“I didn’t expect so many people to show up. It seems everyone’s pockets have gotten fuller since the reforms.”
Tian Tian looked at the bustling scene before her and couldn’t help but sigh. Who would have thought so many people would come to the factory building auction? At this rate, Zhou Haoting would probably have to spend quite a bit more money today.
Hearing this, Zhou Haoting smiled slightly. “The more people, the better. Lively and bustling…”
At these words, Tian Tian nearly burst out laughing. Right—they were about to witness quite a show.
Just then, quite a few people walked over, greeting Zhou Haoting one by one. They also casually, openly and covertly, inquired about his budget for today.
“Boss Zhou, everyone here today is a heavyweight with real strength. A small player like me—how could I claim to have a budget? I’ll just wait to see you veterans make your moves.”
Zhou Haoting put on a modest air. Immediately, the bosses laughed heartily. Perhaps seeing that Zhou Haoting was easy to talk to today, they chatted with him about other things.
Tian Tian stood nearby, ears perked up to listen while observing the people around them. Soon, she found today’s target.
Beside her, Zhou Haoting noticed the change in Tian Tian and smiled at the bosses. “I wonder if you’ve all heard. There’s a powerful big shot at this auction. I heard he has Hong Kong triad connections.”
Hearing the words “Hong Kong triad,” the bosses’ expressions stiffened for a moment. For no other reason than that “triad” was just a fancy name for the underworld. They were legitimate businesspeople, and the last thing they wanted was to get mixed up with people who had underworld backgrounds.
Seeing this, Zhou Haoting tilted his chin up. “Look, that’s the group.”
The bosses looked and saw a bunch of unfamiliar faces. And among them were two burly men with fierce, brutish faces. One look and you could tell they weren’t good people.
Instantly, everyone exchanged glances.
But Zhou Haoting stopped there and said nothing more.
Soon, everyone entered the venue.
Zhou Haoting and Tian Tian’s seats were in the back rows. After sitting down, the two didn’t discuss anything further. Instead, they both fixed their eyes on a familiar-looking fat man on the stage.
This person was none other than Director Liu from the district Materials Bureau, whom they had seen at the restaurant that day. He looked about forty. Without Hong Jie hanging all over him, he actually looked somewhat respectable.
But at this moment, his expression was very ugly. From time to time, he glanced toward a corner. There, Brother Hei’s relative was sitting.
That man’s expression, by contrast, looked quite pleasant. Earlier, when they’d been outside talking with other bosses, they learned his name was Wang Bing.
Tian Tian poked Zhou Haoting’s arm and whispered, “What color do you think his face will turn later?”
Zhou Haoting let out a soft laugh, his low voice making ears tingle.
“Either liver-colored or black, one or the other.”
Soon, Tian Tian no longer had to wonder.
Because a man in his thirties—neatly built, wearing a crisp shirt and dress pants—came onto the stage. He walked straight past the fat Director Liu and went directly to the auction podium.
This move stunned quite a few people.
Especially Wang Bing, not far away. His face instantly darkened considerably.
“Welcome, friends from all walks of life, to this auction of XX District Machinery Factory assets. This auction was originally scheduled to be conducted by sealed bid. But after discussion among higher-level leadership, it has been decided to change the sealed bid to an open auction today.”
As soon as these words were spoken, the whole room erupted in sounds of surprise.
For no other reason than that no one had expected the auction format to be changed on the spot.
But the clever ones immediately realized something when they heard this decision.
Someone was trying to pull strings behind the scenes!
As for that Wang Bing, his expression had gone from pleased to gloomy, until it was now as black as the bottom of a pot.
Tian Tian watched in amazement, thinking that if this guy didn’t go into face-changing performance, it would be a waste. With talent like that, why do anything else? Why copy others and go into business?
But Wang Bing had no idea Tian Tian had thought up such a fine career path for him. When he heard the auction format change from sealed bid to open auction, his whole head was buzzing. If he weren’t only in his thirties, he probably would have burst a blood vessel on the spot.
Good heavens! Was he dreaming? Hadn’t Brother Hei said everything was taken care of? The bid price he had prepared was exactly ten thousand yuan higher than the highest competing bid.
Everything had been ready. Yet at the last moment, it was all ruined.
Wang Bing refused to accept it!
He had paid a lot to get Brother Hei to step in. Including handling Director Liu, all of it had come out of his own pocket. Now, who was going to pay him back for all those expenses?
With an open auction instead of a sealed bid, he simply couldn’t compete with the others.
Tian Tian watched Wang Bing trembling with rage and muttered quietly, “Hey, Zhou Haoting, do you think he’ll get so angry he can’t catch his breath?”
Zhou Haoting was enjoying the sight just as much. Hearing this, he shook his head. “He won’t die, at any rate.”
Of course, Wang Bing wasn’t the only one with an ugly expression. The fat Director Liu was also ashen-faced.
Tian Tian looked at his ghastly expression and felt deeply satisfied. Serves him right for being corrupted by money and debauchery. She checked the time—this man would soon be taken away for investigation. She wondered if he’d be taken away by the relevant authorities right here at the auction. If so, it would be even more entertaining.
This made Tian Tian feel today had been completely worth coming. All of Zhou Haoting’s earlier schemes had come to fruition one by one. This move—pulling the rug out from under them—had shattered every conspiracy behind the scenes.
Everyone was back on the same level playing field.
Now it was time to watch Zhou Haoting’s performance.
In fact, the auction scene was pretty much as Tian Tian had predicted. It was even livelier than a vegetable market. Blades and shadows, all sides going back and forth. One high price after another was called out. By the end, Tian Tian once again sighed over being poor.
As expected, Zhou Haoting ultimately won the district machinery factory building. But at the same time, the price was thirty percent higher than the earlier sealed bid would have been.
The price was within the estimated range, but hearing that number—several hundred thousand—still made Tian Tian’s flesh ache.
After the auction ended, Zhou Haoting went to sign the contract. Tian Tian stayed in the hall to keep observing that Wang Bing.
She saw him furiously cursing at the people around him. Then he suddenly stood up, looking like he was about to go find Director Liu.
But before he could take a few steps, several people dressed neatly—clearly establishment insiders—walked in and headed straight for Director Liu. When Director Liu saw them, he collapsed to the ground in fright.
Everyone who hadn’t left yet saw this scene. It gave even more fodder to the talk about today’s last-minute change in auction format.
By the time Zhou Haoting finished signing the contract and came out, word about Director Liu had already spread.
As for that Wang Bing? He had already fled with his people the moment he saw Director Liu get arrested.
“Do you think he’ll be so scared he runs off to Hong Kong?”
On the way home, Tian Tian thought about the earlier scene and couldn’t stop laughing.
Zhou Haoting thought for a moment. “Possibly. But this guy has a mainland household registration, and all his assets are on the mainland. If he really runs to Hong Kong, it would mean he never wants to come back. Actually, it depends on whether Director Liu talks or not.”
If Director Liu kept his mouth shut and refused to confess, then Wang Bing would be safe.
But Director Liu and Wang Bing were neither relatives nor friends. How could he possibly cover for him?
The result was predictable.
That afternoon, while Tian Tian and Zhou Haoting were at home counting money, they heard that Wang Bing had been arrested.
When the news came, Tian Tian was overjoyed. It was a different kind of happiness from counting money.
“I just wonder what that Brother Hei will pull next.”
Wang Bing, at the end of the day, had been relying on Brother Hei’s influence. Thinking of this, Tian Tian grumbled, “How come our local underworld is so useless? They all run off to be lackeys for a Hong Kong guy like Brother Hei. Can’t they rise up and be big shots themselves?”
Zhou Haoting spread his hands. “There are local big shots too. But He Cheng’s people haven’t overstepped their boundaries, so they won’t make a move.”
Tian Tian found it a bit complicated. She sighed. “How come the crackdowns didn’t take these people out?”
That was hard to say.
After saying it, Tian Tian herself realized. She clapped her hands. “Forget it. Let’s leave this matter as it is for now. Anyway, that night when they splashed the red paint, we caught a few people trying to cause trouble at the shop. Didn’t you have someone handle them? I figure that Brother Hei won’t dare pull anything else.”
Last time, they had caught several people trying to vandalize the shop late at night, and some local bigwigs had taught them a lesson. Of course, the kind that involved beating them up. Actually killing anyone was impossible. Anyway, they’d been taught a lesson and sent back with a message for Brother Hei. Since then, everything at the shop had been normal.
Of course, except for having to see Hong Jie’s deathly sour face every day.
The woman had schemed and schemed, but in the end, she hadn’t brought down Tian Tian’s shop. Instead, because she’d stockpiled too many batwing sleeve clothes, she couldn’t sell them now. These past two days, word was she was doing a clearance sale at rock-bottom prices.
“In total, we sold nearly seventy thousand batwing sleeve pieces, with profit between four and eight yuan per piece. Total profit was two hundred eighty-seven thousand. This is net profit after deducting employee wages and bonuses, rent, and other costs.”
In addition, selling the white T-shirts earned over eighty thousand. Plus that batch of jeans, plus Tian Tian’s previous savings. After deducting all the miscellaneous expenses and paying back the money she owed Zhou Haoting for the jeans—
Tian Tian had nearly four hundred thousand in cash on hand. And on top of that, those twenty-odd colored gemstones she’d picked up for free.
In just two short months in Shenzhen, Tian Tian had barely had a single day of rest. But the returns were outstanding.
“How’s the search for a sportswear fabric supplier going?” After counting the money, Tian Tian asked about the most important plan for this year.
The wholesale shop was now just selling leftover stock. Selling it casually to cover rent and employee wages was enough. Tian Tian’s focus was now on the sportswear project.
This week, she needed to finalize the fabric. Then make patterns, calculate costs, produce the bulk goods. Do promotion, make sales plans. And so on—everything meant she’d be busy again.
But Tian Tian didn’t feel tired at all.
She wasn’t even twenty yet. It was the perfect age to strive.
Zhou Haoting said, “I’ve found quite a few sample fabrics. I’ll bring them over for you to look at later.”
During this time, apart from dealing with the factory building auction, Zhou Haoting had been busy with the fabric. The reason the factory auction could be changed from sealed bid to open auction was, of course, because he had exposed things behind the scenes. And pulled some strings to push it along—that was how today’s result came about.
“But next I’ll be busy with the machinery factory matters, so I might not be able to give you much support on the sportswear project.”
On this point, Zhou Haoting felt guilty. But Tian Tian wouldn’t agree to let him give up his own career to support hers. And his pride wouldn’t allow him to do that either. He could see Tian Tian was ambitious. Naturally, he couldn’t fall behind.
If Tian Tian could hear Zhou Haoting’s inner thoughts at this moment, she would definitely shout: No! I’m not ambitious! Who would understand? She just wanted to make money as fast as possible so she could buy back that vegetable plot and build houses to become a landlady!
Of course, even less would anyone know that the currently stubborn Tian Tian would soon be slapping herself in the face.
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