Starting as the President of a Billionaire Group

Chapter 402: Chapter 398: Wealthy Bidder (Second Update, Request for Monthly Votes)

Ye Chen and Luo Guofu’s conversation was overheard by others.

Originally, many people who wanted to befriend Ye Chen chose to ignore him after hearing that he was a DiDi driver.

Some even whispered, “How did a DiDi driver get in here?”

However, Ye Chen didn’t pay any attention to it.

Ye Chen was too lazy to deal with such snobs.

As for what others thought of him, Ye Chen never cared.

Soon, the auction began.

This time, the attendees were all high-profile figures, and Ye Chen saw many familiar faces.

Some of them were even moguls frequently seen on TV.

At that moment, Ye Chen spotted a familiar face—it was Lu Weigang, the owner of Shield Company.

Both Ren Fei and Lu Weigang were seated in the front rows.

The host for this event was Li Rongrong.

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Modu auction. This time, we’ve invited antique enthusiasts from all over the country, including some top-tier figures. Also, ten percent of the proceeds from tonight’s event will be donated to the Hope Project…”

After a brief opening speech, the auction officially began.

The guests in the front row were top-tier figures like Ren Fei and Lu Weigang.

The remaining seats were filled with wealthy individuals from all over the country.

The auction began with the first item, a porcelain bowl from the Republican era, which was of quite good quality.

The starting bid for this porcelain bowl was ten thousand yuan.

Because it was from the Republican era, the bowl wasn’t particularly valuable.

However, it did hold significant collectible value.

Very quickly, people started bidding.

The price climbed from ten thousand all the way up to thirty thousand.

Actually, Ye Chen wasn’t particularly interested in the porcelain bowl, but he wasn’t here to buy antiques; he was here to make money.

The more he bid, the more he could earn.

Of course, the system warned him that his bids shouldn’t be too outrageous and shouldn’t exceed the item’s value by too much.

Thinking of this, Ye Chen directly raised his paddle, fifty thousand.

The porcelain bowl had just reached thirty thousand, and Ye Chen increased it by twenty thousand.

Everyone was suddenly stunned.

After all, thirty thousand was already the value limit for this porcelain bowl.

Fifty thousand had already exceeded its intrinsic value.

All eyes turned to Ye Chen, looking at him as if he were a fool.

This guy must be crazy to spend fifty thousand on such a porcelain bowl?

No one competed with Ye Chen this time, and he successfully acquired the porcelain bowl.

[Ding! Congratulations to the host for receiving a tenfold cashback of five hundred thousand.]

Effortlessly, forty-five thousand was in his pocket, and Ye Chen felt very pleased.

Looks like I’m going to bid on a few more items today.

“Tch, looks like a nouveau riche spending fifty thousand on such a trashy porcelain bowl.”

“Must be some rich kid with no understanding of antiques.”

“Probably just a pretty boy with no knowledge.”

…

As Ye Chen successfully bid on the porcelain bowl, murmurs emerged around him.

Ye Chen remained unfazed; of course, they didn’t know he spent fifty thousand but earned forty-five thousand. Only a fool wouldn’t buy with tenfold cashback.

The second round of the auction began, this time with a Late Qing Dynasty fan, starting bid five thousand yuan.

This time, Ye Chen directly raised his paddle, thirty thousand.

Instantly, Ye Chen increased the fan’s price sixfold.

The fan was worth no more than ten thousand, so naturally, no one competed with his thirty thousand.

“Thirty thousand going once!”

“Thirty thousand going twice!”

“Thirty thousand going thrice!”

…

Li Rongrong knocked down the auction gavel.

She looked at Ye Chen with some suspicion.

She had seen Ye Chen’s appraisal skills before; he shouldn’t be making such a basic mistake.

[Ding! Congratulations to the host for receiving a tenfold cashback of three hundred thousand.]

Ye Chen felt extremely pleased inside.

However, everyone else was looking at Ye Chen as if he were an idiot.

The subsequent time almost became Ye Chen’s solo showcase.

Ye Chen bought every item at several times its original value.

Even Li Rongrong was a little confused at this point; what was Ye Chen up to?

Bear in mind, Ye Chen had already spent over three hundred thousand.

And it was all purchased above its actual value.

Taking advantage of a break, Li Rongrong found Ye Chen: “Ye Chen, I know you’re doing this to support me, but there’s no need to go this far.”

Ye Chen chuckled, “I know what I’m doing, don’t worry.”

Li Rongrong was stunned for a moment but didn’t say anything further.

However, she was convinced of one thing: Ye Chen was truly buying so many things for her.

Li Rongrong’s pretty face couldn’t help but blush slightly.

The auction continued.

The second item was “Peach Blossom Spring Painting” by Tang Hu.

Seeing this painting on display, everyone perked up.

If the previous items were merely warm-ups, this marked the beginning of the main event.

Even the moguls in the front row, who were yawning earlier, were now energized and focused on this painting.

The painting depicted an old man admiring flowers in the peach garden.

The old man’s demeanor was vividly rendered, and the scenery in the painting was exceptionally beautiful.

The peach blossoms were particularly vibrant, giving the entire painting a very pleasant feel.

It was well known that Tang Hu loved painting peach blossoms.

Moreover, this painting was considered his masterpiece.

Many moguls became interested in this painting.

Li Rongrong smiled and said, “The starting bid for this ‘Peach Blossom Spring’ is ten million, and each raise must be at least one million.”

The venue buzzed with chatter; this “Peach Blossom Spring” sparked a lot of interest.

Ye Chen glanced at it; indeed, the painting was authentic and held significant collectible value.

The bidding began, and people started placing bids.

“Fifteen million.”

“Twenty million.”

“Twenty-five million.”

…

In less than ten minutes, the painting’s price had already risen to twenty-five million.

And it was still climbing.

Ye Chen noticed that several of the moguls in the front row clearly showed interest but had not yet bid.

So Ye Chen decided to watch for now.

Ye Chen was determined to buy this painting for the tenfold return. The more expensive the antique, the higher his return.

However, seeing Ye Chen not bidding, a few rich guys who disliked him started talking.

“See, that arrogant guy from before doesn’t dare to bid on millions-worth of items, does he?”

“He’s a joke, clearly just a bumpkin with no class.”

“Haha, exactly, spending tens of thousands just to secure a bit of presence, how lame.”

…

Ye Chen listened and smirked slightly.

Just then, finally, Luo Guofu in the first row raised his paddle.

“Forty million.”

Luo Guofu had made a fortune through antivirus software and now had assets close to ten billion.

Forty million was nothing to him.

Upon hearing Luo Guofu’s bid, those who originally wanted to buy the painting stopped bidding.

Forty million reached the painting’s value limit.

Luo Guofu wore a smug expression, confident the painting was his.

“Fifty million.” At this moment, a voice emerged from the crowd.

Everyone was stunned; this guy had increased the bid by ten million in one go.