By the time they were seated, the other seats were already filled too. Most of the people who were in attendance were immaculately dressed, and you could tell that they were successful people in a glance. Even if they were not wearing luxurious clothings, their clothes were still expensive. Especially the girls. They all dressed themselves up to be alluring beauties.
"There are quite a lot of people!"
Ning Weiqiang was chatting with Tang Cheng most of the time, while Qin Fang and Chen Jiangnan talked among themselves. Also, Qin Fang"s handphone already had Tang Cheng"s and Chen Jiangnan"s contacts.
Their relationship wasn"t close, but it was not distant either. Perhaps due to Tang Cheng"s personality or occupation, he didn"t express any familiarity towards Qin Fang. However, his gaze when looking at Qin Fang was already quite friendly.
On the other hand, it was Chen Jiangnan who was 12 years older than Qin Fang that hit it off with Qin Fang. The little bit of distance between them had already vanished by now.
"According to my sources, there are quite a lot of rare items being sold today. Especially the accessories made during the times when emperors still existed. It made all the girls go crazy and start asking their partners to buy it for them…"
Chen Jiangnan pointed at the girls around them who were all gorgeously dressed and excited. All of them looked like they were high, and their eyes seemed like they would spew fire at any time.
"Okay, you two. Stop chatting now. It"s starting already."
At this time, the bid master went up to the stage, and the auction started. In everybody"s hands were a small book, and in it, was the simple introduction of every auction item in this auction. At the same time, there was a small indication stating that all proceeds from this auction will be donated for charity.
Qin Fang skimped through it, and saw that it was mainly chinaware, drawings, accessories, etc. Just from looking at when were these products made already showed that buying it would not be cheap. However, the starting bid was shocking. It was surprisingly, all 1 dollar. This was the legendary no starting price auction.
"If I can pick up something valuable that people left out, it would be fun~"
Qin Fang smiled and joked with Chen Jiangnan.
"Don"t get your hopes too high. I looked over the booklet, and estimated that everything would not go for lower than $10,000."
Chen Jiangnan said helplessly.
"However, Brother Qin, can you help me see how is this chinaware? If is is real, then I really will have to buy it no matter what. Last night, I was scolded by my father, and I must bring something back home to appease his anger!"
Qin Fang looked at the information on the chinaware. It came from the Song Dynasty, and it was quite good. The estimated price was 300~500 hundred thousand, and it wasn"t top-grade goods. It could only be considered to be a excellent good.
"I will try my best…"
Qin Fang naturally agreed. He had treated Chen Jiangnan as a useless gambling addict last night, but found out now that his guy was actually a millionare too. He owns a company in Tranquil Sea, and mainly dealt with banking.
This was understandable as his father was the professor of the economic stream in Tranquil Sea University. Thus, his father borne a child who was skilled in economics too. Chen Jiangnan"s father was a famous economic expert in the nation. So even if Chen Jiangnan couldn"t inherit all of his father"s skills, with just 60%-70% of it, he could still come out and make a killing.
As the two were talking, the auction had already started, and the products were seamlessly sent up the stage. The auction master first introduced the products in greater detail, saying its orgins, history and story. In other words, things not stated in the booklet given.
After the introduction was finished, time was given for the bidders to verify the product"s authenticity. Every bidder was allowed to send one person on stage to appraise the product.
Even if Mingshi Salon had already held many of these auctions, and had already raised a professional bidding team, with help from big auction companies too, they were in the end, still not a real auction business. Thus, they have already stated, "Even the best appraiser will make a mistake, so the products in this auction may not always be real."
This statement was quite troll, but in the end, the chance of a fake product appearing was not really big. On top of that, those who came here were not people who would mind about this little bit of money, and so, naturally, everybody accepted that statement.
Chen Jiangnan also didn"t care about buying fake products too. However, what happened last night did cause both his and his father to lose face, and that"s why he is so concerned about getting a genuine product this time.
Thus, all the products went through the introduction and appraising phase, and Qin Fang was watching as a bystander all the time. He watched as all the rich people waved around money like throwing dirt.
Not only him, Ning Weiqiang, Tang Cheng, and Chen Jiangnan also didn"t move too. Obviously, the products so far were not what they wanted. This didn"t change until a copybook appeared.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the auction is already one third finished now. This product shall be the first climax of this auction. Please look at this copybook…"
As the auction master"s voice resounded, the audience could see two pretty girls cautiously taking out a copybook from its gla.s.s container and putting it on the stage.
"This copybook came from a famous scholar, Zhao Meng during the ancient times. According to the owner"s words, this copybook was pa.s.sed down in his family for generations, and is now several hundred years old…"
Qin Fang couldn"t be bothered by all the nonsense the auction master was spouting. It was just words to make the copybook seem to worth more. However, those seating here who would want to get this copybook were definitely not people who were stingy with money, and among them was… Tang Cheng.
"Qin Fang, later, can you go up and see if that copybook is real? If it is, then we will make a bid…"
Tang Cheng and Ning Weiqiang muttered in small voices, and Qin Fang couldn"t hear what they were saying. After a while though, when Ning Weiqiang was frowning and looking at the surroundings, he thought about Qin Fang, and immediately requested for his help with a smile. Of course, he notified Tang Cheng of his plan too.
"It"s up to you now!"
Contrary to Qin Fang"s expectations, Tang Cheng actually showed a smile on his usually cold face, and said those words.
"I know what to do!"
Qin Fang could see that Tang Cheng really wanted this copybook. Even his usually calm eyes got excited. At this time, Ning Weiqiang secretly told Qin Fang the reason.
It was because the Tang Cheng"s father really loved calligraphy, especially those by famous scholars. He really wanted to appreciate works by those scholars. However, due to his special status, he could not do a lot of things himself, and thus, his descendants should naturally be filial and help fulfill his wish.
"I understand…"
Qin Fang solemnly nodded his head. When the auction master announced the start of the appraising time, Qin Fang immediately stood up and walked up the stage.
However, other than him, quite a lot of people also expressed interest in the copybook, and they streamed up the stage together.
Perhaps due to Tang Cheng and the others being low profile, their seating were not the best. Hence, when Qin Fang walked up the stage, many people were already surrounding the copybook, and were carefully appraising it while muttering softly.
What they were saying all seemed like alien language to Qin Fang. They were talking about paper quality, strokes of the words, blah blah blah, as if everything they said were clear and logical, and that the copybook was real.
When Qin Fang went along their words and observed the copybook too, he also realised that the copybook was just as they said.
Quickly, the copybook was appraised as genuine by many "professionals", and thus they slowly dispersed and went back to report. At this time, time was up, and Qin Fang only had the time to throw an [Appraisal] at the copybook…
Staff List:
Saquacon (Translator)
Saqucon (PR)