Chief Auctioneer Gao rapped his ivory gavel twice against the mahogany podium of the Municipal Exhibition Center, calling eight hundred corporate tycoons and municipal dignitaries to order under the broadcast spotlights.
It was eight o’clock in the evening. Television cameras from thirty regional broadcasting networks lined the central velvet carpet, while uniformed waitstaff moved silently through the aisles offering sparkling cider and hors d’oeuvres.
In the front-row VIP box, Zhao Dehai sat with his legs crossed. Beside him, his son Zhao Kai wore a tailored velvet tuxedo, waving arrogantly to the press photographers.
“Tonight will restore our family’s absolute supremacy,” Zhao Kai sneered, leaning toward his father. “The media will broadcast our purchase across the province. Lin Mo thought he could challenge us with a few chartered planes, but in the realm of rare medicine, heritage is everything.”
“Quiet, Kai,” Zhao Dehai muttered, checking his diamond watch. “Our goal is that three-hundred-year Changbai Wild King Ginseng. Once we secure it, Gu Qinghe’s twelve leukemia patients will have no medicine left to regenerate their bone marrow.”
For the first hour of the auction, minor lots were brought to the stage. Wealthy socialites and local real estate magnates bid on vintage bird’s nests, dried wild seahorses, and cultured pearls.
On Lot Nineteen—a collection of wild Tibetan saffron—an elderly rural herbalist tried to place a bid of one hundred thousand yuan to treat burn victims in his township.
Zhao Kai immediately raised his paddle with a mocking smirk.
“Three hundred thousand yuan!” Zhao Kai announced, sneering back at the old herbalist. “Old man, go back to your dirt village! Rare herbs belong in high-end cosmetics for luxury spas, not wasted on peasants who don’t even brush their teeth!”
The old herbalist lowered his paddle in silent humiliation. Several honest doctors in the audience clenched their fists, but none dared to offend the powerful Zhao Pharmaceutical Group.
Three rows back, Lin Mo sat calmly between CEO Su Wan and Dean Gu Qinghe.
Lin Mo activated his Pure-Heart Eye. He observed Zhao Dehai’s putrid moral rating of seven out of a hundred, and Zhao Kai’s equally rotten score of nine.
“Two men who hoard medicine to starve dying children,” Lin Mo thought to himself with deadpan clarity. “In financial terms, their moral credit is completely insolvent.”
Dr. Gu’s hands were clasped tightly on his knees. His knuckles were pale, his breath shallow as he stared at the auction stage.
“Chairman Lin,” Dr. Gu whispered, his voice trembling slightly. “Those twelve children in Ward Seven have severe aplastic marrow collapse. Their ages range from four to nine years old, and their parents are honest farmers and sanitation workers who spent their last pennies on train tickets to Jiangcheng.”
“Without the dense life-force essence of that three-hundred-year wild ginseng, their marrow cannot reproduce red blood cells,” Dr. Gu continued anxiously. “If Zhao Dehai buys that root, those twelve children won’t survive the weekend.”
“Dr. Gu, relax your hands,” Lin Mo said in an easy, deadpan tone. “You are an expert surgeon. Tense hands are bad for delicate stitches. Let Zhao Dehai bid as much as he likes. In an open auction, numbers speak louder than family names.”
Lin Mo glanced at his personal black-gold banking application. His liquid vault held over thirty-five billion yuan. In a battle of pure cash, the Zhao family was bringing wooden sticks to a heavy artillery range.
Su Wan smiled faintly, holding an auction paddle numbered Triple Eight. “Chairman Lin’s account has been verified by the central clearing bank, Dean Gu. No one in this hall has deeper pockets.”
At the center of the illuminated stage, Chief Auctioneer Gao walked up to the podium. He wore pristine white silk gloves and held an ivory gavel.
Four armed security guards in formal suits carried a heavy carved box crafted from Hetian mutton-fat jade.
The guards placed the jade box onto a velvet display plinth. The automatic lid rose smoothly, revealing the centerpiece lot beneath clear crystal glass.
A three-foot-long wild ginseng root rested on golden silk. Its thick, ancient body resembled a sleeping human figure, complete with five distinct root limbs and hundreds of delicate fibrous whiskers. A faint, refreshing herbal fragrance drifted across the first three rows of the amphitheater.
“Ladies and gentlemen!” Auctioneer Gao’s voice boomed through the speakers. “Lot Number Twenty-One! An authentic, authenticated three-hundred-year-old Changbai Wild King Ginseng!”
“Harvested from the virgin mountain forests of Changbai, it possesses supreme nourishing essence for the marrow and vital organs!” he proclaimed. “The opening reserve price is three million yuan! Bidding is now open!”
Before the auctioneer could finish his sentence, Zhao Kai stood up from the front-row box.
“Five million yuan!” Zhao Kai yelled, waving his golden paddle toward the cameras.
The crowd stirred with excitement. Raising the bid by two million in one jump was a display of sheer financial intimidation.
A private collector in the third row raised a paddle. “Six million.”
Zhao Dehai waved his hand dismissively and raised his own paddle. “Eight million yuan! Only our Zhao Pharmaceutical Group has the medical heritage and laboratory precision to utilize this three-hundred-year Changbai Wild King Ginseng! No one else in Jiangcheng has the right to touch it!”
The private collector lowered his paddle with a sigh, shaking his head in defeat.
Auctioneer Gao struck the sounding board with his ivory gavel. “Eight million yuan from Chairman Zhao Dehai! Going once for eight million! Going twice for eight million—”
Zhao Kai smirked smugly, turning around in his seat to give Lin Mo a mocking, throat-slitting gesture.
Lin Mo did not change his expression. He reached over, took the Triple Eight paddle from Su Wan’s hands, and raised it casually into the air.
“Thirty million yuan cash,” Lin Mo said, his voice level and clear.
The entire amphitheater froze in dead silence.
Auctioneer Gao’s ivory gavel stopped exactly two inches above the sounding board. His mouth hung open. “Thirty... thirty million?!”
Zhao Dehai jumped up from his leather seat, his face twisting in rage. “Lin Mo! You broke delivery boy, you are bidding blind! Thirty million is nearly four times the market value!”
Lin Mo did not even glance at Zhao Dehai. He looked straight at Auctioneer Gao on the stage.
“I haven’t finished speaking,” Lin Mo said in the same relaxed, conversational tone. “Thirty million yuan for the Changbai Wild King Ginseng. Plus twenty million yuan to purchase all nineteen remaining auction lots of Tibetan snow lotus, wild saffron, and royal cordyceps. Total: fifty million yuan in immediate cash settlement.”
Lin Mo gestured toward Dr. Gu Qinghe.
“Every single gram of these twenty lots is gifted directly to Dean Gu Qinghe and the pediatric leukemia ward of Taichu Sanctuary Hospital. Swipe the card.”
Su Wan stepped forward, handing the black-gold master terminal receipt to the chief financial clerk.
On the massive, sixty-foot digital scoreboard above the stage, the electronic transaction cleared instantly with a blinding green flash:
[WIRE CONFIRMATION: ¥50,000,000.00 RMB CLEARED THROUGH CENTRAL SETTLEMENT BANK!]
[PURCHASER: TAICHU BENEVOLENCE FOUNDATION!]
[LOTS 21 THROUGH 40: SOLD IN BATCH!]
Auctioneer Gao’s voice cracked into a high-pitched squeak. “Fifty... fifty million cash! All twenty rare medicine lots sold to Taichu Benevolence Foundation!”
The amphitheater erupted into thunderous, deafening applause. Hundreds of doctors, nurses, and philanthropists stood up, clapping and cheering at the top of their lungs.
Beside Lin Mo, Dr. Gu Qinghe covered his face with both hands. Tears slipped through his fingers. “Twelve children... all twelve are saved! Thank heaven! Thank you, Chairman Lin!”
At that exact second, a magnificent, golden explosion of spiritual energy resonated deep inside Lin Mo’s soul:
[DING! SUPREME MEDICINAL RESCUE EXPENDITURE DETECTED!]
[TARGET: DEAN GU QINGHE (GOODNESS: 96/100) & 12 CRITICAL LEUKEMIA CHILDREN (GOODNESS: 95–100/100)!]
[SPENT: ¥50,000,000.00 RMB!]
[100x PURE-HEART REBATE TRIGGERED: +¥5,000,000,000.00 RMB!]
[PERSONAL VAULT BALANCE: ¥40,050,680,000.50 RMB!]
[BENEVOLENCE MERIT POINTS: +5,000,000 BMP (TOTAL: 42,150,528 BMP)!]
[GOOD PEOPLE NETWORK EXPANDED: 810 -> 830 MEMBERS!]
[HOST REALM ADVANCEMENT: RANK 1 HIGH MARTIAL -> RANK 1 PEAK MARTIAL!]
A roaring vortex of pure golden benevolence qi surged through Lin Mo’s twelve meridians and erupted into his dantian.
His bones, already dense as polished iron, transmuted into crystalline jade. His muscle fibers tightened, his blood humming with the immense physical power of a Rank 1 Peak Martial artist. His punch force blasted past three thousand pounds. His spiritual perception expanded until he could hear the heartbeat of every person in the hall.
Four armed security guards carried the Hetian jade box down from the stage and placed it reverently into Dr. Gu’s arms.
Dr. Gu held the box against his chest, his eyes shining with tears. “With this three-hundred-year essence, I can reconstruct their bone marrow within seventy-two hours! Not a single child will suffer!”
Several pharmaceutical company presidents walked over, offering their congratulations to Dr. Gu and Lin Mo. They bowed with genuine respect, completely ignoring the fuming Zhao family.
Across the aisle, Zhao Dehai looked as if he had been struck by lightning. His fifty million yuan offshore line of credit was completely useless against a man who bought twenty lots in a single breath.
Zhao Kai’s eyes burned with jealous humiliation. He looked at the television cameras broadcasting Lin Mo’s triumph live across the city. His twisted, arrogant mind snapped completely.
“No! This is fraud!” Zhao Kai screamed, leaping over the brass divider rope and sprinting onto the stage.
He shoved Auctioneer Gao away from the podium and grabbed the master microphone. His voice echoed violently through the loudspeakers.
“Don’t be fooled by this peasant, Jiangcheng!” Zhao Kai yelled, his face contorted with hysterical venom. “Buying medicine for his own private hospital is just corporate PR! It’s not real charity! Real charity means donating directly to the municipal welfare fund!”
Zhao Kai turned around, signaling two of his assistants waiting behind the stage curtain.
The assistants ran out, carrying a massive, six-foot-wide ceremonial foam cardboard check. Painted across the board in bright red paint were bold, glittering characters:
DONATION TO JIANGCHENG MUNICIPAL PUBLIC HEALTH FUND AMOUNT: ¥10,000,000.00 RMB DONOR: ZHAO KAI & ZHAO PHARMACEUTICAL GROUP
Zhao Kai held up the giant check in front of thirty flashing camera lenses, puffing his chest out with arrogant defiance.
“Look at this, Lin Mo!” Zhao Kai bellowed, pointing a shaking finger down at Lin Mo. “Our Zhao family donates ten million yuan in cold, hard cash directly to the city welfare fund tonight! Can your little delivery boy foundation match that? Dare you match our selfless donation on live television, or are you just a fake philanthropist hiding behind your private assets?!”
The television cameras zoomed in on the giant ten-million-yuan foam check.
In the front row, two bank presidents choked on their sparkling cider, while thirty broadcast reporters immediately swung their directional microphones toward Lin Mo.
Zhao Dehai watched from the front row, a sinister smirk slowly returning to his face. He knew his son’s trick; this ceremonial foam check was linked to an offshore shell account that would bounce the transfer tomorrow morning after claiming the public tax deduction.
Lin Mo looked up at Zhao Kai standing on the stage with the giant cardboard board.
Lin Mo let out a soft, amused chuckle. He slowly stood up from his seat, buttoning his tailored jacket with quiet elegance.
Beside him, Tie Niu smiled darkly and pressed a button on his tactical radio. Two Iron Guards waiting in the side foyer immediately pushed forward a heavy titanium case bearing the emerald emblem of Taichu Benevolence Group. Inside rested the live banking audit terminal.
Su Wan tapped her tablet, locking the banking verification satellite link onto the exhibition hall’s main broadcast feed.
“Ten million yuan on a foam board,” Lin Mo said, stepping into the central aisle as Tie Niu fell in behind him. “Zhao Kai, your theatrical props are always so creative. Let’s see if your bank account is as brave as your mouth. The entire city of Jiangcheng is waiting for your transfer to clear live on camera.”