Gene Unlocking: I Evolve Every Day

Chapter 71: Chapter 66: Striking It Rich

Lu Li was about to chat with Uncle Xu about the antique trade.

Unexpectedly, before he could speak, someone stepped in ahead of him.

Qin Yuyong reached out his hand, ”Hey, Old Xu, you’re being unfair. Young Lu was brought here by my son, Ah Liang. If we’re talking about buying antiques, it seems I should be the one discussing it with him first.”

At first, hearing the beginning of the sentence, Lu Li thought Qin Yuyong was trying to hinder his trade with Uncle Xu, but it turned out the other party wanted to buy as well.

Uncle Liu exclaimed, ”Old Qin, you’re totally unreasonable. In a private antique trade, shouldn’t it go to the highest bidder? This is not an antique market; who follows the ’first come, first served’ rule with you?”

Uncle Xu laughed, ”Exactly, you’re really sneaky. Moreover, if we’re talking about ’first come, first served’, wasn’t I the one who spoke to Young Lu about the trade first? So I should be the one discussing it with him first.”

The three of them bantered for a moment, clearly joking with each other and not truly arguing.

Honestly, Uncle Xu, Uncle Liu, and Qin Yuyong were most interested not in the Daoguang-era double-handled vase, but in the school magazine and the Republic of China imitation Qianlong vase. Although these items weren’t very high in value, they were quite rare.

In the end, the three reached a consensus to decide the ownership of the three antiques through fair bidding.

Lu Li naturally had no objections to this.

Not only did he not object, but on the contrary, he kind of wished for it.

After all, bidding could gain more ’soft sister coins’ than selling directly.

Qin Liang hadn’t spoken all along, just staring at Lu Li’s profile deep in thought.

”Alright, it’s settled then,” Uncle Xu pointed to the school magazine, ”Let’s start bidding from this school magazine, shall we?”

”Sure.”

”No problem.”

Qin Yuyong and Uncle Liu nodded.

Lu Li just sat silently, waiting for the three to make their offers.

Uncle Xu was the first to speak, ”The estimated price of this school magazine is between one hundred thousand and one hundred and twenty thousand. I won’t take advantage of Young Lu, I’ll directly offer the highest price, one hundred and twenty thousand. If either of you wants to compete with me, continue to bid. If you don’t bid, I won’t bother drafting a contract, I’ll just transfer the money to Young Lu via online banking. The item will be mine then, is that okay?”

Uncle Liu looked at him, speechless, ”Old Xu, you set the price so high from the start, clearly you don’t want Old Qin and me to compete.”

Qin Yuyong also rolled his eyes, ”You’ve already reached the peak price, who would still bid against you?”

Uncle Xu laughed heartily, ”So, you’re not going to bid?”

Uncle Liu waved his hand, ”No bidding, no bidding.”

Qin Yuyong also shook his head, indicating he wouldn’t bid either.

”Then the item is mine,” Uncle Xu seemed very pleased, he turned to Lu Li, ”Young Lu, since the two of them are not bidding, I’ll buy this school magazine at one hundred and twenty thousand, is that okay?”

Huh?

Did he just get one hundred and twenty thousand with a few words?

Lu Li was indeed a bit surprised. He originally thought Qin Yuyong, Uncle Xu, and Uncle Liu would deliberate like people attending an auction in a movie, carefully weighing their decisions for a long time, and finally reach a deal after several rounds of competition.

Who knew it wasn’t like that at all.

These three didn’t seem to care about eleven or twelve thousand at all.

They just considered if it was worth it and already had a conclusion.

If a regular person encountered this situation, they might ponder whether the three were teaming up to drive the price of their antique down.

Lu Li didn’t think that way.

Because he had previously used the Mind Reading Technique to hear the thoughts of Uncle Xu and the others.

He knew that the real value of this school magazine was indeed between ten to twelve thousand.

Now that Uncle Xu had offered the highest price.

Lu Li naturally wouldn’t refuse, ”Alright, thank you, Uncle Xu.”

”We’re doing business with clear prices, no need to be so polite,” Uncle Xu beamed, reaching out to gingerly pick up the school magazine, eyes filled with affection, ”Once we’ve finished bidding on all three items, I’ll transfer the money to you, to save the hassle of multiple transfers if I win more bids later.”

Lu Li quickly said, ”Okay.”

Uncle Xu pointed at the enamels bottle, ready to repeat his tactics, ”Let’s discuss...”

He hadn’t finished his sentence.

Qin Yuyong suddenly blurted out a number, ”One hundred eighty thousand.”

Uncle Xu: ”...”

Uncle Liu chuckled, ”This cloisonné laughing Buddha bottle is estimated at around one hundred sixty to two hundred thousand. You’ve bid one hundred eighty thousand, there’s still room to go up, but if I compete with a higher price, it might be a bit of a gamble.”

Qin Yuyong blinked, ”So, will you gamble?”

Uncle Liu didn’t hesitate, ”I love a little gambling for amusement, hmm, I bid one hundred ninety-five thousand.”

Uncle Xu simply sat back like Qin Liang, not making a sound.

Instead, it was Qin Yuyong who frowned, as if considering whether to bid higher.

Lu Li didn’t mind.

After all, the Mind Reading Technique had heard Uncle Xu’s estimate of sixteen to twenty thousand.

Now that Uncle Liu bid one hundred ninety-five thousand, it was already approaching the peak of the estimate.

Naturally, he knew this price was right.

After pondering for half a day, Qin Yuyong ultimately shook his head and said, ”Forget it, I’ll let you have it.”

Uncle Liu mocked, ”It’s clear you think there’s no room for a higher price, stop acting like you’re doing a favor.”

Qin Yuyong huffed, ”You’ll see later if I’m letting you have it.”

Uncle Liu ignored him, turning instead to Lu Li, ”Young Lu, is one hundred ninety-five thousand okay?”

Lu Li nodded, ”Yes.”

Seeing the two had reached an agreement, Uncle Xu eagerly said, ”Alright, let’s talk about the most valuable double-handled vase.”

At those words, Lu Li felt a bit nervous.

According to previous chatter among Uncle Xu, Uncle Liu, and Qin Yuyong, as well as his own Mind Reading Technique eavesdropping, he could confirm that the Daoguang-era famille rose vase with a panoramic Three Abundance design was likely valued around one hundred eighty thousand.

The fluctuation range was generally no more than ten thousand.

In other words, their bidding range would likely be between one hundred seventy and one hundred ninety thousand.

Lu Li naturally hoped for the price to be as high as possible, ideally selling at the highest price.

After all, the difference of twenty thousand between the highest and lowest prices was equivalent to the cloisonné vase.

Just as he was thinking, someone made the first offer, it was Qin Yuyong.

He said, ”Daoguang-era porcelains have appreciated greatly in recent years, and although this famille rose panoramic Three Abundance vase has a flaw at the mouth, affecting its value to some extent, I still see great potential for appreciation. Hmm, I’ll offer...one hundred seventy-five thousand.”

At least one hundred seventy-five thousand wasn’t the lowest price.

Lu Li’s nervousness eased a bit, his gaze involuntarily turned to Uncle Xu and Uncle Liu, hoping they would bid higher.

Uncle Liu showed no restraint, ”Old Qin, just like you said, Daoguang-era porcelain prices have been rising steadily in recent years. I’m also optimistic about this double-handled vase, I’ll bid one hundred seventy-seven thousand.”

The price increased by another two thousand!

Lu Li was secretly delighted, hoping for a more intense bidding war.

Just as he had this thought, Uncle Xu followed closely behind, stating cleanly, ”One hundred eighty.”

Everyone understood that Uncle Xu’s ’one hundred eighty’ wasn’t one hundred eighty yuan but one hundred eighty thousand.

The bidding had reached the median price.

Lu Li continued to watch the three, curious if there were higher bids.

”One hundred eighty thousand is about right,” Qin Yuyong frowned slightly, ”But, well, I’m prepared to bid higher, one hundred eighty...”

Before he finished, Qin Liang, who had been sitting silently, suddenly interjected, ”Two hundred thousand.”

”Huh?”

”What?”

Uncle Liu and Uncle Xu were caught off guard.

Lu Li also looked on, a bit stunned.

Qin Liang raised his head naturally, ”I said I’ll bid two hundred thousand.”

Qin Yuyong retorted, ”We’re the ones bidding, why are you meddling?”

”I’m not using your money,” Qin Liang showed no deference to his dad, smirking, ”If you guys can bid, why can’t I?”

Qin Yuyong was left speechless.

Uncle Xu and Uncle Liu exchanged helpless glances.

Two hundred thousand had exceeded the internal appraised value of the double-handled vase for the three of them.

Ultimately, Qin Yuyong, Uncle Xu, and Uncle Liu didn’t bid any further.

Though Lu Li had sat quietly, he was already overjoyed inside.

He had never expected that his first try at dipping his toes into the antique world would yield two hundred thirty-one thousand five hundred.

This made his heart yearn even more for making money through antiques.

He had wandered for just an afternoon and made over two hundred thirty thousand.

If he devoted himself to hunting for antiques in the antique city, wouldn’t he make a fortune in a short time?

Lu Li could almost see the wad of red bills slipping into his pocket.

He thought to himself, if he stuck to playing with antiques, not to mention a Porsche 911, he might soon be able to afford a Lamborghini!