Chapter 128: Bidding For What Nobody Wants
"The next lot is a wood carving from the Qing Dynasty!"
"According to the unanimous appraisal of Wuji Group, judging from the content of the wood carving and the material of the Phoebe sheareri, it is an ornament from the palace of the Qing Dynasty!"
"Now, we are starting at 500,000 yuan, and each increase shall not be less than 30,000 yuan!"
With the impassioned speech,
the auctioneer slammed down the mallet.
Just when Ye Chen was about to raise his bidding paddle and bid,
to his surprise, Zhang Jingshan raised his first.
"Brother Ye, now that we are here, I'd love to get something for the old man. You know, he's really into antique and stuff. So, this might be to his liking, I suppose." Zhang Jingshan explained.
Uh...
What else could Ye Chen say?
This square, box-like wooden sculpture was one of the purposes of his trip.
If others bid, he would definitely fight to the end.
But since it was Zhang Jingshan, then he could just let it go...
"You lucky dog."
Shaking his head intriguingly, Ye Chen gave a wry smile.
"Um? What do you mean by that?" Zhang Jingshan was puzzled.
"You go get it!" Ye Chen smiled lightly.
At that time,
the auctioneer on the stage read the raised paddle to the audience.
Seat 79, 500,000!
Immediately.
Others followed and raised theirs.
"Seat 41, 530,000 yuan!"
"Seat 63, 560,000 yuan!"
"Seat 93, 590,000 yuan!"
...
...
Along with the exciting announcing,
the starting price of this wood carving was only 500,000, and it came to 890,000.
"Seat 130, 890,000 first!"
"Seat 130, 890,000 second!"
Generally speaking,
even if he did wish to make a bid and get it for the old man, Zhang Jingshan would stop here.
Because the money spent on outbidding the highest bidder could be spent on some better stuff for the old man...
But he kept thinking about Ye Chen's calling him "lucky dog" just now.
So, he chose to hold up his paddle anyway just in time.
"Seat 79, 920000 yuan!"
The moment the auctioneer declared the number,
people who had bid before started to shake their heads unanimously.
After all, the collection value of an antique like this was not worth that much money.
Eighty-nine thousand was presumably astronomical!
Besides, it was only because it was in Jiangzhou that one could see people bidding for it.
In the previous seven auction tours, it was said that no one was willing to bid for this thing.
"920,000 first!"
"920,000 second!"
"Last chance!"
"Sold!"
"Congratulations to the gentleman in seat 79, who obtained this piece of woodcarving from the Qing Dynasty at the price of 920,000. After the auction, you will be guided to the backstage with our staff for transfer procedures!"
In a round of applause,
Zhang Jingshan couldn't help but whisper to Ye Chen, "Brother Ye, what's so special about it?"
"You'll know soon." Ye Chen continued to keep him in suspense.
At this time, Peng Lei, who was sitting at the three o'clock position of Ye Chen and Zhang Jingshan, frowned tightly.
He knew Zhang Jingshan. He was also disgraced twice by him when he had to swallow his bitterness because of Zhang Jingshan's grandfather.
But the man sitting next to Zhang Jingshan, he was having the hardest time placing him.
He started to rack his brains, to no avail. He just couldn't manage to break that boundary around his vague memory.
At this time,
on the big screen.
following the wood carvings of the Qing Dynasty, the next round of auction began.
"The next lot is a porcelain cup from the Qing Dynasty."
"According to the appraisal by Wuji Group, this porcelain cup is a blue and white orchid porcelain cup that was popular globally during the Emperor Kangxi period. Although it is with a defect, its collection value is not!"
"Therefore, the starting price is 800,000, and each increase shall not be less than 50,000!"
After the hammer went down,
the whole audience fell quiet without anyone raising their paddles.
Maybe this was the epitome of people's herd mentality.
This blemished blue and white orchid porcelain cup from the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty had a starting price of 1.1 million in the first auction tour.
Nonetheless, it wasn't fortunate enough to end up in the hands of someone rich. After the third time it remained unsold,
people lost interest in it.
There was a shared concern here. For a damaged good like this, one couldn't be sure if it would be worth the money for bidding. Besides, one might risk being laughed at for getting it.
It was precisely this popular mentality that forced Wuji Group to lower the starting price again and again.
After all, at the beginning, the starting price given by Wuji Group was usually falsely high.
But even if the starting price got lowered, it seemed that this time it would inevitably stay unsold again.
For a while, no paddle was seen.
Just before the auctioneer decided to pass this one,
Ye Chen raised his paddle.
"Seat 78, 800,000!"
"Seat 78, 800,000!"
The overjoyed auctioneer shouted twice in succession.
But people still refused to join his exultation. Everyone remained silent.
So, the auctioneer had to continue the procedure.
"800,000 first!"
"800,000 second!"
"Last chance!"
"Sold!"
"Congratulations to the gentleman in seat 78, who obtained a blue and white orchid porcelain cup from the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty at a price of 800,000 yuan. After the auction, you'll be guided to the backstage with our staff for transfer procedures!"
Another round passed.
At this time, the big screen was demonstrating the last lot of this auction.
A painting!
It was "Songyang Hanbai" by Qianlong
However, the information of it clearly indicates that this was a modern copy.
"The next object to be auctioned is the last one of Wuji Group Touring Auction at Jiangzhou Station."
"Let's welcome this copied version of "Songyang Hanbai" from a painter of the Republic of China, which was originally the work of Emperor Qianlong."
"Wuji Group appraisal team has unanimously identified that this "Songyang Hanbai" is a copy during the Republic of China period. Although the painter remained unknown, the paint showed his extraordinary copying prowess which can easily make the audience to believe it is the original one."
"Therefore, this "Songyang Hanbai" copied during the Republic of China has a starting price of 800,000."
The moment the auctioneer commenced the auction of it,
Ye Chen raised his paddle instantly again.
Um???
This dude again?
Does he especially pick those other dislike?
The fact that the blue and white orchid porcelain cup with a defect from the Kangxi period just now was won by Ye Chen was surprising enough for the people present,
they were utterly stunned to see his bidding for this painting "Songyang Hanbai".
For one thing, it had notoriously been passed from the very first auction to the present one.
For another, as for "Songyang Hanbai" itself, if it was a copy of some well-known artist, it must be worth more than 800,000 yuan.
However, the painter was anonymous. How could a painting be of much value if it was from an anonymous person? In spite of the uncanny resemblance, it wouldn't be worth the money.
The point of collecting paintings and calligraphy was all about the fame of the master, instead of sincere appreciation of the works.
Therefore, no matter how impressive the copy of an unknown painter was, it was destined to bear little value.
But this guy purchased both defected porcelain cup and the "Songshan Hanbo" copied by anonymous tonight. What the hell was his intention?
While the audience whispering in confusion,
"80,000 third!"
"Sold!"
"Congratulations to the gentleman in seat 78, who will obtain the "Songyang Hanbo Tu" copied by a master during the period of the Republic of China at the price of 800,000. After the auction, you will be guided to the backstage with our staff for transfer procedures!
"The auction tour at Jiangzhou Station has come to a perfect conclusion. Thank you all for coming!"
After saying that, the auctioneer heaved a sigh of relief.
The wood carving, porcelain cup, and this "Songyang Hanbai" had been passed since the first auction which had kept them stressed, too.
Fortunately, they were sold.
And Ye Chen in the auditorium.
also heaved a sigh of relief.
He was a bit upset to let Zhang Jingshan have the woodcarving.
Still, he got the two which really mattered a lot, even without paying extra money beyond the starting price. He was very happy about this trip.
In the previous life, these three items were revealed to be worth nearly 100 million not long after.
But in this life, having them in his hands, even without the woodcarving, he could make them worth at least 200 million. And immediately!
PS: Wait?