The City of Terror-Chapter 606 - 800 Million USD
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
These people were quite familiar with each other. They looked at the auction catalog while chatting away, expressing their opinions on some of the auction items and chuckling.
Wei Xiao Bei was a stranger to this kind of environment. As a child from a working family, Wei Xiao Bei did not have the chance to come in contact with upper-class society.
However, Wei Xiao Bei did not show any uncomfortableness. He sat on his seat and sipped on the tea that was given to him while chatting with Tian Li.
As a man, there were ways to display prestige.
First was money, the second was ability.
Of course, Wei Xiao Bei had both
In terms of money, Wei Xiao Bei had 200 million USD in his bank account. Perhaps a small portion of the people there did not even have that much money. In terms of ability, Wei Xiao Bei was already above all the people there.
In Wei Xiao Bei’s eyes, these rich merchants, members of the government, and even influential families were still normal people. If he wanted to, he could kill everyone there.
“Good day sir.”
Just when Wei Xiao Bei and Tian Li were chatting away happily, a towering voice interrupted their conversation.
It was a man who sat on the empty seat to the left of Wei Xiao Bei. The man was a 30-year-old foreign youth. He wore a custom made tuxedo and a golden watch that cost tens of millions of USD. From this, it could be seen that he was from a very affluent family.
The man looked sunny. Even if he did not speak, he gave others an indescribable feeling of amicability. Additionally, there was even a hidden trace of nobility.
The man also looked handsome and was probably a person of mixed-blood.
Wei Xiao Bei did not need to check his status panel to know this person’s Charm exceeded 20 points!
This was the first time Wei Xiao Bei encountered someone with more than 20 points in Charm in the Real World. It must be known that Zhu Xin Yi’s charm was currently at 26 points.
Moreover, Zhu Xin Yi had only reached this point after training in the Dust World by killing monsters.
In simpler terms, a man with natural 20 points of charm in the Real World was definitely someone high up.
After all, Wei Xiao Bei knew that a person’s prestige and charm almost work in the same way.
The person did not seem like he cam from the Dust World at all. From this, it could be seen that his charm was very rare.
“Good day.” Wei Xiao Bei smiled faintly. He knew that the person in front of him would not talk to him without any alternative motives. The person had interrupted his conversation with a towering voice, perhaps he had seen something.
“My name is Tamasla. And what is your name sir?”
Tamasla introduced himself. When Tian Li heard the name, his expression changed slightly, but it was quickly covered up.
“My name is Wei Xiao Bei.”
Wei Xiao Bei said his name.
However, it was the first time that they had met. After exchanging a few words, their conversation stopped.
On the other hand, Tian Li whispered to Wei Xiao Bei about Tamasla’s real identity, “Tamasla is a Prince of the Kingdom of Lucenia. He is extremely wealthy, and his mother was said to be Chinese. He loves Chinese culture and is deemed the most handsome man in Lucenia.” (TLN: Not a real country)
Kingdom of Lucenia?
Wei Xiao Bei knew of this country. It was a country located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and was also named the Ten Thousand Island Country. It had more than 10,000 islands and reefs. Its territorial waters were around 3 million square kilometers. The population was more than 500,000. Its territory was rich in resources and named the pearl of the Central Pacific.
This made Wei Xiao Bei a bit interested in the auction company that Shan Bing introduced him to him. Being able to have a Prince of a Country participate was not an insignificant connection.
Naturally, even if the other party was a Foreign Prince, Wei Xiao Bei did not have any plans for deepening their relationship.
Time gradually passed and it quickly reached 20:00. Following the chime of a bell, the entire hall darkened. On the stage, a rough-looking middle-aged man walked out. It was said that this man was one of the top 20 auctioneers in the world. It was said that the total amount of money of the items that he had sold already exceeded 30 billion USD.
In simpler terms, just this alone was enough to reach a small country’s GNP.
With a humorous opening, the auctioneer introduced the first item, “Ladies and gentlemen, our first item is the work of the famous national painter Master Li Jin Yin, ‘High Mountains and Running Rivers’”.
It could be said that this auction’s style second-rate. His opening was a work from a famous painter.
The starting price was 500,000 yuan. It was said that this was one-third of the market price.
However, this was part of the auction house’s selling strategy. They would start off at a lower price to warm up the atmosphere rather than start too high. Just like that, they could get off to a good start.
However, it was very clear that many people were interested in this work. The price quickly escalated, selling for 2.1 billion yuan, giving the auction house a good start.
With such a good omen, the next lot of items were all bought up. There were those that sold for high prices and those sold for low prices.
Everyone had their own preferences. No matter who, they would only judge if it was a worthy buy.
In the end, the main items for sale had been brought out. There were a total of three items. They were the Sheep-Fat White Jade Articles that Wei Xiao Bei had made.
When the auction for these three items began, the light landed on the Articles, causing them to appear more delicate and outstanding. This caused everyone in the auction house to stir.
Some jade lovers who didn’t even hear the starting price began to raise their signs.
The auctioneer teased at the people, causing the atmosphere to settle down.
The three Jade Articles formed a complete set. Its starting price was 200 million USD and every time a price was called, it would increase by 10 million USD. This caused everyone to stir once again.
Naturally, the thing they were most surprised about was the starting price. After all, Sheep-Fat White Jade was already hard to judge, in terms of price. If the Jade was carved by an excellent master and once the volume exceeded a certain amount, it became even harder to do so.
It could be said that more than half the people in the auction house could not reach that amount even with all their fortunes added together.
However, there were very few among the other half of the people who were willing to spend more than 100 million USD for a jade article.
However, even if that was so, once the auctioneer declared so, more than 10 people had risen their cards.
Just like that, the price of the jade had soared up to 300 million USD
“350 million!”
A voice with a thick foreign accent echoed. It was a white foreigner with a full beard.
“That man is the Board Chairman of a famous American Science Company.”
Tian Li began to introduce people to Wei Xiao Bei.
It could be said that Tian Li was quite knowledgeable about these things. At the very least, he was good at recognizing people. He could recognize about 90% of the people there.
This skill was something that made Wei Xiao Bei want to pull him away from Shan Bing.
“360 million!
“390 million!”
“400 million!”
“450 million!” Every time there was an increase of 50 million, it was this Chairman of the Board who shouted out. It appeared that he was determined to win.
“500 million!”
This smooth voice came from beside Wei Xiao Bei.
It was the Foreign Prince. Wei Xiao Bei never imagined that he would actually look up upon the Jade Artifact.
It could be said that Tamasla was quite wealthy. He threw away 500 million without batting an eye.
Following the price increase to 500 million, the voices of the people began to decrease.
They had no choice. What kind of price was 500 million?
According to international exchange, it was 2.8 billion yuan!
In simpler terms, this money was enough to buy 50,000 tons of beef, 8,000 houses in a small country, or even 10,000 luxury cars.
In short, this was not a small amount of money. Using this much money to buy three Jade Articles had simply exceeded people’s imaginations.
Just the price alone was enough to make 99% of the people to back off.
On the other hand, those that could increase the price only amount to a few people.
Other than the board chairman of the science company, a rich Middle East Merchant, a rich Russian Merchant, and a Chinese Merchant, no one else could compete against the price.
Naturally, the Chinese Merchant did not personally appear. The person that appeared was his secretary.
It could be said that in this period of time, the Chinese economy was on the rise. Chinese was on the rise in world languages. Chinese culture was growing in value.
Jade Articles were originally only in Chinese culture but had since spread across the world and become collectors’ items.
Just like that, this auction was able to invite these rich foreigners.
After the Prince reached more than 500 million, these rich people became even more cautious.
After all, these rich people had a hard time judging the Jade. Moreover, the price had already far exceeded the market price.
They had no choice but to be cautious. No matter how rich they were, they could not just squander all their earnings in a bad investment. If they just acted without caution, then they might not be rich in the first place.
Naturally, the price of the Jade would be the price that the auction sold it for.
COMMENT
After some confrontation, the price increased to 680 million USD.
Although this price did not reach the 5 billion USD that Shan Bing had stated, Wei Xiao Bei was already satisfied.
After all, from his observation, selling these three Jade Articles for close to 700 million was already very profitable.
Although the price might reach 700 million, Wei Xiao Bei simply had no use for Jade that he could not sell.
“700 million!”
“800 million!”
Following the Middle East Merchant shouting 800 million, other than Tamasla, most of the merchants had given up.
They had no choice. Not everyone could put out that much cash. Their assets might exceed tens of billions, but they were not able to bring out 800 million in cash in just a short amount of time.