Chapter 612 Tit for Tat
Many people in the auction hall were bidding.
It turned out that many people were interested in this sculpture.
Many people were discussing it now.
“The Heavenly Strange Auction is really worthy of its reputation. The first item would’ve been the last and most important one in other auctions. That’s amazing.”
“It’s powerful for a reason. They can get lots of antiques that other companies have no access to. That’s interesting and formidable.”
“That ancient jade bull-horn beast looks pretty fancy. The bid may go over a hundred million yuan.”
“…”
While they were discussing it, the price kept rising.
“Number 530 bids 83 million! Anyone else?”
“90 million! The guest in VIP room No. 37 bids 90 million!”
Many people looked up at the screen above VIP room No. 37, which showed 90 million yuan.
That was when many people shook their heads and decided to give up.
“90 million! Going once, going twice… sold for 90 million yuan! Congratulations to the guest in VIP room No. 37! The jade bull-horn beast is now yours!”
After the deal, the auctioneer Wu Fei relaxed her mood and continued on.
“The second item is the pink star porcelain vase from the Qing Dynasty…”
The auction was in full swing. Some antiques were such a huge temptation to those collectors.
They never thought that the competition would be so fierce. The final bids of all the items were more than 1.5 times higher than that in other auctions. Some incompetent bidders felt hopeless because they were financially limited.
Some of them seemed not to be interested in these antiques, including the two late-stage Grand Masters in VIP room No. 30.
Inside the room, two Grand Masters in their 50s were closing their eyes and relaxing. They seemed to have no interest in those items at all. Four men in suits were standing by their side, but they dared not make any sound, because the two Grand Master hadn’t said a word.
No one was talking in Zhang Han’s VIP room either.
That silence made the suited man feel a little awkward.
He had been to Heavenly Strange Auctions several times, and he had accompanied lots of bigwigs there. Other people would talk about the items no matter what they were. He couldn’t recall a single time when the mood in the room was this tense.
Instructor Liu also felt that the mood in this room was awkward. He was never a quiet and steady man.
However, he didn’t dare make any sound before anyone else. He was waiting for someone to start a conversation so that he could keep it up. However, he had been waiting for so long and nobody did that, which made him really anxious.
Lucky for him, a while later, Zhang Li opened her mouth and asked, “Brother, last time you mentioned that our parents are in the Kun Xu World. What does it look like? Will they suffer in that place? I miss them so much and I want to see them…”
Zhang Li’s eyes then began to redden and her lips curled. She seemed so sad.
Zhang Han turned around and looked at her. He then sighed and rubbed her head.
He chuckled and said, “You can rest assured. They are safe in the Kun Xu World. There was a sect called the Heavenly Knights Sect in that place, and it’s quite influential. Dad is the Young Master of the sect. So he’s doing just fine. Last time, I told you that we have no access to the Kun Xu World and there would be half a year before we could bring them back. Now it’s almost been half a year, so that day will come soon.”
It was usual for Zhang Han to say so many words, which was a strong indication of his solid love for his sister.
“OK, I got it.” Zhang Li nodded and felt much better.
“Ahem, Sister Li, wipe your tears,” said Instructor Liu while he carefully passed some tissues to Zhang Li.
Zhang Li took the tissues. Usually, she would’ve just rolled her eyes and asked him “who are you calling ‘sister'”. But now, she wiped the tears and didn’t say a word.
Just then, the auctioneer on the stage lowered her voice and said, “The following items up for auction are a set of antiques. There are eight in one that used to be collected by the former patriarch of the Zhang Clan. The first one is a porcelain bottle. This one…”
Since there were eight items in total, it took the auctioneer a long time to introduce them.
The moment she spoke about the patriarch of the Zhang Clan., the two martial artists VIP room No. 30 opened their eyes all of a sudden, looking calmly at the auction items on the stage.
One of the old martial artists said, “Here it comes!”
“Here it comes!” someone in VIP room No. 36 said the same thing.
Zhang Chen sat on the side, led by two elders of the Zhang Clan. They looked at the auction items in front of them with some emotions in their eyes.
Those were all antiques from Zhang Guangyou’s villa.
It was very rare for eight antiques to be auctioned at the same time. Everyone in the hall was shocked.
“These eight items are pretty good. How much are they?”
“I’m afraid it’s going to be at least two or three hundred million yuan.”
“Few people that can afford that. I like them, but I can’t afford them.”
“…”
Under many people’s gaze, the auctioneer said after she introduced the items, “There are eight antiques, and the value of each has been assessed and estimated by our staff. The starting price of the full set is 250 million yuan, each bid increment shall be no less than one million yuan. Now, let the auction begin!”
“255 million dollars.”
“257 million!”
“260 million!”
Many people were trying to bid. If nothing else, the bid would finally be settled at 300 million, which would be a very reasonable deal.
But at this time, Zhang Han raised his hand slightly.
Zhao Feng, who was next to him, nodded and entered the bid into the electronic controller next to him.
“267 million for No. 113… 600 million? Gosh? 600 million for the distinguished guests in VIP room No. 8! Anyone else? 600 million going once. 600 million going twice…”
Many people in the hall were stunned by suddenly raised bid.
They wondered who the one spending money like water was.
Most of them looked up to the No. 08 VIP room, on the window of which there was a huge and dazzling screen showing the 600,000,000 yuan bid.
They were going to give up because each antique in the full set cost almost 100 million yuan now. That was too expensive.
Just when everyone thought that the eight items would be sold for 600 million yuan…
“650 million! The guest in room No. 30 bids 650 million!”
“800 million, oh my god!”
The auctioneer Wu Fei was also stunned. That set of antiques was worth 300 million yuan at most. She had never imagined that the bid would get this high. What an extravagant fight!
“The guest in VIP room No. 8 bids 800 million yuan. Any other bids? 800 million yuan going once. 800 million yuan going twice. Last chance… Sold! Congratulations! 800 million yuan, sold to the bidder in VIP room No. 8!”
Many people below the stage were exclaiming.
“800 million, what the heck? Who is that guy in there?”
“He’s so freaking rich!”
Some were envious and some were scornful, including the one sitting in VIP room No. 27.
“800 million yuan for a pile of junk? That was way too absurd.” Qiao Fei sneered.
“Yes, it was worth four or five hundred million yuan at most, but that man spent 800 million. He must have a plan for this, otherwise he’s making himself look like an idiot,” Lin Jie said with a smile. He couldn’t understand it either.
However, the price he mentioned just now was no more than his speculation…
At this moment, in VIP room No. 30, the atmosphere was a bit chilly.
There were two late-stage Grand Masters sitting in the front of the room. One of them was wrinkled and with grey hair; the other one was short-haired with tanned skin. They look quite pissed.
“Where does this bidder come from? How dare he steal things from our Wind Snow School? Is he tired of living?” scolded the short-haired man, looking very upset.
The people around couldn’t help shivering, and they felt a coldness in their blood and bones.
“Don’t worry.” The wrinkled man looked at VIP room No. 8. He looked grim and said, “What’s the use of buying them now? And we’re not sure if we need those antiques. We’ll wait for better items coming up next.”
“Haha!” The short-haired man sneered and stopped talking.
One of them was about over 50 years old and the other was over 40 years old. Having observed them for a while, the suited man found that the two spoke and acted like young people. They didn’t seem to be like people of around 50 years old at all.
On the stage, Wu Fei was very excited about the 800 million yuan deal. Her naturally ruddy complexion was even more flushed now upon hearing the bid.
A minute later, when she looked at the next auction item, she suddenly looked relaxed.
She thought that the next round would be easy because the item looked cheap.
“Next is auction item No. 43. This set of auction items is a bit special. There are books, notes, modern paintings, and some photos, which are all from the Zhang Clan’s former patriarch, Zhang Guangyou. We’ll start at one million yuan, and each bid increment shall be no less than 100,000 yuan. Now, let’s begin!”
“Pfft…”
As soon as Wu Fei finished speaking, she thought that she could finally have some rest. However, the screen in front of her suddenly lit up. She opened her eyes widely and choked on her saliva.
Then she tried hard not to cough, which took her five whole seconds. When she felt better, she continued with a trembling voice.
“The guest in room No. 8 bids 500 million yuan.”
Those words were like a tossed stone that created a thousand ripples.
All the participants below the stage burst into an uproar. Some of them couldn’t help exclaiming, “How much? Did I hear it wrong?”
“500 million yuan? Who would waste so much money on things like these?”
“Who is sitting inside the room?”
Even the auctioneer was quite shocked, let alone the other participants.
It started at one million yuan, and that guy directly bid 500 million!
That was horrifying. People were still calculating how many times the number had doubled.
“Who’s the guy in there? Does he come to court death?”
In VIP room No. 30, the two from the Wind Snow School looked at each other and their faces darkened.
“Make a bid!” the white-haired man commanded coldly. The suited man next to him was startled and pressed the button hastily.
“500 million, going twice… The guest in VIP room No. 30 bids 550 million!”
The auctioneer was stunned.
She couldn’t believe that someone would actually compete for these items.
At the same time, in VIP room No. 8, Zhang Han smiled disdainfully. He raised his left hand and Zhao Feng input the new bid immediately.
“My God! The guest in VIP room No. 8 bids 600 million!”
“Wait! VIP room No. 30 just offered 700 million yuan for the bid!”
“No. 8 bids 800 million!”
“No. 30 bids 850 million!”
The auctioneer had no idea what was going on now.
Many rich people sitting below the stage were also dumbfounded.
The bid kept going up. They had no idea why these people were fighting over these ordinary items.
“What the heck?”
“They started at only one million!”
“What are they doing?”