Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 1943: Chapter 1846: Ruthless

”Number 176, bid one million six hundred thousand!”

”Number 29, bid one million eight hundred thousand!”

”Number 245, bid two million!”

”This gentleman, number 245, has bid two million. Two million is already a very high price.”

The afternoon auction grew even crazier. A sculpture by a European master, even with defects, astonishingly fetched a high price of two million US dollars. This price already exceeded its original estimate by more than double, yet people in the audience continued to raise their paddles frantically.

Seeing this, even the croupier felt something was off. He raised his hand high but did not continue to announce a bid, instead advising the guests below in a deep, steady voice:

”Ladies and gentlemen, the current price has already surpassed the market estimate. If you wish to continue bidding and raising the price, please consider carefully.”

It wasn’t that the auctioneer didn’t want to make money, but those participating in the bidding were too frenzied. He had experience with hundreds of auctions and had won the auctioneer’s white gloves honor, but seeing the constant paddle-raising, he felt unprecedentedly nervous, even breaking into a sweat.

This afternoon’s auction was not normal. At such high prices, people were still bidding. He worried that after the auction, some items might go unsold, and once these bidders sobered up, they might prefer to lose the deposit and credit rather than actually pay such amounts for an antique.

Huo Sining sat in the audience, dumbfounded by the situation. This is insane. Is everyone’s money just blown in by the wind?

Internally, Huo Sining was filled with disdain and even cursed these people as crazy. However, in the next moment, when another item was placed on the platform and she recognized what it was, her expression froze. In the following second, she succumbed to madness and joined the ranks of the bidders.

It was a wooden box, not large, about the size of a dressing case. On the lid, there was a floral pattern that seemed awfully familiar to Huo Sining. When the auctioneer opened the box, there lay a thread-bound book of the Classic of Mountains and Seas!

The auctioneer did not offer much explanation, merely mentioning that it was brought to the auction by an unknown individual, then briefly describing the box’s material and the state of the Classic of Mountains and Seas.

Perhaps to cool the earlier bidding frenzy, the auctioneer avoided embellishing this item with excessive wording. He didn’t seem optimistic about it, perhaps because, given his understanding of Huaxia culture, the box seemed unremarkable, even worthless.

However, to the auctioneer’s surprise, this seemingly ordinary thread-bound book and wooden box, whose origin and research value weren’t apparent, saw immediate paddle-raising once he hit the gavel on the table, signaling the start of bidding.

The starting price for this item was fifty thousand. Even among previously exhibited items in this building, it was a relatively high base price. Yet, surprisingly, someone placed a bid, which shocked the auctioneer.

”Number 354, bid fifty thousand.”

The bidder was a young man wearing glasses, his gaze fixed intently on the box on the platform. Not only him, but his companions sitting on either side also watched the box eagerly and with tension, indicating they were together and very interested in the box.

The auctioneer initially thought this bidder merely chose an item at random to bid on, not caring about what it was. But seeing their expressions, he realized he was mistaken.

Yet this only deepened the auctioneer’s confusion. It was just a box and a book, neither seeming particularly special. Even if the box’s material was golden nanmu, it wouldn’t fetch much in the market, certainly not warranting someone spending fifty thousand US dollars on it. It was odd—had the appraiser missed something, allowing someone to find a hidden treasure?

But after closely examining the box and book for a few seconds, the auctioneer couldn’t find anything remarkable.

So, he dismissed the thought from his mind, focusing instead on managing the scene, ensuring that items did not go unsold, which might harm his reputation and job performance. Whether items were undervalued wasn’t for him to decide—if there was a mistake, it was the appraiser’s fault, not his.

This thought eased his mind. Seeing other bidders show little interest in this peculiar lot, he smiled and raised his white-gloved hand to the room:

”Fifty thousand US dollars. Does anyone wish to bid higher? If not, this item will go to gentleman number 354.”

As he said this, his gaze swept the room, and seeing no one speak, he understood—after the madness of the sculpture bid, everyone had sobered up, realizing it wasn’t worth that much.

Those who did not win were relieved, and those who did pondered anxiously, weighing the financial loss against the chance to work with the Rothschild Family, unsure how to decide.

Regardless, the strange box brought some back to their senses, cooling their earlier impulsiveness.

Since no one was bidding, the auctioneer thought this would be the final outcome, smiling as he announced: ”Fifty thousand, going once; fifty thousand, going twice.”

He paused, continuing, ”Fifty thousand, thrice...”

Just as he was about to bring down the gavel, a man suddenly appeared from the balcony above, standing on the small veranda, he called out to the auctioneer with a smile: ”Wait a moment!”

Everyone looked toward the sound to see a man in a suit leaning casually on the balcony rail, smirking as he waved his paddle: ”I bid eighty thousand!”