chapter 16 Dragon crossing the river?

Fiona, also dressed in a black professional suit, stood closely beside Benjamin, on his right.

Simon and the others followed energetically behind, and for a moment, Benjamin's ambitions soared. Today, he, along with the people from the Jinxiu Group, officially made their appearance in the upper echelons of Wu City.

In the over two months since his rebirth, with the completion of his planning in Ertai Town, Benjamin finally had the capital to reveal his fangs in Wu City.

Today marked his first step.

The auction was quite small, with just over fifty seats. Benjamin didn't sit in the front row, instead, he found a position towards the back and sat there quietly. Fiona held a thick stack of documents and sat on his left.

Feeling that a large crowd would attract too much attention, Benjamin had Simon and Robert lead the rest of their team to wait outside the venue.

Thomas also entered the venue, his expression constantly changing as he occasionally scrutinized Benjamin's position and whispered with a few people beside him.

In this circle, the strongest figure was Quentin Li, the eldest son of Ryan Li, who was involved in real estate in Hainan.

"Quentin, we must cooperate closely today. There might be a formidable opponent."

Hearing this, Quentin looked up. He was a young man in his late twenties. His father had a massive business in Hainan, reportedly worth hundreds of millions. Quentin was also in the coal business in Wu City, and with his youth and success, he naturally had the confidence to be a little arrogant.

He raised his head at the remark and lightly smiled. "Uncle Wu's information seems a bit outdated. These are just local upstarts in Wu City."

With that, he picked up the documents that had been delivered to him just a minute ago and read them with a smile. "Benjamin, from Su Family Village in Changyang County. Six months ago, he used ruthless methods to drive out the Four Seas Gang that had taken over the train station, gaining quite a reputation. This person is ruthless. Two months ago, he established Jinxiu Company and a service company called Jinxiu F&B Company. It's said that he's making a fortune, showing some real strength."

In just five short minutes after Benjamin entered, Quentin had already obtained Benjamin's basic information, indicating the Li family's deep roots in Wu City over the years.

Thomas and the others nodded in agreement, smiling awkwardly as they said, "That's good. I was intimidated by his momentum. Since he's not very powerful, he's not much of a threat."

Quentin sneered, "A nobody who had nothing six months ago has created such a big scene. Even his personality can be guessed from a mile away."

Turning to the imposing Liam Li behind him, he said, "Fetch Patrick."

The tall and sturdy Liam nodded silently and walked out.

Thomas hurriedly advised, "Quentin, why do you want him to come?"

"Why?" Quentin sneered coldly.

"I'm afraid he doesn't know his place and will meddle carelessly. Oh, I forgot to tell you all, this guy has a pretty cool nickname in the underworld. Want to know what it is?"

Looking at the puzzled faces, Quentin continued coolly, "The fiercest Little Red Robe in Wu City."

In this wild era, violence always instilled fear. Thomas and his group were already pampered and valued, and upon hearing this, they fell into a contemplative silence.

Quentin patted the shoulders of a few who were old enough to be his uncles. His voice was incredibly low, filled with a disdainful tone, "The fiercest in Wu City? Is he fiercer than the Patrick the Door God?"

Unbeknownst to Benjamin, in a corner of the venue, some people were already on guard against him, quietly exchanging notes with Fiona about the auction's procedures.

The host of the auction was the head of the Economic Affairs Committee. After a long-winded introduction lasting nearly half an hour, he finally announced the official start of the auction.

The first item up for auction was George's Mercedes S-Class chair with license plate number 16888, with a starting price of 500,000.

Fiona glanced at Benjamin and, seeing that he remained still, decided to hold back.

The price quickly soared to 950,000 and was snapped up by a building materials entrepreneur. Congratulations echoed through the crowd.

The second unexpected item turned out to be the six-story abandoned building frame that Benjamin considered a sure bet.

Originally, the organizers had planned to auction the items in order, but the contractors raised objections, stating that the order was problematic and that they couldn't auction the assets based on their quality, as it would make it harder for the later items to sell. So, the order was disrupted, and the entire building was placed second.

Benjamin refrained from bidding on the first item because he believed in being high-profile in demeanor but low-key in action.

The Mercedes S-Class, valued at over two million, with its prominent license plate, unexpectedly paused at 950,000, indicating that he understood something.

The property with the code 00031 started with a base price of 2.6 million. Although many people whispered in discussion, it was clear that they were all waiting and watching. Their mindset was still somewhat conservative; they thought that buying at such a high price and then investing further in construction might not be cost-effective.

"Do we have 2.6 million?"

"Anyone with 2.6 million?"

The auctioneer, hammer in hand, estimated that even though the order had been disrupted, no one seemed inclined to make a hasty purchase for this item.

Three minutes later, the auctioneer was already considering declaring it a no-sale. He planned to make a few more calls before doing so.

Fiona was on the verge of anxiety, but Benjamin remained as still as a mountain, showing no expression on his face. Naturally, she didn't dare to act rashly.

Benjamin's heart pounded like a drum. Although he appeared emotionless, he had been secretly calculating the time. He was afraid that if he raised his paddle, it might pique someone's interest and lead to unnecessary competition.

"Do we have 2.6 million?" The auctioneer's voice lowered.

"In that case, I announce..."

Fiona saw Benjamin lightly tap his knee with his left hand, and immediately, she raised her paddle high.