Zombie Bodyguard
Chapter 552 - 549: Competition

Chapter 552: Chapter 549: Competition

"Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. I am the auctioneer Shi Feifei, and the auction will now commence," Shi Feifei’s voice was neither as soft as a typical woman’s nor overly neutral, it was comfortable to listen to and it immediately captured everyone’s attention in the hall.

As her voice fell, a female server holding a tray walked out and ascended the auction stage. The tray was covered with a red cloth, obscuring the object beneath, but everyone present had seen the auction catalog and naturally knew what was inside.

The server placed the tray on a glass cabinet and unveiled the red cloth, revealing a red coral bracelet underneath, and then stepped away. She didn’t place the red coral bracelet into the glass showcase, indicating that this item wasn’t valuable to that extent.

Once these actions were completed, Shi Feifei spoke again, "Before I introduce this bracelet, on a personal note, I’d like to thank one person on behalf of the future recipients of the donation, and that is Mr. Lin Tian. As the owner of Tianxue Jewelry who also suggested auctioning off the congratulatory gift and donating the proceeds, his spirit is admirable."

With that, Shi Feifei led the applause, and everyone in the hall followed suit, regardless of whether they meant it or simply complied.

Those who had seen Lin Tian in the morning looked toward the corner, and those who hadn’t also followed the crowd’s gaze, and suddenly Lin Tian became the center of attention throughout the hall.

Shi Feifei also followed their gaze toward Lin Tian, and her expression froze. How could she have imagined that the man she was calling admirable would turn out to be the same person who had earlier critiqued her name as being common!

Being the center of attention was the last thing Lin Tian wanted, as he had no desire for the limelight. Shi Feifei must have been acting under Xiao Manxue’s instructions to say such things; otherwise, why wouldn’t she mention Mrs. Xiao or Xiao Manxue?

He looked up at the Xiao Family’s position, just in time to catch Miss looking at him, a slight smile on her face. Then her lips moved silently, saying something. Lin Tian understood her lip language, meaning to say, you are the largest shareholder of Tianxue Jewelry, and it was your suggestion, this honor is rightfully yours.

Honor my ass, who needs such recognition, don’t you know what keeping a low profile means, thought Lin Tian with great dissatisfaction.

However, since it had happened, Lin Tian was not going to be a coward. He stood up gracefully, facing all around, bowed and said, "It’s merely something within my power, you all flatter me too much, let’s continue with the auction."

To his surprise, the audience began clapping again. There were already many of Lin Tian’s car fanatics in the crowd, and their applause was fervent.

Where there was adulation, there was also envy. From the place where Bai Yuze and his companions sat, Sun Decai glared at Lin Tian with a mix of envy and hatred, making an audible snort.

The Bai brothers weren’t feeling any better, very unsettled inside, but Bai Yuze, with a deeper cunning than Sun Decai, didn’t show any inappropriate expressions.

It wasn’t only the Bai group who had had unpleasant experiences with Lin Tian. As Lin Tian garnered honor, it was a time of joy for some and sorrow for others.

A few minutes later, the commotion finally subsided and Shi Feifei rang a bell, drawing everyone’s attention back to the auction.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this red coral bracelet is made from the top-grade Akoya Red Coral and is very valuable for collectors..." Shi Feifei introduced the red coral bracelet but deliberately omitted its flaws; such Akoya Red Coral was actually not suitable for making bracelets, a point Lin Tian had made that morning.

However, many people there hadn’t been present in the morning, and few were knowledgeable enough to judge for themselves. Affluent shoppers often fell for what the advertisements proclaimed—phrases like ’top-grade’ and ’exquisite.’

"The red coral bracelet starts at three hundred thousand yuan, with increments of no less than ten thousand yuan each time. Let’s begin," Shi Feifei struck the bronze small bell and announced the start of the bidding.

Shi Feifei had even the auctioneer’s props that were different from the common auctioneer’s; instead of an auction hammer, she used a bronze small bell, which, although small, produced a very crisp sound when struck.

"Three hundred and ten thousand!" No sooner had her bell rung than someone called out a bid. However, the bid was a bit problematic—it was an increase of only ten thousand yuan, barely meeting the minimum increment required.

Everyone turned to the source of the voice, curious to see who was being so stingy by adding only ten thousand yuan. Ten thousand yuan could be a lot for ordinary people, but for these wealthy individuals, it might not even cover the cost of one meal.

The light column in the center of the hall was very bright, allowing everyone to see all the people and objects. It was then that they discovered the voice actually came from a private box in the corridor on the second floor.

Moreover, it was from the Yun Family’s Second Young Master Yun. Second Young Master Yun had merely called out a bid, not deigning to look at the red coral bracelet again, and sat leisurely in his chair, completely indifferent to the numerous gazes upon him.

When the crowd saw that it was Second Young Master Yun, they dared not say he was stingy. One reason was the Yun Family was not to be trifled with, and another was everyone knew Second Young Master Yun was never a stingy person. Passionate about jadeite, every time he made a move, he did so without hesitation, and he had spent no small amount on raw stones.

Those who understood Akoya Red Coral realized what Second Young Master Yun meant—the material of the bracelet was indeed top-notch, but turning it into a bracelet was a misstep. Adding ten thousand was already too much.

However, once Second Young Master Yun set things in motion, other bids came one after another. Some increased by fifty thousand, some by one hundred thousand, and in a short while, the bid had risen to seven hundred thousand—a figure more than double the starting price.

But at seven hundred thousand, it seemed to plateau and could not go any higher. Indeed, top-grade red coral was worth far more than this, but since the experts refrained from bidding, the others seemed to sense something amiss and stopped their offers as well.

As soon as the bidding ceased, the people from the Li Family showed the ugliest expressions. Li Zhengyang’s face was expressionless, but those who were closer could feel the heat radiating from his body.

Especially Li Wenrong, the red coral bracelet had been his contribution, and it was he who had caused such embarrassment for the Li Family.

His heart trembling, he kept his head down, not daring to look at the red coral bracelet, instead fixing his gaze on his father, fearing he might suddenly erupt in anger.

In fact, he preferred that his father would hit him now, because if it wasn’t serious then, it would be far worse if his father held it in until they got home and exploded there.

All because of that Lin Tian, Li Wenrong attributed all the blame and fear he felt to Lin Tian.

Li Wenxuan, on the other hand, was much more relaxed. He didn’t care about the Li Family’s face at all—whether it was good or bad, it was all the same to him, and he even looked at Li Wenrong with undisguised schadenfreude.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Shi Feifei spoke again: "Regardless of the value of the bracelet, its auction proceeds will be used for charity, which gives it a meaning worth one million, two million, or even priceless!"

"Such a smooth talker," Zhou Botong said.

"The higher the better; the higher the price, the more people we can help," Lin Tian said calmly.

"One million!" Perhaps inspired by Shi Feifei’s words, suddenly someone announced a bid of one million.

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