Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 571: Chapter 569: Making Trouble from Within

”Two hundred million.”

As soon as Huo Sining uttered these words, the entire venue was astonished.

Watanabe Yasu’s expression instantly darkened. Before the auction began, he had naturally noticed the exchange between Zhou Zhen and Huo Sining. He had been guessing the identity of this woman, and now, seeing Huo Sining place a bid, he realized that she was likely after the Jade Clothing as well.

Watanabe Yasu’s trip to Huaxia was solely at the invitation of Hattori Keiko. His detour to Yun Province was a spontaneous decision, and he had not expected to encounter such a perfect set of Jade Clothing.

Although Watanabe Yasu was the president of a societal association, that association didn’t have much money. The reason he could fearlessly bid such a high amount was entirely because Watanabe Yasu had another identity.

The Watanabe Consortium, one of the Three Great Eastern Consortia, was his family enterprise. Watanabe Yasu was the eldest grandson of Watanabe Okamoto, the chairman of the Watanabe Consortium, which was why he could calmly bid one hundred and eighty million.

The Watanabe Consortium didn’t have only one shareholder like Watanabe Okamoto. To use large sums of money, approval from the consortium’s senior management was required.

However, his grandfather had just secured a major funding project, which ensured that Watanabe could guarantee the one hundred and eighty million could be misappropriated without anyone in the consortium noticing anything amiss during normal operations.

It was also because Watanabe Yasu was very optimistic about the Jade Clothing that he had the audacity to do so. Otherwise, if he really had to embezzle such an enormous sum of public funds on his own, he wouldn’t need to wait to get back home; his grandfather Watanabe Okamoto would probably have to resign to take responsibility.

But now, Huo Sining had suddenly shouted a bid of two hundred million, placing Watanabe Yasu in a dilemma.

He didn’t know whether to give up or continue.

Two hundred million was no small amount, but he didn’t know how much money would be the bottom line for that woman surnamed Huo. Moreover, she had immediately raised the bid by twenty million, clearly indicating she wasn’t short on funds.

Watanabe Yasu felt both annoyed and unwilling as he estimated that he would probably need to add another hundred million if he wanted to acquire the Jade Clothing.

Zhou Zhen saw Watanabe Yasu’s continuous silence, which seemed to indicate that he was considering giving up, and an idea suddenly emerged in his mind.

He had realized when Huo Sining placed her bid that she was determined to win the Jade Clothing.

The moment Zhou Zhen laid eyes on Huo Sining, he couldn’t help but remember that piece worth hundreds of millions, the imperial green. Zhou Zhen believed that the imperial green originally belonged to him and that it was snatched away by Huo Sining’s cunning schemes, so his resentment towards Huo Sining was immense. Now that he finally had the opportunity to make Huo Sining lose money, how could he let it pass?

”President Watanabe, this set of Jade Clothing is a very rare genuine piece, and you won’t find another shop if you miss this village. This is not something you can just buy anywhere.”

Zhou Zhen’s face showed urgency, but a trace of sinister cunning flashed in his eyes. Huo Sining, Su Qingqing, you were ruthless to me, don’t blame me for being unrighteous to you!

”Master Zhou, based on your opinion, how much more money could Miss Huo possibly have on hand?” Watanabe Yasu was also a bit troubled, considering himself unlucky to have encountered such a tough woman.

Zhou Zhen also felt that Huo Sining was a woman with more money than sense. A jade clothing worn by the dead—what could she possibly do with it even if she bought it for two billion? Was she planning to display it at home as decoration, or prepare to take it with her into the soil after death?

However, this wasn’t his concern, and naturally, Zhou Zhen didn’t care. At the moment, he just wanted to create chaos, urging Watanabe Yasu to drive up the price so that the woman surnamed Huo would bleed a little more money.

”Mr. Watanabe, you don’t have to worry. That woman is just a student who opened a shop and did some business, her assets were originally just a few million at most.”

”But a few days ago, she uncovered a piece of imperial green, rumored to be worth one or two billion. I suspect she has sold that piece of imperial green.”

”So I think she’s just stubbornly holding on right now, only pretending to be calm. Don’t be scared by her act. I estimate that she won’t have more than 2.5 billion on hand, and she definitely wouldn’t empty her coffers for a set of gold-threaded jade clothing—she’s just a woman and surely doesn’t have the guts to do so!”

Zhou Zhen continued to persuade while Hattori Keiko, listening on the side, nodded silently, not forgetting to translate again for Watanabe Yasu, who was sitting beside her.

Watanabe Yasu was not a fool; he naturally had his own calculations. Otherwise, he wouldn’t take such a big risk and divert corporate funds to buy a set of gold-threaded jade clothing that was of little use.

He knew that jade clothing was considered a national treasure in Huaxia Country. If he managed to buy this set and take it back to Dongyang, it would definitely cause a sensation. At that point, it would not only attract a large number of archaeologists but also enhance the fame and reputation of the Watanabe Consortium.

Moreover, Watanabe Yasu secretly harbored another thought: if he fiddled a bit and made the set of gold-threaded jade clothing ”accidentally” excavated from an ancient tomb in Dongyang, and then fueled the media to hype it up, the term ”jade clothing” would no longer belong exclusively to Huaxia Country. The Dongyang Empire would also have jade clothing.

Watanabe Yasu was mentally calculating the value of this set of jade clothing and the economic benefits it would bring to the Watanabe Consortium after bringing it back home. Compared to that, two billion was merely a drop in the bucket.

With this in mind, Watanabe Yasu’s courage swelled, and he felt that the plan was entirely feasible. Moreover, he was very sure that even if the gold-threaded jade clothing ended up in Dongyang and he used it to create stories, these Huaxia people present here wouldn’t dare to raise any objections.

This was because they were at the black market, and the fact that these Huaxia people were participating in black market transactions was illegal in itself. If they were to challenge him, it would expose their participation in the black market, and they would then face legal sanctions from Huaxia Country.

So Watanabe Yasu felt that once the set of gold-threaded jade clothing reached Japan, he would be free to do as he wished with it.

”Two hundred and ten million!” Just as Hong Si was about to hit the auction hammer to finalize, Watanabe Yasu hurriedly raised his bidding sign and shouted.

All the people in the venue had their eyes red at this point, looking expectantly toward Huo Sining’s side, each of them revealing a look of anticipation.

However, everyone at the scene also understood very well, the price of ”two hundred and ten million” had already exceeded the intrinsic value of the set of gold-threaded jade clothing. After all, it wasn’t legitimately acquired, and whitewashing it completely would take not just money and connections, but time as well.

Qin Lianshan was already frantic, this set of gold-threaded jade clothing absolutely couldn’t be bought by the Dongyang devil; otherwise, let alone Ji Kun and the other senior experts, when he returned to the Imperial Capital, those old fellows would laugh at him for a lifetime!

”Miss Huo, follow the bid. If you don’t have enough money on hand, I will make up the difference afterward!”