Although Su Qingjiu was an interstellar creation, he was still a man, and men understand men well. So he silently took a few steps forward, blocking Song Shiyan's view.

Su Ran propped her chin up, not worried at all. After all, Su Qingjiu was watching over her. Once she felt that gaze was gone, Su Ran narrowed her eyes contentedly.

Su Qingjiu did a great job, raise your salary!

Auctioneer Luo Li began introducing the first item to be auctioned, but Su Ran wasn't really paying attention, since the first item wasn't very valuable.

After looking at the items on the stage, including a pair of jade Buddhas, and listening to the auctioneer Luo Li's sweet talk and flattery, the pair of items, worth two or three million, were sold to someone on the first floor for 5.96 million after Luo Li's persuasive words.

No wonder many auctioneers like to have the owners come to the auction, because it can better create a lively atmosphere among the owners and increase the value of an item.

It's much more convenient than communicating over a mobile phone.

Su Ran looked Luo Li up and down. He really knew how to talk. Su Ran even had the idea of ​​poaching him, but the idea was just that – an idea.

If someone steals your business, they'll be furious. At the moment, Su Ran doesn't want to develop her business in the auction industry.

Because once an interest becomes work, it becomes utterly boring.

After the first item was sold, the second item was immediately put up for auction: a necklace inlaid with gemstones. Su Ran raised her eyes; the gemstones were real, and the custom-made necklace was quite beautiful, but Su Ran didn't like it.

Finally, the necklace was taken by a lady on the first floor, and then a third item was taken. The third item was not very special either; it was an earring made of imperial green jade, which was also taken by someone on the first floor.

Su Ran guessed that the people on the first floor were mostly wealthy, and the auction was probably inviting them to help sell the first batch of items quickly. The arrival of the people on the second and third floors was definitely for the items to come later.

Next came the fourth and fifth items, which were all won by people on the first floor. The first floor was quite lively at this moment, since everyone had won the items at their desired prices and were naturally quite happy.

Su Ran was getting sleepy looking at the auction items. After all, it was really boring. Su Ran could get these things without much effort, but she stayed for the items to be auctioned later.

She didn't believe there wouldn't be anything good at this auction; after all, if the system had said something, there must be something good inside.

The auctioneer looked at the card in his hand and smiled mysteriously, "The next item, the sixth one, is going to be quite interesting. Without further ado, please look up at the stage."

Then, gasps were heard from the crowd. Su Ran raised her eyes and looked at the platform. In that instant, Su Ran sat up straight.

The auction items on stage...

(This is a fictional story! Do not relate it to reality!!)

If Su Ran's judgment is correct, this auction item is indeed the snake head, one of the twelve bronze heads that have been lost from China.

Su Ran stared at the bronze statue, her eyes wide.

During the Qianlong era, the Qing Dynasty was at its peak, and its craftsmanship reached its zenith, which is particularly evident in the twelve bronze animal heads of the Chinese zodiac in the Yuanmingyuan Garden.

The twelve bronze animal head statues of the Chinese zodiac were originally part of the fountain outside the Haiyan Hall in the Yuanmingyuan Garden. They were cast in red copper during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty.

In 1860, the U.S. military invaded China and burned down the Old Summer Palace, causing the bronze animal head statues to begin to be lost overseas.

The bronze zodiac animal statues are sculpted from stone, depicting the animal wearing a robe. The heads are realistically shaped, with exquisite craftsmanship. The wrinkles and fur on the animal heads are clearly and lifelike.

The material used to cast the animal heads was refined red copper by the Qing court at the time. It has a deep color and a lustrous inner sheen, and it has not rusted even after a hundred years, which is truly remarkable.

According to research, the twelve bronze zodiac animal statues were arranged in a figure-eight shape on both sides of a pool in front of the Haiyan Hall in the Yuanmingyuan Garden, and were known to the world as the "water clock".

Every day, the twelve bronze statues of the Chinese zodiac will take turns spouting water, each representing a different time of day. At noon, all twelve statues will spout water simultaneously.

The twelve bronze animal heads of the Chinese zodiac were originally part of the fountain outside the Haiyan Hall in the Yuanmingyuan, a royal garden of the Qing Dynasty. They were cast in red copper during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty.

In 1860, the British invaded China and caused the burning of the Old Summer Palace. As a result, all twelve bronze animal heads of the Chinese zodiac were lost and their whereabouts became unknown, beginning their journey to the ends of the earth.

By 2012, the bronze heads of the ox, monkey, tiger, pig, and horse had been returned to China and were housed in the Poly Art Museum.

On April 26, 2013, the Pinault family of the Romantic Kingdom announced in Beijing that they would donate the bronze rat and rabbit heads from the twelve waterworks of the Old Summer Palace, which had been lost overseas, to China free of charge.

The rat and rabbit heads donated this time are two of the twelve bronze zodiac animal statues that were lost from the Yuanmingyuan Garden in Kyoto.

Currently, eight of the twelve zodiac animal heads from the twelve water features of the Old Summer Palace have returned to China. The dragon head is well preserved in Taiwan, but the snake, rooster, dog, and sheep heads are missing.

(The above information is from Baidu; please understand if there are any errors! This is all fictional; please do not apply it to reality!!)

So Su Ran looked at the snake head on the stage and couldn't help but be surprised, wondering why it was there.

So the system specifically mentioned this auction because it knew about the auction items?

So you knew they would be auctioning off the twelve bronze heads that had been lost from China? Su Ran pursed her lips and remained silent, her gaze fixed intently on the stage.

Then the auctioneer's voice rang out, "As you can see, the sixth item on the stage is a statue, found by a treasure hunter."

"Next up in the auction is another identical sculpture. All the treasures have been appraised, so the item on the stage is very likely the snake head that was lost overseas."

"Distinguished guests, please begin the auction. The starting price is nine million, and each bid must be at least five hundred thousand higher."

As soon as the auctioneer finished speaking, a series of bids were raised. Su Ran remained calm and looked up at the two items on the stage.

After a moment, Su Ran pursed her lips and said to Su Qingjiu, "We won't participate in the auction, but if any foreigners are interested, we can raise the price."

Su Ran's gaze was slightly cold. People from various countries were bidding, but she didn't say anything. Since they wanted a fake, she would be magnanimous and let the auction house make more money.

That's right.

Both statues on the stage are fake.

They did look very realistic, and even Su Ran was almost fooled. If the system hadn't spoken in her ear, she would have been completely fooled. These two items were just very realistic fakes.

But it's not the original.

After Su Ran finished speaking, Su Qingjiu remained silent, completely ignoring Song Shiyan who tried to strike up a conversation.

Finally, his gaze became like that of a dog abandoned by its owner, pitiful and forlorn.