Song Yan heard Chen Man, who had taken a new seat, coquettishly say to her wealthy boyfriend, "Brother, I really like this, can you buy it for me, please?"
The host announced the starting bid through the microphone at that moment, eight hundred thousand.
A middle-aged bald man in the fourth row was the first to raise his paddle and shout nine hundred thousand, his young female companion immediately beamed with joy, leaning on his shoulder and whispering something.
Chen Man's wealthy boyfriend followed with a raise, "One million."
Merchants from the back rows joined the fray, unwilling to show weakness, and the price quickly escalated to one million eight hundred thousand.
After several consecutive bids, many merchants began to back away.
Chen Man's wealthy boyfriend stood out among the crowd once more with a generous bid, "Three million."
The price had already exceeded the value of the Blood Jade itself, and so the other merchants stopped competing.
Just then, Song Yan, who had been still thus far, finally raised her paddle and a number slipped from her red lips, "Three million five hundred thousand."
Before the crowd could express their surprise, the next second, a man seated in the first row shouted a number.
"Five million."
As he raised his paddle, the entire guest area fell silent.
The five million figure was fixed on the auction screen, his resolute and rugged face appearing even more coldly noble under the high definition.
As the man lifted his hand, she caught a glimpse of the Vacheron Constantin on his wrist.
She paused for a moment, then quickly raised the bid by one hundred thousand.
"Five million one hundred thousand."
It seemed as though everyone else had given up on the bidding after the man in the first row had spoken, except for Song Yan who kept up with him.
Chen Man looked at Song Yan, the flames of jealousy burning fiercely within her, and turned to hook her boyfriend's arm once more, cooing, "Darling, I really, really like it, won't you buy it for me?"
But just as she finished speaking, that deep, magnetic male voice sounded again, "Five million five hundred thousand."
A murmur of sighs and exclamations erupted from the guests.
Chen Man's boyfriend cautiously pointed at the man seated in the first row and asked her, "Do you know who he is?"
Chen Man shook her head.
After her boyfriend mentioned a name, Chen Man fell silent.
On this side.
Song Yan fixed her gaze forward and calmly raised her paddle, "Five million eight hundred thousand."
"Six million."
"Six million two hundred thousand."
"..."
The entire banquet hall had fallen eerily silent except for the intermittent voices of Song Yan and that man.
When the price reached seven million, a woman next to Song Yan suddenly spoke up, saying bluntly, "Don't compete with him, you can't beat him."
Song Yan acted as if she hadn't heard a thing.
Continuing mechanically, she raised her paddle and bid, "Seven million three hundred thousand."
Whispers began to arise nearby, "Is being a celebrity that lucrative? Bidding so high for a piece of Blood Jade! Is it genuine affection or just a desire to show off?"
"Though it's understandable for a woman to like these trinkets, Director Gu... What rare treasure hasn't he seen? With no woman by his side. Shouldn't he be more interested in that plot of land? Why is he so determined over this piece of Blood Jade with a woman?"
"Maybe, Director Gu simply wants to buy it to please a woman?"
Song Yan's grip on her paddle tightened slightly.
"That shouldn't be, I've never heard of Director Gu having any women around him..."
"What a joke, do you think you can just pry into the private lives of these big shots whenever you want?"
Amidst the speculation, as expected, the paddle in the first row was raised again.
This time, he went straight for the kill.
"Ten million."