Chapter 97: The Auction Begins
Translator: 549690339
Upon hearing Emily Taylor’s words, Ethan Smith almost spat out a mouthful of water!
Even the security guards at the door couldn’t help but sneak a laugh.
Meanwhile, Castro wore an icy expression; he took a deep breath, suppressing his anger as he said, “I won’t lower myself to your level, in consideration of your good looks.”
Pausing slightly, Castro continued with a smile, “You want to get in? How about this—come with me and I’ll take you. What do you say?”
Emily feigned surprise and said, “You can get in?”
Castro stated somewhat proudly, “Naturally! A paltry net worth of ten billion is not worth mentioning!”
“Oh, is that so?” Emily nodded.
Then, she took out her cell phone, called a number, and said, “There’s a man named White at your door. I don’t want to let him in.” After saying this, Emily directly hung up the phone.
“You should be unable to enter now.” Emily chuckled.
Castro smirked, “Pretty girl, are you joking with me? Or have you been watching too much TV?”
Just then, the security guard’s phone suddenly rang.
He picked up his mobile phone, saying into it, “Yes, yes, I understand. Please rest assured!”
After ending the call, the security guard hurriedly walked over to Ethan Smith and Emily Taylor, bowing and saying, “Sir, madam, our boss has said that there’s no need to verify your assets. Please come in!”
Emily blinked, looking at Castro not far away, she said, “We’ll be waiting for you inside.”
Castro huffed lightly and immediately started walking towards the entrance.
But when he reached it, he was stopped by two bouncers.
“What are you doing! Don’t block the way!” Castro reprimanded.
The security guards, expressionless, responded, “Sorry, we have orders from above. You can’t go in.”
Castro’s face changed, he burst out in anger, “That’s nonsense! Make way immediately, I tell you I’m friends with your boss!”
“It’s our boss who gave the order.” One of the guards countered coldly.
Castro froze on the spot.
The order came personally from the auction house owner? What is this situation?
Could it be that what that woman just said… was true?
Ethan Smith and Emily Taylor claimed their numbers and entered the auction.
Since Ethan tended to keep a low profile, he chose a seat in a corner.
“Wouldn’t sitting here be too far away from the action?” Ethan muttered.
“It doesn’t matter where we sit; it’s all the same.” Emily laughed.
Ethan nodded, falling silent.
About ten minutes later, the auction hall was packed. Spectators filled every seat.
All these people were billionaires whose attire reeked of opulence.
Ethan looked around, trying to gauge the array of people and determine if there were any Inner Strength Experts present.
In a short while, he noticed several Inner Strength Experts and their numbers were not few—over ten at least!
“It seems Miss Taylor was correct.” Ethan thought to himself.
These wealthy individuals mostly had elite escorts to protect their safety. Just then, the auctioneer came on stage and the venue quickly quieted.
“Welcome to the South City Auction!” The auctioneer smiled.
“We at the South City Auction have carefully prepared auction items for you all. We believe that everyone will find something to their liking!” The auctioneer shouted.
As his voice died down, the auction officially began.
The South City Auction had a wide range of items: jewelry, antiques, limited-edition luxury goods, bonds, and herbs that Ethan had been thinking about.
The first item up for auction was a piece of limited-edition jewelry, reportedly hand-crafted by a foreign master, ultimately fetching a price of 880,000.
The second item was a set of calligraphy and painting, said to originate from the Qing Dynasty. The final price was a whopping 3-5 million!
Such ordeals didn’t pique Ethan Smith’s interest, but there was a sense of nervous anticipation in him.
There had been four items presented on stage already, yet the herbs had yet to make an appearance.
“Don’t worry.” Emily suddenly took Ethan’s hand.
“In most cases, the later the item appears in an auction, the higher its value.
Perhaps the herbs you want are the grand finale.” Emily suggested, winking. Ethan nodded, muttering, “I wonder if I can find a ‘bargain’ today…”
The age of the herbs was something he had to discern for himself. The outward appearance of many top-quality herbs wasn’t impressive.
At this moment, the auctioneer took out a piece of emerald green jade pendant.
The jade’s quality was excellent, its green color extraordinary. It was clearly a rare piece of jade!
“This item comes from one of our consigners. It’s made of natural ice-type jade. The starting bid is six million! Each raise must be no less than five hundred thousand!” the auctioneer exclaimed.
Upon seeing this piece of jade, Ethan immediately raised his number and shouted, “Six million five hundred thousand!”
This surprised Emily, who turned to Ethan and asked, “Do you like jade?”
Ethan scratched his head and laughed, “I’ve never given you any decent gifts before, so I thought I’d bid for this to give to you.”
“You can’t refuse, it’s a token of my affection!” Before Emily could answer, Ethan rushed to say.
A blush crept onto Emily’s usually cold face, she nodded and replied with a smile, “Okay, I’ll definitely accept it!”
Another reason for Ethan wanting to bid for the jade was because jade was an excellent medium for refinement. He intended to use it to create a Protective Dharma Amulet for Emily.
Ever since the incident last time, Ethan had blamed himself. He couldn’t be by Emily’s side all the time, so he came up with this solution..