Since Liu Zixuan said so, what else could the owner do but say to the two of them, "Okay, anyway, you're both buying this piece of jade from me, so I won't lose either way."

"How do we compare?" Liu Zixuan asked.

You Long said, "Let's pretend this is an auction. The item up for bid is this piece of jade, and the highest bidder wins!"

"No problem. What's the starting price?"

"Starting price is 1.5 million!" the owner said. In fact, that was the real value of the jade. The 4 million he had previously quoted Liu Zixuan was just to make a hefty profit.

"I'll bid 2 million!" You Long raised his head, holding up two fingers.

"Two million and one!" Liu Zixuan shrugged his shoulders.

"Hey, what's with adding just one?!" You Long glared and asked.

"You didn't set any rules about bidding increments, did you?" Liu Zixuan spread his hands, a playful expression on his face!

Beside him, Liu Ruyan stifled a laugh, casting a sorrowful look at You Long. Competing against Zixuan? You're not even close!

You Long was at a loss for words from Liu Zixuan's remark. It was his fault for not setting the rules earlier.

"Let's add this rule now: each bid must be at least 500,000 higher!"

"Alright, your turn!" Liu Zixuan gestured.

"Three million!"

"Three and a half million!"

"Four million..."

"..."

"Six million!"

You Long, after a few seconds, directly quoted a high price. When he said the number, Liu Zixuan was taken aback, as six million far exceeded the value of the jade.

But You Long didn't even bat an eye, thinking himself quite foolish!

However, the more You Long raised the price, the happier the owner was. Earlier, four million was already several times profit, yet now it was six million! Even if the auction ended, he would have earned more than half a year's income!

"Six and a half million!" Liu Zixuan smiled and said.

You Long paused. He had already made a significant mental investment going from five million to six million. After all, he had claimed his total assets were just over thirty million.

He knew full well the exaggeration was significant; paying over six million for a piece of jade was simply not worth it.

Yet in front of Liu Ruyan, he didn't want to lose face, so he opened his mouth disdainfully and asked, "Six and a half million, can you afford it?"

"Whether I can or not is my issue. If I can't, the jade still belongs to you, so you don't need to worry about it. Now, it's your turn to bid."

Liu Zixuan shrugged and provoked, "What? Are you afraid?"

"Who's afraid!"

You Long sneered coldly. Today, he needed this victory, so that Liu Ruyan would feel he was better than Liu Zixuan. If it earned him her favor, then a few million for such a beauty was worth it.

Gritting his teeth, he said, "Eight million!"

The owner couldn't suppress the trembling of his body when he heard this price.

Eight million!

A jade worth only 1.5 million was driven up to eight million, a fivefold increase. Today he truly struck gold, and even if business were slow for the next six months, he wouldn't worry about livelihood!

Eagerly, he looked towards Liu Zixuan to see if he'd call a higher price.

Liu Zixuan grinned, putting on a regretful face, saying, "Mr. You Long, you're amazing. If I were a woman, I'd probably like you too!"

"So you're admitting defeat?" You Long breathed a sigh of relief, thinking Liu Zixuan was finally conceding. This meant spending eight million to show Liu Ruyan he was better than Liu Zixuan.

Liu Zixuan looked up with a mischievous smile, "Who said I concede? This is just the beginning."

"Ten million!"

The three words Liu Zixuan uttered were gentle but thunderously struck You Long's eardrums.

Ten million! Even his liquid assets weren't that substantial.

But now he was in the heat of competition with Liu Zixuan. If he conceded, wouldn't he embarrass himself in front of the beauty!

Almost without thinking, he said, "I bid twelve million!"

"Fifteen million!" Liu Zixuan replied casually, with a grin.

At this point, Liu Ruyan approached and tugged at him, "What are you doing? It's over ten million, that's insane!"

Liu Zixuan winked at Liu Ruyan a few times. "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing!"

Seeing the brief flash of playfulness in his eyes, Liu Ruyan knew that You Long was about to fall for his scheme!

"Fifteen million!" The owner was feeling delirious, a tenfold increase! With this money, he could shut down and take his family on a world tour!

Even he couldn't keep calm anymore, asking You Long, "Mr. You Long, will you bid higher?"

"I will."

Sweat poured down You Long's forehead, either from heat or nerves. He thought to himself, "I'll bid one more time, and if Liu Zixuan raises again, I'll stop. Let him get scammed, paying tenfold the original price. If he doesn't, he'll embarrass himself in front of Ruyan and the owner."

No matter what, Liu Zixuan had to be shamed! Taking a deep breath, he exclaimed, "Twenty million!"

"My goodness!" The owner had been standing but now sat down from shock upon hearing the staggering figure.

This was enough to buy his store and all the jade within it!

He wondered, are young people these days all this crazy?

Breathing heavily, You Long looked at Liu Zixuan with a defiant pose, "Bid one more time, and I'll admit defeat!"

Liu Zixuan snorted, patting You Long's shoulder, "You win. Bring out twenty million and take the jade!"

"You... you're not bidding more?" You Long was floored.

Damn it, you're not bidding more?

You Long was utterly bewildered; he had intended for Liu Zixuan to bid once more so he could drop out, thinking he could trick Liu Zixuan into a purchase.

But the script flipped too fast; he stopped bidding!

"Yes, I don't have that much money, so naturally I can't compete with you." Liu Zixuan said innocently.

"Haha." Liu Ruyan couldn't help but laugh out loud. She knew Liu Zixuan would surely trick You Long!

Liu Ruyan was laughing, but You Long felt like crying. Twenty million for just one smirk from Liu Ruyan, which seemed like derision to him!

He only now realized he had stepped into Liu Zixuan's trap from the start!

The owner gleefully extended his hand toward You Long, "Mr. You Long, may I have the twenty million? We accept credit cards or cash, but no property mortgages."

You Long's mouth twitched a few times.

He deeply regretted boasting so boldly earlier. He didn't even possess the thirty million-plus he claimed, let alone the twenty million!

His face flushed with embarrassment, completely at a loss!

Liu Zixuan stood with crossed arms, watching You Long with a teasing expression, curious about how he'd get out of this mess...

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