My master gave me a death mission: to go down the mountain and retrieve his granddaughter.

Each invitation had a corresponding seat. Su Muchen and Liu Ziyan's invitations were given to Shen Beishan by the organizers. Given Shen Beishan's status, his seat naturally couldn't be arranged in the back, so the two of them sat in the front row.

Qian Yutang was a strong contender for the first "Stone King" and was naturally arranged to sit in the first row by the organizers, but his seat was different from Su Muchen's.

However, this did not stump Qian Yutang. No one knows what method he used or what benefits he promised, but the guest sitting next to Su Muchen switched seats with Qian Yutang after communicating with the staff for a while.

"Wow! Brother Qian, you've got some serious connections. Everyone sitting in the front row is someone of high status, and you actually managed to persuade them to switch seats with you."

Su Muchen was a little surprised that Qian Yutang sat next to him. Apart from him and Liu Ziyan, everyone who was arranged to sit in the front row by the organizers was a person of extremely high status, and there was no need to give Qian Yutang any face.

"Brother Su, don't make fun of me. I paid a price to sit next to you. The man who was sitting next to you just now was a jewelry boss from Guangdong Province. I have some business dealings with him. The reason he was willing to give up this seat was because I promised him that I would give him a 10% discount in our cooperation. That's why he was willing to change seats."

"One-tenth? Brother Qian, you're really generous. It's just a seat, is it really necessary to make such a fuss?"

Su Muchen was surprised that Qian Yutang was willing to pay such a high price to sit next to him. Although he didn't know how much a 10% profit was, it was certainly not a small amount for someone in the jewelry business.

"Boss Qian, you're really getting worse as you get older. You're actually fawning over a young punk, and you're going to great lengths to switch seats just to sit next to him. What, is this kid your illegitimate son? Hahaha..."

It was that annoying voice again. Boss Chen was sitting one seat away from Qian Yutang. He had seen Qian Yutang switch seats with the boss from Guangdong Province.

They called over the staff member who had relayed the message and learned that Qian Yutang had paid a high price to get the seat. Then, seeing Qian Yutang fawning over Su Muchen, they immediately dismissed him and used the excuse of mocking Qian Yutang.

"Hey Chen, why are you so persistent? What I do has nothing to do with you. Besides, it's my honor to befriend Brother Su. You narrow-minded person wouldn't understand."

When Qian Yutang saw that the person speaking was that scoundrel surnamed Chen again, the smile on his face immediately disappeared, replaced by a sour expression, and he retorted to Boss Chen.

"Hey, you surnamed Qian, don't be so arrogant. Just now, I mobilized several hundred million more funds. Now I have half as much money as you do. You want to bid for the first 'Stone King'? Dream on!"

After the conflict between Boss Chen and Qian Yutang in the exhibition hall, in order to be on the safe side, he mortgaged a lot of his property and raised several hundred million yuan again. Now he has more than a billion yuan in funds on hand, and he is determined to get the first "stone king".

But Boss Chen never imagined that in Qian Yutang's eyes, he was just a clown, no different from a fool.

"Hmph, Mr. Chen, don't be too happy yet. Do you really think I don't have a backup plan? I've already secretly prepared a sum of money that I can use at any time. We don't know who will win this battle yet!"

Qian Yutang was really trying to rip Boss Chen off. As soon as he said those words, Boss Chen's expression froze, and he instantly felt a sense of crisis.

"Hmph, I'm too lazy to waste any more words with you. Let's settle this with our skills."

Boss Chen turned his head away, no longer confronting Qian Yutang, quickly took out his phone, made a call, and began to talk in hushed tones.

"Brother Qian, that's a bit mean. Look at that guy surnamed Chen, he sensed the crisis and went to raise money again."

Su Muchen overheard every word of Qian Yutang's conversation with Boss Chen. He knew that Boss Chen was about to be ruined by Qian Yutang.

"Hahaha... Who told him to be so reckless and disrespectful to Brother Su? I won't be able to get away with this until he's completely ruined. Let's pool our resources, the more the better. When that final 'King of Stones' is cut open, he'll be crying."

Qian Yutang could already foresee that Boss Chen would spend a fortune to buy the "King of Stones," only to find out after cutting it open that he had lost everything and was on the verge of bankruptcy. Just thinking about it made him happy.

"Chairman Liang, Secretary Jiang has arrived..."

Just then, a voice rang out at the entrance of the auction house, immediately drawing everyone's attention.

An elderly man and a middle-aged man walked in side by side at the entrance of the auction house.

The elderly man was probably around sixty years old, dressed in a traditional Chinese suit, with a kind smile on his face. He bowed to the guests as he walked along.

The middle-aged man was around fifty years old, wearing an executive jacket. Although he had a smile on his face, it couldn't hide his dignified air.

"Brother Qian, who are these two? Why is everyone treating them so respectfully?"

"Brother Su, these two are the co-organizers of this auction. See that old man? He is Liang Liguang, the vice president of the National Jade Association. And that middle-aged man in the administrative jacket is Secretary Jiang from Subei City. It is said that he will be transferred to the province as vice governor next term. These two are definitely big shots."

After Qian Yutang's introduction, Su Muchen knew who the person was. However, Su Muchen did not expect that such a big shot would show up at such a small auction.

"Brother Qian, it's just a small auction, why has it attracted the attention of so many people?"

"Hehe! Brother Su, you don't know this, but this auction isn't actually very high-profile. After all, it's a joint event organized by the Jade Association and local authorities, not enough to attract experts from all over the country. The reason is..."

After Qian Yutang's detailed explanation, Su Muchen finally understood the implications.

The reason why the vice president of the National Jade Association and the municipal party secretary were able to participate was because of the nature of this auction. This auction was semi-charitable, and half of the money raised was used to aid Guangxi Province.

Just last month, Guixi province was hit by once-in-a-century floods, leaving millions stranded. The entire country mobilized to provide disaster relief, and many local governments joined forces with businesspeople from all walks of life to hold various charitable events in order to raise money to support Guixi province.

The vice president of the National Jade Association attended the auction for two reasons. First, the final item in the auction was provided by their association. Second, the second "King of Stones" was one he had collected for a long time, so he naturally had to participate.

Moreover, this auction is a charitable event and a great opportunity for Chairman Liang to appear in front of the entire nation, so of course he couldn't possibly miss it.

Secretary Jiang's purpose was even simpler. He had initiated and organized this auction, and if it was a complete success, it would be a real achievement that would leave a glorious mark on his resume. How could he possibly miss such an opportunity to gain political credit?

"I see, that explains it."

Su Muchen had only recently entered the secular world and had not paid any attention to what was happening in China, so naturally he was unaware of these things.

Just after these two important figures sat down in the middle of the first row, a beautiful woman wearing gold-rimmed glasses and a business suit slowly walked onto the auction stage.

"Please be quiet, everyone. Our auction is about to begin."

"First, let me introduce myself. I am the auctioneer for this auction, my name is Yu Qingran. Without further ado, let's move on to lot number one..."

The auction has officially begun!