Road to becoming the wealthiest: Starting From Treasure Hunting in the Cabinets
Chapter 670 - 431: You... Despicable and Shameless!

Chapter 670: Chapter 431: You... Despicable and Shameless!

Half an hour later, the auction resumed.

Mike started by saying:

"The next item up for auction comes from my old friend Joe. He is a passionate collector, and it’s a miracle to get a piece from his collection!"

A white man in his fifties sitting on the sofa raised his hand, smiling in response to Mike’s words.

This white man had a bit of the so-called Western noble demeanor. He must have been a handsome guy when he was young.

Although he is almost fifty now, he still has the style of a handsome uncle, not greasy at all.

If he plays his cards right, he can easily capture the hearts of many young ladies who like uncles.

"Joe brought a very precious piece this time – a Yuan blue and white porcelain jar from China: The Three Heroes Battle Lü Bu!"

Many of the participants had seen this piece in the catalog, so the room became lively as soon as he mentioned it.

Two bunny girls carefully walked over with the Yuan blue and white porcelain jar and put it on the table.

The jar is about fifty centimeters tall, with a mouth diameter of twenty centimeters and nearly forty centimeters at its widest point.

The jar is decorated with interlocking lotus patterns all around, and the main scene depicts The Three Heroes battling Lü Bu. It looks very much a product of its time.

Sean took a look and found that it was indeed porcelain from the Yuan Dynasty, in excellent condition, without any cracks or damage, completely intact.

"Joe, I know you spent a lot of money to buy this piece from another collector. After you acquired it, you kept it hidden and didn’t share it with others. Why are you putting it up for auction now?"

At this moment, Mike didn’t seem like an auctioneer, but rather a gossiping man, keen on probing Joe’s thoughts.

Joe shrugged and said:

"Because of that incontinent old man, my last investment failed..."

His words immediately caused laughter among the audience.

Just like Mike’s conversation, Joe began by ridiculing the then-current president – a sentiment others shared.

"No wonder you’re desperate to sell this little treasure!"

"It’s not little at all!" Joe retorted, "I’m not selling it because I’m out of money, but because I think now is the peak value for it.

I believe that the craze for Yuan blue and white will pass soon, so now is the best time to sell.

As you know, I’m not only a collector but also an investor in cultural relics. I need money to buy cultural relics, and now I just want to recoup my initial investment and make a profit for my next investment."

"So can you tell me how much you paid for this Yuan blue and white piece back then?" Mike seemed determined to get to the bottom of it.

However, Sean quite liked this style of auction, at least it wasn’t so rigid. He even thought that the Universe Auction House could use this style and make a difference.

"Mike, even though we are friends, you shouldn’t undermine me – do you think they would bid at my current asking price if I revealed the original price?"

Jos looked furious when he said this.

But Mike just laughed and said:

"In fact, you could look at it this way: This demonstrates your investment success! Maybe because of China’s growing strength, these cultural relics, representing the highest level of Chinese porcelain art, will become even more valuable in the future?"

Joe stroked his chin thoughtfully:

"Maybe you’re right – I bought this jar for 27 million dollars at that time."

"Joe, you’re so greedy!" Mike laughed triumphantly, enjoying the fact that he had unveiled the secret, "You actually want to sell it for twice the price you bought it for – but I still wish you good luck – let’s start the auction!"

"51 million dollars!"

It was Alex Young.

However, this time no one was surprised about Alex’s bidding. After the previous auction, some people in the audience believed that Alex was just trying to stir things up and wasn’t really serious about the items, even having a show-off vibe.

So, his bid was quickly surpassed by others:

"53 million!"

"55 million!"

"55.5 million!"

...

After the Yuan blue and white porcelain jar fetched over 100 million RMB in the first round, it has rarely been auctioned at a lower price since.

The price had already been inflated, and after that, neither the holders nor potential customers wanted the price to go any lower.

Moreover, such a large piece of porcelain could only be fired in China during ancient times. The rarity lies in both the size and the perfect condition.

So even though Joe had already said that he thought the current price of Yuan blue and white porcelain was at its peak, there were still people actively bidding.

Joe was delighted to see the price soar.

This was arguably one of his most successful investments in recent years.

Mike leaned against the auction table, watching and listening to people enthusiastically bidding. He didn’t participate but just watched.

Soon, he realized that there was one person in the entire auction house who hadn’t participated in the bidding, other than Joe.

That was Sean.

That didn’t make sense!

Even Alex, who had been somewhat speculative about the previous items, was now involved in the fierce bidding for the Yuan blue and white jar, but Sean hadn’t made a single bid.

Moreover, he didn’t have the look of someone waiting for the right moment to snatch victory – he looked like he was watching a play.