Chapter 9

After setting the price, Fang Shen turned off his computer and spent the rest of the afternoon leisurely. However, his peace was interrupted by the ring of his phone.

"Fang Shen, are you crazy? How dare you sell a broken stone for ten million?" As soon as the call connected, Xie Yaxue's furious voice came through, and even through the long phone line, one could feel her anger.

Fang Shen bared his teeth and carefully moved the phone away from his ear, feeling a bit warm inside.

Because of some guilt, this girl was very concerned about Fang Shen's business and had spared no effort in helping set up the website.

Xie Yaxue was furious.

She had been thinking about the auction website all along. Finally, she waited for Fang Shen to return and solve a few design issues, working until two or three in the morning before being satisfied. Due to lack of sleep, she was drowsy during class. As soon as class ended, she rushed back to the dormitory, wanting to think it over one last time. But then she saw the Soul-Stabilizing Stone that Fang Shen had listed, and immediately her lungs were about to burst with anger.

Soul-Stabilizing Stone, ten million.

Even diamonds weren't that expensive, let alone this mysterious and dubious broken stone. In Xie Yaxue's view, Fang Shen was just fooling around. According to her thinking, they should slowly auction off some exquisite and beautiful items to build up credibility and reputation, and then continuously expand their sources of goods. This was the proper way to run a business.

Therefore, she was very dissatisfied with Fang Shen's unconventional methods. After scolding Fang Shen harshly over the phone, she hung up with a sense of satisfaction.

"Ring~~"

Just as she was about to get a drink of water, Xie Yaxue turned around in surprise, confirming that her phone was ringing. She picked it up suspiciously, seeing an unfamiliar number.

"Hello~" she muttered and answered the call.

A moment later, her off-key voice echoed in the dormitory: "What, you want to buy that broken... stone?"

...

In the Binhe residential area of Mingzhu City, Fang Shen got out of the taxi and looked toward the row of villas ahead.

People who could live here were either rich or noble. Of course, some top tycoons looked down on this place, like the Fang family. Whether in good times or bad, Fang Shen had never been here.

When he received Xie Yaxue's call, Fang Shen was also surprised.

Someone had actually shown interest in the Soul-Stabilizing Stone. Because the auction website was just starting, everything wasn't yet complete, and since they couldn't contact Fang Shen, Xie Yaxue had left her phone number on the site.

The other party directly contacted Xie Yaxue, expressing interest in the Soul-Stabilizing Stone. However, the ten million price was too outrageous, and the other party was clearly hesitant, unwilling to spend the money and also afraid of being scammed. Fortunately, they didn't reject it outright but agreed to meet and discuss it in detail.

Since it was the first business deal, Xie Yaxue took it seriously and sent Fang Shen to the meeting. If she didn't have to attend class, she would have gone herself.

The security guard at the entrance of the residential area looked at Fang Shen with caution. Fang Shen had an extraordinary presence, and there was something about him that made the guard wary. Although his clothes weren't impressive, the guard thought for a moment and didn't dare to drive him away.

"I'm looking for this household." Fang Shen walked straight up and handed over his contact information.

"This is Mr. Xu's residence." The guard's expression changed slightly, contacted the other party to confirm, and then immediately let him through, politely directing Fang Shen on how to proceed.

Arriving at the destination, he pressed the doorbell, and there was soon movement inside. When the person who opened the door appeared, Fang Shen was surprised—it was the middle-aged woman from the tour group, the first person to collect his business card.

"Xiao Fang, it's really you, come in quickly." The middle-aged woman warmly welcomed Fang Shen inside.

Seeing her, Fang Shen felt a bit more at ease.

"Aunt Su, was it you who called us?" Fang Shen remembered that this middle-aged woman's surname was Su. During the tour, he had noticed that she seemed to have something on her mind and had asked about the inter-world auction.

Speaking of this, Su Xiu's eyes reddened: "Xiao Fang, Auntie knows you are capable, please help Auntie."

Fang Shen's brows furrowed slightly, then he nodded gently.

Wiping her eyes, Su Xiu slowly began to tell her story.

It turned out that Su Xiu's husband had a strange illness. Half a year ago, he suddenly became insane, doing extremely crazy things that terrified the family.

When the illness struck, Su Xiu's husband didn't recognize his family, and his actions were irrational and illogical, as if he had become a different person. A well-run company was nearly ruined by his erratic commands. Strangely, when he returned to normal, he had no memory of what he had done during the illness, completely blank. Recently, his condition had worsened, and he would suddenly faint without any warning, appearing lifeless, but when he woke up, he was fine, and when asked about it, he knew nothing.

To treat her husband's strange illness, Su Xiu had exhausted herself, taking him to many famous hospitals.

However, no matter which hospital they went to, whether Chinese or Western medicine, and no matter how famous the experts they consulted, no problems were found. The examination results all showed that he was in perfect health.

This time, she joined the tour group, exhausted, and went out to relax at her son's suggestion. Seeing Fang Shen easily dispatch the robbers and recalling his introduction to the inter-world auction, Su Xiu felt a glimmer of hope. She was like a drowning person, willing to grasp at any straw.

Fang Shen hadn't left his contact information, but fortunately, she hadn't thrown away the business card. She logged onto the inter-world auction website according to the URL on the card, saw the introduction of the Soul-Stabilizing Stone, and immediately became interested. With the mindset of treating a dead horse as if it were alive, she made the call.

"Xiao Fang, is ten million too expensive?" Su Xiu stammered, embarrassed.

Given her family's financial situation, she could afford ten million, but spending that much on a stone was something she couldn't bring herself to do.

"I understand." Fang Shen nodded, not surprised.

Listing it for ten million, he hadn't intended to sell it. The website's main purpose was to display items; the real auctions would take place in the future when the auction house was established. If Su Xiu had immediately paid ten million for the Soul-Stabilizing Stone, that would have been strange.

Of course, the Soul-Stabilizing Stone was a heavenly treasure, and Fang Shen would never sell it cheaply.

"Xiao Fang, can you help my husband, Old Xu?" Su Xiu asked, looking at Fang Shen with hope, afraid that he would say no.

"I've brought the item, but Aunt Su, whether it will work or not, I need to see your husband first." Fang Shen said calmly.

He had used his Heavenly Eye to scan the house and found no evil aura or other impurities. It seemed that Su Xiu's husband's strange illness had another cause.

Before seeing the person, Fang Shen wouldn't make any promises.