si-mexico Chapter 314 A Crushing Victory
Chapter 314 A Crushing Victory
"Dong dong."
Two soft knocks on the door.
The door to the private room was pushed open, and a man wearing black-rimmed glasses walked in.
After spending more time with Zhou Chengjing, Bai Li recognized him as his assistant, someone she often saw by Zhou Chengjing's side.
The assistant quickly stepped forward, leaned down, and whispered a few words in Zhou Chengjing's ear.
Zhou Chengjing nodded slightly and waved his hand in acknowledgment.
The assistant then quietly slipped out again.
Zhou Chengjing withdrew his gaze from the fierce bidding below and landed on Bai Li: "I have something to attend to, please excuse me for a moment."
A sense of foreboding swept through Bai Li's heart: "Then the auction?"
"I'll have to trouble you with the bidding." Zhou Chengjing smiled slightly and handed the electronic screen used for raising paddles to Bai Li.
Bai Li took the lightweight electronic screen, her expression stiffening on her face.
The electronic screen, which is normally lightweight, felt as heavy as a thousand pounds at that moment.
If she remembered correctly, before coming here, when Zhou Chengjing invited her, he mentioned that he might need her help.
But she thought it was just Zhou Chengjing's excuse, not expecting that he really wanted her to take the lead.
"Feel free to raise your paddles, no limit on amount or number, I'll accept them all." Zhou Chengjing seemed to trust her completely. After saying this, he left the private room, leaving her alone.
That confident air of strategizing made Bai Li grit her teeth in hatred.
Isn't he afraid that I'll do nothing and let the national treasure fall into the hands of foreigners?
Aren't you afraid I'll quote an exorbitant price and bankrupt him?
At this time, the auction for the Spring and Autumn Lotus Crane Square Pot had reached its final stage.
The auctioneer stood on the platform, his voice brimming with excitement: "Thirty-two million euros! From the Holy Light Group, Chairman Choi Sung-cheol, is there a higher bid?"
Thirty-two million euros, which is equivalent to nearly three hundred million yuan.
This is already a fairly high price.
At this stage, very few people are willing to take action anymore.
Moreover, this was only the first item without a reserve price; there might be other treasures later. Many people chose to wait and see, hoping for a better opportunity later.
For a moment, no one bid anymore; the room fell silent.
"Thirty-two million euros! Once!"
"Thirty-two million euros! Twice!"
The auctioneer's voice grew louder and louder, and it seemed that the Spring and Autumn Lotus Crane Square Pot was about to be won by the cult leader, Cui Shengzhe.
Bai Li sighed softly.
She was truly understood by Zhou Chengjing, or rather, he knew exactly what was going on with her.
National treasures must be returned to their rightful owners; she simply cannot bear to see them fall into the hands of outsiders.
Since Zhou Chengjing had already made that suggestion—go ahead and raise your sign—she wouldn't hold back.
……
Upon hearing "30 million euros! Twice!", Choi Sung-cheol's smile deepened.
Some people around him even bowed slightly, preparing to congratulate him.
Just then, a clear female voice came from a private room on the second floor: "Forty million euros."
Even the cult leader, who was usually perfect at controlling his facial expressions, had a momentary stiffness in his smile at this moment.
How many?
Not only him, but the entire venue resounded with subtle gasps of surprise.
How could anyone ask for such a price?
Everyone else cautiously increased their bets by one or two million.
How did this person increase the amount from 32 million to 40 million?
How are other people supposed to play this way?
Countless inquiring gazes were directed towards the source of the sound, but due to the concealed design of the second floor, they couldn't see who it was at all.
The auctioneer was so taken aback by the sudden bid that he momentarily forgot to place his bid.
Just now, his hammer was already raised in mid-air, about to fall.
Only when the background data notification came through the earpiece did the auctioneer snap out of his daze, raise his voice again, and excitedly exclaim, "Forty million euros! Ms. Bai Li from China! Any higher bids?"
White?
Most people present were clearly unfamiliar with this surname.
But since this Ms. Bai is from the second floor, her identity is undoubtedly extraordinary.
Forty million euros is far too high.
To be honest, even the previous offer of 32 million euros was an inflated price.
This immediately skyrocketed to 40 million, making it even more unwanted.
Moreover, this Ms. Bai was quite assertive, clearly determined to acquire this item, making it unwise to compete with her.
After all, no one wants to engage in pointless arguments.
Choi Sung-cheol clearly understood this as well, gritted his teeth, and withdrew his hand from the sign.
Forty million euros! Once!
Forty million euros! Twice!
Forty million euros! Three times!
The entire room fell silent.
The auctioneer's gavel slammed down: "Congratulations to Ms. Bai Li on winning the Spring and Autumn Lotus Crane Square Pot! The crane on this lotus has finally found its most understanding home. May you, like this crane on the lotus, soar to the heavens and achieve great success!"
"Phew." With the dust settled, Bai Li let out a long sigh of relief.
To be honest, she wasn't nervous at all when the bidding started.
Anyway, it's Zhou Chengjing's money being used, and the bidding should be in his name. She's just an operator, handling the bidding on his behalf. There's no difficulty or pressure at all.
When she first made the offer, she was completely calm, and her voice was very composed as she quoted "40 million".
As a result, the auctioneer announced his own name, leaving Bai Li completely bewildered.
Her heart raced instantly, and her hand gripping the electronic screen trembled violently three times.
Realizing what was happening, she quickly looked down to check the electronic screen.
In the small column at the top right corner of the screen, my name is clearly marked.
Bai Li's vision went completely black.
The text in that column was too small; she didn't even notice it.
Moreover, Cui Shengzhe had already made his second bid; if she didn't make a bid soon, he would take the Spring and Autumn Lotus Crane Pot.
In her haste, Bai Li didn't think things through and immediately raised her paddle to bid.
It's safe to say that this electronic screen isn't that smart.
It's impossible for the system to automatically identify the person who takes it.
Therefore, when this electronic screen was in Zhou Chengjing's hands, the information on it belonged to her.
"Zhou! Cheng! Jing!" Bai Li gritted her teeth, clearly enunciating the three words.
Therefore, even asking her to make a price was something he had planned in advance!
What do you mean? Are you suggesting she take the spotlight? She doesn't need to!
Furthermore, Bai Li was very unhappy with his behavior of forcing people onto the shelf without any explanation.
What did he take her for? A pawn in his game?
They said there would be a good show, but didn't explain exactly what kind of show it was.
Now, I don't know where they've gone.
fed up.
No need to endure it any longer!
Bai Li is furious!
Alright, since Mr. Zhou is paying for everything, then she won't stand on ceremony!
The ensuing auction almost became a solo show for Bai Li.
She has acquired a variety of treasures, including a Shang Dynasty bronze owl-shaped wine vessel, a Tang Dynasty gilded silver ewer with a dancing horse holding a cup, and a Song Dynasty Ru ware celadon lotus-shaped warming bowl.
Her bidding method was very simple and crude.
They generally don't make any moves in the early stages, waiting until the highest bid is reached before making their move at the last minute.
No matter how cautiously her opponents bid or how they probed, she could always directly announce a number that would make everyone gasp.
When someone offered "15 million euros", Shirai dared to quote "30 million euros".
Some people gritted their teeth and raised the price to "40 million euros," while Bai Li dared to directly call it "70 million euros."
Double it! Double it again!
Not only were the numbers terrifying, but Bai Li's every move was clean and decisive, and her voice was calm and even, as if those numbers were nothing more than game currency to her.
The scariest thing is that every single one of her bids was a valid bid.
Because the items in this auction were exceptionally valuable, the auctioneer conducted multiple layers of pre-auction qualification checks to ensure that bidders had sufficient financial resources to participate in the bidding and to prevent malicious price gouging. These checks included identity verification, financial resources verification, and account freezing.
Before participating in the auction, each person had a significant amount of money frozen.
If the total bid amount exceeds the frozen amount, the bid will be deemed invalid.
But the woman surnamed Bai on the second floor has made bids totaling hundreds of millions of euros. What an astronomical figure must the cash frozen under her name be?
Such a huge amount of cash left many prominent and wealthy businessmen present in awe.
When Bai Li made her first bid, someone immediately conducted an investigation into her background.
The only thing that could be found out was that she was the president of an entertainment company.
Although that entertainment company was large, it was simply not enough to support her in coming up with such a huge amount of cash.
But apart from that, it's very difficult to find anything else.
This only shows that her background is unfathomable.
Meanwhile, the beaming, confident Chairman Choi Sung-cheol's face grew increasingly grim as he was repeatedly crushed in the bidding war.
He had frozen a large sum of money for these few oriental treasures tonight, thinking he was in the clear, but in reality he suffered repeated setbacks and couldn't acquire a single one.
He even tried bidding above his budget, but the price of the white pear always outpaced him.
In the end, another important artifact was taken away by Bai Li.
Choi Sung-cheol felt that Bai Li's method of doubling the price was no different from humiliating him.
Choi Sung-cheol abruptly stood up, his face ashen, and hurriedly left the auction hall with his entourage.
Bai Li also noticed the figure who left the seat.
The "fish" Zhou Chengjing wanted to catch left the scene early, and it's unclear whether this was part of his plan.
However, this has nothing to do with her.
What she needs to do now is to follow the feedback from the [Master Appraiser] and bring back every single one of these national treasures that carry a heavy history.
Putting everything else aside, the "unlimited limit" offered by Zhou Chengjing is indeed very appealing.
She only needs to set the price; she doesn't have to worry about anyone else's opinion or whether she has enough money.
Bai Li didn't feel bad at all spending Zhou Chengjing's money.
Even with the Godly Rich System, she had never spent so much money at once.
That felt so good!
……
As the auction progressed into its second half, almost no one in the room dared to confront Bai Li directly anymore.
Only occasionally will someone casually call out a price, intending to make a name for themselves on such an occasion.
Everyone knew perfectly well that Bai Li would eventually acquire it for an exorbitant price.
The auction ended, and all the national treasures were bought by Bai Li in the most domineering way.
After this incident, her name became known throughout the elite circles of the wealthy in a strange way.
Its influence was so profound that even years later, when Christie's held another auction, it would still be mentioned.
But that's a story for another time.
Bai Li is unaware that her way of "breaking out of the circle" will be so bizarre. She just wants to find Zhou Chengjing immediately and ask him for clarification. She has countless questions on her mind right now.
What does it mean to participate in the auction using one's own name?
What is the purpose of spending such a high price to bring Choi Sung-cheol to Monte Carlo Island to participate in the auction?
What exactly is he planning?
……
As Bai Li stepped out of the private room, a tall and handsome figure came into view.
The man leaned against a gilded pillar leading to the first floor, blocking her path, and looked like he had been waiting there for a long time.
Not only that, the man's gaze was fixed on her, and she couldn't ignore it even if she wanted to.
It's not Zhou Chengjing.
It's Wuhai.
—This is not the "original skin" of Wuhai.
Bai Li had seen the social media persona belonging to "Wuhai" before, so she naturally recognized it at a glance.
"Wuhai?" Bai Li was slightly surprised. "What are you doing here?"
After asking the question, Bai Li thought about it carefully and realized that it wasn't surprising that Wu Hai was here.
Tonight is a private charity gala and also Christie's top-level auction. In addition, Zhou Chengjing spent a lot of money to attract the cult leader Cui Shengzhe, and I don't know where he found so many national treasures.
Tonight's auction extravaganza holds unparalleled appeal for these top billionaires and collectors.
As for Wu Hai, he is already among the top wealthy people and has a hobby of collecting antiques. He has given me many treasures in the past, so it is normal for him to be here tonight.
Come to think of it, I think I felt a familiar gaze before I went upstairs.
It must be Wuhai.
Wu Hai's face was somewhat gloomy. When he saw Bai Li come out, his face was expressionless, but he stared at her intently, and his whole body exuded an unpleasant atmosphere.
He looked Bai Li up and down, and seeing that she was alright and free, he stood up, crossed his arms, and walked over, squinting his eyes as he said in a low voice, "Little Pear, this is also my problem. What are you doing here? And hanging out with that guy surnamed Zhou."
When he mentioned "the one surnamed Zhou," Wu Hai's tone became more forceful, and he sounded quite dissatisfied.
Bai Li keenly noticed the change in Wu Hai's expression and raised her eyebrows slightly.
She knew that Wu Hai and Zhou Chengjing were acquainted, but she was not clear about the specifics of their relationship.
Judging from Wu Hai's behavior, it seems these two don't get along.
However, this was their own entanglement, and Bai Li didn't care. She had never promised Wu Hai anything.
As for her relationship with Zhou Chengjing, it's quite strange.
Neither Bai Li nor the other party took the initiative; they simply couldn't avoid it.
For example, the two met by chance at Madam Lin's birthday banquet at the beginning, and later became more connected because of the Luo family's case. Then, they came to Monte Carlo Island together to participate in the auction because of "going underwater".
Although she was extremely displeased with Zhou Chengjing's pretentious behavior at the moment, she had to admit that she and Zhou Chengjing were deeply involved.
At least for now, they are "partners" in the same camp.
They already share too many common ground and secrets, so it's unlikely they'll sever ties anytime soon.
Therefore, even if Wu Hai and Zhou Chengjing have a bad relationship, Bai Li would not sever ties with Zhou Chengjing for Wu Hai's sake.
Faced with the low pressure in Wuhai, Bai Li was straightforward and frank: "As you can see, help him take some pictures."
Wu Hai took a deep breath.
He vividly remembered the scene of Bai Li's strong participation in the auction.
In Wu Hai's memory, Bai Li has never been someone who likes auction occasions or likes to show off in such occasions.
So, all those photos were taken for the guy surnamed Zhou!
Listening to Bai Li's frank account, Wu Hai felt even more choked up.
That indescribable feeling churned and fermented in my chest, eventually transforming into a strong, almost choking sourness:
"Do you and him...have a good relationship?"