He picked up the hammer and tapped the bronze bell lightly. A deep and ethereal bell sound spread out, and everyone fell silent unconsciously.

"The first auction of Mingyue Villa begins now. The first item is a bottle of Wenyang Pills. There are ten pills in the bottle. Wenyang Pills have the effect of replenishing qi and blood, and can continuously warm the human body. The medicinal effect is mild and can be taken by men, women, old and young.

"The reserve price is 998 taels. If you are interested, please write the price on a bamboo stick and have the maid present it. The time is based on this hourglass. When the sand inside has completely fallen, you can no longer participate in the auction."

He turned the hourglass upside down, and the sand inside began to leak out.

It takes 3 minutes for all the sand to leak out, and 3 minutes will not give people too much time to think.

And this is exactly the effect Shen Yizi wanted.

Sure enough, seeing the sand leaking out continuously, those who were interested in bidding panicked and hurriedly wrote the prices on bamboo sticks and placed them on a plate held by the maid.

At the top, Shen Yizhi was a little bored. Qing Bao and the other two were impatient to stay here and went out to play. Otherwise, she could still play with the baby.

"Zhizhi is bored?" Gu Xueting's voice sounded in his mind.

Shen Yizhi looked to the lower left and saw Gu Xueting leaning lazily on the armrest of the low couch, holding a wine glass in his hand, turning it nonchalantly.

A pair of eyes stared at her steadily.

At this moment, she actually felt as if Xuan Ting appeared in front of her, but his eyes were indeed black.

Could it be that Gu Xueting was influenced by Xuan Ting? Or has Xuan Ting already begun to devour Gu Xueting?

Shen Yizhi's heart skipped a beat, but he didn't show it on his face. He shook his glass at him and said, "Yes."

The next moment, she saw Gu Xueting walking towards her.

She was about to stop him, but saw Gu Xueting still sitting there.

What's going on?! Clone technique? Or illusion?

Shen Yizhi found that he couldn't tell the difference.

Xuan Ting walked up and sat down next to her. He stretched out his arms and held her to sit on his lap. The others were unaware.

"You... stop making trouble." So many people are watching.

Shen Yizi didn't dare to move too much, for fear of being noticed.

Xuan Ting took a sip on her face, his voice as mellow as wine, with a seductive drunkenness: "What are you afraid of? They can't find out. Isn't Zhizhi bored? Can't I accompany you?"

"I..." Shen Yizi opened his lips, but this gave him an opportunity to take advantage of.

From the perspective of everyone, the two of them were just sitting in their seats, watching the auction.

Three minutes later, the sand in the hourglass had run out. Xiao San placed the bamboo sticks of the bidders on a high table and sprayed them with medicine one by one, and the words on them appeared.

At the same time, this scene was also presented on the projection stone.

The price is clear at a glance.

The person who offered the highest price was Geng No. 1, who offered 5,899 taels of silver, which was only 11 taels higher than the second highest bidder.

The person sitting in the first seat was Wen Daoming.

Xiao San picked out his bamboo stick and rang the bronze bell: "Congratulations to this guest, this bottle of Wen Yang Pills is yours."

Wen Daoming immediately attracted everyone's attention.

"Hahaha, I didn't expect that I was the one who offered the highest price. Brother Chu, thank you for letting me win." He bowed to Chu Bitao who was sitting across from him. There was a little pride in his smile.

That’s right, the second highest bidder was made by master perfumer Chu Bitao, who missed out on the item by only 11 taels less than Wen Daoming.

Wen Daoming was very open-minded. "It's okay. There are many good things in the back. I brought enough banknotes, so I can always buy what I like."

This time, Wen Daoming couldn't laugh anymore.

Because he suddenly remembered that he didn't bring much money with him this time!

What should I do?

After bidding on an item, you do not need to pay immediately. Instead, you have to wait until the auction is over before paying and receiving the item.

Otherwise, Wen Daoming would be faced with the dilemma of having no money to pay the bill.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to go to the toilet, he quietly asked the maid who led the way: "Well, this old man is in a hurry to come out, and I don't have much cash on me. Can your manor be flexible? Of course, I will never default on my debt."

The maid took the opportunity to recommend the Banyan Tree Foundation to him: "Mr. Wen, our villa can provide loan services."

Wen Daoming immediately became alert. Could it be that Mingyue Villa wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to lend money at high interest rates?

However, after listening to the maid's detailed explanation, he realized that this was not usury. On the contrary, the interest rate for borrowing money from that foundation was very low, and it also supported repayment in installments.

There is no interest even for the first month!

Is there such a good thing?

The maid smiled and said, "Do you think our manor owner would ruin his own reputation for a moment of profit?"

Wen Daoming thought of the various treasures he saw in the villa and shook his head.

"Okay, take me to see it."

There is a branch of the foundation in the villa, which is a small courtyard. There is an old vine as thick as a bowl on the east and west sides of the courtyard. The vines are twisted and tangled, covering the courtyard walls and roof, and hanging down from the eaves, naturally forming a green curtain.

The curtains are dotted with purple, pink and white firework-shaped flowers, which are elegant and fresh.

As soon as Wen Daoming stepped into the yard, he was dazzled by the greenery that greeted him.

After entering, the clerk carefully introduced the various businesses in his store to him.

When he returned to Chunmingtang, Wen Daoming already had 100,000 taels of silver in his pocket.

He couldn't help but reach out to touch his chest, where the stack of banknotes was lying in his inner chest pocket.

It was sad to say that although he was a well-known jade carving master and made a lot of money, any of his works could be sold for thousands of taels, this was the first time he had so much money in his pocket.

Who told him to be a henpecked husband? His wife was too strict and never allowed him to have too much money in his hands, saying that she was afraid that he would get itchy and spend all the money on jade.

He had to admit that when he found good jade materials, he got carried away and spent money without thinking.

So now he has developed the good habit of only carrying a little pocket money in his pocket when he goes out.

But he had seen the auction brochure, which contained several pieces of top-quality jade and two jade carvings that had been lost.

One of them is a two-handled ox-head jade cup with half-moon-shaped handles, a shallow belly, and a flat bottom. The outside is decorated with embossed cloud patterns, and the ox head is carved with high relief techniques. The rest of the small details are also carved with various techniques such as round carving and openwork carving.

The overall pattern is flowing, exquisite and grand, and the jade is thick and moist. It is indeed a rare fine product!

If he could win this jade cup at the auction, he might be able to study the lost carving technique.