Auction Begins

In the blink of an eye, several days passed. During that time, Ye Yuan visited the seafood markets of Hong Kong Island. This place could be called a paradise for food lovers, where all kinds of precious seafood could be found. In one seafood market, Ye Yuan unexpectedly discovered two small Blue Dragon lobsters.

Blue lobsters were a rare genetic mutation of American lobsters. They produced an excess of a certain protein, which reacted to form a blue compound called crustacyanin, causing their shells to appear bright blue.

On average, only one blue lobster appeared among every two million lobsters. They were rare marine creatures comparable to living fossils. Blue Dragon lobsters were easily confused with blue devil lobsters. Blue devil lobsters were sky-blue devil lobsters, and they were different from Blue Dragon lobsters. The difference was that blue devil lobsters had oval-shaped large claws, while Blue Dragon lobsters had long, narrow claws.

Blue Dragon lobsters had spots on their bodies, while blue devil lobsters did not. However, blue devil lobsters were larger and prettier. The chance of a blue lobster appearing among crustaceans was one in two million.

These also cost Ye Yuan two hundred thousand. Blue Dragon lobsters could not be bred; even if they reproduced, their offspring would be ordinary lobsters. Ye Yuan bought them to raise in his space. Once they grew larger, the price of each one would be far more than this.

The day before the auction, Wang Yueshan brought Ye Yuan to meet an influential figure in Hong Kong Island's circle of wealthy elites: Ma Mingyuan, manager of Heng Hai Group.

Heng Hai Group was headquartered on Hong Kong Island. It had started out in the seafood business in its early years, then diversified over time, gradually shifting its focus toward real estate and other fields.

Even so, the group's seafood trading company remained one of Hong Kong Island's leaders in high-end seafood to this day.

Ma Mingyuan was not only the current manager of Heng Hai Group, but also the second son of Ma Jiaming, the group's founder. He was mainly responsible for the company's seafood business.

Ma Mingyuan had considerable experience with seafood. Having worked in the industry for nearly twenty years, he was one of Hong Kong Island's expert-level figures in high-end seafood. Many seafood appraisals were conducted by him.

Ye Yuan smiled and said, "Hello, Mr. Ma. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Hello, Mr. Ye." With Hong Kong Island's distinctive accent, Ma Mingyuan warmly extended his hand and shook Ye Yuan's.

"I was presumptuous to ask Mr. Ye to meet with me," Ma Mingyuan said politely. Though he was nearly middle-aged and managed a corporation as large as Heng Hai Group, he spoke with exceptional courtesy.

Ye Yuan waved his hand. "Not at all. I'm also glad to get acquainted with Manager Ma. We have a saying on the mainland: the more friends you have, the more paths you have."

"Well said, Mr. Ye. That was exactly why I asked Yueshan to introduce us," Ma Mingyuan replied just as politely.

Ye Yuan did not know why Wang Yueshan had suddenly introduced such an industry authority to him. Logically, they were competitors. Shouldn't Wang Yueshan have been wary of him making contact with them?

Wang Yueshan saw through Ye Yuan's thoughts and smiled as he began explaining...

Wang Yueshan's family ran a chain of hotels and had branches on Hong Kong Island as well. At first, much of the seafood for their hotels had been supplied by Ma Mingyuan. Later, when Wang Yueshan began trading seafood himself, Ma Mingyuan had not only raised no objections but had also helped him greatly in many ways.

Ma Mingyuan had also helped Ye Yuan's abalone make it into this auction.

When Ma Mingyuan learned that Ye Yuan had the ability to supply this kind of abalone steadily over the long term, he began considering befriending him.

He had brought the matter up with Wang Yueshan several times. Wang Yueshan thought to himself that he could not swallow such a massive high-end market alone, so why not cooperate with Ma Mingyuan?

He knew Ye Yuan's business was only getting started and would gradually grow larger. His own trading company might not necessarily be able to handle all of the seafood.

Since he needed a partner, it was better for that partner to be one of his own people. That was why he introduced Ma Mingyuan to Ye Yuan.

Wang Yueshan did not hide anything and honestly laid out all his thoughts, making Ye Yuan regard him even more highly.

Seeing that Wang Yueshan had explained enough, Ma Mingyuan spoke directly.

"Our company would like the exclusive agency rights for your high-end seafood here on Hong Kong Island. I wonder if Mr. Ye would be willing to give us this opportunity?"

Ye Yuan considered it briefly before replying, "Agency rights are no problem. My business is only just starting out, and for now, the only high-end seafood I can provide is lobster and abalone. In the future, I'll gradually introduce more premium ingredients. But I have one requirement: Yuwan Seafood's logo must be used." Ye Yuan did not want the seafood brand he had worked so hard to build to be exploited by someone else as a tool for making money.

Ma Mingyuan was delighted to receive Ye Yuan's promise. He could see that Ye Yuan's ambitions were considerable, and that was a good thing for him.

He had seen the abalone Ye Yuan brought. Every single one of them could cause a sensation in Hong Kong Island's seafood industry. How could he not be happy to get hold of such a promising prospect so early?

After they finished discussing business, the group drank coffee and chatted for a while. In the end, Ma Mingyuan wanted to take Ye Yuan out to relax, but Ye Yuan declined.

It was not that Ye Yuan was being overly high-minded. After all, it was their first time meeting, and he did not know what kind of person Ma Mingyuan was. It was better not to do that together just yet.

The next day was the day of the auction. Ye Yuan changed into the formalwear he had prepared and arrived at the venue with Wang Yueshan.

The auction was held in the largest conference hall of the Pearl Hotel. Many wealthy people were in attendance, and many foreign tycoons had even flown in from far away specifically for the event. Ye Yuan thought to himself, I really don't understand the world of food lovers.

The two sat down in a corner. Wang Yueshan leaned close and introduced one wealthy guest after another, explaining their backgrounds. Ye Yuan had not expected such a small auction to attract so many of the world's rich and powerful.

Wang Yueshan joked, "This is nothing. If it were a truffle auction in Europe, you could see several of the world's richest people there."

Not far from Ye Yuan and Wang Yueshan, a beautiful young married woman had been staring at them. She was Su Mei, who had come specifically to attend this auction.

As time passed, fewer and fewer seats remained in the venue. Soon, there were hardly any empty seats left.

As a melodious piece of music began playing, a female host dressed in a sharp professional suit walked to the center of the stage.

With a confident smile on her face, the hostess quickly drew the attention of many of the men present.

Quite a few media reporters also raised their cameras and began taking pictures.

"Before this auction officially begins, we have arranged a small segment that I'm sure everyone will enjoy." After saying that, the hostess gestured to the ceremonial attendants on both sides of the stage.

Two rows of tall, beautiful women in cheongsams approached with teapots in hand. The auction had prepared a teacup for every guest, and the women poured a small cup of tea for each person in turn.

Many people were confused. Was this the program the hostess had mentioned?

The hostess waited until every teacup had been filled with tea.

"The tea before you was brewed from the first batch of Da Hong Pao propagated from the mother trees of Wuyi Mountain Da Hong Pao. Please have a taste first." With that, she smiled at everyone present.

Everyone picked up the tea before them and took a small sip. Ye Yuan did not know much about tea, but he had certainly heard of Wuyi Mountain Da Hong Pao.