Chapter 160

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Chapter 160: Utter Humiliation

Ye Xiao blinked curiously.

Jiang Shuyan looked a little tired, but her eyes were clear and bright—completely unlike someone who would be another man’s mistress.

The auction continued.

There were several bankrupt companies up for sale, covering all kinds of industries.

However, Ye Xiao didn’t participate in the rest of the bidding.

Given her current resources, acquiring Jiyin Media & Entertainment was more than enough. She also understood how difficult and costly it would be to run a film and television company properly.

Even with the money-printing power of “My World”, it would barely be enough to support the development of just this one company.

She did want to bring some of the awe-inspiring entertainment works from her previous life to this world.

But even then—you still have to take things one bite at a time, right?

Better to settle the Jiyin matter first.

“Ladies and gentlemen, today’s charity auction has now been running for over two hours. Up next is the final item of the event—one I believe many of you came specifically to bid on.

“That’s right. The last item of today’s auction is a parcel of land.

“This piece of land is located at the intersection of Xintang Road and Jingjiang Road in Binhai City. It covers a total area of about “260 mu”. The starting bid is one billion yuan. The bidding begins now!”

As the auctioneer’s voice fell, a video presentation began playing on the display screen, showing the land’s location in detail, along with surrounding land prices and the city government’s planned subway routes.

It was estimated that the Line 9 subway route would open in the next two to three years.

Line 9 would pass directly under this land, eventually connecting with Line 2.

This land wasn’t far from Binhai’s commercial center either.

Once the subway line opened, it would provide a direct transit link to the city’s core business district.

While the land parcel wasn’t especially large, it’s true value far exceeded one billion!

It’s future appreciation was guaranteed.

Whether developed into high-end residential housing or commercial office buildings—it was a sure-fire money-maker.

One billion was just the starting price. Ye Xiao estimated the actual winning bid might reach two billion or more.

The Lu family, the Li family, and the Su family—all had business operations in real estate. Other developers in Binhai were already getting fired up to compete.

“Fifteen million!”

Li Yansheng was the first to bid—jumping fifteen million right out of the gate.

Ye Xiao blinked in surprise.

Was this guy always so generous?

She didn’t know much about Li Mengyue’s father and didn’t want to make assumptions.

As one of the three major families, she didn’t doubt the Li family’s ability to bring up that kind of capital.

That was the kind of confidence the three great families of Binhai had.

Of course, Ye Xiao had no experience in real estate and didn’t understand the many twists and turns of such business operations.

In real estate, once a developer secures land, they can use the land contract as collateral to obtain bank loans.

Meanwhile, during the development phase, commercial buildings can be pre-sold.

In other words, even before construction starts, the units are already being sold.

The pre-sale price is usually lower than the standard price, and they run promotional offers to quickly recoup capital.

The funds collected from these pre-sales are then used to actually build the development!

Some real estate firms subcontract the construction work.

But large developers have their own construction teams, run building materials markets, and even offer full-service interior decoration—a complete in-house supply chain.

Back in the 90’s, some developers even exploited loopholes to pull off what was essentially something-for-nothing.

They would pose as wealthy individuals, secure a bank loan, then use that loan to purchase land. With the land contract in hand, they’d borrow even more from another bank.

Then they’d convince contractors and materials suppliers to start the foundation work—before a single cent of their own money was ever spent.

Then came the pre-sales.

Once they had cash from the sales, they could pay off the loans.

Step by step—

Without spending a dime of their own money, they could make billions in profit!

If you were good at talking and scheming, anything was possible.

Of course, as times changed, government oversight of land sales became stricter.

Pulling off those “something-for-nothing” scams had become increasingly difficult.

Still, the capital flow tactics remained highly flexible.

Some commercial geniuses had mastered these techniques to perfection.

They could treat one billion as if it were ten—and then use those ten to generate ten more.

In just a few years, it was possible to build up a personal fortune in the hundreds of billions.

Of course, some succeeded, rising from scammers to industry legends.

Others failed—becoming outright fraudsters, ending up in prison.

Ye Xiao, while full of clever ideas and tricks, was a total outsider when it came to capital operations like this.

In short—this land auction was highly competitive.

Unknowingly, the bidding had already reached 2.3 billion yuan.

Ye Xiao was certainly interested—missing out on such an exciting event would be a shame.

But she wasn’t eligible to bid.

To participate in land auctions, companies must apply in advance.

There were regulations:

1. Bidders must collect the necessary auction documentation.
2. Bidders must submit an application to the City Land Exchange Center and pay a deposit for qualification.
3. Qualified bidders must collect a bidding paddle from the City Land Exchange Center before the auction.

Ye Xiao hadn’t done any of this.

She hadn’t picked up any documents or registered.

So this final land auction had nothing to do with her.

All eligible bidders were certified real estate developers in Binhai.

“2.5 billion! Gentlemen—could you give me a little face, and let this piece of land go? The Ye family will definitely remember this favor.”

After placing his bid, Ye Chen stood up from his seat and swept his gaze across the hall.

Smaller real estate firms had already dropped out—the remaining competition was among the big players.

Even though the major developers were still cautious, they had no intention of giving up such a golden opportunity.

“2.6 billion!”

Li Yansheng, as a member of one of the three major families, might have shown deference to a high-ranking executive from the Ye family.

But Ye Chen? He was just a freshly retrieved kid they had brought back into the family. He didn’t hold that much weight.

Offending Ye Chen didn’t equate to offending the Ye family.

“2.601 billion…”

Ye Chen gritted his teeth as he called out the number.

He hadn’t expected that the rich moguls of Binhai would actually show the Ye family no respect.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Ye Chen,” auctioneer Mr. Wang Gang reminded him at the right moment. “The bidding rules state that each increment must be at least ten million yuan.”

Ye Chen’s face turned red, then pale, then red again, as if he had suffered a massive humiliation. He flushed angrily and called out again: “2.61 billion!”

Since returning to the Ye family, he had never lost face in front of so many prominent figures.

The wealthy elites in attendance were all sharper than monkeys.

At first, some of them still had doubts about what Su Ruoxue had said earlier—but after seeing Ye Chen’s behavior now, all of those doubts vanished.

If Ye Chen had truly come to Binhai with the full support of the Ye family, how could he not even handle winning a land bid?

Realizing this crucial detail, the developers present hesitated no longer and completely ignored Ye Chen from that point on.