Damn, How could my family be so wealthy?!-Chapter 454 - 453: Feeling the Pressure

The auctioneer started off by introducing the rules of the auction.

Once the auctioneer announced the starting price, the first person to raise their paddle indicated their wish to bid for the item at the starting price.

If no one else raised their paddle to compete, the auction would conclude with the bang of the gavel after calling the price three times.

Meaning, the auction item would then belong to the person who first raised their paddle.

Of course, it was similar to placing an order.

The subsequent paddlers would still need to sign a contract with the auction organizer and pay the money before the auction item officially became theirs.

However, situations with only one person raising their paddle were very rare.

Unless other people had no interest in the auction item.

Or perhaps the price of the item was so high that the average person didn’t have the financial capacity.

At auctions, it was most common to see people raising their paddles one after another, which fit the pattern of an auction event.

The organizers of the auction used people’s competitive nature to host such events.

Of course, the more people raised their paddles, the better.

This showed that the auction item was in high demand, allowing it to fetch a higher price accordingly.

The higher the final auction price of the item, the more the organizers of the auction earned.

And the person who ultimately won the auction item would feel accomplished, having snatched it from a crowd of contenders.

This also reflected on another level that the auction item was worth the money spent by everyone.

The auctioneer also introduced the rules of raising paddles.

People didn’t need to report their bid every time they raised a paddle.

The rule of this auction was that, aside from the first paddle raise, indicating a bid at the auctioneer’s announced price,

subsequent raises of the paddle would signify an increase of half a million yuan each time.

Of course, the person who first raised their paddle could continue to bid for the auction item afterward.

Basically, as long as someone raised their paddle, no matter who it was, it meant they were willing to add half a million yuan to the previous bid.

So on and so forth, without an upper limit.

If after the auctioneer called out the last bid three times in succession and no one continued to raise their paddle,

the auctioneer would finally bring down their small hammer.

Indicating that the auction item had completed the auction process.

And implying that the last person to raise their paddle had won that auction item.

Therefore, when the auctioneer called out a price of 8.5 million yuan, it meant that someone had raised their paddle after Wu Wanli.

Wu Wanli, who had been full of confidence, reflexively turned to glance behind him.

There was no helping it; Wu Wanli had snatched the seat next to the treasured position others dreamt of—the seat beside the young master of the Su Family.

Of course, this also meant that Wu Wanli was seated in the front row.

So if Wu Wanli wanted to see who was competing with him for the ring that even the Su Family’s young master found appealing, he certainly had to look back.

Perhaps Wu Wanli was so preoccupied with observing the young master’s attitude that he forgot he was at an auction.

Isn’t it perfectly normal for people to raise their paddles and bid at an auction?

Could it be that just because Su Mu indicated he wasn’t interested in the ring, Wu Wanli took it for granted that the ring would be his?

Wu Wanli seemed to have forgotten that the auction hall wasn’t just occupied by him and the young master of the Su Family.

It wasn’t the case that whatever Su Mu didn’t want, Wu Wanli was entitled to acquire.

Because Wu Wanli reacted rather quickly,

the paddle of the person behind him hadn’t even been lowered yet.

Wu Wanli discovered that the person coveting the ring once worn by Empress Dowager Cixi, which the young master of the Su Family had also taken a liking to, turned out to be Boss Zhang sitting right behind himself and the young master

Wu Wanli felt that this Boss Zhang must have overheard the conversation between himself and the young master, which is why he wanted to compete for the ring.

"Nine million."

Before Wu Wanli could even raise his bid card, the auctioneer’s voice rang out once more.

This time, Wu Wanli didn’t even need to look back.

Because Wu Wanli’s turned head hadn’t even turned back yet.

Wu Wanli found that it was Director Zhou sitting next to Boss Zhang who had raised his bid card.

Wu Wanli instantly felt a sense of pressure.

It seemed that these people had all been keeping a close eye on every move of the young master.

Otherwise, how could the conversation between himself and the young master have been so coincidentally overheard by the two people sitting behind them?

Wu Wanli thought that at the first auction item, everyone had not been as enthusiastic as they were now.

Now it was practically a continuous raising of bid cards.

"Nine million five hundred thousand."

The auctioneer’s voice was clearly excited.

The intervals between bids for the second auction item had indeed shortened a lot.

Essentially, as soon as one person finished raising a card, someone else immediately followed with their own bid card.

The auctioneer also noticed that the people raising their cards one after another were actually all seated in the row behind the young master of the Su Family.

The auctioneer had also been covertly observing the young master of the Su Family all along.

After all, this was the young master’s first public appearance.

Of course, the auctioneer certainly wouldn’t have been qualified to attend celebrations like the Su Family Group’s victory banquets.

So it was quite normal for the auctioneer to pay extra attention to Su Mu.

The auctioneer noticed that after Mr. Wu next to the young master had exchanged a few words with him, the young master nodded.

Then Mr. Wu immediately raised his own bid card.

Having guests promptly express their interest in bidding was of course very significant to the auctioneer.

The most important thing at an auction is the atmosphere.

If people want to snap up an auction item as soon as it’s introduced, it also shows that the item is quite popular.

Compared to the first auction item, this was already a very good start.

But what the auctioneer didn’t expect was that, just as Mr. Wu had put down his bid card, someone immediately raised theirs to start bidding higher.

As the auctioneer of the event, he was of course delighted to see this kind of scenario.

The more people who raise their cards, the higher the auction item will sell for.

And the higher the final compensation the auction will receive.

Thinking about how much his wallet would plump up, the auctioneer’s face showed an undeniable smile.

This time, Wu Wanli didn’t need to be surprised anymore; it was Fatty Li next to Director Zhou.

Wu Wanli found that these people were truly shrewd.

Having missed the chance to sit next to the young master of the Su Family, were they planning to bid for the ring to capture the young master’s attention?

Wu Wanli declared that he wouldn’t give these people that opportunity.

Turning his head, Wu Wanli didn’t want to see who else might be bidding against him, and directly raised his bid card.

"Ten million, Mr. Wu bids ten million."

"Is there a higher offer?"

The auctioneer probably hadn’t expected this second auction item to be so popular with everyone.

How many minutes has it been?

The price already soared to ten million.

If the first auction item could have been as competitive as this one,

then the final transaction price would definitely not have been just that little bit.

Keep in mind, the starting bid for the first auction item was ten million.

In the end, it sold for merely eleven million.

Which is to say, there were only a total of three bids.

And that was the entirety from start to finish.

But this second auction item is different.

With a starting bid of eight million, just two or three minutes passed, and there have already been five bids.

The bidding price has also risen to ten million.

The auctioneer knew that at this pace of bidding, the final sale price of this second auction item would definitely surpass that of the first.

So, it goes to show that at an auction, it’s not necessarily the case that the items with higher initial pricing will end up with higher sale prices.

The decisive factor in the end is whether people are enthusiastic about the auction item.

However, if there’s already a significant price difference between two auction items, then it’s a different story.

For the wealthy, a price gap of two million probably isn’t much of an issue.

The auctioneer began to enthusiastically call out.

Besides presenting the auction items, the auctioneer’s role at an auction is to set the atmosphere.

The more intense the bidding atmosphere at the auction, the higher the final bid will be.

So, the auctioneer must definitely be a master at creating the right vibe.

Of course, the auctioneer also understood that the popularity of this second auction item had nothing to do with him.

Keep in mind, the auctioneer had introduced the first auction item just as earnestly.

But everyone wasn’t interested.

Now that the second item was receiving such a warm reception, the auctioneer naturally knew it was related to the young master from the Su Family nodding towards Wu Wanli earlier.

The auctioneer felt a tinge of disappointment, realizing that his lengthy speech was less effective than the young master’s casual nod.

Look at that, that’s the different impact brought on by the disparity in status.

"Ten million and fifty thousand."

Any feelings of disappointment the auctioneer had, vanished the moment he saw another raise their bidding sign.

Status is determined from birth.

The auctioneer knew that wallowing in self-pity wouldn’t be of any use.

In fact, it would be more useful to see more people raising their bidding signs.

"Eleven million."

Before he had time to announce who raised the sign for ten million and fifty thousand, another bidder raised their card.

The auctioneer immediately announced the new price.

The auctioneer noticed that it wasn’t just the guests sitting behind the young master from the Su Family raising their cards now.

The third, fourth, fifth... People further back began to bid as well.

It seemed everyone was paying attention to every small move of the young master from the Su Family.

The auctioneer also understood that those present were all shrewd individuals.

Even if some sat further back and might not be able to hear the dialogue between Wu Wanli and the young master from the Su Family,

they could guess what was happening by observing the behavior of the people sitting behind the young master in the second row.

This was where the frenzy of raising bids began.

"Eleven million five hundred thousand."

The auctioneer realized this was the fastest he had ever seen bids being placed in his career.

There wasn’t even time to introduce who was raising the bid placard; the next bid followed swiftly.

Of course, rather than introducing who exactly had raised the bidding placard, the auctioneer naturally opted to announce the new bid.

Since there was a new bid, it didn’t really matter who had raised the placard in between.

Those in between merely served the purpose of driving up the price of the auction item.

For the auctioneer, it was the last guest raising the placard that mattered the most.

The last one, of course, would be the final victor, the one footing the bill.

If not the individual providing the funds, then who could be the most important?

While calling out the new bid, the auctioneer sneakily glanced at the Su Family’s young master sitting there nonchalantly.

The auctioneer knew that today’s auction could very well overturn his previous worldview.

In the past, to the auctioneer, it was undoubtedly the person with the last bid, the one providing the funds, who was most important.

But observing today’s situation, the auctioneer understood that it should be the Su Family’s young master who was most important.

Without the young master’s nod, the second auction item surely wouldn’t have attracted such enthusiasm from everyone.

Let alone cause these big shots to raise their placards as if in a frenzy.

Keep in mind, these big shots are seasoned players in the business world, usually extremely shrewd with their calculations.

To make these individuals raise their bids without a second thought was truly a rare sight.

"Twelve million, this gentleman offers twelve million."

At this point, there truly wasn’t time for the auctioneer to ponder over the surname and name of the person raising the bid.

All the auctioneer needed to do was to not mistake the latest bid.

Everything else could be directly ignored.

"Twelve million five hundred thousand."

"This gentleman..."

"Thirteen million, someone has offered thirteen million."

The auctioneer didn’t know if it was excitement or an inner impulse, but sweat began to trickle down his forehead.

Although it was indeed summer, and the weather was extremely hot.

But the air conditioning in the villa hall turned auction room was set to a very comfortable level.

Those attending the auction were all wealthy and had status; how could the organizers possibly let these VIPs overheat?

If the service couldn’t satisfy these patrons accustomed to luxury, it was unlikely the auction could continue at all.

So, the auctioneer’s sweat was purely for personal reasons.

Different from the auctioneer’s elated expression, Wu Wanli couldn’t muster any joy at this moment.

Wu Wanli felt that he had already made his stance clear in front of the Su Family’s young master; he intended to acquire the ring once worn by Empress Dowager Cixi.

Moreover, in Wu Wanli’s eyes, the young master seemed to appreciate the ring as well.

Perhaps because the initial bid of eight million seemed too cheap, the young master hadn’t made a move.

Wu Wanli felt that if he managed to acquire the ring, it was tantamount to gaining visibility in front of the young master.

Maybe the young master would even hold him in higher regard because of the ring.

So, from the first bid, one could tell Wu Wanli’s determination to win the ring.

But now, with so many people competing against him, Wu Wanli was understandably far from happy.