Chapter 404 Auction
404
Tang Yue and Dongfang Yi took advantage of the night to rush towards the mysterious gray-white building in the eastern suburbs. Along the way, Dongfang Yi looked nervous and kept observing his surroundings, while Tang Yue had a firm gaze and steady steps.
As they approached the building, they discovered it was heavily guarded. Armed soldiers stood in formation, patrol cars shuttled back and forth, and the bright beams of searchlights swept the surroundings.
Dongfang Yi gently pulled Tang Yue and said in a low voice, "Tang Yue, we won't be discovered, right? There are really too many of them."
It's not Dongfang Yi's fault for being timid; the surveillance here is simply too strict. He doesn't know if Tang Yue's invisibility has a time limit, or if there are any drawbacks.
Tang Yue waved her hand indifferently, "Don't worry, as long as I don't want them to see you."
Dongfang Yi wanted to ask him about the doubts in his heart, but then he thought again, since Xiao Yueyue is not afraid, then what should he, a grown man, be afraid of?
The two of them swaggered towards the building, and the soldiers were completely unaware. Tang Yue and Dongfang Yi successfully passed through the soldiers' defense line. The people checking at the door treated them as air, and the two of them successfully entered the building.
As soon as I stepped in, I heard bursts of noisy voices coming from not far away.
Dongfang Yi listened carefully for a while, then said to Tang Yue in surprise, "Tang Yue, these people are all wealthy and high-ranking officials in Moscow. They are preparing to attend a private auction, and the artifacts that General Igorevich sent over during the day are at this auction."
Artifacts? Those artifacts were moved here?
Tang Yue's eyes flashed coldly, but then she calmed down again. "So the Russians aren't that great after all. The good stuff is given priority to these people to pick privately, and only the ones no one wants are put in museums. Haha, the Russians are really quite pathetic."
Dongfang Yi didn't expect that the upper class played games like this... But he never had a sense of belonging to the Russian country, so he could accept whatever they did.
The auction was about to begin, and the two followed the crowd into a spacious hall.
The hall is brightly lit and luxuriously decorated. A huge crystal chandelier emits dazzling light, and precious paintings hang on the walls.
In the center of the hall stood an exquisite auction table, surrounded by tables and chairs, on which sat dignitaries from all walks of life.
Dongfang Yi boldly walked to the auction table and identified everyone in the hall before walking over to Tang Yue. The two of them stood to one side of the auction table.
"Tang Yue, here are not only the upper class people from Moscow, but also some people from other cities."
Tang Yue's eyes lit up. "Do you know where they are from?"
Dongfang Yi shook his head and said, "I've seen some of them before, and some look familiar, but I have to go back to the newspaper to check where they are exactly." Thanks to Dongfang Yi's work in a newspaper, he knows a lot of the upper class people in the Russian country.
Tang Yue held a camera in her hand and handed it to Dongfang Yi. Dongfang Yi was busy trying to identify the people and didn't notice Tang Yue's movements.
"Take pictures of these people, and we'll look for them slowly when we have time." Tang Yue felt that new wool could be fleeced.
At this time, the auction had already begun. An auctioneer in a black suit stood on the stage, holding an antique brocade box in his hand. He slowly opened it, revealing the cultural relics inside.
It was a Buddha statue from the Tang Dynasty in China, cast entirely from bronze, with exquisite craftsmanship and flowing lines. The Buddha's face was kind, his eyes slightly closed, as if recounting a thousand years of history.
The copper rust on its surface has been baptized by the years, adding a touch of ancient charm. Under the light, the Buddha statue exudes a mysterious and solemn atmosphere.
The auctioneer cleared his throat and said loudly, "Dear guests, welcome everyone. The first item to be auctioned today is a precious cultural relic from the mysterious ancient Eastern country - China.
According to the identification of Mr. Viktorovich's team, this is a bronze Buddha statue from the Tang Dynasty.
It is said to have been unearthed from a well-preserved ancient tomb. It not only has extremely high artistic value, but also has a profound religious and cultural connotation, which has attracted the attention of countless researchers.
In the current context of international cultural exchange, such cultural relics are undoubtedly treasures of great collectible value. Starting price: 50,000 rubles!
At this time, although the relationship between the Soviet Union and China has experienced twists and turns, the mutual cultural attraction still exists.
For senior Soviet officials and wealthy people, owning a precious cultural relic from China is not only a symbol of wealth, but also a way to demonstrate their unique taste and tolerance of multiculturalism in social occasions.
As the auctioneer finished speaking, the crowd began bidding, sending the price soaring. Tang Yue stared at the artifacts on the stage, calculating rapidly in her mind. She knew that once an artifact was sold and taken away by the buyer, it would be even more difficult to recover it.
At this moment, a tall, stern-faced man stood up. His voice was deep and powerful: "I'll pay 3.7 million rubles!"
This person was none other than Alexander Ivanov, a well-known wealthy man in Moscow. He had always been fascinated by Eastern culture and had a large collection of Eastern artworks at home. Upon learning of the auction of such a precious Chinese cultural relic, he naturally did not want to miss it.
There was an uproar in the audience, and everyone turned to look at him. A hint of surprise flashed in the auctioneer's eyes, and he shouted, "Three million seven hundred thousand rubles for the first time, three million seven hundred thousand rubles for the second time..."
Dongfang Yi had been translating for Tang Yue. After following Dongfang Yi around for a day, Tang Yue could only understand a few simple words. Now she heard the auctioneer repeating the same words, "How much did you bid?"
Tang Yue knew about the auction. In their world, rare spiritual treasures were also sold in this way.
"Three million seven hundred thousand rubles." Dongfang Yi's voice trembled. Tang Yue's eyes widened. She didn't know the value of the ruble, but if it was a great unity, three million seven hundred thousand of great unity, oh my.
She seemed to have only a little over 100,000 yuan so far. And she knew that no one in the entire South Island Corps was richer than her.
Tang Yue's eyes darkened. It turned out that the Russians were so rich, and they were so willing to spend money to buy Chinese cultural relics. What did this prove?
Tang Yue raised the corners of her lips. Okay, then wait a little longer. It’s inconvenient for her to collect the money from them one by one. She will collect it from the auctioneer later.
Tang Yue listened to the bidding without reacting. She had already explored the entire White Building. She also heard from the backstage staff that the auction was originally planned to last three days, but with the recent unrest in Russia, they decided to finish the auction tonight for safety reasons.
Tang Yue saw that the artifacts were now free of dirt and had been well-maintained. The experts from the Russian Empire were quite quick.
A man in a black suit came to the rich man Alexander Ivanov who had just bid. The man said a few words in his ear. The rich man Alexander Ivanov immediately stood up with a bad look on his face.
But he did not forget his lot, and in just an hour, he spent 12.9 million rubles. He hurried out to the backstage handover area.
Tang Yue thought to himself, "Here it comes." But when he saw the wealthy Alexander Ivanov take a piece of paper out of his pocket, write a string of numbers on it, stamp it, tear it off and hand it to the auctioneer, Tang Yue's face fell.
The staff member took it respectfully, turned around and handed over several items that the wealthy Alexander Ivanov had won to the wealthy Alexander Ivanov.
"That's it?" Tang Yue was uneasy. Where were the rubles? Why didn't she see a single one? Forgive Tang Yue for forgetting about checks. She had her own space and could take any amount of money, so she hadn't considered how other people's money was taken.
But what was the point of her waiting here if everyone at the auction tonight just wrote a number on a piece of paper?
Tang Yue was a little angry. She ignored Dongfang Yi and directly moved between the rich man Alexander Ivanov and the staff member.
The wealthy Alexander Ivanov took the box and felt that the weight was not right. Not to mention the other things, even the Buddha statue, made of bronze, was not light either. But why were these boxes stacked together so light?
The wealthy Alexander Ivanov glanced at the staff member gravely. He had pretended to exert some strength when he had just lifted the boxes. He stared at the staff member as he placed the boxes on their desk and slowly opened them.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
