In the gilded hall of Sotheby's spring auction, the shattered awnings of the crystal lamps were like stars scattered all over the dome, flowing over Lin Aotian's hand-tailored, ink-colored suit. He stared down at the emerald ring between his fingers, the gilt dragon engraved on the inside of the band looming in the light -- this was the emblem of the Lin's hidden family, and also the break he had deliberately revealed today.
"Ming Dynasty Xuande Year-Made Blue Flower Vase with Tangled Lotus Pattern, starting bid two million dollars!" The host's voice crashed through the stagnant air, and behind the carved glass of the VIP room on the second floor, the twelfth bidding card was raised in response. Lin Ao Tian raised his eyes and looked right at the flashing pink diamond ring between Su Qing's fingers, which was Zhou Ming Xuan's birthday gift customized for her last month at Cartier's main store.
It had been three years, and this woman who had once shattered his mother's leftover emerald bracelet at the engagement party still liked to pile up her vanity with luxury goods.
"Three million." Zhou Mingxuan's voice carried the characteristic arrogance of a playboy, and low light laughter came from the VIP room, obviously Su Qing was applauding his generosity. Lin Aotian rubbed his fingertips over the ring, remembering that three months ago, Su Qing had said to him in exactly this tone, "Lin Aotian, you don't even have a decent car, what are you going to give me happiness?"
"Five million." His voice was like a blade quenched with ice, stirring up a thousand waves in the auction hall. All eyes converged on the young man sitting in the corner, and Zhou Mingxuan's face instantly turned blue -- at the business reception three days ago, it was this man he called "poor office worker" who used three financial statements at the board meeting to expose the loopholes in Hengyuan Group's capital chain.
"Eight million dollars!" Zhou Mingxuan's forehead veins rippled, the bidding card almost poking through the ceiling. He stole a glance at Su Qing, who was caressing the Van Cleef & Arpels necklace on her chest with her Chanel nail polish-coated fingers, anticipation flashing in her eyes. This scene reminds Lin Ao Tian of the engagement banquet three years ago, when he took out the emerald bracelet left behind by his mother, Su Qing had the same look, only the next second she dropped the bracelet on the ground, the sound of shattering jade mingled with her sneer, "Wearing fakes to fill up the broad, are you not ashamed of yourself?"
"Ten million dollars." When Lin Ao Tian opened his mouth, the emerald on the ring suddenly refracted a blinding light, just in time to reflect the hidden dragon embroidery on his cuffs. The crunching sound of porcelain breaking came from the VIP room, it should be Su Qing who dropped the crystal cup by mistake. The host's voice began to tremble, this price is already three times the estimate, a new high for this auction.
Zhou Mingxuan's hand hung in mid-air, the family's old butler whispered in his ear, "Young master, you are using the trust fund's reserve, the board of directors will be checking the accounts at the end of the month ..." The young man's face instantly turned pale, and the bidding card "snapped" to the ground.
"Sold!" The moment the auction gavel fell, Lin Ao Tian got up to straighten his cufflinks, the dragon embroidery was clearly visible under the crystal light. Surrounded by the sound of huffing and puffing, finally someone remembered that the mysterious helmsman of the Huading Group, indeed surnamed Lin, and with the legendary control of half of Asia's financial circle of the hidden family of the same lineage.
"Mr. Lin stay back." The sound of high heels rang out sharply behind her, Su Qing's Chanel suit wrinkled out a few folds, "Back then it was me ..."
"Back then?" Lin Ao Tian turned around, the bottom of his eyes knotted with ice that wouldn't melt for ten thousand years, "When you said that I was a phoenix man relying on my parents for succor in the red rose-strewn auditorium, did you ever think that the jadeite bracelet that my mother left to me could fetch eight million dollars at Sotheby's?" He drew out the hot gold check and flung it at the other party's feet, "Just enough to buy the celadon vase you didn't grab just now, as a breakup fee for you."
Su Qing's eyes froze on the check, her nails pinched deep into her palm. She suddenly remembered, dating three years, Lin Aotian will always wear ZARA discounted suits, driving a second-hand Passat, but always in her birthday to send Tiffany's necklace -- it turned out that those are not at all his "frugal" gifts, but it is just a random scattering of change.
"Mr. Lin, Zhou Dong from Zhou Group is waiting for you in the VIP room." Assistant Chen Mo handed over a tablet computer, the screen flashed with Hengyuan Group's financial statements for the past six months, the red annotations were particularly blinding. Lin Ao Tian scanned through the entries such as "Trust Fund Misappropriation in Violation of the Law" " West Coast Project False Capital Injection " and so on, the corner of his lips hooked up in an icy arc.
In the VIP lounge, Zhou Jianbang's handshake carried a tentative intensity, "My canine son is young and frivolous, I hope that Lin Shaohan will bear with me."
"Uncle Zhou is polite." Lin Ao Tian's fingertips scratched the tablet, "Hengyuan's project in the West Coast, I remember that your company has a 45% share?" He suddenly turned the screen towards the other party, "If Uncle Zhou is willing to concede 30% of the equity, I can forget about the little episode at the auction today."
Zhou Jianbang's pupils suddenly contracted, and on the screen was the trust fund appropriation agreement signed by Zhou Mingxuan, signed exactly half an hour ago. This young man, actually dared to violate the family's bottom line for the sake of a woman while knowing his Lin Ao Tian's identity.
"Lin Shao this is ..."
"Zhou Group's financial director, just last month he paid thirty million dollars into the account in the Cayman Islands." Lin Ao Tian interrupted the other party, "If Uncle Zhou feels that the equity transfer is not sincere enough, I don't mind giving this information to my friends at the SFC as afternoon tea."
As he left the auction hall, the night breeze of Huangpu River sent a humid scent. Lin Aotian leaned against the door of the black Maybach, looking at Su Qing's back as she left in a mess, and finally touched the emerald bracelet in the inner pocket of his suit -- it was the one that his mother had slipped into his hand before she died, and the cold touch felt like her last words, "Aotian, live like a dragon."
Cell phone vibration, the family group popped up the old master's message: tomorrow night at eight o'clock, the old mansion deliberations. The attached locator is the vermilion lacquer gate deep in the Suzhou garden, a place he has not stepped into since he was sixteen. Thinking of last month's shareholders meeting, the second uncle Lin Zhenguo publicly questioned his inheritance, saying that his "mother's lowly origin makes it difficult for him to take on a big role", his fingertips could not help but pinch the emerald bracelet tightly.
"Chen Mo, organize Zhou Group's financial loopholes into three copies and send them to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Banking and Insurance Commission, and Hengyuan's board of directors tomorrow." He sat in the car, the leather seats transmitted a familiar touch, "In addition, check the recent dealings between Uncle Two and the Southeast Asian consortiums, I remember that his youngest son just registered the shell company in Singapore."
The car screen lit up, showing that Huading Group's share price rose 3.7% after the auction, and the headline of the financial news read, "Mysterious tycoon Lin Aotian appeared at Sotheby's, and Huading system capital may start a new round of mergers and acquisitions". Lin Aotian looked out of the car window at the flashing neon rainbow, and suddenly laughed softly -- those who laughed at him at the engagement party, and those who belittled Huading at the business cocktail party, would soon know what it meant to be truly crushed by capital.
The Maybach sped through the night, the gilt dragon pattern on the car's badge brightening and fading under the streetlights, like a dragon that had been dormant for many years, finally about to open its scarlet eyes and make the entire business district tremble at his dragon's roar. And this night's auction was just the first clear whistle of his dragon's business journey.