Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Cai Wenhong simply smiled without joining in the conversation. He was still busy bidding for the bronze chimes and did not have time to explain the deal he had struck with Gu Ning. Gu Ning had already agreed to sell the bronze chimes to the Palace Museum, so the auction was just for show.
Even if he was free, he would not choose to explain now when there were bystanders around. It would only cause trouble if anyone overheard this since it was considered fraud. Both Xiangyun Antique-store and the museum would end up in hot water if anyone found out.
Gu Ning did not explain either.
By the time the price reached 8.5 billion dollars, no one else vied for the bronze chimes. The auction price was far higher than expected.
As expected, Cai Wenhong won the bid.. No matter how much he offered for the bronze chimes, he only had to pay Gu Ning 5 billion dollars, so he was unafraid of offering an astronomical sum.
A lot of people were astonished by its final price. Most of them felt it would not go higher than 7 billion dollars.
Everyone looked at Gu Ning. Some looked at her with admiration while others looked at her with jealousy. They felt it was easy money for Gu Ning.
The most expensive item that got auctioned off this morning was only worth about 5 billion dollars, so the difference in price with the bronze chimes was simply jaw dropping.
After the bronze chimes got auctioned off, the first half of the auction came to an end. The second half of the auction would commence at 1:30 pm.
Everyone naturally spent their free time having lunch, as the Huarong Auction House had provided lunch for them.
Since they were able to earn a lot of money for each auction, the auction house had no trouble providing lunch for its guests. And if the food did not suit the guests’ tastes, they were welcome to go out for lunch.
Gu Ning, Master Leng, and the others did not plan on coming back for the second half of the auction, so they headed off together for lunch.
Among their lunch party was Gu Ning, Master Leng, Master Xu, Jiang Zhongyu, Cai Wenhong, Chen Darong, Xu Jinchen, and Zi Beiying.
Before they left, Gu Ning and Cai Wenhong went backstage to complete some paperwork. However, the sale could not be completed yet without the bronze chimes physically present.
The auction house usually earned a commission through the auctions. The bronze chimes were auctioned at 8.5 billion dollars, so the fees for the transaction were high. However, since Huarong Auction House was operated by the government and Cai Wenhong was the vice director of the National Cultural Heritage Administration, the fees could be waived easily.
Not all auction item commissions were eligible for the waiver. However, the deal between Gu Ning and Cai Wenhong certainly qualified.
After completing the paperwork, they left for lunch together.
Everyone felt even more confident that Gu Ning had close ties with those bigshots when Gu Ning left with Master Leng and the others.
…
Master Yuan and Yuan Yilin were not going to attend the second half of the auction either. So after getting in the car, Master Yuan said to Yuan Yilin sternly, “What’s going on between you and Gu Nin?”
Yuan Yilin did not dare to lie, so she came clean about what happened at school and the conflict between Gu Ning and Yuan Shuyan. She even told him about how she warned Gu Ning without embellishing the story.
“How could she do that? Is it possible for the Yuan and Rong families to be linked by marriage? Go tell Yuan Shuyan to sever ties with Rong Zechen,” said Master Yuan reprovingly. Their families were at odds with each other, so Master Yuan felt furious to hear that a girl from their family had fallen for a boy from the Rong clan and caused so much trouble.
Although Yuan Shuyan was from a collateral branch, she was still a part of the family and they were on the same boat.
“I will,” replied Yuan Yilin.
Yuan Yilin had scolded Yuan Shuyan for this previously. Yuan Shuyan simply could not stop herself since she was in love with him. Nothing could stop people when they were in love even if the object of their love was not interested at all.
Yuan Shuyan knew it was impossible between her and Rong Zechen, so she did not tell anyone about it. However, it was an open secret, so it was genuinely an embarrassment for the family with all this gossip flying in the air.
“Also, your feud with Gu Ning ends now. You have to focus on things that matter,” warned Master Yuan yet again.
Despite having something to do with these incidents, he did not feel Gu Ning was at fault, so Master Yuan did not blame Gu Ning for them. From his perspective, Gu Ning was an insignificant small fry after all. However, it was impossible for him to take a liking to Gu Ning now.
…
Gu Ning and the others did not venture too far for lunch and instead settled for a nearby restaurant.
Shortly after they left the auction house, Gu Ning noticed that they were being followed.
Gu Ning was driving, so it was inconvenient for her to turn and check, but she was certain it had something to do with the bronze chimes.
Although Cai Wenhong had already successfully bought the item through the auction, it did not mean everyone was ready to give up on them! It was especially true for the famous musician from Country R, Harada Honichi, the very same man who abducted Chen Darong for the sake of the bronze chimes.
Gu Ning was not 100% sure it was him. It could have been anyone else, but her instincts told her it was Harada Honichi as the people from his country tended to be more unreasonable.
They arrived at the restaurant roughly ten minutes later and the tail followed them.
After parking the car, Gu Ning could see who they were.
Gu Ning’s gut instinct was right. Harada Honichi was genuinely on their tail.
Gu Ning narrowed her eyes. Even though she had yet to look them up to settle the feud, they had already come knocking on her door. However, now was not the time to teach them a lesson. Also, they had not done anything yet, so she went about her business normally.
Xu Jinchen had already booked a private room ahead of time, so they went right in when they got there.
Gu Ning looked at them cautiously every now and then. She saw Harada Honichi and three other men following them into the restaurant. They also asked for a private room, but it was some distance from theirs.
After they arrived at the private room, the waiter took their order and left. Gu Ning finally said, “Grandpa Leng, Grandpa Xu, Grandpa Jiang, I have something to tell you. It was crowded at the auction hall, so I couldn’t get to it. Now is the perfect time to tell you!”
“What?” asked Master Leng and the others curiously.
“I already struck a deal with Curator Cai the day the bronze chimes’ authenticity got verified. I already sold it to the Palace Museum for 5 billion dollars. However, the auction went on as per normal so that I could do some marketing for Xiangyun Antique-store,” said Gu Ning.
All of them were shocked by the news.
“Hehe! Otherwise, I wouldn’t have auctioned for them at such a high price!” said Cai Wenhong as he smiled.
