As this group of people poured into B City, the entire hotel became overcrowded.
However, the members of the major families don't need to worry about this; they will stay at the Lu family residence and be personally entertained by City Lord Lu.
Lord Lu is a branch of the Lu family, one of the four great families in Jiangnan, so their criteria for choosing a son-in-law are more stringent than others.
Of the four major families in Jiangnan—Zhu, Chen, Lu, and Zhao—except for the Zhao family, whose whereabouts remain unknown, the other three families have all gathered in City B.
Zhu Ding, the head of the Zhu family, did not come; instead, his second son, Zhu Siming, did.
Of course, none of the business owners participated in this type of transaction; only the younger generation attended.
The people from the Chen family had a past relationship with Liu Nian; they were Chen Ling and Chen Heng, a brother and sister.
The person from the Lu family who came was Lu Feng, who, according to seniority, should be called Uncle Lu Dingtian. He was the third son of the eldest branch of the family and also Lu Jiaqi's cousin.
It seemed they all had high hopes for this auction, Lu Dingtian thought to himself, but he didn't stop and hurried to meet them.
They had all informed each other of their arrival beforehand, and to ensure their safety, the entire street was cleared, and no unauthorized personnel were allowed to pass.
Moreover, personnel were stationed at all the highest points on the rooftops to ensure that no shooters would be present.
Ordinary people can only hide at home or on nearby streets, sticking their heads out of the windows to curiously watch who might pass by.
After exchanging pleasantries, the group boarded the vehicle that Lu Dingtian had prepared and drove straight into the city lord's mansion.
After lunch and a short rest, a special car will take you to the auction house.
Auction houses are now much more heavily guarded than other places, making it virtually impossible for unauthorized personnel to enter.
Time flew by amidst the casual conversation, and it was finally time to begin today's grand auction.
After a few opening remarks, the first item to be auctioned was a blue design drawing.
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After use, you can learn to make ornaments, dwarf shrinking ray devices.
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"This one-of-a-kind engineering blueprint starts at one thousand, with each bid increasing by at least one hundred. Interested business owners shouldn't miss this opportunity!" the auctioneer enthusiastically proclaimed on stage.
"One thousand and one."
"One thousand and two."
"One thousand and five."
"One thousand and fifty times."
"1500 for the second time."
"1500 for the third time."
Just as the auctioneer was about to announce the sale, a voice suddenly came from the center: "Three thousand."
The one who spoke was Zhu Siming. His scantily clad female companion was an engineering student. Under her coquettish charm and flirtatious glances, Zhu Siming naturally wanted to win her favor and offered a price far exceeding the cost of the blueprints.
After all, this is just a blueprint; various materials are still needed to manufacture it.
However, the Zhu family is large and wealthy, and they don't need this little bit of money.
As soon as Zhu Siming spoke, the auction house fell silent and no one raised the price again, so he successfully won the blueprint.
Everyone stared at him as if he were a fool, except for his female companion who looked at him with adoration.
He thought his extravagant display of wealth had intimidated everyone, and he couldn't help but feel secretly pleased with himself.
The items auctioned off were all fairly standard, but there was a small highlight when, halfway through the auction, a pair of young sisters were brought to the auction stage to be sold.
They were sold by their biological father, who, after becoming addicted to gambling, sold everything he could in the house. In the end, in his depravity, he chose to sell the two sisters to a brothel in the city.
Yan Kuan's appraisers saw an opportunity to profit and bought them from the madam at a high price. After careful preparation, they were brought here, and their fate remains unknown.
Seeing the two sisters huddled together, trembling on the auction stage, their expressions were so pitiful that the males in the stands were immediately overcome with protective instincts and determined to win the beauties' hearts.
The auctioneer, observing the expressions on everyone's faces, remained clear-headed: "Starting price: five thousand crowns, increments of five hundred."
The noise rose and fell, and the frantic men waved their bidding paddles wildly.
...
After a fierce competition, a portly merchant bought the twin sisters for a staggering 10,000 crowns. Seeing him with one of them on each arm, everyone couldn't help but feel envious.
This greatly stimulated his vanity, and he stopped participating in the remaining activities, impatiently taking the two sisters away from the auction house.
"You bumpkin," Zhu Siming scoffed, as if the 7,500 he had just shouted was just an illusion.
The other two families did not bid; their goal was clear: to obtain those two pieces of purple equipment at all costs.
After round after round of bidding, the final, most coveted card was brought out.
The first item auctioned was the Sunfire Hammer, a two-handed hammer whose attribute bonuses and effects were astonishing.
Everyone here knows how difficult it is to upgrade, which is why equipment retains its value very well.
Putting everything else aside, even if the equipment becomes damaged after someone else takes it over, you can just find a blacksmith to repair it. People who can afford to buy equipment won't care about these materials.
"The starting bid for this two-handed hammer is 15,000 crowns, with each bid increasing by 1,000 crowns. The auction begins."
After a few seconds of silence, someone started bidding, but the three families from Jiangnan remained calm and did not participate in the auction.
They all knew that the current price still had room for appreciation, so they let the big businessmen bid first, and only when their reserve prices were almost exhausted would it be their turn to enter the market.
Sure enough, after the price was raised to 30,000, the auction house was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, with very few bidders.
In the end, Zhu Siming took the lead and spoke first: "Thirty-five thousand."
This price is undeniably high, especially for independent caravans. For the four major families, who are essentially financial magnates, it's just the cost of a meal.
"Forty-five thousand." This time, it was the Lu family who raised the sign.
The price was increased by ten thousand each time, and everyone looked towards the center, realizing that this was the main character of the day.
"Fifty-five thousand." After exchanging a glance, Chen Ling and Chen Heng understood Chen Ling's meaning and decisively raised their paddle to increase the price.
The price then skyrocketed, and the Lu family eventually bought the card for a high price of 100,000.
The Chen siblings congratulated Lu Feng, who laughed and modestly replied, "Not at all, it's just that you two are being too kind."
Zhu Siming was somewhat indignant at not getting the purple outfit and said in a sharp tone, "What's so great about it? It's just a purple outfit."
Lu Feng wasn't angry. He cupped his hands in thanks to Zhu Siming and said, "Thank you for your leniency, Brother Zhu."
They were very polite, and their attitude was quite sincere, but it just sounded a bit strange.
Ultimately, they wanted the breastplate; the weapon was for melee combat and would at most be given to their trusted lieutenants, while the armor was for their own use.
The richer people are, the more they cherish their lives. Good armor is hard to come by, and I wonder what price Holland's breastplate will eventually fetch.
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