Chapter 153: Blinding!

Bang!!

A sudden, violent explosion!

The teacup Wu Hantao had been holding in his hand was ruthlessly crushed by him!

The shards shattered, yet they failed to scratch his hand!

Everyone present was startled in unison!

The young master of the Wu family... is truly enraged!!

Ling Qiu, however, merely smiled faintly.

Judging by this move, this young fellow seemed to be a martial artist, and what he practiced should be internal martial arts.

Ling Qiu actually had some understanding of this Wu Hantao. In his memory, he was the young master of the Wu family, one of the three major families in the provincial capital, and possessed some capability.

Yet, I am terribly sorry...

No matter what prestigious family or powerful young master you are, before him, you are worth less than dog shit!

"Are you deliberately setting yourself against me, aren't you?"

Wu Hantao's eyebrows twitched fiercely. Raising his voice with a trace of hoarse fury, he glared viciously at Ling Qiu!

This voice was intensely overbearing, echoing into the ears of every single person present!

No one dared to breathe heavily. They widened their eyes and pricked up their ears, terrified of missing any thrilling detail!

What the hell...

This was the first time anyone had ever dared to openly challenge Young Master Wu Hantao!

No matter what background this fellow possessed...

In this slice of territory in Jiangnan Province, those who dared to oppose Young Master Wu rarely met with a good end!

Wealthy?

I am terribly sorry, no matter how wealthy you might be, wealth cannot be equated with status and power!

Ling Qiu lazily lifted his eyelids: "It is merely a bidding war, and the highest bidder wins. Have you lived this long without even understanding this simple logic?"

Gasp!——

The entire hall fell dead silent!

Holy mother of ducks, are you an absolute moron?!

Do you even know who you are talking to?!

Wu Hantao was stunned dumb by Ling Qiu's retort!

Truly...

He was frozen.

For all these years, throughout the entire Jiangnan Province... no one had ever dared to speak to him in such a manner!

And this person before him...

Was actually arrogant to such an unimaginable degree!!

The murderous intent in Wu Hantao's eyes had condensed to its absolute limit.

At this moment, he had already made up his mind...

No matter what the outcome might be...

The person before him had to be put to death!

Before that, however... he first needed to figure out who the other party was!

"My name is Wu Hantao, and nearly everyone in Jiangnan Province knows who I am. — My friend, how might I address you? From where and what family do you hail?"

Ling Qiu couldn't help finding it somewhat amusing: "I care not who you are. Either continue bidding, or shut your mouth. I have no mood to waste breath on you."

Everyone: ...

Silence.

Not a silence of deep thought, but a silence of utter, speech-depriving shock!!

Courting death!!

This fellow must have grown tired of living and was sick of his own life!!

The veins on Wu Hantao's forehead throbbed violently as he quietly clenched his fists...

Right at this very second...

His fury burned with an unprecedented, ferocious intensity!

Most importantly...

Ling Qiu...

Was making him lose all face right in front of Qin Siyao!

"Ahem..."

At that moment, the auctioneer on the stage finally recovered his wits and cleared his throat very professionally: "Um... Is there anyone raising the bid? ... Twenty... twenty billion going once... twenty billion going twice... twenty billion thr—"

"Twenty-three billion!!!!"

Suddenly, Wu Hantao raised his hand and increased the bid!

This shout was practically roared out!

If his anger could manifest as a shockwave, right now... the ceiling of the entire venue would likely have been blown off by his rage!

"Ling Qiu... quickly... quickly stop... do... do not... make any more trouble..."

Qin Siyao's face turned pale as one of her hands gripped tightly onto Ling Qiu's arm...

Truth be told, she hadn't spoken just now not because she didn't want to...

Rather, she was completely and utterly dumbfounded by Ling Qiu's series of actions...

At this very moment, her mind was practically on the verge of shutting down...

These final words were squeezed out from the corners of her stiff lips with the very last ounce of her strength...

If this continued, not only would the Qin family suffer catastrophic losses... but they would also completely and thoroughly provoke the young master of the Wu family...

Most crucially of all...

She was terrified that Ling Qiu would die!!

Wu Hantao... a figure of this caliber wanting to crush a nobody without background like Ling Qiu... would take no more effort than blowing away dust!

She admitted that Ling Qiu seemed to possess some abilities... but before a colossal behemoth like the Wu family, he was no different from a stray dog or a broken fowl!

"Thirty billion."

Three flat words slipped effortlessly from Ling Qiu's lips.

Qin Siyao's mind buzzed...

It's over.

Completely over.

And the moment those words were spoken, the entire audience exploded once again!!

As for Wu Hantao, his expression turned utterly dark and grim!

The hand he had kept raised this whole time... at this very moment...

Slowly lowered.

Yes...

He...

Gave up.

A price of thirty billion... was simply too outrageously high...

It was an astronomical sum among astronomical sums...

To bid for a jade statue at such a price...

Such a crazed act was something none of them had ever dared to imagine beforehand!

Wu Hantao had never expected this fellow... could be mad to such an extent!

In his view, there was only one possibility!

That was... this fellow... was risking total bankruptcy just to please Qin Siyao!

Wu Hantao's anger-distorted face twitched. Gritting his teeth fiercely, he slumped back down into his seat.

At this instant, everyone understood...

The young master of the Wu family had finally abandoned the bidding!

Yet everyone was well aware...

Giving up the bidding... did not mean swallowing this humiliation!

The crowd cast their gazes toward Ling Qiu one after another...

They knew that this fellow... was finished for sure!

"Ahem..."

The auctioneer regained his composure: "Is there any further bid? ... Thirty billion going once, thirty billion going twice, thirty billion thrice."

Clack!

"Sold! Congratulations to this gentleman for winning our [King Ma] jade sculpture!"

The entire hall... did not contain a single scrap of applause!

Everyone understood perfectly well that whoever dared to applaud at this moment... was setting themselves against the young master of the Wu family!

As for the father-and-son pair Cheng Gong and Cheng Qiang, they looked like a pair of brainless marmots, staring at each other with wide eyes, feeling simultaneously shocked, bewildered, and utterly baffled...

Ultimately, however, all these complex emotions transformed into... excitement!

"Dad... What on earth is this Ling Qiu's background... A price of thirty billion... he can actually afford it..."

"Never mind that... Perhaps the Qin family made some prior agreement with him... But no matter what... This Ling Qiu is truly finished! Why, it might not even require us to make a move!"

"That's right! This brainless piece of trash angered Wu Hantao... he is simply courting death!!"

"However, we still need to add some fuel to the fire!"

"How?"

Cheng Gong smiled faintly: "Although Wu Hantao possesses ruthless methods... he is extremely cautious in his actions. Even when dealing with this Ling Qiu, he will surely investigate thoroughly before striking. This fellow has unpredictable tricks; in case he manages to slip away during this period, it would be another disappointment."

Cheng Qiang was startled: "Then... what should we do?"

Cheng Gong squinted as he glanced at Qin Siyao: "This Qin Siyao is Wu Hantao's sweetheart and also his Achilles' heel. There is only one thing that can accelerate Wu Hantao's revenge, and that is... striking through Qin Siyao!"

"How do we strike?"

"Suppose... Qin Siyao and Ling Qiu were to sleep together tonight. With Wu Hantao losing both his face and his sweetheart... I refuse to believe that he can still keep his calm under such fury!"

Hearing this, a look of delight appeared on Cheng Qiang's face: "Damn, Dad! This move is brilliant!!"