Chapter 2306: Astronomically Priced Hairpin
"Oh really, then it"s going to be a difficult situation..." Qiao Mei sighed deeply and yelled out, "550,000 dollars."
"600,000."
"700,000."
"800,000!"
Just like that, the two of them went back and forth, trying to outbid each other. At one point, the bid hit the amount of 1.8 million! At a time when the average salary of an ordinary person was only 80 dollars a month, these two people could actually spend 1.8 million dollars on a hairpin! What was the charm of this hairpin!
"It looks like Mr. Nan really likes this hairpin," Qiao Mei said with a resigned smile.
"That"s right. I hope Miss Qiao can be magnanimous enough not to s.n.a.t.c.h what another person loves," Nan Dong said.
"Is that so? But I like it very much too. I can"t possibly disappoint myself just to satisfy Mr. Nan," Qiao Mei said.
"Are the two of you going to continue bidding?" the emcee asked shakily.
Qiao Mei raised the sign in her hand and said, "2.3 million."
"2.5 million," Nan Dong said.
Qiao Mei said with a straight face, "5 million."
Everyone present gasped. An amount of 5 million dollars was an astronomical bid! Most of the people there had never even dreamed about ever seeing 5 million dollars. There were also people whose total a.s.sets were not even worth 5 million dollars.
Qian"e also hurriedly tugged at Qiao Mei and whispered, "That"s 5 million dollars! Don"t be so angry that you lose your cool! 5 million dollars in cash! You don"t have that much cash!"
Qiao Mei was not afraid at all. The money she had in the bank and the money she stored in her warehouse should be just enough for her to pay 5 million dollars in cash. Furthermore, Qiao Mei knew very well that Nan Dong could not fork out so much money.
It was already not easy for Qiao Mei, the richest person in the capital, to fork out 5 million dollars. If Nan Dong could easily produce so much money, then Qiao Mei could ask Xia Wen to check if Nan Dong"s money was earned through proper channels.
As Qiao Mei expected, Nan Dong did not say anything. He just sat there with a troubled expression and kept quiet. The emcee was stunned for a long time.
"Don"t worry, I know what I"m doing," Qiao Mei said with a smile.
Gao Long was not worried about Qiao Mei at all. After all, Xia Zhe was still in Country M and had also made a lot of money recently. The worth of the combined a.s.sets between the three of them was enough to buy more than 30 hairpins. Gao Long was just a little surprised that Qiao Mei was so keen to get this particular hairpin. The hairpin looked ordinary, even if the black jadeite was of a very nice color. However, now was not the right time to ask her about this. "5 million going once! 5 million going twice!" the emcee shouted in a trembling voice. "Mr. Nan, aren"t you going to continue?" Qiao Mei asked provocatively.
"A gentleman will not s.n.a.t.c.h another"s beloved. This is what Miss Qiao has taught me. Since Miss Qiao is willing to spend so much money to buy this hairpin, you must really like it very much. It"s not a waste of its value to let you have it," Nan Dong said.
Qiao Mei thought to herself, "You really like to put on an act. If you don"t have the money, then just be frank about it! Why are you saying all these polite words! How pretentious!"
"5 million going thrice! Sold! Congratulations to this young lady for buying the black jadeite hairpin!" the emcee shouted loudly.
After that, Qiao Mei was not interested in the rest of the auction items. Since she had already contributed 5 million dollars to this charity gala, no one dared to say anything when she stood up and walked away.
Qiao Mei left the auction area with Gao Long and they headed to the dessert bar for some drinks. The wine served here tasted so much worse than the ones from their vineyard.
"I should open a winery in the capital and import all the wine I have in Country M," Gao Long said disdainfully.
"Even if you manage to import the wine, not many people will be able to afford it. The losses will be too great, so it"s not worth the effort. You should just leave them at Bella"s casino. That way, you can earn money faster and can price them much higher," Qiao Mei said.
"Bella has her own wine cellar. You probably don"t know this, but Bella is the top wine producer in Country M. No one has ever said a bad thing about her wine," Gao Long said.
This was the first time Qiao Mei had heard of this. Bella was really amazing! She wished that she could invite Bella to the capital to have some fun, but she probably had to wait until Bella retired from her current business.
"Let me see if I can set up a vineyard here," Qiao Mei said.
"Can"t you just build an extension to your manor?" Gao Long asked.
"That geographical environment is not suitable for producing wine and it will not taste good. Anyway, there are so many plots of land around. Let"s talk about it when we find a suitable place. We already have too many businesses to take care of," Qiao Mei said calmly.
This was a normal conversation between the two of them, but anyone else listening in would not find it normal. Qiao Mei"s a.s.sets were never made public. Everyone mainly only knew about her educational background and her factories in the capital.
"Aren"t you worried that you"ll cause trouble for the Xia family by spending so much money?" Gao Long raised his eyebrows and said to Qiao Mei as he looked at the people muttering among themselves in the distance.
"It doesn"t matter. Eldest Brother should be able to... settle it..." Qiao Mei said.