Zombie Bodyguard
Chapter 557 - 554 Eighty Million

Chapter 557: Chapter 554 Eighty Million

In accordance with regulations and for safety reasons, the person guarding the safe doesn’t have the password. That is to say, the item and the opening password are kept separately.

Once opened, the space inside the safe is actually quite small, almost entirely filled with shock-absorbing cushioning material, with only an item wrapped in red silk cloth in the center.

The person in charge of the password, wearing white gloves, gently unwrapped the silk cloth, revealing a dash of white and green. Then, he opened the door at the base of the glass display case and placed the jadeite cabbage inside.

After these procedures, two more people came up, locked the glass display case, and entered passwords. The passwords were segmented, kept by two individuals, who each input their respective sections. This completely locked the display case.

The base of the glass display case was made of high-strength alloy, capable of withstanding machine-gun fire and bomb blasts. Even the clear glass dome above was made of high-strength bulletproof glass, achieving the same defensive power as the alloy.

Lin Tian had never seen these things before; it was Xiao Manxue who informed him. Auctioning off valuable items required this whole process, and Miss also mentioned that even the person guarding the password couldn’t be certain of it; they would only know the password after receiving a notification from their superiors.

All these safety measures are taken for one’s own peace of mind and even more for the assurance of clients and sellers. Who would dare to consign items worth hundreds of millions if they were carelessly displayed for auction?

Once all procedures were completed, Shi Feifei pressed a button next to the glass display case. With a "click," the display case and its base slowly rose until reaching a certain height, and only then the display case lifted itself.

At that moment, the height of the display case was just level with Shi Feifei’s chest, so it was raised to allow people in the second-floor private seats to see the auction item more clearly.

Installing an elevation mechanism solely for the convenience of those in the private seats on the second floor, Lin Tian couldn’t help but marvel that money indeed came with privileges—no wonder some people were so obsessed with it.

The jadeite cabbage at that moment was enveloped in a beam of light in the center of the hall, radiating the unique luster of jadeite. The jadeite cabbage, crafted from a piece of jadeite that was half white and half green, had its green parts carved into leaves and the white into the stem.

"Brother Zhou, you don’t know who the seller of the jadeite cabbage is either?" Lin Tian asked, closely observing the jadeite cabbage in the display case.

"I don’t know. If the seller requests confidentiality, Miss Xiao can’t just disclose their information. It’s an industry rule, and it applies even if the seller is your competitor," Zhou Botong said.

"Whether I know or not doesn’t matter. Whose jadeite cabbage it is isn’t important; it’s still a competition regardless of the owner," Lin Tian said indifferently.

After everyone had reviewed the information on the jadeite cabbage, Shi Feifei introduced, "The first auction item is a jadeite cabbage, 18.5 centimeters long, 9.2 centimeters wide, and 5.1 centimeters thick, partly of the ice-type green jadeite. The jadeite cabbage symbolizes purity and was commonly included as part of a dowry for the daughters of nobles in ancient times."

"The concept of a jadeite cabbage dates back to ancient times, but having the same concept doesn’t necessarily mean imitation. Sometimes it’s because it’s a classic; only classic concepts can be passed down through hundreds of years and remain enduring."

Indeed, there were not a few jadeite cabbages. From the surface, they indeed seemed to be imitating the creations of predecessors, but Shi Feifei described it as a classic, and it’s the classics that endure.

Her explanation won nods of approval from even the pickiest individuals in the hall, who couldn’t help but commend the auctioneer’s genuine skill.

"Brother Zhou, this beautiful auctioneer is quite something; she’s much better than those so-called triple-threat celebrities. She’s already a crossover star," Lin Tian also expressed his admiration.

"Of course, her fans have already surpassed ten million; wouldn’t you say that’s impressive?" Zhou Botong said matter-of-factly.

While everyone was admiring Shi Feifei’s eloquence, she announced, "Jadeite cabbage, starting bid ten million RMB, with each increase no less than one hundred thousand; the auction begins!"

The starting price of ten million caused a stir in the crowd on the first floor; it wasn’t that they couldn’t produce ten million, but one must realize that ten million was just the starting price, and it was anyone’s guess what the final price would be, though they could imagine it would be no less than thirty million.

Typically, businessmen don’t have a lot of liquid assets; tying up tens of millions in a jadeite cabbage, and if it couldn’t be sold, every day it sat was a loss to them.

It’s only those collectors with substantial strength or hobbyists who wouldn’t mind having something worth hundreds of millions or several tens of millions in their homes.

"Eleven million," someone from the first floor tentatively called out, probably hoping for a stroke of luck that the bigwigs wouldn’t fancy the jadeite cabbage and they could snatch it for a bargain.

"Twenty million!" An old man on the second floor immediately raised the bid to twenty million. The old man looked at the person who had made the bid with disdain—not because he looked down on him for not having money but for his mentality of seeking a lucky bargain.

The old man wasn’t exactly keen on securing the jadeite cabbage; otherwise, he wouldn’t have just increased it to twenty million. He did so to show everyone else not to take them for fools.

The person who had made the previous bid was immediately silenced, no longer daring to speak, as he had only been hoping for a lucky break and now had no choice but to shrink back into his seat.

"Old Man Zhao, you miser, with all your wealth, you have the nerve to call out twenty million," said Yun Haoyang, also known as Second Young Master Yun, suddenly speaking up, his words clearly not very polite.

Old Man Zhao, who had just made the bid, was singled out and his little eyes immediately bulged in retaliation, "Old Man Yun, no matter how rich I am, it doesn’t compare to the Yun Family’s wealth; I can’t compete with you, splurging money on those worthless stones."

"Ah, these two old men are at it again; they always do this whenever they meet, acting like a couple of old kids," Zhou Botong said with a chuckle.

"Oh, they’re arch-enemies?" Lin Tian asked curiously.

"Heh, it’s like this..." Zhou Botong recounted Second Young Master Yun’s past "glorious" history.

Turns out, when Old Man Zhao referred to "those worthless stones," he meant that Second Young Master Yun was always failing at gambling on stones, wasting money on garbage. Second Young Master Yun’s string of defeats in stone gambling was an anecdote well-known among insiders.

Eventually, some unscrupulous merchants even sought him out specifically, offering him low-grade jadeite rough to gamble on, making an easy profit off Second Young Master Yun’s gullibility. After several failed attempts at securing high-quality jadeite, Yun Haoyang realized he was being deceived.

These people dared to scam the Yun Family, and the old man, with a hot temper, went on to set those unscrupulous merchants straight, one by one. Knowing they were in the wrong, the merchants didn’t dare to utter a word.

This incident was not one of Second Young Master Yun’s most shining moments. When Old Man Zhao carelessly brought it up once, it was akin to stepping on Second Young Master Yun’s tail, leading to an immediate quarrel, and from then on, any meeting between them was sure to involve mutual sniping.

"Eighty million!" Indeed, Second Young Master Yun was not lightly angered; his mustache trembling, he immediately vented his frustration on the bidding, calling out a price of eighty million.

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