My Perfect Female CEO

The sudden appearance of the mysterious Ancient Painting shocked far too many people.

The tycoons were all stunned, their hearts shaken. Before coming to the auction, none of them had ever imagined something like this would happen.

Many people inside the auction hall felt the same shock as those rich moguls.

Even the host was the same. There had been far too many unexpected twists.

Isn’t it just a painting that looks a bit old?

How did it end up fetching such a sky‑high price?

They couldn’t figure it out.

They really couldn’t understand what hidden secret there was behind it.

Logically speaking, the more detailed the auction house’s introduction of a lot, the higher its value, and the greater the value created for the auction house. This was an obvious truth, and the beneficiaries were on all sides.

But the mysterious Ancient Painting was a different case. The tycoons had no idea what secrets it held.

Still, it was obvious that the painting’s value was anything but ordinary, and that it contained an earth‑shattering secret.

As for what that secret was, they had no clue.

Precisely because of this, their curiosity and interest had reached the extreme.

"Seven hundred million. Looks like that price was offered by Ye Fan and Chu Mengyao," Nagano Yoko said. "In the first round, the five hundred million bid should have been theirs too. As for the force that bid one hundred million as a third party, they dropped out in the second round. Seems they knew better than to press on and didn’t have enough capital to stay in the bidding."

In Nagano Yoko’s self‑assured speculation, she pinned Ma De’s reckless bids on Ye Fan and Chu Mengyao and the others.

As for Ma De and the rest, who had already withdrawn from the auction stage, Nagano Yoko naturally couldn’t guess their specific identities.

"Seven hundred million—call it high or call it low, it’s somewhere in between," Charles said solemnly. "Judging from the current momentum, Ye Fan and Chu Mengyao’s funds aren’t that abundant. In that case, we can feel much more at ease."

This guess wasn’t made out of thin air, but came from a specific judgment.

If the other side’s funds were plentiful, they wouldn’t be so stingy. They would have used a price that made everyone gasp to crush them completely, leaving them without even the chance to bid.

But in reality, they still had the ability and confidence to go head‑to‑head with the other side.

So that could only mean Ye Fan and Chu Mengyao didn’t have that much capital on their end.

"The Chu Group is filthy rich and immensely powerful—that’s something we can’t question," Nagano Yoko sneered. "But we have one advantage they can’t match: we’re fully prepared, and we’ve been preparing for who knows how long. Chu Mengyao, on the other hand, rushed here and is scrambling to consolidate a large amount of funds in her hands. That’s not easy to pull off."

With that preconceived notion in place, it was easy for their subsequent judgment to line up with what they wanted to believe.

"How much do we bid in the third round?" Ying Zi asked.

"One point five billion. It’s not the ceiling of what we can afford, but it’s already a pretty decent price," Nagano Yoko said with a smile. "I’m sure Chu Mengyao won’t be able to name such a sky‑high figure. The scales have already tipped to our side."

This was already the highest price they could bear. Beyond that, they could only push it up by another two or three hundred million or so, but there was no way they’d keep raising this astronomical figure.

"Victory already belongs to us," Charles said, rarely breaking into a smile.

The host stood on stage, his face beaming, his voice resonant.

"I think everyone here is thinking the same thing as I am: just who are those two big spenders throwing money around like this? And what kind of earth‑shattering secret is hidden in this Ancient Painting? It’s a pity that, just like all of you, I have absolutely no idea."

"All right, I won’t ramble on. Let’s get back to business."

"We’ll now begin the third round of bidding. I don’t even need to say it—you can all tell the bidders are probably still those two friends. After the earlier commotion and shock, I’ve built up some immunity. No matter what kind of sky‑high figure appears in this final round, I believe my mental endurance can handle any new record."

As the host’s voice fell, the atmosphere in the hall instantly grew quiet.

Everyone craned their necks, eagerly waiting for a new astronomical price to appear.

"How are we going to play this round?" Zhang Lu looked at Ye Fan and Mengyao, smiling as she asked.

"To play it safe, we just need Nagano Yoko and Charles to feel that it wasn’t easy for them to get the Ancient Painting," Ye Fan said calmly. "To achieve that, we have to cheat—and we definitely can’t let the painting end up in our own hands."

"You mean?" Zhang Lu pressed.

Mengyao explained, "First see how much Nagano Yoko and Charles bid. Then we place our bid, just a bit lower than theirs."

"That’s true. We can’t let Nagano Yoko and Charles sense that anything is off right now. It seems this is the only way," Zhang Lu said with a serious nod.

Soon, news of Nagano Yoko and Charles’s one point five billion bid reached Ye Fan and Mengyao’s ears.

Mengyao picked up the bidding device and pressed in the figure of one point four billion.

Just like that, the two numbers, differing by only one hundred million, landed in the host’s line of sight.

"Up to now, this Ancient Painting that has captured everyone’s attention has finally found a home. Let’s first take a look at the final bids."

The host paused, then said with a chuckle, "We have one point five billion and one point four billion. I believe the owner of the painting has already been decided. I won’t say more than I have to, but I do need to emphasize one thing: if you have no objections to your own bids, this round of the auction ends here. If you do have objections, you can raise them right now."

This was to avoid any mistakes.

After all, the amount of money involved was simply too large.

The host waited a while, and after confirming there were no errors, he said, "All right, let me announce this: the mysterious Ancient Painting goes to our friends in Box No. 8. Congratulations. Once the formalities are completed, the painting will be yours."

The Ancient Painting had found its destination, falling into the hands of Nagano Yoko and Charles.

This was the inevitable result under the situation they had steered.

"Over a billion, over a freaking billion... a bunch of filthy‑rich bastards," Ma De cursed bitterly in his box.

The two subordinates beside him could only give wry smiles.

"We finally got it," Nagano Yoko and Charles exchanged looks, their expressions showing a sense of relief.

It had truly been far from easy to achieve this goal.

They had already lost far too much.

But heaven helps those who persevere—they had finally seized the ultimate victory.