The hall fell silent; no one spoke, everyone staring blankly at the images projected on the screen.
Zhou Xuan also secretly slipped over to Yang Zhongjun's table. He himself didn't know how much the fourteen items Dandan had made could sell for; he was just hanging out with Yang Zhongjun and watching the fun.
Fu Yuanshan smiled at Zhang Xian, then said to Zhou Xuan, "Brother, your shop has quite a lot of things! This item is really unexpected!"
Zhou Xuan smiled, but in his heart he was thinking, what's so surprising? You can have as much as you want, and you can even buy wholesale in bulk. But of course he couldn't say that out loud. Everything is the same; scarcity makes things valuable. If there were as much of it as flour and rice, it would be as cheap as cabbage.
Qin Ziyan, Wang Ziqing, and Lan Yin, the actresses, didn't even blink, marveling at the jade pieces that had just been auctioned off for over ten million yuan. They were speechless. With their wealth, they could only afford one or two of those pieces, but wouldn't they have to eat?
Now they are amazed by this miniature carving. It is truly incredible. How could so many images be carved on such a small area? Of course, they do not yet understand that the same painting technique is equally incredible!
Old Wu stared at the people in the hall, still somewhat nervous. Almost everyone in the hall was stunned, wondering how much the first bid would be? Would there be any competition?
Fu Ying, standing to the side, didn't think that way. Thinking about it, she guessed that it was Zhou Xuan who did it. Who else could it be but his ice energy? But Fu Ying was very puzzled. Zhou Xuan had never said he had such an ability before, and she had never seen him do anything similar before. If she wanted to figure it out, she would have to ask him when she had time. It was definitely not convenient to do it now.
Fu Yuanshan and Secretary Zhang were both laymen, knowing nothing about antiques or collectibles, but they understood the difficulty of miniaturizing such a grand scene into the size of a pencil. Their curiosity was naturally piqued, and they watched the scene with interest, wondering who would bid the first price? How much? One million, or ten million? They were all guessing in their minds.
After several minutes of silence, someone finally raised a sign.
Old Wu recognized this person; he was a rather influential figure in the antique world. Just after he mentioned the miniature carving, the lobby was filled with the sounds of cell phones being used for calls. It seemed everyone was trying to build connections, secure funding, and form partnerships. The magic of this jade miniature carving was already evident; acquiring it would definitely be profitable, but how much was anyone's guess!
Volume 1, Chapter 327: To find out what happens next, stay tuned for the next chapter!
"I'll offer... 200 million RMB!"
The middle-aged man holding up paddle number seventeen finally hesitated before uttering the number, and when he said "two hundred million RMB," he paused slightly, clearly not because he was considering the high price, but because he was worried about being ridiculed.
In his mind, this miniature carving was worth far more than the price he had offered, and he himself was unable to bid for it. He had just dealt with a very powerful industry tycoon, who immediately agreed to let him make an offer first. If he could get it within one billion, he would take it; if it exceeded one billion, they would consider it. He himself was on his way.
It was only with strong financial backing that he dared to offer 200 million, hoping that no one would compete with him and that the deal would be struck at 200 million!
But his wish was not fulfilled, because before Lao Wu could call a second time, someone else raised their paddle and raised the price!
"Two hundred and twenty million!"
The first bid increase set the price at 20 million for the bidder, while Lao Wu hadn't even placed a bid. It seemed the competition was going to be fierce, so he didn't add a million or two at a time, but directly added 20 million. Of course, even at 20 million, there were bound to be other buyers trying to push the price up, so there was no reason why he could just raise the price and win!
The person who raised the price was holding his phone to his ear with one hand. Everyone in the hall understood from this gesture that the value of this jade micro-carving was beyond the reach of any one of them. They were all connected with more powerful suppliers and were working for others. They were lucky if they could earn a penny of profit. Considering the imagined value of this item, even if they were just running errands for someone else, they could still get tens of millions or even hundreds of millions in commission.
However, they all noticed one thing: there were eight hundred seats in the hall. Even if only half of them participated, there would still be four hundred people competing. This scene was no different from a war, or even more brutal.
Driven by the lure of money, they no longer cared about anything else.
At Yang Zhongjun's table, seven or eight male and female celebrities were stunned. The first few jade pieces, each worth over ten million, had already surprised them, but they never expected this one to be so extravagant, worth two hundred million. Even Yang Zhongjun, who was used to seeing money, was speechless!
Li Wei, now free, pulled Wei Haihong to sit at the table and secretly asked Zhou Xuan, "Where did you get that thing? Did Lao Wu and the others make a mistake? Just one piece, not even as big as my little finger, is worth more than two hundred million?"
Wei Haihong smiled faintly, patted his shoulder, and whispered, "Don't talk, just watch the show. It'll definitely be more than two hundred million. Just wait and see!"
Wei Haihong is an enthusiast of this art form and has seen many grand occasions. Although he is not sure how much this jade micro-carving is worth, he is certain that it exceeds 500 million based on the current situation. However, Wei Haihong is unaware that there are thirteen other micro-carvings with different scenes in the box in front of Lao Wu. If he knew, he would be truly astonished!
Even Zhou Xuan himself was secretly surprised. When he was selecting paintings as prototypes, he specifically chose those with many figures and large scenes. He did not choose paintings based on their fame. For example, some famous paintings do not have many figures, so they are not suitable for miniature carving. Therefore, the paintings he selected as prototypes for miniature carving are all paintings with relatively large figures and scenes. The fourteen pieces are all similar. Judging from the current performance of this piece, the fourteen miniature carvings he casually made are probably more than all the wealth he has earned before!
Although making money with ice energy before wasn't difficult, it was relatively easy. The wealth he accumulated included over 100 million yuan in antique shops, at least 400-500 million yuan in the stone-cutting factory, and 1.5 billion yuan in Zhou's Jewelry, totaling at least 2 billion yuan. But he never expected that if all fourteen micro-carvings he had just made were sold, they would probably exceed his previous 2 billion yuan fortune.
In the short time it took to think about it, the price offered had already reached 436 million, and there were still at least six or seven people bidding.
"Four hundred and seventy million yuan!"
"Four hundred and ninety million yuan!"
Five hundred million!
When the price reached 500 million, the entire audience erupted in enthusiastic applause. The scene was so exciting and lively, even more so than a formal auction house!
Five hundred million! Is there any item that can fetch five hundred million? And this five hundred million isn't even the final figure!
Five hundred and five million!
After 500 million, the bidding slowed down, but there were still six or seven people talking on their phones and raising the price.
During this period, the behind-the-scenes personnel arrived just in time, giving them more confidence to raise prices, making the scene even more exciting and thrilling.
Qin Ziyan watched this scene as if she were watching a play, and sighed before saying, "It's heartbreaking. We can work hard our whole lives and still not be as good as this jade miniature carving!"
Li Wei chuckled and said, "Little Qin, don't sigh. Think about it, my brother Xuan has plenty of jewelry in his shop. Just have him send you one, right?"
With Fu Ying not present, Li Wei also started joking around.
Qin Ziyan glanced at Zhou Xuan and said quietly, "Is that so? But even if Mr. Zhou dares to give it to me, I wouldn't dare to accept it. If I accept something like this, how am I supposed to repay him? I have no money, but I do have a man..."
Li Wei laughed heartily, and everyone else at the table laughed too. Qin Ziyan's words were rather ambiguous.
Zhou Xuan smiled faintly. To be honest, giving away something like this wasn't much, but the problem was that he himself wasn't worth much, while this miniature carving was worth a lot of money. What would others think? If it got back to Fu Ying, it would cause a big problem. It was best to avoid getting involved in such matters.
Fu Yuanshan and Zhang Xian were truly amazed; as government officials, they rarely witnessed such a scene.
The two old gentlemen didn't come to see this; after dinner, the guard drove them home.
Several female celebrities had already developed very different opinions about Zhou Xuan. At this point, Zhou Xuan had surpassed people like Li Wei, Yang Zhongjun, and Fang Jiacheng in their hearts. He was a true diamond man. But unfortunately, he already had a fiancée, and she was someone they could only look up to. Whether it was status, wealth, or appearance, they were far inferior to her!
Wang Ziqing and Lan Yin looked at each other and chuckled. Yesterday, they had treated Zhou Xuan like a country bumpkin and haggled over the price of a chicken that cost a hundred yuan per kilogram. Now, thinking back, they felt ashamed. Even a single hair from him would be enough for them to live on chickens for the rest of their lives.
Amidst the laughter and banter, the price of the miniature carving had already reached over 600 million. Yang Zhongjun and Wei Haihong looked at each other and shook their heads. Yang Zhongjun was too astonished to describe it, while Wei Haihong understood that this was yet another strange thing his brother had done. As for his brother's affairs, he could only describe them as incomprehensible and simply not wanting to think about them.
"Six hundred and twenty-four million yuan!"
"Six hundred and twenty-nine million yuan!"