Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Rong Zechen knew that Xiangyun Antique-store belonged to Gu Ning, but he did not know anything about the bronze chimes since he did not pay attention to the news about the auction. He simply came today with his Grandfather since he did not have class.
Yuan Yilin, on the other hand, did not know that Xiangyun Antique-store belonged to Gu Ning and only found out now.
Since this was news to them, they were terribly surprised. Where did Gu Ning get the bronze chimes from?
Rong Zechen was unaware of the bronze chimes’ price, but Yuan Yilin heard about it. This set of bronze chimes was worth at least six to seven billion! Gu Ning just made billions of dollars effortlessly, so Yuan Yilin could not help feeling jealous.
“Gu Ning, I see you were the one who provided the bronze chimes! Where did you get them from?” asked Yuan Yilin as though she was simply curious.
Considering Gu Ning and Yuan Yilin’s relationship, it was impossible for Yuan Yilin to be purely curious. She simply wanted to make trouble for Gu Ning since Yuan Yilin knew the bronze chimes came from illegal sources.
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Despite knowing what Yuan Yilin was attempting to pull, Gu Ning replied calmly, “My apologies, Senior Yuan. I can’t tell you. There is an unwritten rule in the antique industry not to ask the seller for the source of their goods, so no one asked me for the details.”
Gu Ning’s words left Yuan Yilin embarrassed and feeling like an idiot. Even though she felt angry, she could not show it.
“Oh I didn’t know I couldn’t talk about it! My bad! I didn’t know I couldn’t ask.” Yuan Yilin acted sorry, but she acted as though Gu Ning’s bronze chimes had come from illegitimate sources, so it was inconvenient to talk about it openly.
Gu Ning could not help mocking Yuan Yilin in her heart as she watched Yuan Yilin’s performance. Did Yuan Yilin think the patrons were in the dark about the bronze chimes’ source? Yuan Yilin seemed to think Gu Ning would get punished if it was found out that she got them through illegal means. Anyone with brains would not ask about this.
“It doesn’t matter. After all, you aren’t in the antique industry,” said Gu Ning graciously. However, Yuan Yilin felt as though Gu Ning was looking down on her.
Gu Ning did not know about the thoughts running through Yuan Yilin’s mind. If she ever caught wind, she would definitely feel maligned. She was not looking down on Yuan Yilin. Instead, she was just bringing it up casually. Yuan Yilin had only herself to blame for any delusions that she was being persecuted.
Master Yuan did not feel Yuan Yilin was wrong to ask about the source of the antique, but he felt she was making a fool of herself. This made Master Yuan rather annoyed, so he looked at Yuan Yilin threateningly to remind her to watch her tongue.
Yuan Yilin noticed the look in Master Yuan’s eyes, so she stopped talking.
Master Yuan glanced at Gu Ning mildly before averting his eyes. Although he could tell Gu Ning was targeting Yuan Yilin, there was nothing wrong with her words, so he could not find fault.
“Are you Miss Gu? Despite your young age, you are very capable. I am very impressed!” Master Rong slathered praise on Gu Ning since he was genuinely awed by her.
Although Master Leng and Master Rong were not friends, Master Leng could not help feeling proud. After all, Gu Ning was his granddaughter-in-law!
“You are too kind, Master Rong. I think I just got a little lucky!” replied Gu Ning modestly but confidently.
“You are too modest. It takes more than luck to accomplish things in life. Talent is the key to success,” said Master Leng with a look of pride beaming from his face.
People unaware of Gu Ning and Master Leng’s relationship felt that Master Leng was simply blown away by her talent. However, the ones who knew of their true relations instantly caught on that Master Leng was showing off his granddaughter-in-law.
Rong Zechen and Yuan Yilin naturally felt upset since Master Leng thought so highly of Gu Ning. Neither of them felt Gu Ning deserved such high praise. Yuan Yilin just became increasingly jealous of Gu Ning.
After their brief conversation, the auction of the bronze chimes commenced. Its starting price was 3 billion dollars and each bid was worth a hundred million.
Rong Zechen finally realized how much the bronze chimes were actually worth after hearing what the host said.
Gu Ning was the one who found the bronze chimes. How could Gu Ning have done it?
The more amazing Gu Ning was, the more upset Rong Zechen became. He felt Gu Ning did not fancy him because she was a brilliant young woman. However, she would never be good enough for him with a background like hers.
The moment the host finished his sentence, everyone proceeded to bid for the bronze chimes. However, since the bronze chimes were very expensive, a lot fewer people bid for them. The people who did were determined to go home with the bronze chimes, so the bidding process was particularly intense.
Even the people who were not interested in bidding for the bronze chimes were overwhelmed with adrenaline and the atmosphere buzzed with excitement.
“Oh god! Someone has already offered 5 billion dollars for it. These people are simply too rich.”
“That goes without saying. Most of the people at an auction are rich folks.”
“Although the auction house is full of rich people, it is too much to fork out billions for an antique.”
“You might find it too expensive, but for people like them, a few billion is just like pocket change. The same goes, if we see something we like worth hundreds of thousands, we would buy it without a second thought.”
“That’s absolutely right! If you like it, then the price is no issue.”
“…”
Some of the guests present were not interested in antiques. Also, not all of them were made of money. Even the ones who were loaded were reluctant to bid for the bronze chimes.
Rong Zechen was startled by how much people were willing to pay for the set of bronze chimes.
Before long, the bidding war had reached 7 billion dollars. Fewer and fewer people were actively bidding for the bronze chimes, but Cai Wenhong kept going strong.
“It seems the museum is determined to have the bronze chimes,” said Master Leng.
“Uh huh! The bidding has already reached 8 billion dollars, but people are still going on. It is not worth paying over 8 billion dollars for those bronze chimes,” said Master Xu.
“If I knew Cai Wenhong wanted it so badly for the museum, I would have asked Gu Ning to sell it to him at a reasonable price and just go through the motion of auctioning it off. I think it’s great if the bronze chimes can go to the museum,” said Jiang Zhongyu.
Master Leng and Master Xu felt the same way when they heard what Jiang Zhongyu said. Why did they not think of this earlier?
