The bidding slowly rose to one million, and just then, Coral raised her paddle and shouted, “One million five hundred thousand!”
Her voice instantly caught the attention of everyone in the room. They were all curious as to why a woman would be interested in a gourd.
After all, this gourd was nothing more than an old toy with no special features.
When Coral’s bid ended, the auctioneer hesitated whether or not to start the countdown.
Just then, a calm voice spoke up, “Two million!”
His bid immediately drew everyone’s attention towards him.
“Is that guy crazy?”
“Could this gourd have some sort of special feature?”
“It shouldn’t be. Even if it was made from meteorite material, its collection value wouldn’t be that great…”
The bidders in the auction hall began whispering amongst themselves.
The person who shouted two million was Bayden. He leaned back on his chair with a glass of red wine in his hand and wore an indifferent smile on his face, looking calm and composed.
Seeing that no one else was bidding anymore, the auctioneer started counting down, “Two million once…”
“Two million five hundred thousand!” Coral raised her paddle again and attracted everyone’s attention once more.
Tommy couldn’t help but turn around curiously at Coral. His expression became interesting as he watched her closely.
“Three million!” Leo raised his paddle for another bid.
There was suddenly some commotion within the auction hall.
Coral became unhappy and pouted, “Leo! Are you sure you want to compete with me?”
That coquettish tone mixed with mischief made both Leo and Tommy stare blankly at her.
“Miss Wilde,” Leo smiled while speaking. “You can’t say it’s competing; we’re just fairly bidding.” He glanced secretly at Bayden from time to time while speaking.
Bayden saw clearly that it was Leo who had placed another bid; he couldn’t help but feel surprised by this move. He thought to himself: What is this guy trying to do?
He took a deep look at Coral before gritting his teeth. Making up his mind, he raised his paddle for another bid, “Three million five hundred thousand!”
This should end any competition between them now; buying an old gourd for three point five million was already insane behavior unless it was for Coral…
“I think there are quite a few lunatics here today,” someone whispered among themselves after hearing Bayden’s latest offer, “three point five mil for an old gourd… tsk tsk…”
A balding middle-aged man next to the speaking man rubbed his chin and pondered, “I know Bayden pretty well. He never makes a bad deal. He dared to bid 3. 5 million dollars. Could it be that seemingly ordinary gourd is a treasure?”
This was a charity auction, not a commercial one. There was no need to compete so fiercely. Many bidders were just playing along since money didn’t grow on trees, even if they were doing charity work; they still needed to exercise some restraint.
The auctioneer raised his small hammer and scanned the room, “Does anyone have a higher bid?”
His voice was loud enough that even those in the farthest corners of the auction hall could hear him clearly.
Seeing no response from anyone else, the auctioneer shouted loudly, “3. 5 million once! 3. 5 million twice…”
“Four million!” The sound of another bidder cut off the auctioneer’s voice again.
The entire room suddenly fell silent as everyone’s gaze focused on the person who had bid four million dollars.
It was none other than Tommy sitting next to Coral.
Bayden glared resentfully at Tommy, tightly gripping his bidding card. There was an urge to raise the bid, but he ultimately suppressed it.
Bayden was a shrewd businessman, and in any situation, he would carefully weigh the pros and cons. Spending four million to buy a gift for a woman was acceptable if she were his lover or significant other. However, if the woman wasn’t even a friend, it would be a loss for him.
Never engaging in losing deals had always been Bayden’s life motto.
“Four million five hundred thousand!” Leo raised his card and shouted.
The price soared to four million five hundred thousand, even causing the auctioneer to become somewhat excited. “Four million five hundred thousand! Bid from Mr. 68 at four million five hundred thousand! Any higher bids?”
“Fool, he’s definitely a fool!” Some wealthy gentlemen couldn’t help shaking their heads and sighing. Businesspeople prioritize profit, and in their view, impulsive and irrational actions were incomprehensible and undoubtedly foolish.
“I think that young lad looks unfamiliar; could he be a plant?” One of the bosses expressed his speculation.
In some auction settings, it was not uncommon for items with limited intrinsic value to be artificially inflated to achieve an astronomical price. The organizers would arrange their own people to participate in the bidding, continuously shouting high prices. This created a psychological suggestion that the auction item was highly valuable. This practice was known as “shill bidding” in auctions.
“Five million!” Tommy raised his bidder number and smiled at Leo.
Coral looked at the two of them like they were monsters.
“Okay, five million! Does anyone want to bid higher…” Not only was the auctioneer excited but even the host was getting excited because five million was way beyond their expectations.
The other wealthy individuals in attendance just crossed their arms and watched as if it were a show.
Bidding hard and fast, whoever wins becomes the biggest fool.
“Huh? It seems like Tommy shouted out five million.”
“Tommy? The son of Angelbridge Group’s chairman?”
“I heard he started his own company abroad based on his abilities and has already made it into Fortune 500 rankings. Why did he come back?”
“Tommy isn’t stupid. He dared to offer five million; could that seemingly insignificant gourd really be worth so much?”
“Forget about it; even if it’s valuable, do you think you can compete with Tommy if he sets his sights on something?”
“Seven million!” Leo didn’t want to lose face so he raised his bidder number again.
This move immediately caused an uproar among everyone present at the auction house.
“Eight million!” Tommy calmly raised his bidder number again with another bid.
Leo smiled at him with meaning behind those eyes: You win.
In conclusion, Tommy won by offering eight millions for this seemingly worthless gourd.
The entire room erupted!
Perhaps eight millions wasn’t such a big deal for many wealthy individuals present but spending that amount on what appeared to be an unremarkable gourd could only be summed up in two words: foolishly rich.
Leo smiled at Tommy, saying, “Congratulations, Mr. Noah, on winning the bid.”
Looking at Leo’s seemingly natural smile, Tommy inexplicably felt a sense of being outmaneuvered. Nevertheless, since it was something Coral favored, he was willing to step into the fire, even if it meant facing difficulties.