not visible on the outside; after it hits a person, it may not seem like anything is wrong.

However, beneath the seemingly intact exterior, the Qi has already penetrated the human body.

It will suddenly occur at some point in the future.

Connecting this to yesterday's banquet, where Yang Lin's single glance made him feel as if he were facing death, further solidified An Qi's judgment of Qi.

"If I hadn't apologized beforehand and made friends with Mr. Yang, would there be another baron in the hospital today?"

At this moment, Bianchi was also filled with lingering fear.

"I'm sorry everyone, the exhibition is about to enter its final stage, and I think I should go back."

After exchanging brief pleasantries and offering simple words of comfort, Bianchi hurriedly left the hospital under the pretext of being busy and quietly went to find Yang Lin.