Free Web NovelChapter 414: Chapter 414: The Auction Begins
"But Big Brother Liu, I have one condition on my side," said Wang Hao. "After I give you the Di Kui Star, you must take it to the auction at Song Jianguo’s and bid on it. After all, I’ve already promised someone."
Wang Hao also had to consider the promise he made with Song Jianjun.
"Okay, I agree!"
Having acquired the Di Kui Star, Liu Dazhuang was already overjoyed. How could he not agree to such a small request?
He was holding these street auctions just to make money, so if he could make more at Song Jianjun’s, why wouldn’t he go? In this world, who would ever refuse money?
Song Jianjun was also sweating over it, but after hearing what Wang Hao said, he was filled with gratitude toward him.
After all this fuss, although everyone’s admiration for Wang Hao had deepened, at that moment their focus was not on Wang Hao but had shifted to Liu Dazhuang.
But Song Jianjun had learned from his previous experience, and even though everyone’s attention was on the Di Kui Star in Liu Dazhuang’s hands, he was still extremely respectful toward Wang Hao.
Because, after all, it was Wang Hao who had given the Di Kui Star to Liu Dazhuang, and if he annoyed Wang Hao at this point, all it would take was one word from Wang Hao to make Liu Dazhuang take the Di Kui Star away.
Such an ancient medicine, wherever it was auctioned, would cause a huge stir, so Song Jianjun was serving Wang Hao as if he were his own grandfather.
"Brother Hao, after you!"
Song Jianjun followed Wang Hao closely, not daring to breathe loudly, and Song felt the mayor’s face look a bit better only after he had seated Wang Hao in the VIP area.
Only then did Song Jianjun’s heart start to settle down.
"By the way, Brother Hao, you just gave the Di Kui Star to Liu Dazhuang. Did you bring something to auction today?" Song Jianjun couldn’t help asking. freewebnovel.cσ๓
"Don’t worry, I indeed brought something good, and it’s what I’m going to bid on in a while!" Wang Hao replied.
Wang Hao took a wooden box out of Chen Hongying’s bag and handed it to Song Jianjun.
Tan Haipin, who sat next to Wang Hao, thought that this young man who could give away the Di Kui Star without blinking an eye must be quite extraordinary. Surely what he brought today was also a rare treasure.
Therefore, he was very curious about what precisely was the rare treasure inside the wooden box that Wang Hao held.
Even Tan Haipin thought this, so needless to say, Song Jianjun was even more curious, he took the wooden box from Wang Hao’s hands and wanted to open it to have a look.
"With so many people here now, aren’t you afraid that letting everyone see it will cause a commotion later on?" Wang Hao said with a reproachful glance at Song Jianjun.
Song Jianjun, who feared nothing more than Wang Hao getting angry, quickly withdrew his hand when he heard what Wang Hao said.
After giving a quick greeting to Wang Hao and Tan Haipin, he scurried back to the host’s podium.
Tan Haipin felt regretful for not seeing what was inside Wang Hao’s box, but he inferred from Wang Hao’s remarks that it must contain something very precious.
If it weren’t something highly valuable, how could it cause a disturbance among the crowd here?
The more Tan Haipin thought about it, the more curious he became, and he wanted to know what was inside the box.
Because they spent some time at Liu Dazhuang’s earlier, they had missed the auspicious start time of the auction. Upon arriving at the podium, Song Jianjun immediately announced the auction was about to begin.
The first item on the agenda was to invite the mayor to give a speech. It was the usual inspirational platitudes, not particularly substantive, and the audience listened politely.
"Brother Wang Hao, could you reveal what exactly is inside your box? Why all the mystery?" As the mayor spoke at length, Tan Haipin couldn’t help but whisper the question to Wang Hao.
"It’s no big mystery; it’s just a Lingzhi mushroom," replied Wang Hao.
Wang Hao expressed indifference.
Tan Haipin naturally didn’t want to believe it, but how could a Lingzhi cause such a commotion at the scene?
He must have thought Wang Hao wanted to maintain the mystery and was not willing to reveal it. Since Wang Hao did not want to talk, it wasn’t good for Tan Haipin to keep questioning.
Anyway, soon Wang Hao would bring out that item to join the auction, and then everyone would know. He couldn’t possibly keep it in the box and have a blind auction, right?
As soon as the mayor’s speech ended, Song Jianjun returned to the host podium to start the auction.
The first item was very shocking, a three-hundred-year-old Lingzhi.
Although for Wang Hao, it wasn’t anything special. Apart from giving one to Chu Guoxiong last time, Su Zhenping’s family still had one.
But such a fine item was a great thing for others as a complete, hundred-year Lingzhi was extremely valuable and hard to come by, so the competition was quite fierce.
"Four million once, four million twice, four million three times, sold!"
With a gavel strike, Su Jianjun concluded the sale of the first item, and the hundred-year Lingzhi was auctioned off to a Chinese herbal medicine dealer for four million.
Chen Hongying knew Lingzhi was very valuable, especially one with a significant age, but she only knew its value as a medicinal herb and had no idea that as a collector’s item it could be so expensive.
She couldn’t help but lean into Wang Hao’s ear and lightly scolded him.
"You really know how to waste money!"
"Ah? Why would you say that about me?"
Wang Hao was also clueless.
"Why else? The Lingzhi you gave to Zhang Xuepin last time was way better than this one, and you just gave it away without even batting an eye. If that’s not wasting money, what is?"
Seeing Wang Hao’s innocent expression, Chen Hongying couldn’t help but give him an irritated glance.
"Heh heh, now that you mention it, it does seem a bit like that!"
Wang Hao chuckled naively, unconsciously touching his head.
Unintentionally spoken, the listener Tan Haipin heard their conversation and was involuntarily startled, thinking, who on earth is this Wang Hao?
To others, it was a treasure passed down as a family heirloom, yet this kid was casual about giving it away. This approach was a bit too arrogant.
Tan Haipin made a mental note of Wang Hao, telling himself to have someone thoroughly investigate Wang Hao’s background after getting back.
After two hours of bidding, nearly all of the treasured items were successfully sold.
The lowest price was one million and five hundred thousand, with the highest going over ten million.
For each auctioned item, they could collect a twenty percent service fee, so Song Jianjun was about to make quite a bit.
"Alright, now for the main event we’ve all been waiting for!"
Song Jianguo cleared his throat, took out the box holding the mysterious object, showed it to everyone, and then began the introduction.
"This is the legendary divine medicine, the mysterious object. I’m sure everyone has already understood it by now, so I won’t waste words. Let’s start the bidding at ten million, and begin!"
Everyone inhaled sharply at once; a starting price of ten million was incredibly high, immediately excluding many people.
Wang Hao was also taken aback, unclear about the basis of this price. But since Song Jianjun had been in the business for so long, he definitely had his unique ways.
He wouldn’t casually estimate a price in front of so many people. Tan Haipin, the old man, had actually thought of trading his Blood Ginseng for the mysterious object, clearly trying to take advantage of Wang Hao.
Liu Dazhuang was even more stunned; he had never seen so much money in his life. The thought of it soon becoming his own fortune was exhilarating.
