PCJ – Chapter 582 The Pain of Flesh and Skin

Gu Heling was also quite pleased with herself. “I really should thank that idiot. Anyone else would’ve at least given the Gu family some face. Even though that fool has already left, who would really believe that after slapping the Gu family’s face at a time like this, we wouldn’t care?”

Originally, once Gu Hao left, Xu Yanzhang finally breathed a sigh of relief. But he didn’t expect Gu Heling to pull another move, and his heart sank once again.

As expected, the crowd of bidders fell silent once more.

“Three million,” a voice called out. But this time it wasn’t Zhang Jiaohua—it was a man in his forties.

“Why would someone from the Wei family go against us?” Gu Heling was stunned. She turned to look at the bidder and asked with a puzzled expression.

Ren Tiantian replied helplessly, “Looks like we won’t be able to get away with a shortcut this time. The Wei family clearly doesn’t want us to get the Biyu Spirit Tea that easily.”

There were only 188 grams of Biyu Spirit Tea in total, but the price had already reached three million yuan. That meant nearly 20,000 yuan per gram. And that was definitely not the final price. Although this was an extremely high price for tea at auction, considering the rarity, the crowd was still excited. Even if they didn’t win the tea, witnessing the auction of the world’s most expensive tea was thrilling enough.

“Three million and ten thousand,” Gu Heling wasn’t willing to give up.

Zhang Jiaohua glanced back at the bidder, whom he didn’t recognize. But since the auction had returned to a normal pace, he chose not to participate any further. After all, three million for 188 grams was already steep. While Spirit Tea only came from the Yunxi Secret Realm in this world, its production wasn’t exactly low.

At that price, the number of bidders naturally dropped. After all, it was tea—use it once and you have less, and no one really knew just how good it was anyway.

Bids started increasing by ten thousand or twenty thousand at a time. In the end, Gu Heling won it for 3.58 million yuan.

“Today’s final auction item has been sold. Thank you, honored guests, for your presence. If you didn’t win what you wanted, don’t be disappointed. The Xu Auction House will be hosting a large-scale auction next month. After discussions with the Biyu Xianyin Group, the next auction will also feature their new Biyu Spirit Tea. We’ll also include a limited quantity of Biyu and Hongyu Xianyin teas,” announced Luo Aiqi, sneaking in a bit of promotion at the end.

Zhang Jiaohua got up and prepared to leave.

“Zhang Jiaohua, are you coming again next time?” Xu Xiaoting asked.

Zhang Jiaohua shook his head. “I think I’m done. What about you?”

“I’m not coming either. Honestly, I didn’t really want to come in the first place. It’s supposed to be a place for high society, but there are all kinds of people here—just like today,” Xu Xiaoting said.

“Mm, I’m heading back,” Zhang Jiaohua said and started walking away.

Xu Xiaoting quickly caught up. “Zhang Jiaohua, thank you so much for today.”

“Thank me? This Spirit Tea is mine. If someone had stolen it from me, I’d be the one suffering,” Zhang Jiaohua chuckled and waved as he walked off.

“Be careful. That guy didn’t get what he wanted. He might try to get back at you outside,” Xu Xiaoting warned.

“You know I’m fast. If he tries anything, I’ll just run,” Zhang Jiaohua replied with a laugh.

As soon as Zhang Jiaohua exited the auction house, he spotted several people loitering nearby. The moment he stepped out, those people, who had been pretending to stroll casually, suddenly became alert. They pointed at him and whispered among themselves. It was obvious they were there for him.

Zhang Jiaohua calmly headed home.

The group began tailing him from a distance. Since many people were leaving the auction, they managed to stay relatively hidden.

Suddenly, Zhang Jiaohua broke into a sprint.

The men’s expressions changed instantly. They no longer cared about keeping up appearances and gave chase, bumping into other departing guests and causing a commotion.

Zhang Jiaohua darted into a secluded alley. He was very familiar with the streets in this area, having walked them during the day. He deliberately chose a narrow alley to slip into.

He wasn’t afraid. To Zhang Jiaohua, these thugs were no threat at all.

After a few steps, he stopped. Soon, he heard footsteps and whispered voices behind him.

“Where is he?”

“I saw him run this way!”

“I’ve been here before—it’s a dead end. Let’s see where he runs now!”

“Who is this kid anyway? Got the guts to mess with Young Master Hao?”

“We’ll find out soon. Once we catch him and rough him up a bit, he’ll talk.”

“Ease up when we hit him. We’re just errand boys—don’t cause trouble. People who attend auctions aren’t ordinary folks. We can’t afford to make enemies.”

As they walked and talked, they were stunned to find Zhang Jiaohua standing calmly in the middle of the alley, waiting.

“Kid! Since you’re being so cooperative, if you answer our questions honestly, we won’t make you suffer,” said one of them, a man in his twenties with long hair and two Big Bucktooth, walking forward arrogantly.

But just as Big Bucktooth got close, Zhang Jiaohua suddenly raised a leg and delivered a swift side kick. Big Bucktooth didn’t even have time to react—he flew backward, crashing into his companions and knocking all of them to the ground.

“Damn! He knows martial arts—everyone get him!” The others scrambled up and exchanged glances before rushing Zhang Jiaohua together.

But the alley was narrow, so they couldn’t surround him—only two at a time could come forward. Zhang Jiaohua fought and retreated at the same time. Despite their numbers, they couldn’t lay a hand on him, and one by one, they were all sent flying.

“Talk—who sent you? If you cooperate, I’ll go easy on you. You’re just the hired help, after all,” Zhang Jiaohua said, planting a foot on Big Bucktooth’s head and grinding his face against the ground.

“Talk? Come on, we’ve got to stick to our code. If I snitch, who’s ever going to hire us again?” Big Bucktooth whimpered.

“Looks like you won’t cry until you see the coffin,” Zhang Jiaohua applied a little more pressure.

“It was Gu Hao! You messed up his plans today. He sent us to stop you and find out who you are,” Big Bucktooth immediately confessed.

“But didn’t you just say you had a code?” Zhang Jiaohua asked.

“I can’t follow any code if I’m dead! I’m just a runner!” Big Bucktooth said righteously.