Chapter 16: A Fierce Dragon Crossing The River?

Zhang Lihua was also dressed in a black professional suit. She stood close to Su Pingnan on his right.

Su Wenwen and the others followed him in high spirits. For a moment, Su Pingnan felt ambitious—today he was taking Jinxiu Group to formally appear in Wucheng’s upper circles.

In the two months since his rebirth, with all the work in Ertai Town completed, Su Pingnan finally had the capital to bare his fangs at Wucheng.

Today was his first step.

The auction was small, only about fifty seats. Su Pingnan didn’t sit in the front row but took a seat toward the back and sat quietly. Zhang Lihua, holding a thick stack of documents, sat to his left.

Su Pingnan felt that having too many people around would make him look too conspicuous, so he had Su Wenwen and Guo Guangyao take the others to wait outside the venue.

Wu Yan also entered the hall, his expression wavering as he glanced at Su Pingnan from time to time and whispered with the people beside him.

In Wu Yan’s circle, the strongest was Li Dongfang’s eldest son, Li Changhai, who did real estate in Hainan.

“Changhai, we must work together—today there might be a fierce dragon crossing the river.”

Li Changhai looked up when he heard this. He was about twenty-seven or twenty-eight, his father had large operations in Hainan and reportedly billions in assets. Li Changhai himself ran a coal business in Wucheng, so he was both young and proud, and had good reason to be arrogant.

He smiled faintly and said, “Uncle Wu, your information is a bit outdated. He’s just a local upstart of Wucheng.”

After saying that he picked up the file handed to him a minute earlier and read it aloud with a smile: “Su Pingnan, from the Su family living in a village in Changyang County. Six months ago he rose to fame by using bloody methods to drive away the itinerant pickpockets who occupied the train station. This man is ruthless—two months ago he set up Jinxiu Foods and Jinxiu Catering. They say he’s making a fortune every day and has some real potential.”

Only five minutes after Su Pingnan entered, Li Changhai already had Su Pingnan’s basic dossier—proof of how deep the Li family’s roots were in Wucheng over many years.

Wu Yan and the others immediately nodded and awkwardly said, “That’s good to hear. His aura scared me. If he’s not that powerful, then he’s not a threat.”

Li Changhai sneered, “A country bumpkin who had nothing and in six months put on such a show—it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what sort of person he is.”

He turned to Li Yun behind him and said, “Call Jiang Qingsheng over.”

The burly, tall Li Yun nodded and went out without a word.

Wu Yan and the others hurriedly asked, “Changhai, why call him here?”

“You’re asking me why?” Li Changhai sneered.

“I’m afraid he doesn’t know the rules and will butt in recklessly. Oh, I forgot to tell you—this man has a really flashy nickname among gangsters. Want to know what it is?”

Seeing their puzzled faces, Li Changhai said coldly, “Wucheng’s fiercest Little Red Robe.”

In this almost lawless age, violence always inspired fear. Wu Yan and the others, now pampered and affluent, fell silent at the words.

Li Changhai patted the shoulders of several men old enough to be his uncles. His voice dropped low and was filled with contempt, “Wucheng’s fiercest? Is he fiercer than our Gate God Jiang?”

Su Pingnan had no idea what all these people were saying about him behind his back. He and Zhang Lihua leaned in low to discuss some precautions for the auction.

The auction was hosted by a top official from the Economic Committee. After nearly half an hour of long-winded talk he finally announced the official start.

The first item was Li Ruming’s Mercedes-Benz W140 with the license plate number 16888, starting price 500,000.

Zhang Lihua glanced at Su Pingnan. Seeing he made no move, she also held back.

The price quickly climbed to 950,000 and was won by a construction materials boss. Everyone burst into congratulations.

To everyone’s surprise, the second item was the six-story unfinished building that Su Pingnan was confident of bagging.

Actually, the organizers had planned to auction in order, but the contractors objected, saying the order was wrong—auctioning by asset quality would cause later items to go unsold. So they shuffled the order and put the whole building second.

Su Pingnan didn’t bid on the first item because he believed in being ostentatious in presence but low-key in actions.

A Mercedes-Benz W410 was worth over two million, yet everybody was happy to watch the bidding stop at 950,000—he understood exactly what that implied.

The property numbered 00031 started at 2.6 million. Though many whispered, they were clearly watching and hesitant—most still held outdated views, thinking buying at such a high price and then investing more to finish it wasn’t worthwhile.

“2.6 million—any takers?”

“Any?”

The auctioneer holding the gavel had to admit that despite the changed order, this lot still didn’t inspire anyone to bid impulsively.

Three minutes later, the auctioneer was already leaning toward declaring it unsold. He intended to call a few more times and then announce a pass.

Zhang Lihua was nearly frantic with worry, but Su Pingnan was as unmoving as a mountain, expressionless. She naturally dared not act rashly.

Su Pingnan’s heart pounded like drums. Though expressionless, he was silently timing everything. He feared that if he raised a paddle, it would pique others’ interest and spark unnecessary conflict.

“2.6 million—any takers?” the auctioneer asked in a lowered tone.

“If not, then I declare…”

Zhang Lihua saw Su Pingnan lightly tap his left hand on his knee and immediately raised her paddle high.