Chapter 21: World One【21】 Part 3

Many were eyeing the High-tech Park plot. Besides Shang Siyu, Xue Fan, and the company from Kangxin Group, four other enterprises were also interested in the fifty-year land use rights.

Half an hour before the bid opening, the seven company representatives entered the venue on time.

Xue Fan, accompanied by his General Assistant, arrived at the very last moment. Seeing Jing Ke and Shang Siyu, Xue Fan couldn’t help but reveal a provocative expression.

He’d barely been able to hold back after being humiliated at the class reunion. He was desperate to jump out, tell Shang Siyu some so-called ‘truth,’ and watch the disbelief and panic on her face.

Not to mention, with less than half an hour until the bid opening, Xue Fan felt he was being extremely restrained by not laughing outright.

However, neither Jing Ke nor Shang Siyu paid him any mind. They didn’t even spare him a single extra glance. Instead, they leaned together, shoulder to shoulder, whispering things only the two of them could hear.

“The factory handover over there is complete?” Jing Ke asked softly, her lips almost brushing Shang Siyu’s ear.

Shang Siyu felt a faint tickle near her ear. “Mm, Sister Cui just sent a message. The contract is signed. Finance will send the first payment before the end of the business day.”

Jing Ke hummed softly. “My end is done too. The first batch of instruments has been purchased. They’ll be shipped over by special cargo plane. If all goes quickly, they could arrive within a week. We can begin assembly then and have the newly recruited senior personnel familiarize themselves with the equipment.”

Talking business, Jing Ke’s tone was as serious as ever. “Negotiations are still ongoing for the second and third batches. They’re all ready stock. Once prices are finalized, they can also be shipped domestically within a week.”

“Okay. I’ll have Sister Cui assign more people to clear out the site,” Shang Siyu couldn’t help but lift a hand to rub her ear. “I think someone is watching us.”

“Is that so?” Jing Ke followed her gaze towards the other company representatives.

Apart from Xue Fan, whose expression was a mix of dissatisfaction and mockery, the other five enterprises met Jing Ke’s eyes with friendly smiles.

Those who could represent their companies here were mostly high-level executives. They weren’t necessarily all in the prosthetic limb industry, but they’d more or less heard of New Life Technology, which held a unique patent.

Without major conflicts of interest exist, a company destined not to remain obscure was someone many enterprises wanted to befriend.

Even the company backed by Kangxin Group was the same. They wouldn’t burn bridges unless absolutely necessary.

“They are indeed watching us, but they’re all irrelevant people.” Jing Ke quickly reached a conclusion and leaned back towards Shang Siyu, continuing their whispered chat.

The helplessness in Shang Siyu’s eyes melted into amused helplessness as she continued to indulge Jing Ke’s behavior.

But in the eyes of most company reps, Jing Ke and Shang Siyu’s close interaction was perfectly fine. Two beautiful women being close was rather pleasing to the eye.

Only Xue Fan grew angrier the more he watched. Even imagining Shang Siyu about to lose the land she wanted couldn’t cheer him up anymore.

–

A couple of chats, a few sips from a mineral water bottle, and half an hour had passed.

The bid opening process was very formal, with notaries present and a full five judges for scoring and evaluation. The final score was calculated using the average after discarding the highest and lowest marks.

All seven bidders were industrial companies. Jing Ke and Shang Siyu couldn’t determine which one specifically represented Kangxin Group. But aside from Xue Fan, who knew the ‘inside story,’ the other five companies’ bids were around five thousand per square meter, give or take five hundred.

So when the bid of eight thousand per square meter from New Life Technology was read aloud, many faces showed shock.

Following closely was Xue Fan’s company’s bid: eight thousand and ten yuan per square meter of land use rights. The precise number aside, the price was just ten yuan more than New Life Technology. Something was clearly amiss at first glance.

“After overall evaluation, the final bid result is now announced. Congratulations to Wanshen Real Estate, winning this bid with a total score of 89.5.”

“This result will be publicly listed on the corresponding section of the City Government’s official website for three days. If any other participating companies have questions or objections regarding this result, they may raise them within three days for review. Once the public announcement period is over, no appeals will be accepted.”

The bidding official said, then walked towards Xue Fan with a smile, offering congratulations and the relevant documents.

Seeing himself win the bid by a narrow margin of 0.5 points, Xue Fan looked as if the word ‘smug’ was carved onto his forehead. His smile was utterly brazen. He deliberately chatted loudly with the official.

“I originally wanted to offer eight thousand per square meter too, but my lucky number is ten, so I settled on eight thousand and ten. I didn’t expect it would be that extra ten yuan that won me the land.”

As he spoke, Xue Fan watched Jing Ke and Shang Siyu’s expressions, eagerly anticipating seeing indignation and fury on their faces.

To Xue Fan, the bigger their reaction, the greater the shock and blow they’d suffered, and the happier he’d be.

But regrettably, not only did their faces fail to show the chagrin and resentment Xue Fan craved, but their lips also carried a genuinely heartfelt smile, as if they were extremely satisfied with this outcome.

Unwilling to accept what he saw, Xue Fan maliciously speculated about Jing Ke and Shang Siyu, firmly believing it was a front they were putting on.

They must be inwardly furious, just too prideful to show any sign of it!

“Shang Siyu, I didn’t expect that just a little over two hundred thousand more than your bid could secure this plot of land.” Finding indirect probing useless, Xue Fan couldn’t resist swaggering over to them.

Xue Fan smiled at them insincerely, trying to provoke them with words and make them lose their composure.

“Is that so? Congratulations.” Seeing Xue Fan, the smile on Shang Siyu’s lips mostly vanished. She replied flatly, “I didn’t expect President Xue to be so lucky.”

Shang Siyu’s calm tone made Xue Fan frown, but he restrained himself slightly and continued to flaunt his presence.

“Missing out by just that tiny bit, doesn’t it feel awful?”

“I know you’re not feeling great right now. But for old times’ sake as classmates, give me half your shares, and I’m willing to cooperate with you, provide the land for your production line. We can make money together.”

Xue Fan spoke casually, but in truth, he was the more nervous one.

From the moment Shang Siyu failed to show the reaction he expected, a vague unease had sprouted in Xue Fan’s heart. Something seemed to have slipped out of his control.

But New Life Technology’s bid was undeniably eight thousand. He had secured the winning bid. The results were already announced. What could possibly go wrong?

Even with the greatest ability, Shang Siyu couldn’t turn back time and change the price on the bid documents, could she?

“Thanks, but no thanks,” Shang Siyu’s reply remained calm.

Seeing Xue Fan blocking their path, Jing Ke, who had remained silent until now, stepped forward. She forcefully bumped Xue Fan, who was only a few centimeters taller than her, with her shoulder, knocking him stumbling backward several steps.

“Mr. Xue, I’ve already taught you the principle of not blocking the way once. Surely, I don’t need to teach you a second time?” Jing Ke said coldly, a trace of disgust in her eyes.

“You’ve already admitted fault and apologized to me for this before. Do you want to do it again?” Jing Ke twisted the knife, successfully dredging up the memory Xue Fan considered a humiliation.

“You…” Xue Fan was on the verge of losing it. “Don’t you want this plot of land? I’m giving you a chance to cooperate. Are you really going to refuse?”

“Sorry, I don’t need it,” Shang Siyu said, led forward by Jing Ke’s hand, leaving only that one sentence behind.

Xue Fan instinctively reached out, wanting to grab Shang Siyu’s hand and demand what she meant.

Luckily, his General Assistant reacted faster, stopping his boss before he could act. Lowering his voice, he warned, “President Xue, this is a public place. Many people are watching you.”

Xue Fan’s face cycled through shades of black, white, and red—a truly unpredictable and volatile display, as exciting as a traditional face-changing performance.

“What does Shang Siyu mean? Why is her reaction so indifferent? Isn’t this the land she was willing to pay a high price for?” Xue Fan asked, his voice trembling slightly.

Though Xue Fan was short-sighted and lacked knowledge, he had still been a company president for a few years. He could recognize a belated truth.

Shang Siyu’s calm reaction might just prove she didn’t absolutely need this specific plot of land. She had backup options. Everything he’d done was futile!

Hearing his boss’s thoughts, the General Assistant’s lips twitched. In truth, his thoughts went even deeper than Xue Fan’s.

For instance, maybe that high bid of eight thousand per square meter was deliberately set by Shang Siyu. The goal was to make his boss stupidly fall into a trap, ultimately tying up the vast majority of the company’s liquid assets.

“President Xue, our liquid capital is running low. Should we reconsider giving up the winning bid?” The General Assistant didn’t dare directly call his boss a fool, so he tried a roundabout approach. “If we back out now and give a suitable reason, our loss would only be the eight hundred thousand deposit.”

“No! This plot of land still has value. If we build an office building, we can not only recoup our investment but also make a small profit,” said the overly proud Xue Fan. How could he possibly give up winning the bid?

He didn’t care about liquid capital issues. Xue Fan only knew that if he forfeited, the second-place bidder, New Life Technology, would become the winner. That was something Xue Fan absolutely refused to see.

Xue Fan would rather grit his teeth and swallow the consequences than show weakness in front of Shang Siyu!

“But boss, the funds on our books really are a bit tight…” The General Assistant reminded him again out of professional ethics.

“What are you afraid of? Haven’t we already sold two-thirds of the houses? We’ll just sell them slowly. Plenty of money will come in later,” Xue Fan said impatiently, unwilling to accept his defeat.

So Xue Fan chose to vent his frustration on his General Assistant, raising his voice and darkening his face. “You idiot! This three hundred million doesn’t need to be paid in one lump sum. We’ll pay in installments, accepted gradually.”

The berated General Assistant silently lowered his head, his knuckles turning white from the force of his grip on the documents.

“Yes, President Xue is right. I’ll go arrange it immediately.”

Earning money is hard, eating shit is harder. If it weren’t for the seven-figure annual salary, I would’ve quit long ago!

The General Assistant tried to console himself this way. But hearing Xue Fan grow more and more agitated, blaming all the mistakes on his inadequate groundwork, the General Assistant finally snapped too.

Slowly exhaling a breath, the General Assistant made a decision in his heart.

To hell with the seven figures. He was here to work, not to be a punching bag. After receiving his year-end bonus, he was going to resign!

Stupid boss, goodbye and good luck to you!