Auction
Qiao Jianmin picked up the phone and dialed.
The phone rang for a long time before it was picked up.
"Hello?" Zhong Ling's voice was lazy.
"Comrade Zhong Ling, I'm sorry to bother you. The truth is, various countries have already returned the cultural relics one after another."
"Oh, are they all back?" Zhong Ling asked casually.
"Most of them have arrived, and the rest are on the way. All countries now hope to negotiate with us and you about purchasing elixirs." Qiao Jianmin chose his words carefully.
"Is that so?" Zhong Ling chuckled.
"Yes, they have urged us many times."
There was silence on the other end of the phone for a moment, and Qiao Jianmin's heart was in his throat.
"There are too many people, and there aren't enough pills. I don't like trouble." Zhong Ling's voice sounded again, still unhurried. "Let them fight for it themselves."
"...What do you mean?" Qiao Jianmin was stunned.
"Let's hold an auction."
"Auction of pills?" Qiao Jianmin was excited. This was a good idea! The highest bidder wins. Fair and just!
"Well," Zhong Ling said jokingly, "I'm quite generous. There are only two spots. Whoever wins gets the pill."
When Qiao Jianmin heard this, he was stunned.
"Two places?"
For a moment, Qiao Jianmin thought he was hallucinating.
"Yeah." The voice on the other end of the phone was still calm and composed. "Two is not enough, it will only cause more trouble."
trouble?
He opened his mouth, his throat was dry, and for a moment he didn't know how to respond.
"But... Comrade Zhong Ling, only two pills are being auctioned. This... this might cause dissatisfaction among the countries that have returned the cultural relics..." Qiao Jianmin organized his words, trying to make Zhong Ling understand the seriousness of the matter.
"They returned the cultural relics just to get a ticket. Now the door is open, whether they can come in depends on their own ability." There was no emotion in Zhong Ling's voice.
"I give them a chance, and they fight for it themselves. Whoever offers the highest price proves that their need is the most urgent and their sincerity is the greatest. It's fair, isn't it?"
fair……
Qiao Jianmin was speechless.
From a certain perspective, this is indeed the fairest, simplest and most brutal way to solve the problem.
"I understand." Qiao Jianmin took a deep breath and quickly adjusted his mindset. "What about the time, location, and specific rules of the auction?"
"Let's set the time for three days later." Zhong Ling said casually.
"Three days later?"
"Any questions?"
“No…no!”
"That's it, you guys handle the follow-up matters, I trust you."
After Zhong Ling finished speaking, she hung up the phone.
Only then did Qiao Jianmin put down the phone and report to Zhou Zhenguo.
"Comrade Zhong Ling asked us to hold an auction."
Zhou Zhenguo raised his eyebrows, said nothing, and motioned him to continue.
"The time is set for three days from now." Qiao Jianmin's voice was a little erratic. "We'll decide the location. We'll handle all the subsequent matters ourselves."
He paused for a moment, then squeezed out a few words: "Only two pills for sale."
Zhou Zhenguo's hand stopped in mid-air, as if he was digesting this information.
Then he leaned back in his chair and let out a low laugh.
The laughter grew louder and louder, finally turning into a roar of laughter. "Hahahaha... Great! What a great auction!" Zhou Zhenguo's eyes welled up with tears. "Let them fight it out among themselves, let them grab it among themselves! Really... Hahahaha!"
Qiao Jianmin was stunned by his laughter, and the worry in his heart was actually diluted a lot by this laughter.
"Minister, this...isn't this taking things too far?"
"Big?" Zhou Zhenguo stopped laughing, but his eyes were surprisingly bright, "Jianmin, remember, the rules are made by the winner.
Before, we had no right to play, so we could only tiptoe around other people’s poker tables. Now, we own the poker tables!
"I understand." Qiao Jianmin suddenly understood and straightened his back unconsciously.
"Act immediately!" Zhou Zhenguo ordered, "Notify the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and send invitations to all embassies of countries returning cultural relics!"
"yes!"
Within 24 hours, invitation letters were secretly sent to embassies of various countries in Daxia.
…
Three days passed in a flash.
Shangjing, State Guesthouse.
This place is usually heavily guarded, but today, all non-essential personnel within a five-kilometer radius are cleared out, flying is prohibited, and electronic signals are closely monitored.
At two o'clock in the afternoon, a number of black bulletproof cars drove into the State Guest House.
The car door opened and the people who got out were delegations from various countries. Each of them had a serious face and vigilance in their eyes.
Without any communication, they walked quickly into the venue under the guidance of the guide.
Inside the venue was a circular staircase with a black circular platform in the center. On the platform sat a square table with two brocade boxes on it.
Apart from that, there is nothing.
The delegations from various countries were arranged in circular seats, separated from each other by a considerable distance. In front of each seat, there was only an electronic bidding machine and a confidential telephone.
The atmosphere is solemn.
When the last representative took his seat, the door of the conference hall slowly closed with a dull sound.
The lights dimmed, and only the two brocade boxes on the central platform were enveloped by a beam of light.
Everyone's eyes turned to the box.
A straight figure in a Zhongshan suit walked out from the shadows and stood at the edge of the platform. It was Qiao Jianmin.
"Everyone, welcome to the auction." His eyes swept across the audience.
"The rules are simple: the highest bidder wins."
The M country delegation sitting in the first row was led by a senior diplomat named John Smith.
His hair was combed meticulously and his face showed no expression, but his hands were clenched tightly under the table.
"Now," Qiao Jianmin's voice sounded again, "the bidding for the first pill begins."
No one spoke, everyone was calculating the value of the pills.
"Ten billion."
A voice broke the silence, a representative from Country Y.
Smith didn't even raise his eyelids when he heard the number.
"Fifty billion."
The representative from Country F spoke up and immediately raised the price fivefold. His eyes swept over the representative from Country Y, and the mockery was clear.
There was a commotion in the conference hall, and representatives from some small countries silently put down their bidding devices. They were already out of this game.
"One hundred billion." Smith finally spoke.
One hundred billion!
This number made the representatives of Country F and Country Y frown at the same time.
Qiao Jianmin stood on the stage with an expressionless face, but there were some waves in his heart.
He thought of his predecessors who were forced to sign one unequal treaty after another at the negotiating table a hundred years ago.
And today, he stood here, watching these people bidding frantically for a pill.
I can't help but feel that things change over time.
"One hundred and ten billion." The representative of Country Y gritted his teeth and added another ten billion.
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