Chapter 114: Auction (I)

  No matter how reluctant I am in my heart, the auction will still be held as scheduled. This is a promise made to everyone at the beginning, and it's not good to go back on one's word.

  At six o'clock in the evening, Zhang's father, dressed in a suit and tie, led Zhang's mother, Zhang Yang, and Song Jie out of the door together. As for why he brought Zhang Yang along, this was specially done to cover up the fact that Song Jie was the researcher of the red color, as a disguise.

  It's always better to be careful, even if it may not be necessary. Otherwise, the Zhang family wouldn't have taken in their own son, but instead took in a little girl they didn't know, which is also very strange. I reckon by tomorrow morning, Song Jie's true nature will be exposed for all to see.

  Song Jie was also dressed up, and this occasion was considered a formal one. Zhang Mu had specially bought Song Jie a pink dress, the color was a bit tacky, but it had to be said that Zhang Mu's taste was first-rate, wearing it made her look tender and lovely. Adding a pink butterfly hair clip made her even more adorable and cute.

  The evening auction started at 7:30 pm, and Zhang's father had to go a little earlier to make arrangements, so the few people went there relatively early.

  A black sedan pulled up to the entrance of Long Sheng Auction House, and a doorman with sharp eyes came over to help open the car door. Song Jie got out in a timely manner. After standing still for a moment, she took a glance at the entrance of Long Sheng, if not for the eye-catching sign at the entrance, probably no one would have thought that this was a high-end auction house.

  Too low-key to be true!!

  The entrance is a revolving door that is not very popular nowadays, push the door and enter, and suddenly it's bright. The hundreds of square meters large hall is particularly spacious, with some green plants on both sides. A large fish tank with tropical fish, it looks like a famous wealth-gathering Feng Shui fish at first glance.

  There are some wooden tables and stools with ancient charm on both sides of the hall, not far from the door, with tea sets on them, which can be used for people to rest.

  It's just that Song Jie couldn't help but sigh in admiration, this house's design is really quite ahead of its time, the owner has a good sense of style, and even after thirty years these decorations won't be outdated.

  In the middle is the reception desk, where two beautiful young ladies are welcoming guests. They are very attentive. Occasionally, the shadow of a bodyguard flashes by, and at first glance, they appear to be well-trained and skilled individuals.

  In private, Song Jie secretly speculated that they might be retired soldiers, as it was indeed possible to see a murderous aura from these people. This is not impossible, and it's very likely that these are the hands provided by the aristocratic families, who are probably more afraid of accidents than the Zhang family, ruining their good deeds.

  All this happened in less than a minute, Song Jie's mental strength was strong. Highly sensitive to external stimuli, she swept away with one glance, not leaving any of the ten.

  There were already female attendants waiting to lead a few people up the elevator, and there were several elevators here. This was prepared for some participants in the auction who did not want to show their faces. At that time, they can leave in batches, which well protected ***, without being disturbed by others.

  Entering from one of the elevator entrances, the waiter pressed a number for the 5th floor, it seems that this auction is being held on the 5th floor.

  "The second, third and fourth floors are just venues for small and medium-sized auctions, the size of the venue is not fixed. The fifth floor is the largest venue. When you get there, you'll know that it can hold a lot of people." Zhang Fu explained.

  The waiter thought Zhang's father was introducing his wife, but in fact, Song Jie understood that this was an explanation for herself. This was her first time back at Long Sheng Auction House, and she wasn't familiar with the situation here.

  The elevator door opened. As expected, the venue was huge, with hundreds of seats. The seats in front were arranged like a movie theater, from low to high. Although they were not too close together, the view was very open and clear.

  In front is a large stage, behind the stage there is a big screen. Now the Spring Festival Gala has entered thousands of households, and the technology of that big screen comes from here.

  It's not even half past six yet, and no one comes that early. Nowadays, the wealthy don't have such punctuality; they all arrive just on time to show off their superior status.

  The team leader who was arranging work saw Zhang's father and hurried over to greet him, whispering in his ear: "The people from the Wang family have arrived, they're in room 4."

  Zhang Fu nodded to indicate that he understood, Song Jie heard clearly, and the railing on his head was originally all private rooms.

  Following Zhang's father, several people walked down the stairs to the private room, where Zhang's father took out a key labeled "1" and opened the door to Room 1. Everyone went inside.

  This suite is not considered large, with only about twenty square meters, and in the middle there is just a tea table, on which there are some tea, snacks and fruit, all prepared very thoughtfully.

  It's very clean here, it's obviously a place prepared for officials and dignitaries, all kinds of comfort are reflected in it.

  Song Jie stopped observing the situation and sat down on the sofa with Zhang Mu.

  "I'll go down and take a look, if I run into someone we know, I'll say hello. You all sit down first." Mr. Zhang instructed.

  "You go ahead, I'll take care of the kids." Zhang's mother also knew that many friends would likely come back to attend the auction.

  A few magazines on the coffee table caught Song Jie's eye, and she flipped through them casually. Inside were detailed introductions and illustrations of some auction items.

  Zhang Yang looked over and said, "Is this tonight's auction item?"

  Song Jie took a look at the date and nodded: "It's tonight, there are still many left, our Hongyan is likely to be the finale."

  Zhang Yang also took a brochure to look at, and the two of them would occasionally comment on it. They huddled together, whispering to each other, and if you didn't know any better, you'd think they were attending a welcoming party.

  Zhang Mu also couldn't help but laugh and cry a little, she didn't try to stop them either. Since there were no outsiders in the private room, she had nothing better to do and picked up a book to read as well.

  Outside has already started to get lively, and it's not everyone who can afford to wait for a good time.

  The door of the No. 2 private room next to it opened and closed, probably because they came a bit earlier. Many big families don't want to show up early, but will always come over a little in advance.

  Song Jie thought that at this time, there should be quite a few people who have arrived, but it's unknown how many of them are here for the beauty and how many are just here to watch the excitement.

  At a little past seven, Zhang's father walked in: "Almost everyone has arrived, only Li Jia and the Sun family haven't come yet. Hmph, they always like to keep people waiting, even if it's an auction, they'll show up last."

  "What's there to be angry about? Haven't they always been like this? If you ask me, it would be better if they didn't come at all." Zhang Mu had also long since heard about these matters.

  "You're right." Just one sentence made Zhang's father smile, and it was indeed a loving couple, with a very accurate pulse.

  "Song Jie, is there something you like? You can take a picture of it later. If the money isn't enough, I can lend you some from my side," said Zhang Fu to Song Jie.

  Song Jie felt a bit embarrassed: "Uncle Zhang, I was just distracted earlier and haven't taken a closer look yet."

  Zhang An Dao was just a little kid after all, it's normal for him to feel nervous in this kind of situation.

  "Take another look then, if you find what you want just let me know, there's still plenty of time." said Zhang Fu with understanding.

  "Alright, Uncle Zhang, let me take another look." Song Jie calmed herself down and carefully re-read the introduction that she had hastily flipped through earlier.

  At first, they were all antiques and some jade stones and the like, with a wide variety of types. Later on, it got very strange, with some rare flowers and grasses, even rare minerals.

  Song Jie's gaze stopped moving as she saw the ore, what did she see? It was actually a piece of Voidstone, Voidstone is a great material for refining equipment. Not only can it be used in spiritual refining and equipment refinement, but its application in magical alchemy is also very broad. It can not only refine spatial rings, but also serve as an additive material for other items.

  But how can there be a piece of Qingming stone on earth? I guess it was left by the ancestors of the past few generations of cultivators, but only a small piece is left. Now that there are no more cultivators, I guess nobody recognizes it anymore.

  It's a pity to leave it unused, so I'd better take a photo of it. The things in my space only go out and never come in, so I should fill some in.

  Seeing Song Jie staring at a page of mineral introduction, Zhang Fu naturally asked: "Do you want to take this?"

  Song Jie came back to her senses, and she didn't hide it: "Yes, I recognize this kind of ore. Later on, we can do some experiments with it. You also know that some ores are a type of medicinal material, but it depends on how they're used." She wasn't lying, many ores indeed have this effect.

  "This type of ore is auctioned off quite a bit, after all, not many people know about it. However, there are some families willing to use it for experimentation, saying that they might discover useful mineral veins. The price isn't expensive, only those who find it useful will bid high prices, ordinary people don't recognize its value. You can go ahead and bid on it, I estimate the competition won't be fierce, once it reaches a certain bottom line, they'll give up."

  Song Jie knew that Zhang Fu's words were all from experience, she nodded thoughtfully, indicating understanding.

  There's nothing worth noting afterwards, she can't use those things either, so they all pass by.

  The last page at the back only had a small line of words in red, "Hong Yan Pei Fang", with a starting price of 1,000 yuan and no upper limit.

  This reserve price does not mean that the item is worth so much money, but rather that this thing does not have a specific price and can be bid up by bidders below, with the highest bidder winning.

  This type of item often ends up with a higher price in the end, and auctioneers are not ignorant, they are more skilled at grasping people's psychology.

  Originally, auction houses would charge a commission of three percent on the sale price of an item. If it was a ruthless auction house, they might even charge up to five percent in fees.

  This time, the Longsheng auction house is willing to do this event for free in order to increase its reputation. Even if they don't charge a handling fee, the benefits brought by this auction are still considerable. Don't think that those businessmen are all fools.