chapter 5 auctions

Seeing that Eric Ye and the others actually needed Tina Chen to bring them in, Fiona Han and others grew more contemptuous toward Eric Ye.
Heavenly Fragrance Palace was a private club with a membership system. The lowest level was the Lodestone card, which could only be used by one person. The next level was the Bronze Card, which others could use, and the cardholder could bring two people in at a time.
The higher level was the Silver Card, which the cardholder could bring along five people. As for cards above the gold level, there was no limit on the number of guests. However, generally speaking, those who had Gold Cards were bigshots. The big shots wouldn't take anyone else in except their subordinates at this stage.
Each of the four of them had a Lodestone Card, and they were considered high-class people in the entire Rongdu City. What could a guy like Eric Ye, who didn't even have a Lodestone Card, do?
Eric Ye didn't think anything of it. Anyway, he came here to meet the legendary Lily Liu. With Tina Chen taking her in, there was no need to take out the Amethyst Gold Card Dominic Qin handed him.
The group of people just walked in.
Heavenly Fragrance Palace occupied a huge area. In addition to eating, drinking, and fun activities, it held a small weekly auction. They were not expensive things, but some interesting and beautiful toys and antiques. Many wealthy and young people were happy to buy them.
Tina Chen and others came this time just for today's auction. Eric Ye didn't want to leave alone, so he followed them to the auction venue.
Even a small auction house had a clear hierarchy.
Those in the front row were Silver members, those in the middle were Bronze members, and those at the back were Lodestone members. Members with Gold and above levels had separate boxes.
In order to take care of Eric Ye and others, Tina Chen sat together in the Lodestone area.
The auction had started for a while. As soon as everyone sat down, they heard the auctioneer introducing the following item to be auctioned: a draft named "Apologies and Embraces" written by the well-known writer Fallen Stars.
Upon hearing the auctioneer's introduction, Tina Chen's eyes shone excitedly.
She was a loyal fan of Fallen Stars, and the book "Apologies and Embraces" was also her favorite. She was only for the draft, this time participating in the auction.
Seeing Tina Chen's excited look, Eric Ye asked, "Do you like this book?"
"Well, it is said that this book is the personal experience of Fallen Star. I really like the author!"
Tina Chen said with excitement.
"Haha, then I'll buy it for you." Eric Ye smiled.
"Buy it? Haha, boy! It's not that I look down on you. Although the items being auctioned here are not very valuable, the starting price is at least 10,000 dollars. A draft by a famous artist like Fallen Stars cannot be bought for 100,000. Hence, it's going to cost more than that. Can you afford it?"
Before Tina Chen could refuse, Tony Zhang, who was sitting on her right, sneered.
He had long been dissatisfied with Eric Ye. He finally seized the opportunity to attack Eric Ye and never let it go.
"That's right, your family background is average, and it's not easy for your parents to make money. Stop pretending to be moneyed!"
Another man named Francis Liu also sneered.
"It's true that he's from Dragnor Village. What if he has a gold mine at home?"
Fiona Han's boyfriend, Lionel Chen, also took the opportunity to mock Eric Ye.
It seemed that he was speaking up for Eric Ye, but in fact, he was secretly making sarcastic remarks.
He wasn't interested in Tina Chen, but since Eric Ye said that Fiona Han was middle-aged, he couldn't take it in and wanted to fight back.
After all, Fiona Han was his girlfriend. Wasn't Eric Ye chiding Lionel Chen for looking for a middle-aged woman?
He couldn't swallow the agony.
"Lionel, are you joking? Why would he dress like this if he has a mining site at home? I think he is just a country bumpkin, and it would be lucky if he could earn 50,000 dollars a year." Francis Liu laughed.
Eric Ye's face darkened, and Tina Chen's expression also changed. She wanted to speak for Eric Ye. The auctioneer had already given a starting price of 30,000 dollars, and each increase in price would not be less than 10,000 dollars. The bidding began.
"Forty thousand," Tony Zhang directly called the price without looking at Eric Ye.
"Tina, it's your birthday in a few days. Consider this my birthday gift to you!"
After bidding the price, Tony Zhang turned to Tina Chen and chuckled.
As Tina Chen's romantic suitor, he naturally knew that it was Tina Chen's favorite book, so it was perfect to buy the draft and give it to her as a gift.
Tina Chen frowned. She only had a normal relationship with Tony Zhang and others. She didn't want to accept Tony Zhang's gift, so she had to refuse. Fiona Han, on the side, stopped her.
"Tina, please stop being polite to Tony Zhang. He won a lot of money investing anf bidding on jade a while ago. Hence, u=buying things for you is nothing!"
Tina Chen swallowed the words on her lips. She had already lost Fiona Han's face for Eric Ye just now. It would not be appropriate to lose her respect again now. All right! She would find a way to return the money to Tony Zhang.
Although the Chen family was not prominent in Rongdu City, her father was the boss of a corporation with assets worth over 100 million dollars. Moreover, his monthly pocket money was over 100,000 dollars. According to his estimation, the final transaction price of this kind of draft was almost 100,000 dollars. It was around that price. It didn't matter if it was a little more expensive. He could ask his father for more money if he needed it.
"Fifty thousand," someone called again.
"Sixty thousand!"
Tony Zhang didn't even frown.
"Seventy thousand!" "Eighty thousand!" "One hundred thousand!" Soon, the price of the draft had exceeded one hundred thousand.
Tony Zhang's brows furrowed slightly.
"Fifteen thousand!" glanced at Tina Chen next to him, and Tony Zhang raised the price to 150,000. He believed that this price should scare away other bidders.
"Two hundred thousand!" However, before the auctioneer could say anything, another person in front of him directly called out the price.
The general transaction price of items with a starting price of 30,000 dollars was around 100,000 dollars minutes ago. It was only a draft and had been sold for 200,000 dollars. Even Tony Zhang felt a little too expensive.
His family background was not bad, but he was still a student after all. His daily pocket money was not even as much as Tina Chen's. If he hadn't won over one million in jade gambling some time ago, he would not have dared to spend much money here.
A draft that cost him hundreds of thousands was out of his expectation. It was definitely a lie if spending 200,000 dollars on a breeze didn't hurt him. But thinking about what he had promised before Tina Chen, Tony Zhang gritted his teeth and had to submit a quotation of 300,000. The location of the Silver Card District in front, a plump man in his twenties stood up and looked this way.
"Tony Zhang, do you want to fight for this draft too?"
Seeing the plump man's white and chubby face, Tony Zhang's expression changed, and he quickly lowered his half-raised hand.
The man snorted proudly, then turned around and sat down, hugging a young woman next to him.
Seeing Tony Zhang's ugly expression, Francis Liu next to him asked, "Tony Zhang, who is he?"
"Alex Liu, the son of the police chief from Novadorn District," Tony Zhang said with an embarrassed look.
Just now, he boasted he would send this draft to Tina Chen as a gift, but now, he couldn't even have the courage to make an offer. It made him very embarrassed. Just thinking of the other party's identity, he didn't dare to offend him at all.
Even though his father was just a director of a Novadorn District, Rongdu City itself was a provincial capital city. The authority of a district director was not even greater than that of the mayor of a small town like Dragon Hidden City. How could he dare to offend such a person?
Knowing the other party's identity, Lionel Chen and Francis Liu shut their mouths simultaneously. They couldn't afford to offend such a young lad from a prestigious family like Alex Liu.
Tina Chen, on the side, also secretly breathed a sigh of relief. The price of 200,000 dollars was already beyond her budget. If Tony Zhang took the bidden draft, she didn't know how to repay it. It would be better if someone took it away now.
After all, just thinking that it was the draft of Fallen Stars made me feel a little regretful.
"Three hundred thousand." Just when Tina Chen thought she would let go of this draft, a crisp voice came from Tina Chen's ear. When she turned around, she saw that Eric Ye had raised his hand.

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