Seeing Wang Hao and Tan Haipin sitting together, the expressions on their faces grew increasingly ugly.

"Mr. Tan, we’ve finally found you. The herbal medicine auction on our side is about to start, so why are you still sitting here!"

Song Jianjun mustered up his courage and came to Tan Haipin’s side, pleading. Even if Song Jianjun was unhappy, he dared not lose his temper at Tan Haipin, instead wearing a distressed look.

"Mr. Tan, these small stalls only have some insignificant street goods; there is nothing good. You mustn’t be deceived by Wang Hao, this crooked merchant!"

Cheng Yin also joined in persuading Tan Haipin.

The mayor stood by, watching with a face as long as a donkey’s.

The city had also allocated manpower and resources for this herbal medicine auction. If Song Jianjun managed to mess it up, he would never let Song Jianjun off the hook.

"Wang Hao, you son of a bitch, hurry up and explain what exactly you’ve done to Mister Tan Haipin! All you know is how to play dirty tricks behind people’s backs, aren’t you afraid of becoming a laughingstock?"

Seeing that Tan Haipin continued to sit without any intention of getting up, Song Jianjun began venting all his resentment onto Wang Hao.

"President Song, please be respectful when you speak. There are so many people watching here!"

Wang Hao retorted with an indifferent expression.

"Don’t you know what you are doing inside? It’s always been you and Cheng Yin playing foul, not letting me join your auction. Can’t I take my own collection outside to auction it?"

"Since Mr. Tan takes interest in my collection, this is consensual. What right do you have to speak of me this way?"

"You..."

Song Jianjun saw the mayor’s face growing darker and quickly denied everything outright.

"Wang Hao, there’s no need for you to spout lies here, what evidence do you have that I obstructed you from attending the auction?"

"Hmph!"

Wang Hao let out a cold laugh.

"How laughable. We only knew about the registration two hours before the deadline, and when our company’s manager Chen hurried over to sign up, you said that only the legal representative had to come personally. Isn’t that malicious obstruction?"

Hearing this, the mayor’s face clearly showed a furious expression. He hadn’t expected Song Jianjun, that bastard, to just disregard the smooth running of the auction for his own selfish interests.

Cheng Yin and Song Jianjun hadn’t expected Wang Hao to reveal this matter in front of so many people, and the mayor was standing right there and had heard everything.

Song Jianjun, seeing the unpleasant look on the mayor’s face, began to break out in a cold sweat.

"You... you’re simply slandering. It was clearly your own company’s employee who carelessly forgot the registration time, and now that you haven’t registered, you come here to accuse others. I think you are purely here to cause trouble today!"

Song Jianjun, having no other recourse, could only brazenly deny everything regarding the matter.

"Then why did you speak so maliciously to our company’s Manager Chen?"

Wang Hao suddenly roared, startling Cheng Yin and Song Jianjun.

Thinking about Chen Hongying being bullied by these bastards, Wang Hao felt a surge of excitement and found it difficult to control his emotions, releasing all the anger in his heart.

"Hmph, Wang Hao, what do you mean by that? We don’t understand a thing!"

Cheng Yin put on a shameless front, believing that as long as he denied everything, no one would be able to do anything to him.

"Alright!"

Wang Hao had long anticipated that they wouldn’t so easily admit defeat, so he didn’t take their reaction seriously, as he had plenty of ways to deal with these two bastards.

"Fine, since you don’t admit it, that’s no problem. Anyway, it’s my freedom where I choose to auction my medicinal herbs, and you can’t control that. I intend to hold the auction right here today, so please leave at once!"

"We don’t care where you hold your auction, what good stuff can a shameless person like you bring out?"

Song Jianjun curled his lips in disdain.

Their purpose in coming here was not to see what Wang Hao was going to auction or where, but to persuade Tan Haipin to return with them, or their own auction wouldn’t be able to proceed as planned.

"Mr. Tan, shall we go back and sit down first? The mayor is still waiting for you, and the auction is about to start!"

When Song Jianjun spoke to Mr. Tan Haipin, his face changed to a completely different expression.

But Tan Haipin stayed motionless, causing Song Jianjun to break out in a cold sweat.

"Mr. Tan, Cheng Yin here has brought back a very rare collectible, intending to offer it at the auction."

"I can guarantee with my integrity that there are no more than three of these items in the whole country, it is incredibly precious!"

It was Cheng Yin who was smart enough to know how to appeal to Mr. Tan’s preferences, thus he pandered to his interests.

"Is what you say true?"

Tan Haipin seemed somewhat tempted and turned to glance at Wang Hao, then looked at the box containing the Dikui Star, but in the end, he shook his head.

"I think I’ll pass. No matter what, I must acquire Wang Hao’s collectible today."

When Tan Haipin made this statement, everyone present was shocked.

Those who had been dubious about the quality of the items here started to change their opinions, beginning to believe that Wang Hao must indeed have something valuable.

It very well might be a priceless treasure; otherwise, a person of Tan Haipin’s stature wouldn’t insist so firmly on acquiring Wang Hao’s collectible in such a place.

But Cheng Yin and Song Jianjun were stunned upon hearing Mr. Tan’s words.

Tan Haipin was very determined, and they were completely out of options.

At that moment, the mayor’s face turned ashen, and Song Jianjun was trembling with fear, looking at Cheng Yin for help with desperate eyes.

This situation was all because of Cheng Yin. If it weren’t for Cheng Yin’s attempts to prevent Wang Hao from participating in the medicinal herb auction, they wouldn’t have faced such consequences.

Now that Cheng Yin was the instigator of this mess, he should be considering ways to resolve it.

But Tan Haipin’s status was not simple; he had very close ties with the country’s top echelons. Even with Cheng Yin’s connections, he wouldn’t dare offend him.

In the end, Cheng Yin could only show a helpless face, adopting an attitude that seemed indifferent. After all, even if this auction failed, given his relationship with the military, the mayor would have to show him some consideration.

However, this allowed Wang Hao’s cunning plan to succeed again, which was truly irksome.

When Song Jianjun saw Cheng Yin’s intention to wash his hands of the situation, his heart went completely cold.

If Cheng Yin didn’t stand up for him now, the mayor would surely have his head.

Cheng Yin was nothing but a backstabbing bastard. Knowing this, Song Jianjun regretted ever having followed his arrangements.

Now that the situation had reached this point, he had no idea what to do.