Damn, How could my family be so wealthy?!-Chapter 455 - 454: Not Playing by the Rules

Wu Wanli had attended auctions before and naturally understood that the more everyone competed for an item, the higher the final price would skyrocket.

Actually, this was not only clear to someone who frequented auctions.

Even Su Mu, who was attending an auction for the first time, understood this principle very well.

The price of a competitive auction item was bound to soar.

This was also the original intention of the organizers of the auction.

The organizers of the auction would love to see all the items receive such treatment.

The more everyone competed, the more the organizers would earn.

Even the auctioneer’s commission would be much higher.

Wu Wanli turned his head to look behind him, but unfortunately, no one was paying any attention to Wu Wanli.

Honestly, if it hadn’t been for Wu Wanli securing a seat next to the young master of the Su Family, the other tycoons present wouldn’t have been very interested in Wu Wanli.

Wu Wanli’s Wanli Department Store was not considered a substantial business in the eyes of these tycoons.

Of course, Wu Wanli himself was not someone these tycoons wanted to pay attention to either.

Now, the attention of others was solely on the second auction item, with the intention to make a good impression in front of the young master of the Su Family.

It was rare for the young master of the Su Family to attend such public events, and everyone was competing to be remembered by him.

For those tycoons who were not familiar with Su Mu, finding a common topic of conversation was the most effective way to open the door to acquaintanceship.

And a common topic, of course, was the second auction item.

Due to Wu Wanli’s misleading, others believed the reason for Wu Wanli’s enthusiasm was because the young master of the Su Family also thought the ring was desirable.

If the young master of the Su Family took a liking to it, it naturally meant it was a valuable item.

Many people thought that if they could win the bid for the ring, it would be a perfect excuse to start a conversation with the young master of the Su Family.

Therefore, everyone was extremely eager.

"Fifteen million."

Su Mu was stunned for a moment when he heard this bid—it clearly wasn’t the auctioneer’s voice.

Moreover, according to the rules initially stated by the auctioneer, the bids should have been increased by increments of five hundred thousand, so why had it suddenly jumped by two million?

Su Mu turned his head slightly to glance at Wu Wanli seated next to him.

Indeed, the one who had just called out "fifteen million" was not the auctioneer, but Wu Wanli, the boss of Wanli Department Store.

In fact, Wu Wanli was also anxious, seeing so many people wanting to compete with him for the ring that the young master of the Su Family had deemed "not bad."

Wu Wanli certainly couldn’t just sit by and do nothing.

Therefore, Wu Wanli had a feeling of needing to strike first.

Wu Wanli felt that bidding two million directly, instead of incrementally raising by five hundred thousand, was the way to go.

The feeling of increasing bit by bit was like boiling a frog in warm water—none of the people here would care about a measly five hundred thousand.

But a sudden increase of two million, although not much for the tycoons present, would make one realize that the bidding was quickly approaching twice the initial asking price.

Wu Wanli aimed to remind everyone with his two-million increase that the current bid was already quite high.

Everyone else could back off.

Of course, Wu Wanli also made a clear stance that he was determined to win the ring.

Wu Wanli wanted to dissuade the others from competing so fiercely with him.

Indeed, Wu Wanli’s strategy seemed to have had an effect.

Because after Wu Wanli’s bid of "fifteen million" rang out, the auction room suddenly fell silent.

No one was rushing to raise their paddles anymore either.

"Fifteen million, Mr. Wu bids fifteen million."

"Has no one bid higher than fifteen million yet?"

After a brief silence, the auctioneer’s excited shouting resumed.

Although the auctioneer had said at the start that raising a bidding paddle once represented an increase of five hundred thousand.

It only meant that the starting bid for raising a paddle was an additional five hundred thousand.

It wasn’t to say that the bidders below could only increase their bids in increments of five hundred thousand.

For an auction, of course, the more the participants raised the bid, the better.

How could it possibly not allow guests to increase their bids by more than five hundred thousand at a time?

The auctioneer’s words snapped everyone out of the momentary stupor that Wu Wanli’s unconventional bidding strategy had induced.

"What do you think Wu Wanli is up to? Is he so taken by that ring that he rushed to raise the price by two million?"

"Can’t you see? Wu Wanli is clearly trying to impress the young master of the Su Family."

"Right, right, I noticed earlier that when the auctioneer was introducing the ring, Wu Wanli had some words with the young master, and afterwards the young master nodded."

"I knew it, you see, it’s not just Wu Wanli, but also those sitting behind the young master and Wu Wanli, they seem very keen on that ring too."

"Those people must have overheard the conversation between Wu Wanli and the young master."

"That’s not right, I’ve been watching the young master the whole time, I’m certain that the words he said to Wu Wanli wouldn’t exceed five words."

"Five words, it seems the young master didn’t really entertain Wu Wanli after all. So why is Wu Wanli as excited as if he’s been injected with adrenaline?"

"Wu Wanli is always shrewd. He would never do something without reason. Maybe there’s some inside story to this ring."

"What kind of inside story could a ring have? It’s surely because the young master also thinks highly of the ring, and Wu Wanli just wants to show off in front of him."

The people behind started whispering amongst themselves.

Mainly because Wu Wanli’s unpredictable move today had sparked even greater curiosity.

Originally, the bidding for this ring was very lively, with many competitors.

Everyone already felt it was quite strange.

Now Wu Wanli’s latest move only intensified everyone’s curiosity.

Among the whisperers were several who had raised their paddles earlier.

When they heard the consensus that Wu Wanli’s behavior was related to the young master of the Su Family, these few felt that their initial judgment had been correct.

Initially, these people were not that interested in the ring once worn by Empress Dowager Cixi.

It was only after seeing the "interaction" between Wu Wanli and the young master of the Su Family.

And then seeing Wu Wanli being the first to raise his paddle, everyone had a somewhat clearer understanding.

You must know, it wasn’t just Wu Wanli who wanted to make an impression on the young master of the Su Family in the room.

Others harbored the same intentions.

Since that was the general line of thought, everyone’s strategies were naturally aligned.

"Fifteen million once."

"Is there anyone else who would like to bid?"

The auctioneer naturally noticed the enthusiasm of the big shots in the room for the second auction item.

The auctioneer was in no rush to bring down the final hammer.

The auctioneer’s eyes slowly swept over the faces of the various bigwigs present, as if searching for the one to take over the bidding at fifteen million.

It seemed that everyone was a bit stunned by Wu Wanli’s move, and indeed, no one raised their bidding paddle when the auctioneer called out for the first time.

Wu Wanli felt a secret sense of triumph in his heart.

It seemed his tactic was very effective, serving as a deterrent to the others.

Wu Wanli believed that it was his quick wits that had secured him the seat to the right of Young Master Su Mu.

Because Wu Wanli had snagged such a good spot, he had the chance to speak with Young Master Su.

It was only after speaking with him that Wu Wanli learned the ring had also caught the young master’s eye.

So, in Wu Wanli’s view, all of his successes were the result of his own efforts.

Why should others sit back and reap the benefits, competing with him for the ring that even Young Master Su fancied?

Wu Wanli just waited for the auctioneer to announce the next steps and to strike the hammer that Wu Wanli was now eagerly anticipating.

"Fifteen million for the second time."

"This ring was a favorite of Karl Lagerfeld’s back in the day, Boss Wu really does have an exceptional eye."

The auctioneer didn’t see it the same way as Wu Wanli.

Wu Wanli was anxious for the auctioneer to raise the small hammer sooner and strike it down quickly.

Wu Wanli felt now that the sound of the hammer striking would be incredibly pleasing.

But the auctioneer wasn’t in a hurry at all.

Even though the current bid for the ring had already far exceeded the auctioneer’s initial estimate.

Keep in mind, it went from eight million to fifteen million, which was almost a doubling.

This was only the second item up for auction, not even the showstopper of today’s event.

The auctioneer knew that even if the ring sold for fifteen million, it would be a tremendous achievement.

It wasn’t that the auctioneer was greedy.

The situation today was just a bit special.

The auctioneer knew that this second auction item was so coveted by everyone for a reason.

And it wasn’t because of the claim he had just made about the ring being one of Karl Lagerfeld’s favorites.

The auctioneer’s spiel was just for show; who could really know the actual situation?

After all, this couldn’t be verified by archaeology.

The auctioneer’s words were merely meant to buy some time.

The auctioneer was well aware that the fierce bidding for the ring was all because of Young Master Su Mu’s doing.

And now, the sudden lack of action was the result of Wu Wanli’s unexpected move just moments before.

The auctioneer felt it was best to delay a bit longer, to give everyone time to regain their senses.

This way, there could be yet another round of intense bidding.

The auctioneer’s gaze swept over the crowd’s faces once again.

The auctioneer noticed that Young Master Su didn’t seem electrified by the current bidding war.

Not only did Young Master Su spare no more than a glance at the ring on display, but he also seemed indifferent to everyone’s enthusiasm.

Could it be that Young Master Su hadn’t taken a liking to the ring, and Boss Wu was mistaken?

The auctioneer started to feel uneasy; if that were the case, then had everyone misunderstood?

Were they all so intent on showing off in front of Young Master Su only to realize that it was all wishful thinking on their part?

The auctioneer dared not look at Su Mu anymore.

Fearing that his own nervousness would disrupt the rhythm of the upcoming auctions.

"Fifteen million for the second time."

Realizing that the true intentions might not be what everyone thought, the auctioneer stopped dallying.

For the auctioneer, even if the second lot was sold for fifteen million, it had already surpassed his internal estimate by far.

The auctioneer’s commission wouldn’t be short.

"Fifteen million..."

The auctioneer, intending to finish the final process for the second lot at a normal pace, was about to call out the third bid.

But before the words "fifteen million" were fully out of his mouth, the auctioneer saw the bidding paddle he had been eagerly waiting for.

Unexpectedly, someone started bidding again.

Could this mean that spring has come once more for the second auction item?

The auctioneer understood that apparently, only he had seen through the true nature of this matter.

The others must still think that the young master of the Su Family had a very high opinion of the second auction item.

It was a beautiful misunderstanding, at least for the auctioneer, it was truly beautiful.

With a new bid coming in, the auctioneer abruptly halted the third call he was about to make.

"Fifteen million five hundred thousand. Mr. Wang bids fifteen million five hundred thousand."

Because this time’s guests were carefully selected by the auction house.

Before the start of the auction, the auctioneer had already studied the information about these guests in advance.

Of course, he knew right away which guest had raised the paddle.

"Mr. Wang’s taste is really impeccable, Mr. Wang bids fifteen million five hundred thousand, is there anyone willing to bid higher?"

The auctioneer was utterly unabashed in dishing out lavish praise.

Just a few minutes ago, the auctioneer who was praising Wu Wanli for his discerning eye immediately began extolling Mr. Wang for his excellent taste because of the additional five hundred thousand bid.

In fact, it was much more than just a five hundred thousand issue.

Mr. Wang’s bidding was like breaking the intimidating aura that Wu Wanli wanted to create.

With just that casual raise of a paddle, it could be said that Wu Wanli’s little scheme was utterly useless.

The smile on Wu Wanli’s face froze once again.

Upset, Wu Wanli didn’t want to turn his head to see who was competing with him.

Wu Wanli had a premonition that his fifteen million was broken, and now a new wave of intense bidding would follow.

At this moment, Wu Wanli was somewhat blaming himself for being too hasty at the start.

Wu Wanli felt that if he hadn’t been the first to bid, the interaction between himself and the young master of the Su Family wouldn’t have attracted so much attention.

However, Wu Wanli immediately overturned this thought.

Wu Wanli knew that even if he wasn’t eager to be the first to bid, those sitting behind him and the young master had still overheard every word of the dialogue between him and the young master.

So, no matter what Wu Wanli did, the outcome was already destined.

That must be the charm of the young master of the Su Family.

Wu Wanli now thought that what they talked about on television, the so-called celebrity effect and such, really paled in comparison to the young master’s charm.

To be precise, it was far inferior.