"What?"
Hongxiu felt utterly shocked. She stared at Shen Jianyi in disbelief, convinced that it was all a hoax.
"Not a single cent?"
Shen Jianyi remained calm, as if she had brought all her wealth and was just joking.
She nodded placidly. "Yes."
"How are we going to outbid others?"
Shen Jianyi placed her hand on the table and gave a cold glance. Hongxiu immediately understood.
Not all problems could be solved with money. Just like earlier, fists could do the trick.
"Are you going to fight? That doesn't seem right," Lu Weiran said with concern. After all, he knew nothing about martial arts and had no means of self - defense.
Shen Jianyi stared expressionlessly at the area below. "There's nothing wrong with it. Xu Wenji has to be captured alive."
"Oh, I get it!" Lu Weiran was still on edge. "But we could pay the money first and then go after him. Isn't this fight a bit..."
Hongxiu interrupted immediately. "This is not a fight. It's a one - sided crushing."
These words shocked him time and time again. Sure enough, just a few days with them had shown him how ruthless these people could be.
"You guys are really terrifying," he shrank in his seat, trembling.
Getting back to business, this was exactly why Shen Jianyi had said it would be a bit troublesome to help this girl.
Put like this, on one hand, they had to deal with so many people, and on the other, they had to capture Xu Wenji. There was simply no time to spare for others.
Hongxiu was decisive. She didn't like complicated matters. "Song Wen, we've helped you stay. You should handle your sister's matter on your own."
Hearing this, Song Wen didn't pester them. She knew in her heart that they had already done more than enough for her.
"Thank you. Can I stay here a while longer? I'm afraid they'll kick me out again."
"Sure!" Hongxiu was an easy - going person.
The group gathered together. Shen Jianyi was thinking about their next move.
A moment later.
Shen Jianyi looked up. Just as she was about to speak, she met Lu Jinsheng's dark eyes. Her eyes trembled slightly, and a gentle smile appeared on her lips.
Even the words she said afterwards seemed to be filled with warmth. "We'll split up later."
"Facai and Xialiang, take the chip during the chaos and then hide. Protect the chip and the serum at all costs..."
Right now, Facai was the most important one, for he carried so many valuable things.
Shen Jianyi gave repeated instructions. "Under no circumstances should you hand them over to anyone else. You must hold them personally."
"Okay!" Facai's eyes were firm.
"Jinsheng and I will go after Xu Wenji. His current location... Xialiang, start investigating now. Hongxiu, you go rescue Song Nuan."
Hongxiu was taken aback. She was about to object, but then she thought that maybe Shen Jianyi wasn't as heartless as people said. She still had a bit of humanity.
Even Song Wen was surprised when she heard this. This beautiful woman had been silent all this time, but then she quietly arranged for someone to rescue her sister.
She came to her senses. The first thing she had to do was to thank them.
Song Wen stood up and bowed deeply to Shen Jianyi and the others. Her voice trembled. "Thank you for helping me rescue my sister."
Shen Jianyi replied casually. "You're welcome."
She didn't listen to what else Song Wen had to say. Instead, she continued to arrange the operation. Lu Weiran was the only one left with nothing to do.
So, Shen Jianyi assigned him a very important task.
The woman said seriously with a straight face. "Lu Weiran, you cover Xialiang and Facai's retreat. Protect them and stop others."
Lu Weiran was completely confused. He pointed at himself, looking utterly incredulous. "Da... Da - sao, are you serious?"
"Of course."
"No joke?"
Shen Jianyi didn't have the time to waste on his nonsense. Annoyed by his constant nagging, she said impatiently, "Stop talking nonsense. Do it if you don't want to die!"
He immediately fell silent and looked at Lu Jinsheng pitifully.
But Lu Jinsheng ignored him. After all, he was also under Shen Jianyi's command.
...
The irrelevant people at the auction had left the venue.
The first floor was now empty. Only a dozen families on the second floor were sitting in a circle, waiting for the chip to appear.
The host was still keeping them in suspense. There was a special band performing during the intermission.
With a "boom", the entire venue seemed to move forward on its own.
Lu Weiran almost flew out of his chair. He held tightly to the armrest. "What's going on? This place seems to be moving!"
"Be more confident. Remove the 'seems'."
Hongxiu had noticed something earlier. The South Sea auction was not that simple. This was the grand finale. It seemed they were going to a safer place.
Just then, Lu Jinsheng said expressionlessly, "The South Sea auction is actually a cruise ship. It rarely moves. It seems this time it will be a bit difficult."
But he wasn't overly worried. Lu Jinsheng hadn't brought Mo Yun with them precisely because he was worried about such an unexpected situation.
Once they were on the sea, if the other side took any drastic measures, the organizers would surely take extreme actions.
By then, the organizers would find a way to escape, while they would be trapped on this cruise ship and sink to the bottom of the sea to feed the sharks with the others.
So, Lu Jinsheng had told Mo Yun to be ready with the private plane at any time to ensure everything went smoothly.
In the face of this situation, Lu Jinsheng and Shen Jianyi had the same expression. Neither of them showed fear or panic.
Hongxiu swallowed hard. Maybe this was the gap between them. It had to be said that this couple was really tough.
After a break of over half an hour.
The host walked onto the stage again. Holding a microphone, he looked at the people on the second floor.
"The item for our grand finale is about to appear. Please control your emotions. Don't overreact. Bid in the proper way."
Then, a woman in a red dress walked onto the stage carrying a tray.
She showed the item on the tray from every angle. Inside the bright red box was a tiny object that looked extremely shabby.
But Shen Jianyi knew very well that this was the chip, the real chip she had been looking for for so long.