Chapter 202 - Chapter 202: Chapter 202 Charity Auction Is Also Business
Chapter 202: Chapter 202 Charity Auction Is Also Business
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
But if the father and son knew the techniques of the mystic sect, there were many ways to make people disappear from the world without a trace.
Burying the corpse deep in a pit seemed safe, but there were many loopholes.
Hangzhou City was a first-tier city in the country, and every inch of land inside and outside the city was expensive.
What if this area was demolished one day?
The bones buried by them could be exposed at any time.
Judging from their modus operand!, the father and son did not seem to be from the mystic sect.
Since Chen Yu couldn’t determine their location, this matter appeared extremely suspicious.
“Ding, ding, ding…”
Halfway through, his phone suddenly rang.
Seeing that it was Wang Dequan calling, Chen Yu casually picked up the phone.
“Dr. Chen, are you free tonight?”
“If there is, I would like to invite you to an auction.”
Over the phone, Wang Dequan made his intentions clear.
Not long ago, Chen Yu had asked Wang Dequan to help him find quite a few rare items.
Wang Dequan, who had only a smattering of knowledge about Feng Shui, was surprised to discover that all Chen Yu was looking for were high-grade materials for making spiritual tools.
He guessed that Chen Yu wanted to mass-produce spiritual tools at this moment.
So, there will be many rare antiques at tonight’s auction.
The final item was a 200-year-old wild ginseng.
Wang Dequan believed that Chen Yu would definitely be interested in this auction.
“I’ll go home now. Pick me up at the psychological consultation room later.”
Chen Yu, who often saw auction scenes in movies and novels, was somewhat curious about a real auction.
In addition, many of the items that appeared in this auction were things that Chen Yu was interested in.
Thus, Chen Yu immediately accepted Wang Dequan’s invitation.
At seven o’clock in the evening, Wang Dequan drove over personally and picked Chen Yu up before driving to a private clubhouse in the city.
The auction would be held here, and each invited guest could bring one or two companions.
Due to the large amount of money involved in the auction, each guest had to pay a deposit of two million yuan in advance.
“Dr. Chen, let me know in advance what you want to buy. I’ll pay for it.”
Hearing this, Chen Yu asked with a smile that was not a smile, “President Wang, do you have something to ask of me?”
“Dr. Chen, you’ve misunderstood. I didn’t mean it that way. It’s just that… Rather than buying things randomly, it’d be better to help you buy what you need.”
Wang Dequan looked embarrassed.
The auction was a charity event, and the money earned would be credited to a charity fund.
It was used to help out-of-school children and provide infrastructure funds to some poor areas.
Ever since Chen Yu suggested that Wang Dequan do more good deeds and accumulate merit, there were no charity events in Hangzhou City that Wang Dequan did not attend.
In just over a month, Wang Dequan had become one of the top philanthropists in Hangzhou’s philanthropic circle.
“So that’s what you’re thinking about, hahaha.”
Chen Yu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
As expected of a businessman.
No matter what, they would plan their moves carefully.
By frequently attending charity events, he could gain fame while accumulating merit and good fortune.
On the other hand, he could help Chen Yu purchase items that interested him and further deepen his relationship with him.
It was killing two birds with one stone.
Not long after, the car stopped in the parking lot at the entrance of the clubhouse.
It was already 7:40 p.m., and the parking lot was filled with all kinds of luxury cars.
The two doormen jogged and politely opened the doors on both sides.
After confirming their identities, a doorman led the way to the hall of the clubhouse.
After some last-minute changes, the hall became an auction venue, with a temporary auction stage built in it with dozens of chairs placed in the middle.
“Why are there so many foreigners?”
Chen Yu was stunned for a moment, as it was different from the auction he had imagined.
Apart from a portion of Chinese citizens, there were also many foreigners attending the auction.
They had different skin colors, genders, and age ranges.
“Many of the items that would be appearing in today’s auction are antiques,” Wang Dequan introduced.
“It has always been popular overseas to collect antiques from our country, so there will definitely be foreigners at an auction like this.”
Nodding his head, Chen Yu followed Wang Dequan and sat in the middle of the auction hall.
The auction officially began at 8 p.m.
A waitress in traditional attire and high heels elegantly carried a tray onto the stage.
The auctioneer picked up a snuff bottle from the tray and began to introduce it.
He praised the snuff bottle as the top-quality snuff bottle from the Qing Dynasty.
The workmanship was delicate and unique, and it was glazed by a formula lost to time.
Be it the workmanship, appearance, or glaze, it meant the snuff bottle was a rare antique.
In order to make such a perfect snuff bottle, the right time, place, and people were indispensable.
“I announce that the starting price of this snuff bottle is 200,000, and each bid must not be less than 20,000.”
“Welcome, distinguished guests, to bid enthusiastically.”
Below the stage, Chen Yu was dumbfounded.
The auctioneer praised a snuff bottle from the middle period of the Qing Dynasty as a rare and exquisite item.
Those who didn’t know better would think that it was a national treasure.
“Dr. Chen, do you think the auctioneer’s praise is a little too much?” Wang Dequan asked with a smile.
“While I won’t say that it’s too much,” Chen Yu smiled bitterly. “It’s just a little unrealistic.”
According to Chen Yu’s knowledge, snuff bottles existed in great numbers.
Even the snuff bottles from the palace were not necessarily rare treasures.
“Everything is a business.”
“While all the earnings from this auction were supposed to be for charity, the organizers of this auction will not do charity on an empty stomach.”
“They will take a portion of the total income as a commission.”
“The more the auctioneer praises the product, the more it will attract everyone’s curiosity.”
“This will attract a larger number of guests to bid on it.”
“Dr. Chen, look around.”
“There were some guests who were bored just now. Aren’t they all full of energy now?”
Chen Yu glanced to his left and right from the corner of his eye.
The situation was indeed as Wang Dequan had described.
Among the guests sitting on both sides, there were many young, wealthy kids.
When the auction had just started, these people were either playing with their phones or looking uninterested.
Now, they were all in high spirits.
Indeed, everything was business.
Even charity auctions needed to be hyped to obtain better profitability.
In the end, the snuff bottle was bought by a wealthy kid for 480,000 yuan.
“Why is it so little?”
“With so many people enthusiastically bidding, the final transaction price didn’t even exceed 500,000,” Chen Yu said, puzzled.
“In the past, when I read novels, in order to bid for something, they would easily bid millions by millions. It’s common for bids to go over 100 million.”
“Dr. Chen, a novel is a novel, but reality is reality.” Wang Dequan explained, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
“When I have nothing to do, I’m also interested in reading novels to pass the time.”
“Every time I see someone bid hundreds of millions or billions at an auction just to compete for an item, I always burst out laughing..”