OFR – Chapter 207 Ending.

It was six o’clock in the evening.

Mu Bai, at Xuanwu Zhongshan, was busy managing the grand annual sale of his online store.

After all, the store currently had over three million active users online—the highest in its history.

Because of this, he didn’t let Mi Xuan handle the auction alone; he was also helping.

Along with the twenty to thirty temporary customer service representatives hired yesterday, they were just barely managing to keep up.

The first item up for auction was naturally saffron!

Since saffron was available in large quantities and was a highly sought-after and valuable medicinal herb, demand was extremely high.

This caused saffron sales to skyrocket!

The sales model adopted was a ten-second bidding system!

To be specific, each batch of the auction listed 100 portions of saffron at a time, and the highest bidder within ten seconds won. A purchase limit was also set.

Each customer could only bid once per grade of saffron, preventing tech-savvy buyers from using scripts to snipe purchases and stopping others from hoarding large amounts for resale.

As Mu Bai monitored the store’s sales, he noticed that this time, saffron prices were significantly higher than before—by a large margin.

A 10-gram pack of top-grade saffron was often auctioned for over 2,000 yuan!

That was nearly 70-80% higher than the last auction!

Mu Bai couldn’t help but shake his head.

It seemed that his recent price war and the 40% cashback promotion had been in vain.

However, given that the New Year was approaching, many people were eager to buy saffron as a gift.

This sentiment was the key driver behind the price surge.

With tens of thousands of portions available, even at a rapid auction pace, selling out all the saffron still took nearly three hours.

In the blink of an eye, it was close to nine o’clock at night!

At this moment, Mu Bai glanced at the industry popularity rankings and found that Zhenpin Tian’s transaction volume had reached over 1.3 billion yuan.

This meant that the saffron auctions alone had generated more than 800 million yuan in sales!

Meanwhile, Meiwei Tian’s transaction volume was somewhat unexpected, barely reaching 700 million yuan in total.

This meant that Meiwei Tian’s sales had only amounted to 400 million yuan—half of Zhenpin Tian’s!

This transaction data made things clear to many industry insiders.

Meiwei Tian, which had initiated this fierce annual competition with an aggressive and arrogant stance, seemed destined for defeat!

Even with support from the Liang Group, could they turn things around? Most people thought it was unlikely.

Of course, no one dared to be certain—after all, Liang Group’s capabilities were beyond speculation!

But as long as Liang Group didn’t forcibly intervene, it was clear to everyone that this battle between the industry’s disruptor and the reigning champion had come to a close.

Would there be an unexpected twist?

Many hoped for one!

After all, more twists and turns would make this annual spectacle even more exciting, giving netizens plenty to talk about over meals.

But everyone also knew that this was reality.

At this stage, a reversal was highly unlikely.

Still, no one left—they wanted to see how it all ended.

9:00 PM – Industry Popularity Rankings

1st place: Zhenpin Tian

• Followers: 5,360,000+
• Active users: 3,180,000+
• Total transactions: 1.48589 billion yuan
• Overall rating: 90 points

2nd place: Meiwei Tian

• Followers: 4,710,000+
• Active users: 1,390,000+
• Total transactions: 869.85 million yuan
• Overall rating: 82 points

This ranking was within expectations.

10:00 PM – Updated Rankings

1st place: Zhenpin Tian

• Followers: 5,360,000+
• Active users: 3,180,000+
• Total transactions: 1.88589 billion yuan
• Overall rating: 93 points

2nd place: Meiwei Tian

• Followers: 4,710,000+
• Active users: 1,390,000+
• Total transactions: 1.66985 billion yuan
• Overall rating: 90 points

“Huh?”

Seeing this data, many people were suddenly stunned!

Although Zhenpin Tian was still in first place, the sudden surge in Meiwei Tian’s transaction volume made everyone sense something unusual.

This feeling immediately woke up many drowsy netizens.

Could it be… that this annual battle was about to take another dramatic turn?

Many who had calmed down found themselves getting excited again!

11:00 PM – Updated Rankings

1st place: Zhenpin Tian

• Followers: 5,360,000+
• Active users: 3,190,000+
• Total transactions: 2.108 billion yuan
• Overall rating: 95 points

2nd place: Meiwei Tian

• Followers: 4,710,000+
• Active users: 1,890,000+
• Total transactions: 2.2 billion yuan
• Overall rating: 94 points

At this moment, the rankings seemed to have returned to where they were that morning!

The two industry giants were now only one point apart in their overall ratings!

No one had expected that, in the final hours of the competition, the battle between Zhenpin Tian and Meiwei Tian would once again become a fierce storm!

Who would have the last laugh?

Now, no one dared to make predictions!

Many spectators quickly entered Meiwei Tian’s online store, eager to uncover what had caused its rapid rise in ratings.

Soon, they found the answer: Liang Group had stepped in once again.

Latest Announcement:

Liang Group’s partners who help Meiwei Tian win the “Industry Popularity King” title can present their purchase records at Liang Group’s headquarters for exclusive benefits. These include but are not limited to: priority access to professional resources, intellectual property privileges, priority project participation, and preferential real estate rentals.

This special incentive for high-profile clients led many of Liang Group’s powerful partners to splurge on Meiwei Tian’s auctions, causing its transaction volume to surpass Zhenpin Tian’s!

With only 20-30 minutes left before the final announcement, Mu Bai knew that if this trend continued, Meiwei Tian would definitely overtake Zhenpin Tian and claim the title of “Industry Popularity King.”

This made him frown as he pondered his next move.

Should he create a fake buyer and place an exorbitant bid on the final item— the ultimate-grade Ghost Orchid?

The idea crossed his mind but was immediately dismissed.

After all, Taobao’s technical team was no joke—otherwise, Liang Group could have just inflated their own transactions instead.

“So, what should I do? Should I ask Young Master Nalan Yun to help with the bidding? Or should I just let Meiwei Tian take the title?”

As Mu Bai frowned in thought, just as he was about to switch to QQ to contact someone, something shocking happened in Zhenpin Tian’s auction page!

“Unparalleled generosity! Our store’s supreme VIP client, ‘Magic City’s Young Master Li,’ has bid 800 million yuan for the ultimate-grade Ghost Orchid!”

This price stunned every potential bidder, freezing them in front of their screens!

Even the spectators, after counting the long string of zeroes, were left in complete shock, their eyes filled with disbelief!

“Hmm? It’s him—Magic City’s Young Master Li.”

Mu Bai looked at the familiar ID and recalled that this was the same person who had previously inquired about purchasing rare flowers.

But this time, he was puzzled.

Why had Magic City’s Young Master Li placed such a sky-high bid, helping him solve his problem?

After all, Mu Bai knew that the Ghost Orchid, no matter how rare, could never be worth 800 million yuan!

Just as he furrowed his brows in confusion, a message from Mi Xuan, crying in frustration, made him laugh despite himself.