396: Chapter 395: The Fourth Piece of Nine Souls Jade 396: Chapter 395: The Fourth Piece of Nine Souls Jade Shen Jiaming’s bid was not because he wanted the auctioned item; his mere increase of one thousand yuan was not to disgust Xu Ruolan, but to seize the opportunity to draw her attention.
However, his actions provoked the displeasure of many people, because in their eyes, Shen Jiaming’s behavior was hardly different from being obnoxious.
Yet Shen Jiaming was oblivious and continued to eye Xu Ruolan, ready to snatch away the item she liked once more.
After another jade bracelet and almost ten minutes bidding on the next item, the auction house presented a blue and white porcelain piece with a starting price of five hundred thousand.
When the price reached six hundred thousand, Xu Ruolan raised her paddle once again.
“Miss Xu bids six hundred and fifty thousand, does anyone wish to follow?”
“Six hundred and fifty thousand and one thousand yuan!”
It was Shen Jiaming again, and the crowd frowned at him.
“The owner of Changsheng Group bids seven hundred thousand!”
This time it was not Xu Ruolan who followed with a bid but another somewhat well-known owner.
Just when people thought Shen Jiaming would bid again, he just sat there, not reacting at all, as if he wouldn’t make a move unless Xu Ruolan did.
“Miss Xu raises the bid to seven hundred and fifty thousand!”
“Seven hundred and fifty thousand and one thousand yuan!”
Damn!
The crowd cursed inwardly, and if not for their good upbringing, they might have stood up and openly scolded Shen Jiaming for causing trouble.
This time no one else competed, and the blue and white porcelain ultimately ended up in Shen Jiaming’s hands.
The items that followed became increasingly expensive, and Xu Ruolan raised her paddle more frequently, with Shen Jiaming doggedly competing with her.
“Two million five hundred thousand and one thousand yuan…
two million six hundred thousand and one thousand yuan…”
“Four million and one thousand yuan…
four million five hundred thousand and one thousand yuan…”
“Sir, please calm down!”
Unable to restrain himself any further, Shen Jiaming began bidding consecutively, causing the auctioneer’s throat to hurt from all the shouting, until finally, the auctioneer had no choice but to intervene in his antics.
“Young Master Shen truly has a fine taste, but aren’t you going a bit too far?”
The person sitting next to Shen Jiaming couldn’t help but comment, with many able to discern the implied meaning – that Shen Jiaming was clueless, liked to blindly stir up excitement, and enjoyed annoying others.
Many nodded in agreement, while also involuntarily glancing at Xu Ruolan.
They genuinely admired Xu Ruolan’s temperament; if it were them being disturbed by Shen Jiaming like this, they would have long since lost their cool with him, yet she allowed him to continue aggravating her?
But Shen Jiaming was as oblivious as ever, still self-satisfied as he retorted, “As long as Miss Xu is interested in it, I will buy it.
I may not have any eyes, but the president of Xu Corporation, Miss Xu, does!”
As if she had anything to do with you…
The crowd couldn’t help but sneer internally, pursing their lips and saying no more, with quite a few amused by the realization that Shen Jiaming had already spent close to five million yuan.
Afterwards, Xu Ruolan continued to bid, with Shen Jiaming still tirelessly following her bids, hoping to attract her attention in this way.
At the same time, some people noticed something amiss and began quietly discussing it.
“Xu Ruolan isn’t doing this on purpose, is she?”
“I think she is.
Shen Jiaming has spent close to twenty million, right?”
“Hehe, the poor guy’s being played and he doesn’t even know it!”
Many people laughed, spending twenty million just for a smile from a beauty, yet they didn’t consider whether she was even willing.
Moreover, the twenty million was far from the only excessive expenditure.
Many items had been purchased by Shen Jiaming at several times their original price.
The markup was simply too high, and even if he were to sell them later, he couldn’t make back his capital.
This time, Shen Jiaming was going to suffer a significant loss.
“Fifty-three million eight hundred and ten thousand yuan.
Congratulations, Young Master Shen!”
The auctioneer’s face turned red.
He suppressed the urge to laugh, offering a perfunctory compliment.
Shen Jiaming was smug, but still felt something was off; the looks he was getting from those around him were a bit strange.
“Young Master Shen has such exquisite taste!”
Someone looked over with a chuckle.
“Hehehe, indeed, exquisite taste!”
“Hahahaha!”
Eventually, no one knew who started it, but the atmosphere of the auction hall suddenly livened up.
Most people couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
Shen Jiaming laughed along, although his laughter was extremely awkward.
He didn’t get the joke at all, failing to understand what others were laughing about.
However, no one would tell him that the biggest joke at the venue was himself.
They were laughing at Shen Jiaming for being played and still remaining clueless while proud of himself!
“Finally, we’ve come to this moment, where our finale piece will make its appearance tonight!”
The auctioneer spoke excitedly, his face somewhat flushed, possibly due to someone generously spending so much money that evening.
The auction staff brought up a glass cover, topped with a layer of red cloth.
“This is a Jade Artifact, named ‘Liuli Star’, with a starting price of five million.”
The auctioneer lifted the red cloth, and the object named ‘Liuli Star’ was revealed to everyone’s eyes.
It looked like a tooth, yet like jade, and like glass, appearing very mysterious; many people became interested in it.
But when Ning Fan saw this final finale piece, he was stunned.
Others might not recognize it, but could he possibly mistake it?
It was clearly the Nine Souls Jade!
The fourth piece of Nine Souls Jade had finally appeared, and a determined smile slowly formed on Ning Fan’s face.
His eyes flickered with a covetous desire for possession!
Now that he had confirmed that this final item was the Nine Souls Jade, Ning Fan decided to make a bid immediately.
“Six million five hundred thousand for the first time, six million five hundred thousand for the second time…”
“Seven million,” Ning Fan raised Xu Ruolan’s bidding card.
The crowd, still focused on the auction item, paused, turning their attention towards him subconsciously.
Because Ning Fan was using Xu Ruolan’s card, people noticed that Xu Ruolan showed no particular reaction.
They once again marveled at the not-so-simple relationship between the two.
Seeing this, Shen Jiaming looked at Ning Fan with jealousy.
Grinding his teeth, he also raised his card and shouted, “Seven million and one thousand yuan!”
Yet this time, no one paid him any attention.
“Another gentleman has bid, seven million and five hundred thousand!”
The auctioneer skipped over Shen Jiaming.
A mere addition of one thousand yuan was not significant in such intense competition, and no one was willing to show any favor to the man causing a disturbance.
There were many competitors.
The original five million had skyrocketed to ten million in less than ten minutes.
Ning Fan surveyed the people around him and once again raised his bidding card, saying, “Fifteen million.”