Chapter 492 — The Final Bid

The bidding began, and the first to jump in was Fatty Lai once more. He wriggled his massive bulk and raised his paddle: "Two hundred million!"

"Whoa—" No one in the hall had expected Fatty Lai to open at two hundred million. A moment's thought, though, and they understood: he had lost out twice already, and this was his last chance. If he did not seize it now, there might be no chance at all.

Of all those present, the one most baffled by Fatty Lai's bid was Yu Haitian. He had already won a Life-Extending Detox Pill, yet the more he watched, the more his heart raced, and he grew convinced the pill was a treasure. "Second Uncle, should we bid for another one?"

"No!" The middle-aged man shook his head. "The price you paid for your pill was already too low. Lai Changshan didn't raise his bid — most likely out of respect for the Yu family. The others are probably the same. If you start competing now, it would be beneath us. That is not how the Yu family does things!"

"What? Too low?" Yu Haitian was stunned.

"Just keep watching and you'll see." The middle-aged man spoke calmly. "This time, I suspect the price will break three hundred million!"

At his uncle's words, Yu Haitian silently cursed himself. He was still young and had not thought things through. He had assumed that matching the highest bid from the first round would suffice — but he had never imagined it would still be too low!

Ordinarily, when several identical items came up for auction, the first would fetch the highest price and each subsequent one would go for less, since the buyers had already fought their battles and the remaining prices only fell. This time, however, there was clearly an exception.

Liu Tianyi had meant to join the fun, but when he heard the two-hundred-million figure, he gave up the notion. The Liu family was wealthy, but much of its wealth lay in real estate and securities that could not simply be sold off. And even if there were liquid funds, he could hardly pour all of them into pills, could he?

"Two hundred and ten million..." A scion of one of the great houses, having received a nod of approval from his elder, raised his paddle — and was immediately met with a round of contempt. Everyone else was raising their bids by tens of millions; he had added a mere ten million. Rather stingy, wasn't it?

"Two hundred and fifty million!" Fatty Lai declared with swagger.

Divine Doctor Kang frowned. He had meant to bid in the second round, but the Yu family had beaten him to it, and he dared not contend with the Yu family. He had been waiting for the third round — yet from the look of Fatty Lai, the man was determined to have this one. Divine Doctor Kang began to grow anxious.

Wei Zhao and Guan Xuewen had remained seated throughout; it was only Fatty Lai who stood and raised the paddle. So no one could see Wei Zhao and Guan Xuewen clearly — and even Divine Doctor Kang did not give the matter much thought at that moment.

"Two hundred and eighty million!" At Divine Doctor Kang's signal, Kang Guifeng called out a rather high figure — the same price at which the previous two Life-Extending Detox Pills had sold. He had assumed Fatty Lai would not compete again, but life is always full of surprises.

"Three hundred million!" Fatty Lai gritted his teeth and rose without hesitation, paddle held high.

After a brief moment of astonishment, everyone understood why Fatty Lai had named three hundred million. He had let the first one go because there would be other chances; he had yielded on the second because the Yu family had bid, and he neither wished nor dared to compete with them. This third was his final chance — he had no choice but to grit his teeth and fight for it!

Seen in that light, three hundred million was not so high after all.

Divine Doctor Kang was furious enough to curse aloud. Was this Fatty Lai not being a bit too unreasonable? He had not raised his bid when Liu Tianyi bid, nor when Yu Haitian bid — but the moment it came to him, Fatty Lai jumped straight to three hundred million!

With the earlier lessons in mind, Divine Doctor Kang had thought two hundred and eighty million would be enough to secure it. But it seemed matters were far from as simple as he had imagined!

"Father, what do we do?" Kang Guifeng frowned. "This is the last Life-Extending Detox Pill, and that damned fatty seems determined to get it!"

Meanwhile, Xiao Ji and Xiao Ben, standing off to the side, were rather puzzled. "Divine Doctor Kang, is this Life-Extending Detox Pill really such a treasure?"

Divine Doctor Kang did not answer them. Instead he turned to Kang Guifeng. "Whether he is determined or not, we must secure this last Life-Extending Detox Pill! It is vitally important to our family!"

"I understand!" Kang Guifeng clearly grasped his father's meaning. Once the pill's ingredients were analyzed, the day of the Kang family's rise would be close at hand!

"This may well be the sole surviving specimen of some lost ancient formula." Having finished instructing Kang Guifeng, Divine Doctor Kang finally began explaining to the Xiao brothers. "After I buy one, I intend to take it home and study it."

"Oh? I see! No wonder it fetches such a price — it's a unique relic of a lost ancient art!" Xiao Ji said in sudden understanding. "Then it is certainly worth buying to examine. With your learning, Divine Doctor Kang, you are sure to succeed in your research!"

"Heh, that's not necessarily true. Didn't the miracle doctor outfit that discovered this pill fail to research it thoroughly either? All I can do is give it a try!" Xiao Ji's words struck just the right note, and Doctor Kang was greatly pleased.

Meanwhile, Kang Guifeng had already entered the bidding: "Three hundred and twenty million!"

"Three hundred and fifty million!" Fatty Lai didn't wait for the auctioneer to speak and shouted out a higher price directly.

Kang Guifeng froze, a layer of cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. This Fatty Lai was loaded indeed — and had the nerve to keep driving the price up!

"Keep going." Though it did sting a little to part with that much money, Doctor Kang was, after all, a man of immense wealth. The Doctor Kang Medical Group currently had nearly five hundred million in liquid capital at its disposal.

"Three hundred and eighty million!" Kang Guifeng raised his bid card again.

On Fatty Lai's side, there was a moment of visible hesitation. But just as the auctioneer called out "Three hundred and eighty million, going once," Fatty Lai sprang to his feet again.

"Four hundred million!" Fatty Lai called out his price.

A wave of astonishment swept the room. The powerful families and wealthy businessmen who had been on the verge of joining the bidding now fell silent. True, Liu Tianyi and Yu Haitian had both endorsed this Life-Extending Detox Pill, but no one had actually witnessed it work — its true nature remained unclear. And so none of them was willing to part with that kind of money for something they didn't fully understand.