My happy life in a courtyard house with triplets.

Chapter 548: Playing Tricks on Li Mingjie

The first item up for auction was an antique jade pendant.

After activating his Eye of Truth, Zhang Lei clearly saw the jade pendant surrounded by a rich green aura, and immediately raised his bidding paddle.

The host immediately announced: "Guest number one has bid 300,000!"

Seeing Zhang Lei make a bid, Li Mingjie immediately raised his paddle to compete: "Guest number eight, three hundred and fifty thousand!"

The two went back and forth, and the price soared from 400,000, 450,000, and 500,000 to quickly break the million mark.

Li Mingjie stared at Zhang Lei with a provocative look, appearing completely fearless.

Zhou Weiran whispered to Zhang Lei, "Zhang Lei, don't argue with Li Mingjie. There's no need to blindly raise the price for an ordinary jade pendant."

Zhang Lei smiled faintly: "It's nothing. I'm just killing time anyway, so I'm just teasing some suckers."

Immediately afterwards, he raised his paddle: "One million five hundred thousand."

At the same time, he made a provocative gesture towards Li Mingjie.

Enraged, Li Mingjie gritted his teeth and roared, "Two million!"

The room erupted in commotion. The host's gaze fell on Zhang Lei, waiting for him to raise the price further.

To everyone's surprise, Zhang Lei simply put down his bidding paddle, lowered his head to eat, and stopped participating in the bidding.

Zhou Weiran instantly beamed with joy, and Li Mingjie finally realized that he had been tricked by her from beginning to end.

Even though he was furious, he could only put on a brave face and stubbornly said, "A mere two million is nothing but a drop in the ocean for me."

His female companion immediately echoed and flattered him, trying her best to please him.

For the second, third, fourth, and fifth items, Zhang Lei used the same trick, occasionally feigning bidding to lure Li Mingjie.

Whenever Zhang Lei makes a provocative gesture, Li Mingjie loses his temper, frantically raising the price and repeatedly bidding high prices for unimportant items.

Zhang Lei turned to look at Zhou Weiran beside him, smiling broadly: "You'd better thank me properly today. Without me, how could we have caught such a generous sucker and added revenue to your Zhou family's charity gala?"

Zhou Weiran smiled, her eyes crinkling, and asked, "Then how should I thank you?"

Zhang Lei pointed to the food on the table and said in a serious tone, "Just pay the bill for my table."

Zhou Weiran couldn't help but chuckle: "You didn't come here just to freeload, did you?"

Zhang Lei nodded frankly: "How did you figure that out?"

"Everyone in the room knows perfectly well what's going on," Zhou Weiran explained. "The formal banquet will only begin after the auction ends. Everyone will wait until the event is over to eat. No one will be like you, eating and drinking as soon as they enter."

Zhang Lei was taken aback for a moment, then suddenly realized, "No wonder everyone was looking at me strangely earlier. But it doesn't matter, being full is the most important thing. Anyway, all expenses tonight will be paid for by your Zhou family."

Looking at his carefree and easygoing manner, Zhou Weiran chuckled helplessly, "So, in that case, I should thank you instead?"

Zhang Lei raised an eyebrow, his tone confident: "No need to be polite, it was just a small favor."

Hearing Zhang Lei's words, Zhou Weiran covered her mouth and laughed.

At this moment, Zhang Lei's gaze fell on a newly introduced item, which turned out to be an authentic work by Tang Yin.

Zhang Lei looked at Zhou Weiran and said, "Your family is quite generous, even putting such a priceless masterpiece up for auction."

Looking at the ancient painting on the stage, Zhou Weiran replied helplessly, "I didn't expect my father to bring this painting out. But now that it's up for auction, it should be the last item tonight."

Upon hearing that it was the final item in the auction, Zhang Lei casually counted the number of sessions and joked, "There are only a few items. Your Zhou family is being far too stingy."

These words immediately annoyed Zhou Weiran, who frowned and explained, "That's not true! If it weren't for the constant accidents and delays during the construction of the Cloud Top Building, which led to a tight cash flow, we wouldn't have had to resort to only a few items from our collection as a temporary measure."

Upon hearing the words "Genting Tower," Zhang Lei immediately became interested: "Oh? Then tell me, what exactly happened to your building?"

Zhou Weiran put aside his concerns and slowly revealed the inside story: "I don't know the specific details, but I know that accidents have been happening frequently and mysteriously at the construction site, and someone even died a while ago."

After the accident, we not only had to bear huge death compensation, but we also had to be subject to key supervision and investigation by higher authorities.

This week alone, my father has been summoned for questioning by relevant departments three times.

Zhang Lei nodded slightly: "That is indeed quite serious."

"That's right," Zhou Weiran said with a worried expression. "If the stalemate continues, the Zhou family will eventually be dragged down by this building."

Zhang Lei said casually, "If all else fails, we can just abandon the project and cut our losses."

Zhou Weiran shook his head repeatedly: "It's not that simple. The project is not solely funded by the Zhou family. My family is the leading party, and the funds from all the investors have already been deposited into the account."

If construction is forcibly halted and the project becomes an abandoned project, the penalties we have to pay will be astronomical.

Zhang Lei pondered for a moment and asked, "So, how much funding do you still need?"

Zhou Weiran was slightly taken aback, then chuckled: "Don't worry about these things."

"I was just asking casually, can't I even get a sense of the situation?" Zhang Lei said in a flat tone.

Zhou Weiran hesitated for a moment before truthfully saying, "I heard my father mention before that there is still a funding gap of 500 million yuan."

Zhang Lei responded casually, "Oh."

"I told you so," Zhou Weiran shrugged, "Even if I told you, you wouldn't be able to help at all."

Zhang Lei smiled slightly: "Not necessarily. Maybe I have a way. Besides, the troubles of your Zhou family are not just as simple as a lack of money."

Zhou Weiran looked puzzled: "Then where do you think the problem lies?"

"The root cause is the strange occurrences at the Genting Tower construction site," Zhang Lei said slowly. "Money can fill the gaps, but it can't suppress those abnormal situations."

Zhou Weiran nodded in agreement: "You're right, but the police have already sent people to the scene to investigate, but they couldn't find anything unusual, so they have no way to start."

Zhang Lei shook his head slightly: "The police only deal with ordinary disputes and man-made disasters. For this kind of strange thing, we need to use a different method."

"What method?" Zhou Weiran asked hurriedly.

"There's a Qingxuan Temple on the outskirts of the city. I've met Master Xuanyangzi there; his Taoist skills are profound," Zhang Lei said slowly. "You might as well go and ask him for help; perhaps he can resolve the strange problems at the construction site."

Zhou Weiran looked on in surprise: "Go find a Taoist priest?"

"We can give it a try," Zhang Lei replied calmly.

Zhou Weiran took it as a casual remark and didn't take it to heart, replying perfunctorily, "Thank you for your suggestion, but let's forget about it."

Zhang Lei didn't say anything more and turned to look at the auction stage.

At this point, the price of Tang Yin's authentic work had already been driven up to 50 million by the crowd.

Just as the bidding was at a stalemate, Zhang Lei raised his paddle and said in a low but impactful voice, "One hundred million."

The entire venue fell silent instantly.

Everyone was shocked. Who would raise the price like that, doubling it directly?

Li Mingjie stared intently at Zhang Lei, his face full of sarcasm and suspicion: "Do you have that much money? And you dare to ask for prices so casually?"

Zhang Lei glanced at him coldly: "Whether I have money or not is none of your business. If you're so capable, then keep raising the price; if not, then shut up."

Enraged by the rebuke, Li Mingjie pointed at Zhang Lei and shouted angrily, "You!"

"Don't point your finger at me," Zhang Lei said calmly. "I'm not your father, I won't indulge you in everything."

Li Mingjie was completely enraged and gritted his teeth as he raised his sign: "One hundred and ten million!"

"One hundred and twenty million."

"One hundred and thirty million!"

"One hundred and forty million."

Li Mingjie, veins bulging, roared, "One hundred and fifty million!"

All eyes in the room fell on Zhang Lei, waiting for him to raise the price further.

To everyone's surprise, Zhang Lei simply put down the number plate in his hand, picked up his water glass, and said slowly, "The food today was indeed quite good."

Li Mingjie's expression changed drastically; he nearly spat out a mouthful of blood, and angrily demanded, "Why didn't you raise the price?!"

Zhang Lei glanced at him indifferently, his tone mocking: "I'm not a sucker, why should I waste my money on you?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the surrounding guests covered their mouths, trying hard to suppress their laughter.

Li Mingjie trembled with rage, gritting his teeth as he repeatedly said, "Good! Good! Good! You've got guts!"

Zhang Lei smiled calmly and reminded her, "Congratulations on winning the prize. Remember to settle the payment on time and don't default."

Zhou Weiran looked worried and whispered a reminder: "You should leave as soon as the auction ends. Li Mingjie suffered such a big loss in public, he definitely won't let it go, and he will definitely find someone to retaliate against you."

Zhang Lei smiled faintly, his tone full of confidence: "Take revenge on me? He doesn't have that ability, nor can he afford the consequences of provoking me."

Seeing Zhang Lei's confident demeanor, Zhou Weiran couldn't tell whether his words were just a show of bravado or if he truly had something to rely on.