Damn, How could my family be so wealthy?!-Chapter 457 - 456: Wealth and Power

"Ladies and gentlemen, Director Zhou has just raised his paddle, and the current bid for the ring once worn by Karl Lagerfeld is 16,500,000. Is there anyone who would like to offer more?"

The auctioneer felt like his body was already boiling with hot water.

However, Young Master Gu’s untimely interjection abruptly disrupted the bidding, which was just beginning to heat up again.

The auctioneer was quite dissatisfied with Old Man Gu and Young Master Gu at this point.

The auctioneer didn’t know what had happened before the start of the auction.

But from the seats where Old Man Gu and Young Master Gu were sitting, the auctioneer could sense something unusual.

They were sitting alone at the very back, a clear sign of being ostracized.

Moreover, the auctioneer had noticed that it wasn’t because there were no seats available at the front.

That the Gu family’s grandfather and grandson could only sit in the back.

The auctioneer was puzzled as well.

Typically, those who attend an auction are carefully selected by the organizers, definitely individuals of a certain stature.

You see, the items on auction today all started at several million.

It’s fair to say that the second item on today’s auction wasn’t something inconspicuous.

Had it not been for the beautiful misunderstanding that arose about Su Family’s young master.

The auctioneer thought that reaching a bid of ten million for the ring would have been very good.

Unfortunately, the auctioneer now had no sympathy for the Gu family’s grandfather and grandson.

The auctioneer felt their situation perfectly matched the saying: "There is something detestable about pitiable people."

There had to be a reason for their isolation.

No matter the reason, the auctioneer simply felt that being ostracized was letting them off too easily.

They should have been directly kicked out of the auction.

That way, they wouldn’t have disrupted the second bidding climax.

But the auctioneer didn’t have the power to do so and could only express dissatisfaction with Old Man Gu and Young Master Gu in his heart.

The auctioneer just wanted to draw everyone’s attention back to the auction item.

With a passionate voice, the auctioneer emphasized the current bidding price of the ring.

He wanted to reignite everyone’s enthusiasm to raise their bidding paddles.

Indeed, the auctioneer really did have the ability to drive the atmosphere.

With his call, everyone’s focus returned to the auction item.

People lost their curiosity towards the issues between Old Man Gu and his grandson.

"Let them fight if they want."

"After all, if the upper beam is not straight, the lower beam will be crooked," everyone thought Old Man Gu himself was not a good role model, so what good could his grandson be?

Of course, if Old Man Gu really did interrupt the auction with his lecture, he would certainly be unable to stay in the auction hall.

The organizers of the auction wouldn’t say anything directly.

But if everyone expressed dissatisfaction, the organizers would definitely have to consider the feelings of most people.

Old Man Gu naturally understood this.

Seeing that others had turned their heads away and were no longer looking at him.

Old Man Gu just glared fiercely at his grandson with his eyes but didn’t make any further move.

Old Man Gu was not a fool; he knew that if he caused more anger, he might not be able to continue staying here.

"Seventeen million, Boss Wu has raised his paddle again, it seems that our Boss Wu is really quite pleased with the ring that Karl Lagerfeld once wore."

"I’m actually a bit curious as to why Boss Wu is so persistent about this particular ring?"

"Or is there something attracting Boss Wu that we don’t know about?"

The auctioneer was indeed very good at capturing everyone’s mindset.

This blunt direct question seemed to remind everyone that there was a reason behind Wu Wanli’s persistence with the ring.

As for what the reason was, everyone had their guesses.

Apart from the auctioneer, who had already realized it was a beautiful misunderstanding, everyone else was very confident in their speculation.

Seeing that the auctioneer was asking so directly, everyone naturally attributed Wu Wanli’s abnormal behavior to being related to Su Family’s young master.

Everyone unanimously believed that Wu Wanli was trying to get the young master of Su Family to think highly of him by securing the ring.

Or perhaps Wu Wanli had a deeper scheme in mind.

That was to use the ring to get closer to the Su Family’s young master.

In any case, Wu Wanli’s actions were definitely related to the Su Family’s young master.

About this, everyone was absolutely convinced.

No one linked Wu Wanli’s behavior with Elder Su.

It was transparent to everyone.

Throughout the whole event, Elder Su had not exchanged a single word with Wu Wanli.

He hadn’t even given Wu Wanli a single look.

So now, everyone was betting on the Su Family’s young master.

Just the identity of Su Family’s future heir was already someone worth fawning over.

Not to mention that many had already seen for themselves Su Mu’s capabilities.

"Seventeen million five hundred thousand, Director Zhou has raised his paddle again. It looks like Director Zhou and Boss Wu are going to fight to the end."

"It just remains to be seen who will take home this precious ring in the end?"

"Seventeen million five hundred thousand, is there a higher bid?"

The last sentence was pretty much directed at Wu Wanli.

The auctioneer knew, based on Wu Wanli’s earlier performance, that Boss Wu would definitely continue to bid higher.

No matter who ended up winning the ring, the auctioneer just hoped the price would go as high as possible.

The auctioneer even felt that today’s auction he was presiding over might become the most successful one in his career.

Having a VIP in presence really made a difference.

The auctioneer made a mental note to suggest to the organizers to invite Su Family’s young master to future auctions he hosted.

Of course, whether the young master would agree to attend was something the auctioneer couldn’t be sure of.

But without trying, there would be no opportunity at all.

The auctioneer thought that even if the young master agreed to grace one out of ten invitations, it would already be very good.

For that one auction, the event would definitely be an extraordinarily lively affair.

Correspondingly, the auctioneer’s commission would increase a lot.

Thinking of the soon-to-be-bulging wallet, the auctioneer was feeling ecstatic.

"Twenty million."

The voice carried a tone of unequivocal determination as Wu Wanli once again surpassed the iterative bids of five hundred thousand, jumping straight to twenty million.

"Twenty million? Boss Wu bids twenty million. Boss Wu really has deep pockets," the auctioneer remarked.

The auctioneer’s initially doubtful tone shifted to one of sharp excitement.

"Yes, twenty million. My bid is now twenty million," affirmed Wu Wanli.

"I won’t bid again in the meantime, but no matter who makes the final offer, I will add another million on top."

A slightly grinding voice slowly drifted from Wu Wanli’s mouth.

Wu Wanli felt a do-or-die determination.

Wu Wanli knew that those following his lead in the bidding surely must have guessed something.

Otherwise, just a ring worn by the Empress Dowager doesn’t truly warrant such allure.

Not to mention that the price had already doubled from the initial bid, yet those people still seemed very interested.

All Wu Wanli wanted now was to win this bout of prestige in front of the young master of the Su Family.

It was to the young master of the Su Family that Wu Wanli declared his intent to secure this second auction item right from the start.

Should he fail to win the bid, Wu Wanli always felt it would be akin to losing his credibility in front of the young master.

Compared to losing face in front of the young master, Wu Wanli felt even adding an extra ten million to win the ring would mean little.

There are priorities in everything, and Wu Wanli understood very clearly what mattered most.

Wu Wanli didn’t want to engage in a protracted bidding war anymore.

Going straight to twenty million was also Wu Wanli’s way of making his stance clear to the young master of the Su Family.

"Boss Wu bids twenty million. Is there any higher bid?" the auctioneer announced.

"It seems that the ring once worn by Karl Lagerfeld caught Boss Wu’s eye indeed; twenty million, Boss Wu bids twenty million," the auctioneer added.

The auctioneer was nearly dancing with joy upon hearing Wu Wanli’s bid.

An even figure, and a significant eight-digit one at that.

If the auctioneer hadn’t realized why Wu Wanli was bidding so generously, they might have thought this was his usual manner.

Of course, the auctioneer wasn’t particularly familiar with this Boss Wu.

All they knew before the auction started were Wu Wanli’s basic details, his name, and representative businesses.

So, what Wu Wanli’s real character was like, the auctioneer truly didn’t know.

And had no way of knowing.

The auctioneer kept emphasizing the twenty million price tag proclaimed by Wu Wanli.

However, they didn’t mention a word about Wu Wanli’s declaration that he would add another million regardless of the final bid.

The auctioneer wasn’t foolish; emphasizing Wu Wanli’s statement would only discourage others from bidding further.

Consider, anyone else bidding would only end up padding the auction house’s pockets.

Because Wu Wanli made explicit that he would add another million in the end.

Which meant that, inevitably, Wu Wanli would become the owner of the ring.

In auctions, the highest bidder prevails; this is a basic rule, and there’s no need to teach that to anyone.

Since the outcome was already apparent, any additional bidding would only inflate the price of this second auction item.

The end result was the auction house profiting more from the sale.

And although Wu Wanli would spend more money, he would still end up securing the ring in his possession.

With this in mind, everyone begun to hesitate.

Raising the paddle again would definitely mean tearing his face with Wu Wanli.

In the end, he wouldn’t get the ring anyway.

Offending one Wu Wanli wouldn’t be much of an issue; let offense be taken if it must.

If faces were to be torn, so be it, nobody really cared that much deep down.

After all, Wu Wanli’s net worth was well-known.

There were many among those present whose families and business were larger than Wu Wanli’s, and they didn’t necessarily need to curry favor with him.

Now, everyone had only one question in their minds, not knowing what Wu Wanli had said to Young Master Su of the Su Family.

Everyone had already concluded that Wu Wanli’s persistence with this ring must surely relate to Young Master Su.

It was just unclear whether Wu Wanli was acting on his own, hoping to please Young Master Su unilaterally.

Or whether Wu Wanli had received some hint from Young Master Su.

Because it involved Young Master Su of the Su Family, others had to consider their actions more carefully.

No one dared to recklessly raise their paddle, knowing the outcome; further bidding would be pointless.

But deep down, everyone was far from content.

Of course, at this time, someone could employ the same tactic as Wu Wanli.

One could simply tell the Auctioneer that they’d add one million more on top of Wu Wanli’s final bid.

But Wu Wanli had already employed that method.

For others to follow Wu Wanli’s approach now would seem somewhat cheeky.

After all, everyone present was a person of status, and Elder Su and Young Master Su were still watching everyone from their seats.

Nobody really wanted to appear to lack such manners.

Unable to fight fire with fire and use Wu Wanli’s tactic against him, everyone could only vent their frustration through words.

"Has Wu Wanli lost his mind? This is his second direct price increase, and now he’s even more insane, going straight in for a forced buy."

"I don’t think Wu Wanli has gone mad; he knows exactly what he’s doing. Doesn’t his current position explain everything?"

"Do you think Wu Wanli is an idiot? The starting price was eight million, and now he’s gone up to twenty million without any signs of stopping."

"Wu Wanli must know that even if he goes over twenty million, it’s still worth it to secure that ring."

"Yeah, I noticed that too, Wu Wanli must be going this crazy to impress Young Master Su."

"Just you noticed? Do you think no one else could see it? If it wasn’t obvious, would the mere ring have prompted so many to bid?"

"It would be great if we knew what exactly Young Master Su said to Wu Wanli."

"If I were sitting next to Young Master Su and he gave me an imperial decree, no, forget about an imperial decree, just a slight indication from Young Master Su, not to mention twenty million, I would be willing to bid thirty or even forty million for the ring."

"It isn’t so easy to get close to Young Master Su of the Su Family, let alone talk to him. I think Wu Wanli is just very lucky today."

"Yes, I was just one second slower than Wu Wanli, and he snatched that perfect spot from me."

Everyone whispered behind his back.

Really, it was a very soft whisper, practically a secret murmur.

Since it involved Young Master Su of the Su Family, nobody dared to discuss it openly.

The sentiment had shifted from initially complaining about Wu Wanli’s ruthless move to various forms of envy.

Everyone knew the ring was already Wu Wanli’s.

Because of Young Master Su, others didn’t dare to compete with Wu Wanli anymore.