The brochure listed the starting price for the forge at 1000 gold coins, but Stone knew that in an auction house, the final bid could be dozens of times higher than the starting price. Although she had some money, it really only amounted to a few thousand gold coins, but the forge was something she absolutely had to have.
Huo Xiaoxiao was taken aback by Shi Tou's sudden thanks, and after a long while she said somewhat embarrassedly, "You're welcome, it's only 1,000 gold coins."
Shi Tou lowered his head, somewhat amused, and continued reading the booklet. Huo Xiaoxiao was just that kind of person; she wouldn't listen to reason, and if anyone dared to argue with her, she could make them cough up blood and turn into a dried-up corpse.
"Is there anything else you want to buy?" Huo Xiaoxiao was probably stunned by Shi Tou's heartfelt thanks and felt a little ashamed for her previous harsh tone. She asked, "Do you want me to buy you some jewelry?"
"Jewelry?" This time it was Shi Tou's turn to be stunned. He subconsciously looked up at Huo Xiaoxiao and asked, "Why do you need jewelry?"
Although Shi Tou came from a well-off family before her transmigration and had quite a few pieces of jewelry, she generally didn't wear jewelry when she went out. Of course, there was one exception: when she went on a blind date.
So Stone has absolutely no liking for those women's favorite jewelry. Hmph, I've already time-traveled; I'm no longer that old maid who can't get married!
"I made you wear the jewelry back then." Huo Xiaoxiao looked helplessly at Shi Tou's hair: "Look at this hairstyle you've created!"
Stone touched the top of his head and said innocently, "Where's the unicorn braid? This hairstyle is so nice, it's simple, refreshing, and full of girlish charm."
Huo Xiaoxiao was angered by Shi Tou again: "You are the second young lady of the Huo family! Please, do you care about the image of the Huo family? Listen, I'm going to buy you some jewelry later. If you don't wear it, I'll kill you!"
Shi Tou stared blankly at Huo Xiaoxiao. Having lived two lifetimes, this was the first time she had ever seen someone use violence to threaten someone into handing over jewelry...
-----
It's time for the second watch!
☆, Chapter 137 The Melee at the Auction House
However, sometimes it has to be said that violence is indeed the most effective tactic. At least, that's how Huo Xiaoxiao sees it. In just one hour, Huo Xiaoxiao bought a total of eight sets of jewelry.
Please note, it's not eight pieces, but eight sets.
From headdress to earrings to necklace to bracelet and finally to anklet, Shi Tou stared in disbelief at the dazzling jewelry: "Xiao Xiao, how much did you spend?"
Huo Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes at the stone without hesitation, then decisively pressed the auction button again: "3000 gold coins!"
Well, Stone fell silent. Although the jewelry pieces varied in value, almost every set was worth over 2000 gold coins. Stone seriously doubted whether Grandpa Huo would eat them alive when they got back. After all, even a rich young lady wouldn't let them squander their entire fortune.
"3500 gold coins!"
Huo Xiaoxiao was still shouting wildly, while Shi Tou was already exasperated. She looked out of the private room window, and below was the auction hall. At the very front center of the auction hall was a set of white jade jewelry. The most outstanding feature of this set of jewelry was that it was made entirely of extremely rare white jade.
Strictly speaking, white jade is not particularly rare, but generally speaking, white jade is very small, usually only about the size of an adult's little fingernail. However, this set of white jade jewelry is carved from a single piece of white jade.
"White jade is pure white and flawless, with extremely high magic resistance. Of course, these are just its most basic characteristics. By fusing white jade with sighing stone, one can refine it into colorless and transparent white jade. Armor made of white jade would take even a nine-star mage at least an hour to break."
These words were spoken by Steel Hammer Papa to Stone back in the Dwarf Kingdom. Of course, Stone didn't pay much attention, because not even a single bit of white jade had ever appeared in the mines where the Dwarf Kingdom was located.
"4000 gold coins!"
It's obvious that there's always been competition between Huo Xiaoxiao and others. Of course, given Huo Xiaoxiao's temperament and financial resources, she certainly won't give up anytime soon.
Although Stone was eager to experiment with the fusion of white jade and the Sighing Stone, to be honest, she wasn't too worried that Huo Xiaoxiao would lose the bid. Firstly, Huo Xiaoxiao had persisted in bidding on eight items in a row, seemingly unwilling to give up easily on anything she set her sights on. Secondly, Stone had also heard what the auctioneer had said: while whole pieces of white jade jewelry were indeed rare, smaller pieces weren't so difficult to find, so Stone wasn't worried about not being able to find white jade in the future.
In the end, Huo Xiaoxiao won the bid for the white jade jewelry set for 5,500 gold coins.
Shi Tou looked at Huo Xiaoxiao with a worried expression: "Xiaoxiao, my forging furnace is still to come. You mustn't spend all the money."
"How could that be?" Huo Xiaoxiao looked at Shi Tou with disdain. "Are you stupid? Only 1000 gold coins? Do you think I'm that poor?"
Stone kindly reminded him, "The starting price is 1,000 gold coins. The white jade jewelry you just bought for 5,500 gold coins only had a starting price of 1,500 gold coins."
Upon hearing this, Huo Xiaoxiao's disdain deepened: "Xiaoyi, you really are stupid. Of course, someone would fight over such beautiful and exquisite jewelry, but who would want that broken and useless forging furnace? Unless the auction house is deliberately bidding against me."
“That’s possible!” Shi Tou thought Huo Xiaoxiao’s last sentence made a lot of sense: “The way you were bidding so hard on everything you wanted just now, the auction house must have noticed. How about we bid on something random later? And then deliberately lower the price once someone wants it?”
Huo Xiaoxiao gave her a "you're an idiot" look: "My dear Xiaoyi, didn't I tell you that this auction house is a royal property? Would the royal family care about this little bit of money?"
"Who knows? Besides, it might not be the royal family pulling the strings. Maybe it's some people who have a grudge against the Huo family, or maybe it's auction house staff doing it for commissions or something? Anyway, I think the way you bid just now was a bit dangerous." Although she was quite annoyed at being treated like an idiot by a nine-year-old kid, Shi Tou still tried to persuade him gently.
Huo Xiaoxiao didn't care about spending more money, but she did care about whether she could finally bid for that forging furnace. After all, in this era of the decline of the Forging Masters Association, finding a decent forging furnace was an extremely difficult task.
"Xiao Yi, let's make a bet, okay?" Huo Xiaoxiao suddenly smiled mysteriously: "I bet I can definitely buy that forging furnace for 1000 gold coins. And you bet the opposite, what if you lose?"
Stone calmly replied, "If I lose, all the jewelry you just won in the auction is yours."
"Smack!"
Huo Xiaoxiao immediately bent down and gave Shi Tou a crisp, roasted chestnut-like tap on the forehead: "What would I do with those jewelry? They were all bought for you! If you lose, you have to wear a set of jewelry every day for nine days straight, understand?"
puff!
Shi Tou was at her wit's end. Complete sets of jewelry! This was going to be the death of her!
"What if you lose?" Although Huo Xiaoxiao's tone was extremely confident, Shi Tou was still somewhat skeptical.
"If I lose, do whatever you want!" Huo Xiaoxiao said decisively and readily, as if she was very certain that she would not lose.
Stone had a look on his face like a dog seeing a bone or a cat seeing a fish, and he grinned in an extremely lewd way: "Hehe, if you lose, then you have to wear all nine sets of jewelry you just bought!"
"Serena!" Huo Xiaoxiao roared through gritted teeth.
"Wrong, wrong, Xiaoxiao, my name is Huo Yi." Shi Tou kindly reminded her again, "If you call me by the wrong name again, I'll tell Grandpa."
"Go ahead, go ahead, go tell Grandpa, and I won't buy you a forging furnace, hmph!" Huo Xiaoxiao angrily turned away and ignored Shi Tou.
Now it was Stone's turn to be dumbfounded. Although she had money, if someone actually bid for the forging furnace, she might not have enough. Immediately, she regretted it: "Xiaoxiao, lovely Xiaoxiao, beautiful Xiaoxiao, our Xiaoxiao is gentle, beautiful, kind, generous, and stunningly beautiful..."
Shi Tou continued rambling, but Huo Xiaoxiao couldn't take it anymore: "Alright, alright, I'll buy you a forging furnace later, stop talking nonsense."
Stone then stopped rambling and sat quietly on the sofa, waiting for the auction of the forging furnace.
After a while, it was finally time to auction the forge. But this time, the auctioneer on the stage looked a little strange: "The next item for auction is a forge with a history of one hundred years. It is said that its former owner was a blacksmith. Alright, the starting price is 1,000 gold coins. The auction will now begin!"
"Why did he describe it so simply?" Stone looked at the auctioneer in surprise. The auctioneer had muttered about each item for at least a few minutes, so why was the description of the forging furnace so simple and clear?
"It's obvious he knows that no matter how detailed his explanation, no one will want it." Huo Xiaoxiao calmly picked up the bidding device, intending to start bidding, but who knew...
"1, 2, 3, no one bids, the forging furnace is unsold! Alright, let's look at the next item..."
The auctioneer had already begun his eloquent introduction of the next item on stage, while Shi Tou and Huo Xiaoxiao in the private box were completely dumbfounded.
"Um..." Shi Tou looked at Huo Xiaoxiao with a confused expression, wondering what was going on.
At this moment, Huo Xiaoxiao also realized what was happening. She quickly put the bidding device to her mouth, took a deep breath, and then exclaimed, "Aww~~~"
Instantly, chaos erupted in the auction hall downstairs. Even the auctioneer, who had been enthusiastically explaining the proceedings, was so startled that he trembled and fell face-first to the ground.
Shi Tou stared at Huo Xiaoxiao in disbelief. Who told her to be mindful of her ladylike image and to consider the Huo family's reputation?!
"What's wrong with you, you old geezer?! You've been rambling on and on about the other auction items, but what about that broken stove? Why aren't you talking about it? I'm not happy about this anymore, you can tell me to start over!"
Huo Xiaoxiao roared at the bidding machine with great force, so loudly that even the stone slid off the sofa and onto the floor without her noticing, not to mention the other innocent people.
Looking down from the window of the private room, Shi Tou was shocked to find that the area below was in complete chaos, and then something even more terrifying happened.
"Huo Xiaoxiao! You idiot, you fool, you stinky bastard! Do you think the Imperial Capital Central Auction House is your private property? If you want to bid on something, hurry up and bid! Stop dawdling and you'll end up blaming others!" Although the voice was distorted by the bidding device, Shi Tou still felt that the voice was quite familiar. Just as she was trying to figure out who was messing with Huo Xiaoxiao, Huo Xiaoxiao began to fight back.
"Nana, you're the stupid, ugly, silly, and fat brat! Get lost!"
"Huo Xiaoxiao, you're the most amazing one. You have a few stinking coins and you think you can cause trouble here!"
"I'm doing this because I want to! I'm just throwing money around, what are you going to do about it?!"
"..."
Stone suddenly felt that she was a bit out of touch with the times. What was going on?
"Nana? The poor little wretch of the Kuruvis family? Hmph, who do you think you are to dare to argue with the eldest daughter of the Huo family!" Suddenly, another female voice popped out from nowhere: "I remember the rules of the Imperial Auction House are that only nobles and those who have paid a lot of membership fees are allowed to enter, right? May I ask, Miss Kuruvis, who do you think you are?!"
Chapter 138 Qin Mu, the Nine-Star Mage
Shi Tou stared blankly as a lively auction suddenly turned into a verbal battle between three little girls, completely bewildered.
In fact, Stone wasn't the only one who was mentally unstable. The auction hall downstairs had been in complete chaos from the very beginning, and even the auction house itself hadn't quite recovered.
Indeed, the Imperial Capital Central Auction House has been established for nearly a thousand years, and various acts of violence have been commonplace there. Therefore, the auction house itself has several nine-star mages on staff. But what is the situation now?
Qin Mu, the nine-star magician who was in charge today, was deeply saddened. He was the uncle of the current head of the Qin family. Although according to seniority, he should be Huo Xiaoxiao's grandfather, he was only 60 years old this year.
When Huo Xiaoxiao started howling like a wolf, he was already planning to rush out and suppress her with force. However, what happened next was completely unexpected. If Huo Xiaoxiao and Nana's argument had left him momentarily at a loss, it was the addition of a female voice that truly gave him a headache.
"Xiaoxiao, who is that?" Shi Tou watched as Huo Xiaoxiao and Nana Ke started arguing over the forging furnace that she wanted, and then suddenly someone else joined the fray, turning the verbal battle into a verbal fight between Nana Ke and another person.
Huo Xiaoxiao was also confused. She and Nana had known each other for a long time, and although their relationship wasn't great, it wasn't as hostile as it seemed. Moreover, their relationship had improved considerably during their trip to the Crimson Forest, and this time she genuinely only wanted to make a few sarcastic remarks.
"You don't know her?" Seeing Huo Xiaoxiao's blank expression, Shi Tou realized this was a big problem: "You don't know her at all. Then why would she help you?"
"I don't know either." Huo Xiaoxiao looked at Shi Tou innocently, judging from her expression. She really didn't seem to know that person well.
Shi Tou thought for a moment: "Could it be a relative of yours?"
Huo Xiaoxiao shook her head: "I don't have many relatives, and I'm sure there's no such person."
“By the way, it could be another Eastern family. Didn’t you hear her say something about the six major Eastern families?” Shi Tou thought her idea was very plausible, but Huo Xiaoxiao didn’t think so.
"To outsiders, the six major families of the East seem to be closely connected, which is true. But in fact, the one that is closest to our Huo family is the Shui family. However, I don't think that voice belongs to any of the young ladies of the Shui family."
The six great families of the East are not actually a monolithic entity. Perhaps the founders of the families were indeed good brothers when they were first established, but after hundreds of years, the current heads of the six families have their own grudges against each other.
For example, regarding the Lin and Huo families in the Crimson Forest, it's undeniable that Lin Qi genuinely didn't want Huo Xiaoxiao to successfully awaken her fire magic talent. This was partly due to the Huo family's increasingly rapid growth in recent years, and partly because he genuinely wanted to destroy Huo Xiaoxiao so that the Lin family could surpass them.
Take, for example, the Qin family and the Chu family. The Qin family is the number one family, producing elites almost every generation. However, only those within the six major families know that the Qin family produces elites, while the Chu family produces geniuses. They are truly exceptionally talented, and if the Chu family's offspring hadn't always been weak, the Qin family would have long been no match for them.
Although the Shui family maintains good relations with other families, it's only because they lack ambition. It's important to understand that the Shui family's elite are entirely composed of women, while the men are considered useless. A family that consistently produces outstanding female members is naturally lauded by other families. But is the Shui family content with this? Do they not wish for their family to be superior?
In fact, apart from the Han family, which had consistently been at the bottom, the other five families all had their own conflicts of interest. And the unfamiliar voice of supporter of Huo Xiaoxiao was actually from the Chu family!
Ultimately, with the intervention of the auction house, all three parties were gathered in a private box. Well, that's the box where the nine-star mage Qin Mu was located.
"Sigh, tell me, what happened?" Qin Mu was sitting in the main seat, but he looked worried.
"I don't know anything." This was just a bystander. She decided that with her small arms and legs, she shouldn't get involved in this matter. At worst, she could just give up the forging furnace.