CHAPTER 629: AUCTIONING THE JINHUA SOW

Jing Shu took another look at Liu. He handled finances and was a young man in his twenties, looking gentle and quiet. From the way he was ready to make a phone call the moment he was scolded, it was evident that this young man had his own opinions.

"Promising," Jing Shu commented nonchalantly as she sipped her coffee, then lightly furrowed her brows. This was the Nestle coffee that used to cost one coin a packet, a bit astringent in taste.

To be honest, it couldn’t compare to the top-notch coffee she had brought from the United States, but to find coffee at all these days was a rarity. Since things had become so exaggerated, Jing Shu didn’t want to force her taste buds, so she silently took out a packet of milk and squeezed it into her coffee. With milk added, the flavor became much richer and aromatic.

Liu silently gave Jing Shu a thumbs-up. Look at that, truly fitting for a factory manager—awesome, he thought, impressed.

"Holy shit."

"Awesome."

"Such class."

"Quick, give Xiu’er a throne."

Gold Dominator complained unhappily, "Young Master Lan, how are you handling things? Didn’t you say I’d be enjoying myself comfortably today?" In comparison, my own prestige is completely gone! Look at her—sitting on a chair with a blanket, a table with a tablecloth, legs crossed while eating snacks, and even a bodyguard standing by!

Then look at me, completely outdone in display. Damn it, that’s already two losses today!

Young Master Lan nodded rather awkwardly. "I’ll arrange it right now." Damn it... what is there to eat in this dump? The Celebrities Gathering is so poor they’re practically losing their pants; otherwise, I wouldn’t have tricked my college classmate into working as unpaid hired labor, he thought.

Gold Dominator grumbled with extreme dissatisfaction, but the Celebrities Gathering had already begun.

"Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. I am Xiao Shuai, your host for today’s Celebrities Gathering. No more nonsense; since we’re all familiar faces here, let’s get straight to business," said a host clad in a big black cotton-padded jacket, covered in mud, clearly not one for formalities. This, of course, was because the organizers were extremely poor and had a limited budget.

Xiao Shuai tapped the microphone. He had to hurry; who knew if the battery would even last until he finished hosting? He sped up his speech: "Alright, I know what everyone’s been waiting for! The first item up for auction today is the incredibly awesome and nearly extinct Jinhua Sow! Bring in the sow!"

"Buy a sow now, and get a boar for free. Struggle to find quality ’Seeds’? Prices too high? Being controlled by others? Now, you don’t need any of that. All the hassle you’d face for breeding will be taken care of, as we provide services directly to your doorstep.

Take home a sow and a boar, and next year, they’ll produce piglets. The year after, the piglets will have their own litter, with piglets galore!"

As Xiao Shuai spoke passionately, waiters huffed and puffed as they brought in two pigs. They were not large and rather lean, but clean.

It wasn’t that they didn’t want to raise them fatter; having pigs meant needing feed. This was the reality of the apocalypse, much like the situation with the geese at the Imperial Capital Grain and Oil Bureau. Good things were available, but everything was affected by this apocalyptic environment. I even suspect there might be some unknown gases or elements in the air harming all living creatures, Jing Shu mused.

Gasps of amazement rose from the audience. In these times, pigs weren’t just pigs; they were two Ferraris or Maseratis on the hoof. No, they were two gold mines capable of Qian Shengqian.

"Alright, the auction for the nearly extinct Jinhua Sow begins. We do not accept Virtual Coin and will not tolerate fraudulent bidding. We have personnel from the Township Government present to check your assets. If you engage in sham bidding, your property will be confiscated. So think carefully before you bid.

To reiterate, this Celebrities Gathering is of a special nature; we only accept commodities or other materials of equivalent value. In the case of items of similar value, we reserve the right to decide which party’s goods to accept.

Alright, the sow is valued at goods equivalent to 10,000 Virtual Coins! The auction starts now!"

When Virtual Coins can’t buy anything, how terrifying would that scenario be?

Someone bid quickly; these pigs had too much investment potential, it seemed impossible to make a loss on them.

"Fabrics valued at 20,000 Virtual Coins!"

"Petroleum valued at 25,000 Virtual Coins!"

"Right, to save time and prevent malicious bidding and disruptions, each person can bid a maximum of three times per auction item. Everyone should think carefully before bidding. Each item also has a tracking code. If you’re bidding for someone else and later transfer ownership, a 2% handling fee is required." Xiao Shuai rolled his eyes, emotionlessly reciting the rules. These shameless, money-crazed organizers! he cursed in his heart.

Put simply, this meant: don’t mess around bidding in small increments. Be quick and bid in multiples, raising the stakes substantially. If you had connections, you could have someone bid for you; just pay a handling fee afterward.

The entire hall fell silent for a few seconds. No one raised the bid. Then, after several more seconds, someone finally called out:

"Food valued at 200,000 Virtual Coins!"

"Goods valued at 400,000 Virtual Coins!"

The hall began to buzz again. Such high prices instantly dashed the hopes of 99% of the people for the Jinhua Sow. Are we really here expecting to find a bargain? many wondered. These items are truly excellent, though!

This caused the group of classmates behind Jing Shu to exclaim in shock. What did goods worth several hundred thousand Virtual Coins even represent? Currently, an entire house cost only several thousand to tens of thousands of Virtual Coins. These classmates’ families weren’t poor; in the apocalypse, they had all managed to secure single-occupancy houses, but that was about the extent of it. Even those with high salaries earned only a few hundred Virtual Coins a month.

"Goods worth 700,000!"

The bidding calls grew quieter. It wasn’t that these people didn’t have money; the wealthy had plenty of Virtual Coins, all ’forcibly’ exchanged by the Township Government at that time. But now, the thought of exchanging so many actual goods felt a bit painful.

No one bid on the Jinhua Sow anymore, and just as Xiao Shuai was about to finalize the deal, Gold Dominator called out, "Goods worth 1,000,000!"

At this call, the entire venue erupted again. A breeding pair exchanged for goods valued at 1,000,000! How many truckloads would that take? Is it worth it? Not at all! Even if the sow has piglets, and those piglets have more piglets, it wouldn’t be worth this much! Ordinary pigs aren’t this expensive!

After calling several more times and receiving no further bids, the host, Xiao Shuai, announced, "Sold for goods worth 1,000,000! Please proceed with the on-site transaction. Our professionals will now come for the handover. Everyone, please wait a moment. If the payment isn’t genuine, we’ll have to re-auction the item."

"Wow, Brother Tyrant is so amazing."

"A million from Brother Tyrant! He bought it just like that—so badass."

"Did I hear right? Did Brother Tyrant really spend a million on a pair of pigs?"

Professionals arrived promptly for the inspection. Two servers also came, leading the two pigs. These servers were college classmates, and they seemed very excited, exchanging winks and glances.