Leo’s gaze also fell on the big screen. This gambling stone had an excellent appearance, with a dark brown shell that appeared delicate and smooth, a fine example of gambling stones with fine skin material. Furthermore, there were many patches of green moss on the shell. In the world of gambling stones, there was an old saying: “Green jade and moss come together,” which meant that the likelihood of this stone producing green jade was very high.
Finally, to make it clearer for everyone, the screen was zoomed in on a specific area. Now, you could clearly see the strip-like pine flower, which was essential information for determining the presence of jade.
With such outstanding quality, the starting bid for this gambling stone was naturally high-five million!
“I haven’t seen such a top-quality gambling stone in years. Judging from the shell’s appearance, it’s sure to produce green jade, and the clarity might be exceptionally high.”
“I heard this gambling stone came from the Kosmochlor old mining area in Myanmar. Someone offered ten million to buy it directly but couldn’t succeed.”
“The starting price is five million, and the final selling price is likely to touch twenty million. It seems I have no hope of winning this gambling stone.”
Amidst the discussions of the crowd, the auctioneer held the microphone and announced loudly, “Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the auction for the first gambling stone, the Gambling Stone King, starting at five million. Each bid must be no less than two hundred thousand. The auction begins now!”
As soon as the auctioneer’s voice fell, the venue immediately quieted down, and people began raising their number cards.
“Six million!”
“Seven million!”
“Ten million!”
The prices skyrocketed rapidly, breaking the ten million mark within moments. It wasn’t until it reached eighteen million that the pace of bidding slowed down.
By the time the price reached eighteen million, there were only two or three bidders left.
Just as the price stalled at 18. 6 million, and the auctioneer was about to ask for further bids, Frank raised his number card and declared, “Twenty million!”
His bid immediately attracted the attention of many.
“That guy seems to be Frank, the eldest son of the William family!”
“I knew he looked familiar. He’s indeed the eldest son of the William family. In the past, the William family was a prominent aristocratic family in Langstel. No one may have the strength to compete with him.”
“Twenty-three million!” Leo raised his number card.
Now, everyone’s attention was once again on Leo.
“Wow, the son-in-law of the Henley family dares to bid twenty-three million. Did I hear that correctly?”
“He can’t be here to cause trouble, right? A gold-digger like him couldn’t possibly afford over twenty million!”
“Maybe not. Although the Henley family is only a second-rate family, they dominate Langstel’s agency industry. They do have money.”
“Having money doesn’t mean he can squander it like this.”
“I don’t get it. Let’s just watch. It’s quite a show to see a gold-digger competing with Frank.”
Hearing the discussions around him and seeing Leo’s provocative expression, Frank couldn’t bear it and raised his number card again, “Twenty-four million!”
People continued to watch Leo, waiting for him to raise his bid. However, to everyone’s surprise, Leo remained silent, as if he hadn’t called out the twenty-three million bid earlier.
This unexpected situation left Frank perplexed and somewhat regretful. In his view, even though this gambling stone had excellent quality, it was worth at most twenty million. Going higher would involve too much risk.
Now that he had pushed the price to twenty-four million and the freeloading son-in-law wasn’t competing anymore, he felt like he might have fallen into a trap.
“Twenty-four million once! Twenty-four million twice, twenty-four million thrice! Congratulations to the gentleman with number 18 for successfully winning the first gambling stone!” declared the auctioneer, finalizing the bid.
Frank should have been happy about winning this superb-quality gambling stone, but he couldn’t find any joy. He gave Leo a cold glance.
Next, the second gambling stone came on stage.
Surprisingly, the second gambling stone had an even better appearance than the first. This astonished everyone.
“For this gambling stone auction, the hype in advertisements was no exaggeration. It’s truly remarkable!”
“In my opinion, the chances of this second stone having a significant price increase are even higher than the first. It’s a worthwhile trip today.”
“I heard this second gambling stone has an even bigger backstory than the first. It’s said the owner acquired it from the armed ethnic minority forces in Myanmar. There’s a high chance it contains high-quality glass-type jadeite!”
Hearing that it came from the armed ethnic minority forces in Myanmar shocked everyone. It meant that the person who had acquired it was involved in some risky dealings.
Listening to the discussions, Leo carefully examined the second gambling stone on the big screen.
This stone’s shell had a gray-black color, like it had been dyed with ink, with the color penetrating into the shell. Additionally, there were gray python patterns on the surface with misty smoky streaks at the edges. The top of the shell appeared very thin, and you could vaguely see some transparent and colorful textures inside.
Comparatively, this second gambling stone was indeed much better than the one Frank had won.
Frank, looking at the second gambling stone, was enthralled, momentarily forgetting his frustration over the high price of the first one. He thought to himself that he must win this stone, even if the first one didn’t yield a significant profit, the second one could make up for it.
After a brief introduction by the auctioneer, the bidding for the second gambling stone began: “The second gambling stone, starting at eight million, each bid must be no less than two hundred thousand. The auction starts now!”
Sitting beside Leo, Martin was merely curious, watching and listening. He was an outsider to the world of gambling stones and had no intention of participating in the bidding.
“Twenty million!” Frank directly added ten million, displaying his wealth.
Many jewel and gemstone merchants suddenly felt tremendous pressure. But after finally encountering such a high-quality gambling stone, they couldn’t afford to miss it. They had to compete, no matter what.
“Twenty-one million!” one gambling stone merchant called out.
“Twenty-two million!”
“Twenty-three million!”
And so on, until the price reached a crazy thirty million!
Sophia nudged Leo with her elbow and asked with a smile, “Rich guy, aren’t you joining the bidding?”
Leo shook his head and replied quietly, “If someone wins this gambling stone, they’re in for big trouble. While there is some green at the top, the rest is just rock.”
“How can you tell?” Sophia was quite curious.
Leo gave a mysterious smile. “Don’t forget, I’m the Chief Gemstone Appraiser of the Wilde Jewelry Group.”
“Pfft, you’re just showing off,” Sophia scoffed lightly.
Frank enjoyed being the center of attention, and he raised his number card once again, saying, “Thirty-five million!”
Gasps filled the entire venue!