"The next item up for auction..."

The auction had begun, and at the podium in the north of the banquet hall, an auctioneer with gold-rimmed glasses was introducing the item.

Jiang Chen had been seated in the first row, his position prominent. But he was uninterested in these ordinary antiques, leaning listlessly against the back of his chair, lost in thought.

Lin Bingrui glanced at Jiang Chen and gave a meaningful look toward Lin Zhiyan at his side.

Understanding his hint, Lin Zhiyan nodded and looked at Jiang Chen with a light laugh, "What's the matter? Don't see anything you like?"

Shaking his head slightly, Jiang Chen replied indifferently, "I have no use for these things."

"Sold!" The third item was quickly sold as the auctioneer brought down the gavel, and an attendant took the item down to hand it over to the bidder, replacing it with another item.

"Now for the fourth..." the auctioneer began explaining the next item.

At that moment, Lin Zhiyan suddenly noticed that Jiang Chen, who had been somewhat lackluster all this time, abruptly widened his eyes, prompting her to look toward the auction stage in confusion.

The auctioneer was introducing an ancient jade talisman, which, although verified by experts to be of old provenance, was not considered to be made of fine jade.

"The fourth item starts at five hundred thousand, with each bid increase not to be less than one hundred thousand!" the auctioneer announced the opening bid, turning his head to look at everyone in the room.

"Five hundred thousand!"

"Six hundred thousand!"

...

The crowd didn't seem too interested in the jade talisman, with the bidding only increasing by one hundred thousand at a time!

Jiang Chen's eyes lit up as he called out loudly, "Two million!"

The people in the hall turned their curious eyes to Jiang Chen. Due to the incident outside earlier, everyone had been paying clandestine attention to Jiang Chen, and his bid promptly attracted everyone's gaze.

"Did that guy just raise by a million?!"

"Does he not understand, or does he just really like ancient jade? That talisman is at most worth one million eight hundred thousand. If it weren't for some significance, the auction organizers probably wouldn't have chosen to auction it off!"

"Not sure, maybe he just really likes ancient jade!"

"Even if he loses some buying it for two million, it's still alright for collection!"

The crowd murmured among themselves in low voices.

Lin Bingrui glanced at Jiang Chen, a flicker of doubt in his eyes. He too had noticed that the jade talisman was only carved from ordinary jade and had no room for appreciation. He thought it was perhaps only somewhat significant because it was of old age. Maybe Jiang Chen just liked collecting ancient jade, so Lin Bingrui chose not to remind him.

But Chen Jianlin's eyes brightened. He had been thinking about how to teach Jiang Chen a lesson, and seeing that Jiang Chen seemed interested in the talisman, he quickly had an idea and called out loudly, "Two million five hundred thousand!"

This shout once again attracted everyone's attention, and when people saw that it was Chen Jianlin who had made the bid, they understood that it was no longer about the value of the talisman; it was the beginning of a contest between two men.

Gong Yue, upon seeing Jiang Chen place a bid, already had some thoughts in mind. When she saw Chen Jianlin bid, the corners of her mouth lifted in a slight, amused smile.

Fight! Let them fight fiercely!

"Three million!" Jiang Chen didn't even glance at Chen Jianlin and placed his bid directly.

Lin Bingrui was startled and turned to look at Chen Jianlin, knowing that Chen Jianlin was getting competitive with Jiang Chen because of the issue with Lin Zhiyan. The Lin Family was a bit special, and he couldn't use power to pressure Chen Jianlin. Frowning slightly, he motioned with his mouth to Lin Zhiyan.

Lin Zhiyan nodded and turned to Jiang Chen, "Jiang Chen, this jade talisman isn't worth so much. If you like ancient jade, I can find a few pieces for you."

"No, it's exactly this one I need!" Jiang Chen focused intently on the jade talisman, his tone imbued with urgency.

The moment the jade talisman had been brought onto the stage, Jiang Chen's cultivation technique had involuntarily activated for a moment. This made him realize the talisman was useful for his cultivation technique, and he was determined to win it.

"Three million five hundred thousand!"

"Four million!"

"Four million five hundred thousand!"

"Five million!"

...

Chen Jianlin discovered that Jiang Chen really wanted that Jade Talisman, so he kept vying with Jiang Chen.

Yet, Jiang Chen didn't even blink, constantly calling out bids.

The atmosphere heated up in an instant.

"Seven million five hundred thousand!"

"Ten million!"

Jiang Chen, growing impatient, directly raised the bid to ten million!

"Ten million? Has he gone mad? Spending ten million on such a nearly broken Jade Talisman?"

"He's locked horns with Chen Jianlin! But it seems like Chen Jianlin is deliberately driving up the price!"

"Yeah, if you can't see that, you're still too young!"

"I don't even know what to say. Spending ten million in a fit of anger on such a Jade Talisman, even if you have the money, that's not the way to spend it!"

"Just wait, once he wins the bid, he'll definitely regret it! Perhaps he feels targeted by Chen Jianlin in front of Miss Lin and couldn't save face, forcibly bidding."

People in the hall began to whisper among themselves.

A mocking smile flickered in Gong Yue's eyes. Gazing at Jiang Chen's back, she softly scoffed, "A country bumpkin will always be a country bumpkin. Even with money, he's just a nouveau riche, played by such a simple trick, what an idiot!"

Chen Jianlin stopped calling out bids at this point. He stood up, face wearing a triumphant smile, and gave Jiang Chen a cupped fist salute, "Mr. Jiang really has a lot of money! Spending ten million on a Jade Talisman worth less than two million, you really do have more money than places to spend it. Well, I may be foolish but not to that extent, I'll leave it to you!"

This loud statement echoed throughout the entire hall, and the sense of triumph and mockery in his voice was barely concealed.

"Haha!"

"I really want to know what Jiang Chen is feeling right now!"

"He must be full of regret by now, right?"

People around the hall broke out in laughter.

Gong Yue couldn't straighten up from laughing so hard at the side. Ha-ha, finally seeing Jiang Chen take a loss wasn't easy!

Lin Zhiyan also frowned slightly and glanced at Jiang Chen, shaking her head inwardly. What use is it to be highly skilled in medicine and martial arts? Compared to these people in their circle, he still can't keep up, such a lack of sense!

Lin Bingrui, on the other hand, wore a slightly anxious look on his face. He had invited Jiang Chen to the auction, and now that Jiang Chen had bid such a high price for a Jade Talisman that was really not worth it, if Jiang Chen regretted it later, would he blame Lin Bingrui?

"Ten million for the first time!"

...

"Sold!"

The auctioneer's gavel fell, and the Jade Talisman went into Jiang Chen's hands.

"Whew——"

Jiang Chen took a deep breath of relief, his eyes shining with excitement.

"Mr. Jiang, how about this? I'll pay for the Jade Talisman, and let it be my gift to Mr. Jiang," Lin Bingrui thought it over and decided to pay himself, rather than risking being blamed by Jiang Chen.

"No need! I'll do it myself," Jiang Chen firmly shook his head.

When the hostess brought over the Jade Talisman, Jiang Chen directly took out his bank card to pay, not giving Lin Bingrui the chance to foot the bill.

Lin Bingrui's heart sank, feeling that Jiang Chen was probably blaming him already, and he couldn't help but frown slightly. Lin Zhiyan, on the other hand, shot Jiang Chen a covert glare, thinking that Jiang Chen was blaming them, cursing him for being petty.

But neither of them saw the unusual excitement in Jiang Chen's eyes.

Such excitement would only appear when facing a priceless treasure!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.