Chapter 263 Hermes

"when--"

A dull bell rang slowly throughout this huge underground auction house.

The place, which was originally filled with some conversation and greetings, suddenly became silent.

Lu Qian sat back in his chair and looked towards the terrace.

A young man in gorgeous clothes walked out from the back and stood in front of the crystal auction table, facing the crowd's fiery gazes.

"Dear guests, sorry for the wait."

The man smiled and bowed to the people in the audience and upstairs, his expression and words were extremely respectful.

It makes sense. All those who can come to this auction are well-known figures. Even the people sitting in the open-air tables below are selected from thousands of people, not to mention the private rooms upstairs.

Although the man was young, it was obvious that he was already very comfortable with such large-scale scenes. He looked at the crowd of people in the venue with a calm and gentle expression.

"I'm sure you've all been waiting impatiently, so I won't keep you waiting any longer. I hope you all get your dream item at the auction."

He picked up the auction hammer and knocked it gently. "I declare that the Hermes Auction begins now."

As the man spoke, the already dim lights in the venue suddenly went out, and the whole place fell into silence and darkness.

"Bang, bang, bang." Several loud noises.

Dazzling lights lit up under the crystal auction stand, illuminating the stage like daylight.

Then, the light gradually faded and returned to a brightness that was not dazzling.

Lu Qian raised his hands to support his face, half-closed his eyes and watched the grand scene in the audience.

If it were her in the past, she would have been shocked and screamed at such a scene, but now she has seen it too many times and has become a little indifferent to it.

Cheng Yi took off his cloak, casually draped it over the back of the chair, and leaned back heavily.

"If you like any of them, press the button on the left to bid."

This simple sentence made people feel that he was buying vegetables in the market rather than attending an auction.

Lu Qian looked to the left and saw a golden button on the armrest of the chair with a "28" engraved on it, which must be their auction seat number.

"Tap once to add 10 million, or bid on your own," Cheng Yi raised his hand and adjusted his tight collar. "You can also tap three times in a row to indicate your willingness to buy the item, no matter how high the price is. The auctioneer will then remove the item, assess the price, and deliver it directly to you."

Lu Qian leaned against Cheng Yi's arm and smiled softly, "If I press every button, will you go bankrupt?"

Cheng Yi, on the other hand, looked calm. He reached out and lifted Lu Qian's chin, jokingly saying, "You can try."

Seeing Cheng Yi's confident look, Lu Qian pouted unhappily and turned away, "That's boring."

Cheng Yi raised his eyebrows and asked in a questioning tone: "Are you really hoping that I will go bankrupt?"

Lu Qian hooked Cheng Yi's collar and pulled him down a little, then threw him a coquettish look and chuckled, "After you go bankrupt, I'll be richer than you. Then I'll keep you as my gigolo."

Cheng Yi was immediately interested when he heard Lu Qian's words: "Oh? Let me hear what you want me, a pretty boy, to do."

This woman is getting bolder and bolder as he supports her. She even wants to keep him as her gigolo.

"Do you still need to ask me this?" Lu Qian's tone was a little irritating, as if blaming Cheng Yi, "Isn't this something you, as a lover, should worry about?"

Cheng Yi lowered his eyelids, taking in Lu Qian's smug expression. He leaned close to her ear and warned her with a low laugh, "Little thing, you'll pay the price for seducing me."

Lu Qian has recently felt that he is addicted to acting. He has shown off too much in front of Vanessa, as if he has turned on some incredible switch.

Especially the cheongsam she wore today, which made Lu Qian feel that it would be a waste if she didn't act a little more coquettish.

Cheng Yi likes her like this. This bitchy personality is worthy of this charming face.

But then again, he likes Lu Qian no matter what she looks like. Being good has its good points, and being a bitch has its good points, each has their own charm.

The two had just been flirting for a while when the sound of wheels rolling was heard from the auction table.

Lu Qian gathered her shawl, sat back down, and looked towards the auction table.

A charming maid came from behind the auction table pushing a cart and placed a tray covered with a red cloth on the auction table.

"The first lot of the day,"

The auctioneer ripped the red cloth off the tray, and the light on the auction table came on.

"Renaissance period, hand-enameled miniature prayer book, starting price: 0 euros."

The auction hammer fell, "Please bid."

When Lu Qian heard the auctioneer's offer, he wondered, starting at 0 euros?

The color of the pocket prayer book showed that it was a genuine antique. Just as the auctioneer said, a handmade product from the Renaissance could be preserved so exquisitely and intact, it should be worth at least several million.

Lu Qian looked at Cheng Yi and asked, "Why is the starting price for this item 0 Euro?"

Cheng Yi replied, "The first lot is just for fun, to warm up the atmosphere. If you offer one or two pieces, you can take them away if no one competes with you."

But Lu Qian listened to the biddings coming one after another from the audience: one hundred thousand, five hundred thousand, eight hundred thousand... This didn't seem like a joke.

As if noticing Lu Qian's confusion, Cheng Yi took off his glasses, squinted his eyes, and raised his hand to relax his tense nose.

"They're not bidding for themselves, they're bidding for their dad."

"For Dad?" Lu Qian was even more confused.

“As the founder of Hermes, Daddy has many enemies on one side, but most of them hate him but also try to please him, and everyone wants to get close to him.

Especially now that he's getting older, with no children and no one to take over, it's uncertain who will own the Venice business chain, and everyone dreams of being the one destined for the throne."

Lu Qian frowned when he heard this. "Since hosting Hermes is so dangerous, why are these people fighting so fiercely?"

Because of Hermes, Luo was never able to get married in his life. He even had to be so cautious when meeting Cheng Yi. He was afraid of his weaknesses and even more afraid that someone would hurt his family.

But even so, there are still so many prisoners of fame and fortune flocking in like moths to a flame.

Power is such a disorienting thing.

Cheng Yi put down his hand that was pinching his nose, lifted up his robe, put it to his side, crossed his legs, and stared at the auction table with his eagle eyes.

“In this world, there are ‘us’ and ‘them’, but even more of us are ‘you’.”

Hearing Cheng Yi's cryptic words, Lu Qian put down the teacup in his hand and looked at him blankly.

"'We' exploited 'them' and exiled 'you,' and so, among 'you,' opposition arose, violence intensified, and flattery began to prevail."

"But do you think 'you' represent justice?"

Cheng Yi looked at Lu Qian. In his deep eyes, the golden brown color contrasted with the flickering light from the crystal auction table, like a lost light.

"It's just a group of people who are trying their best to become 'us'."

"when!"

A crisp sound of hammer resounded throughout the venue.

"make a deal."