Chapter 1914 Going For The Auction -Part 3
"I guess Kong Rong kind of knows about this bidding system process? Is that why we are able to get this auction quick and fast?" Jin asked and Kraft, who was at his side, finally spoke out.
"It looks like the Royal Horses had pulled some strings into this. You did not need to pay any money to bid because of the security clearance that you had. A privilege of some sort but the other companies especially the lower tier security clearance such as that finance company over here..." Kraft pointed at the list.
"They had to pay a considerable fee just to enter this auction," Kraft said as he signalled the amount of money to Jin via the use of chi. Jin was surprised by the amount and he had no idea they needed to pay that sort of amount to enter.
"Why would they do that? If they lose, will they get back that deposit?" "A partial return if I am not mistaken. But not the entire sum that"s for sure. I believe it"s mainly because of the fact that this auction is the first of its kind. To have their name in the auction is more than enough for future auctions. It"s more like putting their names down so that the government would have records of them. You know? it"s like those Senpai, please notice me that kind of reaction."
"We are starting the bid now." The speaker said, and the land valuation was placed at 10.5 million Yuan. It"s at a low end but the speaker knew that the bidding should at least go up to 30 over million Yuan which is their target amount for that bas.e.m.e.nt.
Is that land valuable? It"s all about speculation. How the companies view that piece of c.r.a.ppy land. If they think it"s prime land, the price will automatically rise by itself due to the reputation it has. And indeed, they do have that kind of reputation especially when its right under the IFC mall, which prides itself on luxury goods and good human traffic flow.
It did not take long for the auction price to go up. And the increment was quick. With each raise of the hand, came another almost consecutively and there was no stopping until it reached 30 million. It looked like everyone had expected that to be the standard price as the raising of hands slowed down when that target had been hit.
But all this time, Jin did not raise his hand a single bit as he continued to see who was most interested in the piece of land.
"You are not going to bid?" Xiong Da asked telepathically but Jin remained silent as he reevaluated his life choices. Only the System and Kraft were able to know his thoughts as he did not close it away from his business partners.
"Regretting your choice already?" Kraft smiled as he saw the frantic bid.
"Let"s say if we really got the bas.e.m.e.nt, what"s the alternative for not creating the second dungeon supplier store?"
"Perhaps, delivery? We would have access to Shanghai"s market share and if Shenzhen was any indication that we were toe to toe with the current delivery compet.i.tion, I will say it"s a very big deal." Kraft said. "Not to mention, the compet.i.tion is so serious that they wanted to buy over Pandafull Delivery which Qiu Yue gave a straight no when the offer was presented to her. She even had the gall to say money is not an issue and on that week itself, the delivery charges went down by another 50%, allowing us to get even more business. Oh, the burn she gives the compet.i.tors. It"s so so sweet."
"System, your opinion?" Jin asked since he knew that even if he did not bid now, his security clearance would give him the opportunity to steal it right under their noses and that was how dirty he could play unless the companies could estimate his threshold. That was also the reason why they were slowing the bid to see if Jin had any trigger b.u.t.tons they could push. But for now, he remained stoic and there was nothing to read from his face except for a yawn. (Thank goodness there were no Panda Beams coming out from it!"
"45 Million! Calling once." The speaker said and it tried to drag a little longer.
"Wow, 45million for a bas.e.m.e.nt. These guys are rich AF." Jin commented to Kraft as he turned his head to him.
"Lol, Boss. 45 Million is nothing to you, isn"t it." Kraft chimed in and Jin gave him a disgusted look.
"Is it because I am not paying you well enough, that you have to reveal that kind of information?" Jin replied. "Of course, it"s nothing. Because I have nothing to pay with!"
"Wow, that is such a bad cold joke." Kraft shook his head as he grabbed Jin"s hand and raised his hand for him.
"45.5 million Yuan by our mysterious Tier 00 auctioneer." The speaker had also spiced up the bid for the auction.
"70 Million Yuan." IFC CEO Na Ying raised her hand as if she wanted to protect the land that was under her. There was no way she was going to let Tier 00 security clearance spoil her chance to get the piece of land. It was at that time, that some people were typing furiously on their phones as if to check with their companies whether it was okay to proceed bidding higher.
Then, the IT company was the first to back away by standing up and walking out of the room. It was pretty obvious that this was out of their league since they could never recoup any losses to get that much.
But it was another matter for the several finance and construction companies who had decided to up the bid as well. But it was of minor increments rather than a major increment like what the IFC CEO had done.
"Wow, this is actually fun to watch," Jin said within the System Chanel and he raised his hand. "Let"s make it lucky centric. 88.8Million? I understand it"s not the usual amount but is that acceptable?"
"Why not? When it comes to land, auspicious symbolism does always play a part. 88.8Milion it is."
"Then why not I make it even more auspicious then? 108.8 Million Yuan." CEO Na Ying said and the COO beside her was already sweating beads as if this was a terrible game to play. Na Ying on the other hand wanted the land at all cost. It was the pride of IFC Holdings to not lose that plot of land.
"Wow. 108.8 Million. Boss Jin. You sure you do not want to raise it even further?" Kraft asked and it made Na Ying nervous too.
"Eh? Not interested already." Jin said as he walked out of the room and the speaker sealed the deal with IFC Holdings to award the land to them.
"You sure?" Xiong Da asked and Jin nodded his head.
"Yeah. I can do much with 108.8 Million dollars and in turn, the government earns that much money from this transaction. I feel like someone might owe me a favour." Jin said as he side eyed a person the moment he got out of the room.
Even without any magic eye or inspection techniques, the executive was there smiling and bowing to them slightly before walking to greet them. Only when he came closer, they saw that he was wearing the Royal Horse Zodiac Clan"s enamel pin. "I am guessing you knew our game plan?"
"Not really, but I have a feeling that I might be taken advantage of. Especially with that Tier 00 Security Clearance." Jin spoke in a lower voice and the Horse Clan executive got it and led them to another room while the IFC Holdings were confirming their deal with the auction team.
There he saw a familiar face and it was Ma Ge, the Chancellor of JODE. "Here I thought, I can earn some money from you so I can use that money to pay for the school instance that you made for me."
"When I heard rumours that Royal Horses were crafty people, I did not expect them to be of that calibre of shallow," Kraft said it so blatantly but it somehow did not invoke a reaction to the Ma Ge and his other Horses Executive.
"Hmm, but it looks like I did you a huge favour, didn"t I? I never knew that you have some say in the Ministry of Land."
"Heh. You of all people should know that being part of JODE is like an extra curriculum activity. Something that I am obligated to do as part of the Royal Horse Zodiac Clan. Handling the Ministry of Land is my main job. And yes, you have no doubt done a huge favour for us. We were quite conservative with the estimates and you helped us to earn 300% more than we had estimated."
"So, how about it? I am sure you have another land you can offer us. I know that even if I were to win the bid, you would probably use this land offer as an appeas.e.m.e.nt gift for me once I knew that you were part of it. Be it sooner or later."
"Now who is the crafty one? I am sure it is not the Horse Clan at this rate but rather the Pandas. The legends of your ancestors" ac.u.men did not seem to die out just yet." Ma Ge replied as he asked one of his a.s.sistants to bring a few files over.
"Instead of just one piece of land to offer, I shall allow you
to choose. Prices would be very reasonable considering your compet.i.tor had already put in the downpayment."