Chapter 23: The Millennial Lightning-Struck Wood

Once the other party fell silent, Pei Heng walked over to Jiang Zhiyue with a beaming expression, clearly fishing for praise.

"Little Jiang-Jiang, that so-called Miss Jiang is truly annoying. Why does she always target you? How about I just force the Jiang family into bankruptcy and be done with it?"

Seeing that Pei Heng was not joking, Jiang Zhiyue asked, "Don't you want to know why she targets me? Can you guess why my surname is Jiang?"

"Who cares why? If she targets you, it’s definitely her fault! Regardless of your relationship with the Jiang family, they aren't good to you. If you want, I can bankrupt them right now!"

That doctor surnamed Jiang looked down on his Little Jiang-Jiang at every turn, and this Miss Jiang was always picking on her as well. The Jiang family clearly wasn't composed of good people. Since that was the case, there was no need for the Jiang family to continue existing in the capital.

Jiang Zhiyue smiled without a word. She finally understood why Pei Heng lacked even a shred of merit in his destiny. He was always ready to ruin people and drive them to bankruptcy; it would be a miracle if such a ruthless person could accumulate any virtue.

However... she liked it! Hehe!

Jiang Qingyan had indeed been getting a bit too full of herself lately, openly targeting her at every opportunity. But since she herself was such a kind soul, she still wanted to help Jiang Qingyan find her biological parents, despite the way she had been treated. Ah, it was no wonder she was such a benevolent person blessed with merit; she was just so helpful and always returned evil with good!

After the commotion, the beautiful host on the auction stage looked visibly exhausted. She dutifully turned to the crowd and asked, "One dollar, going twice. Does anyone wish to bid?"

The audience couldn't help but laugh at the question. They had truly witnessed something unique today—an auction for a single dollar. Unfortunately, they were powerless to act; they were stuck with the auctioneer’s ridiculous rule that one could only bid on one item. As for those who still had the eligibility to bid, they waved their hands in dismissal upon seeing the tattered wooden box. Since they had no interest, there was no point in wasting time fighting for it. They would rather the auction end quickly; they were all eager to see what rare treasures might be hidden inside the bronze box that Lu Yan had purchased for a sky-high price.

"Is there really no one bidding against one dollar?" the host asked, still unwilling to give up.

"No, no more bids. It’s not about the money. We just don't want to waste time fighting over a broken box."

"Exactly, hurry up and finish. I want to see the box opened."

"Surely no one would bury anything valuable in a rotting wooden box. In my opinion, this thing is likely just a common piece of junk."

...

As everyone chimed in to express their disdain for the wooden box, Jiang Zhiyue’s heart was in her throat. She gripped Pei Heng’s large, warm hand with both of hers, her voice trembling with excitement: "Ah... ah... ah! Pei Heng, did you see that? No one is bidding! There’s actually no one bidding!"

She didn't notice that Pei Heng was staring blankly at their tightly clasped hands, his neck turning bright red; he was clearly even more agitated than she was.

With a final strike of the gavel, Jiang Zhiyue successfully snatched up the wooden box for a mere dollar—a massive bargain!

Just one dollar!

"Congratulations to this young lady for winning this lot at a final price of one dollar!"

Lu Jiahui sneered, "Enough. What is there to congratulate about a broken piece of trash? Don't waste time; hurry up and have your experts appraise and open it."

Jiang Zhiyue glared back. "Fine by me! I want to open it quickly too. I can't wait to see what kind of junk they bought for four hundred million!"

Fearing another argument, the host quickly sent someone to fetch Master Qin, the appraisal expert invited specifically for this auction. But before they could even leave, Master Qin hurried in himself.

"Master Qin!"

"Master Qin..."

Qin Chong didn't stop to exchange pleasantries. He walked straight to the stage and asked, "Has that wooden box been auctioned off yet?"

The host smiled. "Master Qin, you’ve arrived just in time. I was about to have someone fetch you to appraise the two blind-bid items."

"Has the wooden box been sold?" he asked again.

Upon receiving confirmation, Master Qin slapped his thigh in frustration. He had arrived too late!

Lu Jiahui urged him impatiently, "Master Qin, what’s so special about a broken wooden box? Stop wasting time and hurry up to appraise the bronze box my brother bought for such a high price."

Her arrogant tone deeply offended Qin Chong. "What did you say? A broken wooden box? If a young lady doesn't understand something, she should learn more instead of spouting nonsense—it only makes a fool of her!" As a titan of the antique world, Qin Chong had no intention of showing any face to this young lady from the Lu family.

The host quickly tried to smooth things over. "Master Qin, the wooden box has already been bought by a young lady."

"For how much? I am willing to pay double the price to buy it back."

The bold statement left the room in an awkward silence.

The host spoke up, feeling somewhat uncomfortable. "The wooden box was sold to that young lady for one dollar."

"One hundred million?" Qin Chong nodded, thinking there was at least one person who knew the value of the item. He looked at Jiang Zhiyue with satisfaction. "I would like to offer double—two hundred million—to purchase this box. Would the young lady be willing to part with it?"

Uh...

What kind of hearing was that? It was one dollar, not one hundred million!

Pei Heng quickly waved his hands. "No, we won't part with it. Master Qin, I’m truly sorry, but my Little Jiang-Jiang likes this thing very much. We aren't selling."

Jiang Zhiyue stood to the side, struggling to calm her heart. It hurt! Two hundred million—that was two hundred million! How many jobs would she have to take to earn that much money? It was the feeling of heartbreak! But she really wanted this box. Ahhhhh! How could one have the best of both worlds—keeping the box and the money?

"Are you really not selling?" Qin Chong tried to negotiate.

The host hurriedly clarified that the sale price was one dollar, not one hundred million.

Hearing this, Qin Chong was stunned. "How much? One dollar? How could you sell it for just one dollar! Alas! A bunch of people who don't know quality—was there really no one else bidding?"

Seeing Qin Chong’s reaction, the crowd finally realized that the wooden box was indeed something extraordinary. Amidst the gasps of the astonished crowd, Qin Chong walked up to the display stand where the box sat.

"Alas, so be it. In the end, I was one step too late." He picked up the wooden box and said, "This is no ordinary box. Based on my observations, this is highly likely made of thousand-year-old lightning-struck jujube wood. Its value today is immeasurable."

Jiang Zhiyue stared at Qin Chong with curiosity; she hadn't expected him to have genuine expertise. She was right! The reason she had wanted to bid on this box was that she had recognized at a glance that the material was precious thousand-year-old lightning-struck jujube wood.

Lightning-struck wood was an essential material for practitioners of the Dao when crafting magical artifacts, as it was believed to be capable of communicating with spirits. Once a tree was struck by natural lightning, it absorbed the extreme, pure energy contained within the bolt, granting it special properties. Such wood, infused with the vital energy of heaven and earth, was incredibly rare, which was why she wouldn't have parted with it even for a fortune.