C703 (1/2)

Seeing the stone cauldron being pushed up, the audience started to discuss among themselves.

However, the auction was different from the antiques market. Almost all of the people present were collectors. If one did not want to be in an antiques city, one would have to mix in all sorts of different people to understand it.

”Stone Cauldron? ”Hehe, in the past few years, there haven't really been many people participating in the auction for stone artifacts.”

”Indeed, this cauldron... We should be at the Ming Dynasty by now. The price is quite high. ”

”Hehe, but there aren't many people who collect the stone cauldrons, I estimate that … You might not even be able to buy it at a good price. ”

”That's not right. Although there aren't many people who specialize in collecting stone artifacts, the Tripod Cauldron is a special type of antique. It can be said that when placed in a museum for display... There's more than one upgrade. ”

”Oh? ”Looks like you're quite good, but if you were to offer several million for this cauldron, would you accept it?”

The man looked at the information in his hand and smacked his lips: ”It's hard to say, there aren't many introductions of this three-legged cauldron, let's see what the auctioneer will say later. If it's suitable, I think I will accept it, China already has a bronze cauldron, later generations will develop a stone cauldron, especially in the Ming Dynasty when Xuande was in his era, he produced many exquisite stone cauldrons, if this cauldron is the work of a famous expert, even if it's worth tens of millions.”

A few people at the side could not help but laugh. One of them said, ”Haha, if this stone cauldron is a handicraft, then at most it would be worth several thousand yuan. Even if it is an antique, how can it be so expensive?”

”Yeah, I heard that last year's West Zhou Bronze Cauldron Auction cost just over 3 million. The craftsmanship of this stone cauldron is already impossible to appraise, and it's not preserved well, so I'm guessing it won't sell for much.”

There was a lot of discussion in the audience. After all, even if they were all experts, it was impossible for them to have the same opinion.

However, Lin Zi Chen couldn't be bothered to listen to these people who were pretending to understand. He immediately used his perception to check the cauldron.

It wasn't until he was sure that this cauldron was the Frost Iron Cauldron he had seen in the Ancient City that he finally felt completely relieved and revealed a knowing smile.

As expected, the person who had bought the Cold Iron Cauldron from Elder Gu was indeed him, but the money had been given over by the auction house.

Moreover, Fang Ning's analysis was not wrong. The 60 million ding of Frigid Iron Cauldrons from Mister Tong was exactly what her faction needed.

There was an unwritten rule in the antique industry, and that was that other than auctioning, one could not reveal the origin of the buyer. Thus, Old Gu would naturally keep this a secret for him.

After that, Mr Tong used the auction to purchase the Cold Iron Cauldron, while the auction house only charged Mr Tong 60 million yuan. As for the rest, Mr Tong would then use the bill to find a power to apply for the cauldron, at most giving the auction house some benefits as handling fees.

It was all for the sake of money, and that was the biggest feature of society.

The auctioneer gave a simple introduction of the stone cauldron. It was so simple that one could barely tell what was actually happening.

In fact, this was also arranged by the auction house. No one would bid if there was no information and Mr Tong was able to find another person to bid with and bid with him for more than a hundred million. Mr Tong would naturally be able to earn tens of millions.

Mister Tong turned his head to look at Lin Zi Chen. This time, Lin Zi Chen did not continue to chat carelessly, but rather stared at the stone cauldron.

However, the moment Mr. Tong turned his head, his gaze also shifted over. The two of them looked at each other again, and a hint of light smile appeared on Mr. Tong's face.

Obviously, the person he was talking to wasn't Lin Zichen, but Fang Ning. As for Lin Zichen … He still retained the arrogance of an alchemist as he looked down on this ordinary little fellow from the bottom of his heart.

Lin Zi Chen didn't pay attention to Mister Tong's gaze. He could clearly feel that the other party's goal wasn't the fire smelting crystal, but the Cold Iron Cauldron!

”Master, isn't this the cauldron that we saw that day?” Xiao Feng said. Lin Zichen slowly nodded his head, ”That's right, do you remember what I told you? I won't miss him. ”

”Haha, Master has already defeated that fellow just now. He definitely doesn't have any money. Sooner or later, Master will take down this cauldron!” Xiao Feng smiled excitedly.

It was as if the previous bid had already made Xiao Feng very satisfied, so she was now looking forward to it. In her opinion, as long as their master bid, it would definitely be exciting.

Lin Zi Chen narrowed his eyes slightly and said, ”It's not that simple. He should've given Fang Ning face just now and let me win, but that's fine too. Regardless of whether it's for profit or not, two million is enough to acquire the fire crystals. Haha, I've earned big.”

”Hmm? ”Master, are you saying that he still has money but purposely refuses to bid?”

”Yes, this cauldron is his true goal. If I'm not wrong, then at this moment, his heart is already determined to win!”

As he said this, Lin Zi Chen chuckled. The contempt and disdain in his smile was even more obvious than the expression on Mister Tong's face just now.

The auctioneer said, ”Alright, our starting bid for the three-legged four-sided cauldron is 20 million yuan, so we'll start the auction now with an additional million yuan each.”

When the starting price of twenty million was revealed, the entire venue was in an uproar.

This price far exceeded their expectations. In fact, some people were right. Even Shang Zhou's bronze cauldron only sold for one or two million, but this stone cauldron had a starting price of twenty million!

”Is there a mistake? 20 million? Am I hearing things? ”

”Hehe, I wonder who took out this stone cauldron. It seems like they are crazy over money. Even if the starting price is two million, I won't consider it!”

”How is it? Didn't you just say that you can bid? Why didn't you increase the price? ”

”Hmph, I said the maximum price would be 10 million, but this starting bid is 20 million. How am I going to bid? has already exceeded the limit that I can accept! ”

”Yes, this is indeed outrageously high. Hur Hur, 80% of the rematch is done!”

”What?” ”In my opinion, it's a hundred percent auction. Even if this thing is from the Ming Dynasty, it's not worth twenty million based on the craftsmanship and the degree of it being perfectly preserved. No one will bid for it.”

Everyone was talking about this, but Mr Tong only smiled, as if he was quietly watching and waiting for the right moment to bid.

Lin Zi Chen was the same, he didn't say anything, but he was not waiting for an opportunity, but observing Mr Tong's movements.

He knew that this cauldron would definitely be sold for a price higher than 60 million, so Mr Tong would definitely shout it out. If nothing unexpected happened, there would be a request for him to bid.

As for this request was brought by Mr Tong himself, or perhaps it was arranged by the auction house, no one knew. Of course, that was not important.