Chapter 536: Charity Auction (2)
Chapter 536: Charity Auction (2)
"Six hundred thousand."
Lu Jiaxin recognized Li Huini's voice as soon as she heard the bid. Her classmate was a bold one, while others were incrementing their bids by fifty thousand, she jumped straight to a hundred thousand. How could anyone else even compete?
Zong Simeng raised her paddle again and called out, "Eight hundred thousand."
Seeing the two of them bidding so fiercely, the others didn't dare to join in. The two women went back and forth, and eventually, Li Huini won the jade Ruyi with a final bid of 1.6 million.
Next up were some porcelain and paintings, followed by Nie Zhan's limited-edition watch. Lu Jiaxin had originally thought that his watch would be more popular than her jade Ruyi, but it only sold for 580,000 Hong Kong dollars. Well, it seemed that in Hong Kong, antique items with auspicious meanings were more favored than limited-edition luxury watches.
What surprised Lu Jiaxin was that the finale of the auction turned out to be a light golden South Sea pearl necklace, which was not listed in the auction catalog.
The auctioneer first explained to everyone that this item had been donated by a mysterious lady and since it was only sent over this morning, it hadn't been publicized.
Seeing Lu Jiaxin staring at the pearls without blinking, Nie Zhan asked, "Do you like it?"
Lu Jiaxin nodded and said, "I like it, it's very beautiful. I must get it."
Nie Zhan thought that the pearls in the necklace were a bit small. His friend's sister had a silver South Sea pearl necklace. Hmm, he would contact his friend tomorrow and see if she would be willing to part with it.
The starting bid for the light golden pearl necklace was two million, and according to the rules, each increment had to be no less than one hundred thousand. However, since Lu Jiaxin liked the necklace, she followed Li Huini's example and increased her bid by two hundred thousand. As expected, many people dropped out after her bid, as it was pointless to compete with the richest woman in Hong Kong. However, there was one person who seemed determined to outbid her.
"3.6 million."
There wasn't much to say about the auction; the highest bidder won. Lu Jiaxin raised the bid to 4 million, but the other party immediately countered with 4.1 million.
Lu Jiaxin glanced at the bidder, a young woman in her twenties. She wasn't sure if the woman genuinely liked the necklace or was just trying to drive up the price, but after a moment's thought, she called out, "4.5 million."
Lu Jiaxin and the young woman went back and forth, and soon the price of the pearl necklace reached 7.1 million.
The other party was only increasing their bids by one hundred thousand each time. A fierce light flashed in Lu Jiaxin's eyes, and she deliberately called out her next bid in a challenging tone, "8 million!"
The other party immediately responded with a bid of 8.1 million.
Seeing that Lu Jiaxin didn't say anything, Nie Zhan was about to raise his paddle, but she stopped him. "It's okay," she said. "If she wants it that badly, let her have it."
Although Australian South Sea pearls were rare and valuable, a necklace of similar quality to the one being auctioned would only cost around 2 million. But this was for charity, and she genuinely liked it, so paying one or two times the market price wasn't a big deal. However, if someone was trying to drive up the price and make a fool of her, she'd rather not bother. There were plenty of other beautiful things in the world, and she couldn't possibly own them all.
"8.1 million once..." The auctioneer looked at Lu Jiaxin as he called out the bid, but the young Miss Lu was whispering to the man beside her and didn't seem interested.
"8.1 million twice, 8.1 million thrice... Congratulations, Miss Lu. The necklace is yours."
With that final gavel, the charity auction came to a close.
Zong Simeng smiled and said, "Jiaxin, you were right. This necklace is only worth a little over 2 million on the market. It's not worth 8 million."
When Lu Jiaxin was bidding, Zong Simeng had tried to signal to Nie Zhan several times, hoping he would stop her, but he had just shaken his head slightly each time.
After reflecting on how she shouldn't be spending money so frivolously, Lu Jiaxin also realized that if she had truly spent eight or nine million dollars on the necklace out of spite, the tabloids would have a field day with their mockery. The thought of spending a large sum of money only to be ridiculed for it made her feel frustrated. Thankfully, Lu Jiaxin maintained her composure and acted rationally at the crucial moment.
"I would have bought it for five or six million as a contribution to Hong Kong's charity efforts. But to intentionally drive up the price and make me pay more? I'm not so rich that I can afford to throw money away," Lu Jiaxin said with a smile.
It was a minor issue to pay a little extra, but being played like that would be embarrassing if it got out.
Once they were outside, Zong Simeng said, "The one who was bidding against you is called Lu Xiaozhou, the young lady from the second branch of the Lu family of Fu Heng Jewelry Company."
"Is it because of Wufu Jewelry that the two families are competing, and she deliberately drove up the price?" Lu Jiaxin asked.
Nie Zhan denied this, "In business, everyone competes fairly. The rapid development of Wufu Jewelry is due to our good business strategies and policies.
"Fu Heng is also doing very well, and the company is now managed by the main branch of the Lu family. They wouldn't intentionally drive up the price because of this. There must be another reason."
Seeing his serious analysis, Zong Simeng smiled and said, "Nie Zhan, your Nie family once intended to form a marriage alliance with the Lu family, but Lu Xiaozhou's older sister didn't fancy Nie Jingting. Not long after you returned, Lu Xiaozhou's sister fell for you. Both sets of elders wanted to matchmake the two of you, but you said you weren't interested, and in the end, nothing came of it. After you started dating Jiaxin, Lu Xiaozhou's sister left the country to further her studies, and whether or not she has given up on you since then is unclear."
Judging from Lu Xiaozhou's deliberate antagonism, it seemed that her sister probably hadn't moved on.
Hearing this, Nie Zhan anxiously looked at Lu Jiaxin, afraid that she would be upset by the trouble brought upon her because of him.
Lu Jiaxin scoffed, "So she took her anger out on me because you didn't like her sister? That's just ridiculous."
"Courtship should be mutual. Not being interested doesn't make one a sinner. Are their family girls all princesses? If they take a liking to someone, must they bring that person home? Even royal princesses in ancient times often had their marriage proposals rejected!"
Nie Zhan comforted her, "Don't worry, I'll make sure to settle this grudge for you."
Lu Jiaxin shook her head, "Every family has their share of unreasonable members. There's no need to create more enemies over such a minor incident."
Zong Simeng also felt that there was no need to make a big fuss, and smiled as she said, "Nie Zhan, Jiaxin, I have some connection with the first wife of the Lu family. I'll talk to her about this and ask her to teach that Miss Lu a lesson."
Jiaxin was generous enough not to hold a grudge, but not everyone would have the same magnanimity. Today, Miss Lu had clearly been provoking her, and if she had retaliated, the Lu family wouldn't have had a leg to stand on.
"Then I'll have to trouble you, Sister-in-law," Nie Zhan said.
After returning home, Zong Simeng called the first wife of the Lu family. She didn't mention the petty conflict between Lu Xiaozhou and Lu Jiaxin, but instead chatted casually and made plans to play mahjong together.
As the matriarch of the family, the first wife was no fool. She immediately understood the underlying purpose of Zong Simeng's late-night call and had someone look into the charity banquet that had been mentioned.
The next afternoon, Zong Simeng updated Lu Jiaxin on the situation, "The second wife of the Lu family originally wanted to bring Lu Xiaozhou over to apologize to you, but I guessed that you wouldn't want to see her, so I declined on your behalf."
Lu Jiaxin thought that Lu Xiaozhou's parents were quite reasonable, "I didn't suffer any loss from this incident, so there's no need for an apology."
The pearl necklace had been bought by Lu Xiaozhou herself, and eight million was no small sum. She would definitely be feeling the pinch from that purchase. This incident had taught her a lesson.
(End of Chapter)
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