Episode 35: Suburbs Black Market

  A dark blue Land Rover was speeding on the road, although it was going very fast, Li Yan, who was sitting in the car, couldn't feel any bumps at all. It's hard not to say that the material life of rich people is indeed high and enviable.

  Along the way, looking at the scenery, from memory, he has been living in Longtan City. As for Longtan City, Li Yan is still quite familiar with it. However, today Lin Xincheng took him on a route that was relatively unknown, and soon they entered the suburbs. The further they drove, the more desolate the road became, until they were completely surrounded by wilderness. On both sides of the highway, there were only wild grasses as tall as people.

  After turning a corner, they got on a small highway. At the end of it was a cement road leading up the mountain, only over four meters wide, with a bumpy surface full of potholes. Fortunately, Lin Xincheng's vehicle was an off-road car, which could still manage to make its way through such a rough road.

  On the winding mountain road, Lin Xincheng drove up to the top of the mountain, then turned around and headed down the mountain highway, turning into a large lawn.

  As he looked around, all he saw was a large lawn with several large tents propped up on it. Nearby, more than ten cars were parked, all of which were off-road vehicles such as Hummers and Jeep Wranglers. Not one of them was inferior to Lin Xincheng's car, which left Li Yan somewhat speechless.

  Lin Xincheng stopped the car and got out first, then smiled and said: "Mr. Li, we're here!"

  "Oh," Li Yan subconsciously responded with a sound, got off the car, and asked in confusion: "Lin Shao, what is this place?"

  Lin Xincheng smiled and said: "Black market."

  At this time, Li Yan finally came to his senses and wondered why it was so secluded and mysterious. It turned out that it was a black market! This black market is generally called the Ghost Market, also known as the Booth Market in the cultivation world, which is specifically used for trading some special items.

  As Lin Xincheng explained, Li Yan only then knew that this black market was different from the usual ones. This black market was one of the most famous top-tier black markets in the industry, and each time it would only invite a dozen or so of the richest and most prestigious high-level individuals from the local area. The items being auctioned off were all of unknown origin, but without exception, they were all treasures.

  You said you can't fake it? Hehe... Firstly, doing this business also requires a good reputation. Secondly, the people who buy things are all influential figures with money and power, if you, a black market dealer, provoke such people, do you still want to continue doing business or not? If things go wrong, you might even lose your life.

  Lin Xincheng took Li Yan to the largest tent in the middle, and at this moment, Li Yan suddenly felt a faint aura, which became more obvious as he approached the tent. This made him startled, and his heart was clear that there might be an extraordinary spiritual object here.

  There were about ten people in the tent, a large round table, but it was foldable, six people sat around the round table, old and young, the rest stood behind them.

  "You guys are quite early!" Lin Xincheng smiled and pulled over two chairs, saying: "Li Shao, sit down!"

  Li Yan smiled and sat down beside Lin Xincheng, although he had a strong desire in his heart, but he also knew that it was not the time to express it, otherwise, he might attract unwanted attention.

  Those six people seemed to be very familiar with Lin Xincheng, and they all smiled and nodded in response to his words. However, they looked at Li Yan with curiosity, wondering why this young stranger who was dressed so plainly would be called "Young Master Li" by the normally arrogant Lin Xincheng.

  A young man about the same size as Lin Xincheng smiled and said, "Lin Shao, you're not being very considerate, bringing a new friend here without introducing us."

  Lin Xincheng patted the back of his head and laughed, "It was my oversight. Everyone, let me introduce you to my brother, Li Yan, also known as Li Shao. Don't underestimate him, he's a master horticulturist. Those precious tea flowers in Fang Baozi's store were all cultivated by my brother."

  "Ah——" As soon as this was said, the six people present were shocked. To think that they had previously been puzzled by Fang's goods, and hadn't expected that those rare treasures in Baijing Garden were actually made by this young man himself. It really proved the saying: "You can't judge a person by appearance."

  Immediately, Li Yan got to know the six people through Lin Xincheng's introduction. It had to be said that these individuals were all influential figures. Two young men around Lin Xincheng's age, one named Zhou Yue, was the heir of Renhe Tang and Renhe Pharmaceutical, while the other, Hai Ruofeng, who had previously asked about Li Yan's identity, was the eldest son of the Haitian Group behind the Haitian Hotel.

  In addition to the four, two elderly men, one named Bi Jian Guo, is a senior relative of a certain big boss in the Longtan City antique market. The other, Lu Zhen Dong, is the father of a certain jade and jewelry store owner, with many antique shops and jewelry stores under his control, and he is not ordinary in terms of wealth and power. The other two middle-aged men, one named Mu Jian Hua, is said to be a big shot from Beijing, who came to Donghai City this time mainly to accompany his father to find a life-saving medicine for his mother. The other, Ma Dong, is the initiator of this black market transaction, and it can be imagined that his wealth and power are probably not much worse than theirs.

  Li Yan heard this and couldn't help but feel a sudden surge of emotion in his heart. Today, everyone who came here was one of the top two wealthy businessmen in Longtan City!

  "Alright, since everyone is here, Boss Ma, you can show us the goods." After a brief conversation, Mu Jianhua, who had come from afar, couldn't help but speak up. He had heard that there was a hundred-year-old wild medicinal herb appearing here and had rushed over, but so far, he still didn't know if Ma Dong's medicinal herb was what he needed.

  Seemingly aware of Mu Jianhua's impatience, Ma Dong didn't delay any further. He immediately gestured to the subordinate standing behind him, who then bent down and opened a box, taking out an object and carefully placing it on the table - a Qing dynasty Jiaqing period blue and white porcelain plate with lotus pattern.

  This antique is very exquisite, and several people are very interested in it, especially Bi Jian Guo and Lu Zhen Dong, after all, they are professionals in this field.

  Holding the Qinghua entwined branch lotus pattern porcelain plate in their hands, they are all top-notch masters who naturally know how to identify goods. After a round of appraisal, it can be confirmed that this Qinghua entwined branch lotus pattern porcelain plate is definitely genuine without a doubt.

  "Now, Ma Dong directly spoke out: 'Everyone is knowledgeable, so I won't waste words. The starting price is 100,000 yuan, and each bid must not be less than 5,000 yuan. Let's start bidding!'"

  "One hundred and fifty thousand yuan." After a brief moment of hesitation, the bid surprisingly came from Lin Xincheng, who was sitting next to Li Yan.

  "One hundred and ten thousand." Seeing someone quote a price, Old Man Bi Jian Guo was not modest.

  "I'll join in on the fun too, 115,000." Hai Ruo Feng spoke calmly, a smile spreading across his face, with an air of carefree nonchalance.

  "One hundred and twenty thousand." Lu Zhendong was also interested in this thing, and immediately followed with a quote.

  This is just the beginning, everyone's price increase is not big, it's just a tentative move, but soon after, the price is getting higher and higher, quickly exceeding 150,000 and soaring towards 200,000.

  "1.85 million... 1.9 million..." After a round of competition, the rest of the people successively dropped out of the bidding, leaving only Lu Zhendong and Bi Jianguo still competing. Between each other, they engaged in a psychological tug-of-war, and finally, when Bi Jianguo called out a price of 245 million yuan, Lu Zhendong also gave up the competition.

  "In the Qing Jiaqing period, a blue and white porcelain plate with lotus pattern was sold for 2.45 million yuan, which was bought by Old Bi. Ma Dong wisely handed over the item to Old Bi without mentioning anything about the money."

  One after another, they took turns buying several things, with prices ranging from tens of millions to hundreds of millions, which greatly broadened Li Yan's understanding of the spending habits of wealthy people. Gradually, his thoughts also underwent some changes.

  As Ma Dong's subordinate took out something again, Li Yan suddenly felt that the spiritual energy fluctuation he had sensed earlier became even more pronounced.