Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 1939: Chapter 1842: What’s Their Purpose

But no matter how reluctant they were, what could they do? With just the few of them, bringing these things back was never going to be easy. Even if they really did win a few lots, the rest would still end up in other people’s hands. Compared to all those relics scattered overseas, what they were doing was just a drop in the ocean.

”One hundred and fifty thousand!” ”Two hundred thousand!” ”Two hundred and fifty thousand!” ”...”

”Eight hundred thousand once, three hundred and fifty thousand twice, is there anyone else who wants to raise their paddle? No? All right, then this last Gilded Silver Plate with Double-Fish Pattern goes to gentleman number 235!”

Huo Sining’s gaze fell on the Gilded Silver Plate with Double-Fish Pattern on the display stand. It was a decorative plate from the Qianlong period, with exquisite patterns and brilliant colors, highly prized by many foreign collectors. From the moment bidding began, people kept raising their paddles, and in the end the bid actually went up to eight hundred thousand.

The eight hundred thousand wasn’t in RMB, but in US dollars. In other words, the final hammer price of this Qing Dynasty Gilded Silver Plate had actually reached nearly six million, almost double its market price back home.

Such an outrageous price left Huo Sining utterly stunned, and the four old gentlemen sitting in the VIP box were likewise dumbfounded.

Huo Sining had originally thought that if the final prices didn’t deviate too much from the market, she might be able to win one or two pieces to take back. But now it seemed she had underestimated these foreigners’ purchasing power and level of insanity. Never mind the market price—even if she added another thirty to fifty percent on top, she still wouldn’t even touch the tail of those items.

Huo Sining subconsciously rubbed her nose and looked at Gu Xu, an involuntary bitter smile appearing on her face.

”Old Zhou, this isn’t looking good. Even a silver plate can go for such a ridiculous price. I don’t think we’ll stand a chance with what comes next. What worries me most now are those two Beast Heads. With how free-handed these bidders are, once those Beast Heads appear, won’t they just go mad? When that happens, how are we supposed to bid?”

Earlier, Huang Zhenlong had still been relaxed and confident that with them here this auction would be no problem. But after seeing the results of the first round, he was starting to panic.

Dammit, a crappy mid-Qing silver plate sold for six million—this was even more insane and terrifying than robbing a bank. Judging from this situation, wouldn’t those two Beast Heads go for over a billion?

At this point, Huang Zhenlong was only muttering inwardly. But when the final hammer prices for those two Beast Heads eventually came out, he realized that his ”over a billion” just now had been downright restrained and conservative!

Right now, Zhou Shitao was also frowning tightly. He looked up at Huo Sining. ”Girl Huo, among these items, is there anything you particularly value, something you absolutely want to bid on?”

Huo Sining was taken aback. She lowered her head to look at the stack of materials, hesitated for a while, and said, ”This Double Ear Small Pot, that Ming Dynasty Plain Ground Squirrel Gourd-Pattern Jar, this Early Western Zhou Dynasty Bronze Gui, that Autumn Mountains Fishing Painting, this Jade Embellished Ear-Ringed Three-Legged Furnace with Lid, and that one...”

As Huo Sining flipped through the pages, she pointed at several pieces and started reading them out. After she had read out a few, the corners of the old men’s mouths began to twitch involuntarily.

Zhou Shitao was also speechless. ”Stop. Just pick two from here. You don’t have to read them all.”

Huo Sining’s face flushed red at once. ”Master, I particularly value all of these. I want to bid on all of them.”

Zhou Shitao lifted his eyes to glance at her. ”The prices are outrageous. Can you afford to win them?”

Of course, Huo Sining knew he was right. She wanted all of these pieces, but the prices were too absurd. If she really tried to win them all, she probably wouldn’t have enough money left to bid on those two Beast Heads later.

With that in mind, she couldn’t bear to look anymore. She simply tossed the booklet aside, gritted her teeth, struggled inwardly for a long while, and then, with great pain, gave up on most of the items:

”Then let’s just go for that Bronze Gui and that Autumn Mountains Fishing Painting. Forget about the rest!”

Seeing the look on her face, Zhou Shitao knew exactly what his disciple was thinking. He sighed and said:

”Girl, we want to bring all of this back even more than you do. But people are like this: you can only do as much as your ability allows. We are nothing but a drop in the ocean. It’s like the Foolish Old Man moving the mountain—we can only move it little by little. That obstacle looks daunting, but besides us, there are our children and grandchildren. One day, these things will return to their rightful home.”

No matter how helpless and unwilling she felt, Huo Sining also knew that, at this moment, this was all she could do. Sometimes people are forced to face such dilemmas: to obtain certain things, you have to give up other things you cherish. You must learn to choose, and understand that taking a step back opens up the vast sea and sky.

The auction proceeded in an orderly fashion, but what puzzled Huo Sining was that ever since the start, she had been watching Fujiwara Seiho and his group. After several lots had gone up—whether Western antiques or Eastern curios—none of them seemed to catch the eye of those five people. A look of disdain flashed in their eyes, but they remained completely unmoved; they didn’t raise their paddles or call out a single bid.

This strange situation immediately made Huo Sining feel that something was off.

Forget about Zhou Zhen and the Liang Jinghong siblings—Lu Huairu shouldn’t be someone who can’t recognize value. He was an Appraiser; there was no way he couldn’t see what that Ming Dynasty Plain Ground Squirrel Gourd-Pattern Jar and that Yuan Dynasty Double Ear Small Pot were.

Those two items had tempted even Zhou Shitao and Huang Zhenlong when they saw them. If the prices hadn’t been so high—more than double the market value—those two would probably have been unable to resist making a move.

But when Lu Huairu saw those two pieces, his expression was extremely indifferent, with almost no reaction at all. Such composure was completely inconsistent with his identity and professional habits.

This situation made Huo Sining’s heart jolt. She couldn’t help but keep thinking and speculating. This group had come all the way from Huaxia Country to America; from the looks of it, they must have gone to a lot of trouble to get the qualification to attend this auction. It definitely wasn’t some spur-of-the-moment decision.

Yet now that they were here, they weren’t participating in the bidding. Clearly, it was because they didn’t think any of these items were worth their while.

So what exactly had they come for? Could it be that they were also here for those two Beast Heads?!