The auction continued, and the participants were unaware of what was happening outside. Everyone was still clicking their mice repeatedly on the items they liked.
Each auction item takes approximately 5-8 minutes to sell, as bidding and payment also take time.
All 20 items were auctioned off around noon.
Meanwhile, a topic on Weibo surged in popularity, quickly rising to fifth place:
Christie's is engaging in double standards at auctions; we demand the disclosure of information regarding the owners of the auctioned items!
The content isn't particularly groundbreaking, but the author of this topic is very skillful.
The article cleverly compares the Dongguo artifact incident with the current He Kingdom royal crown incident. Last time, Christie's had to postpone the auction of that Dongguo artifact for nearly a month due to strong protests from various parties in Dongguo.
Here's an explanation: that auction was promoted in advance, almost two months ahead of schedule.
Despite protests from all sectors of the Eastern Kingdom for nearly two months, the auction proceeded as scheduled, and the artifact was put up for auction, only to fail to sell.
However, the artifact still surfaced, severely embarrassing the people of Dongguo.
This time, from the protest by the Ho family to Christie's headquarters issuing an email informing the East Asian branch to disclose relevant information, the entire process took less than an hour, or even just 21 minutes!
Although the item was eventually sold, Christie's attitude towards both parties is evident.
This sparked a huge uproar, and the people of Dongguo immediately protested.
Christie's, get out of the East!
"Double-standard dog, kill him!"
"What I care about is whether their information has been made public or not."
"I don't think so. I checked. The branch manager is from Dongguo. If he dares to do that, I'll beat him to a pulp!"
"Doxx him and let him know the consequences of being a traitor!"
"They doxed them, but didn't you see they all liked the posts on Weibo? They're allies, one of our own!"
"Well done, buddy!"
...
He only learned about the high prices of these items the moment the topic became a trending topic, and to be honest, he doesn't care much about them now.
Because he saw through the true colors of Western companies and learned how double standards are forged.
Shameless people like to hang out in groups.
Hypocritical dogs, they all like to eat shit!
This isn't a big deal; everyone's just talking.
But in the afternoon, things took a new turn.
Christie's headquarters dismissed Liu Qiming, the head of the East China branch.
There was no reason, no excuse; they simply said that based on their internal evaluation, they felt this person was no longer suitable for the position…
"Goodness, people usually settle scores after the fact, but this guy doesn't hold a grudge for the day!"
"When did Westerners become so efficient?"
"When? When they come after us!"
"The problem is, do you really not need a reason to fire someone? Sue them!"
"That sounds nice, but they just fired you. So what? They'll just pay you some compensation. They're not short of money!"
"That makes sense, but I just can't swallow this!"
......
Why was Liu Qiming fired?
Gao Ang had initially stopped caring about the matter, but subsequent developments still caught his attention.
He was particularly puzzled by Christie's headquarters' bizarre actions. Wasn't this a challenge to the sentiments of the people of our East?
"Because he was the one who leaked this information."
"Huh 2? Is that so?"
Gao Ang was stunned. He hadn't expected that this guy was just like him, a bit of a radical youth.
"He sent a screenshot of the email to a friend who happens to be a journalist. However, his friend couldn't directly intervene, so he contacted another friend, who happens to be a Weibo influencer. That's how the matter came to light. Moreover, Liu Qiming also revealed the inside story of the Dongguo Cultural Relics incident, the inside scoop from that article!"
In just a few minutes, Qian Sui had completely exposed all of Liu Qiming's actions.
This also includes his personal information, such as his mortgage, car loan, and family situation.
"Interesting. He's a real man. Let him send in his resume and hire him!"
Ang Gao is such a free spirit. Since this guy is so passionate, we can't let such an outstanding person be sad and shed tears.
What position should we give him?
“It’s the same old business. Let’s open a new auction house. Anyway, we have plenty of antiques.”
Of the things he got from the Bethel family last time, he only sold a tiny bit this time; there's still a lot left.
Moreover, he has other sources of antiques, such as the Bermuda Triangle, where he discovered many shipwrecks and treasures, but he was too lazy to deal with them due to his physical limitations.
"Then, sir, you can think of a name, and I'll go register the company."
"Hmm... let's call it Dongxin Auction House!"
...
This matter will certainly not end here. Since Christie's is so ungrateful and wants to undermine certain people, Gao Feng will not sit idly by.
He immediately called Xiaoming and said, "Keep an eye on Christie's. Just make sure they don't get away with it."
"No, Mr. Gao, isn't it inappropriate for you to abuse your privileges so often?"
"That auctioneer is me. If they get my information, you'd better watch out!"
"ah?"
"What are you 'ah' about? Hurry up and go!"
"No, their branch offices have a lot of people too, so... how do we handle this?"
“Do I need to teach you this? Alright,” Gao Ang knew exactly what Xiao Ming was thinking—he was just afraid of taking the blame. “I’ll give you a suggestion: shut down the Dongguo branch, and have all the staff resign on the spot. You guys, hurry up and process the paperwork. My Dongxin Auction will take them all in. But there’s a condition…”
"What premise?"
With Gao Yuan's assurance, Xiao Ming immediately beamed with joy.
Organizing the branch offices is not difficult; the challenge lies in ensuring the employment rate.
This is such a big matter, and it involves foreign companies. If it's not handled properly, it could easily cause problems.
Especially during this sensitive period, employment is a major issue.
If high wages can solve the employment problem, then everything is negotiable.
"I only care about employment for people with East Asian citizenship; let their headquarters worry about foreigners. My money is for boosting domestic consumption and GDP, not for foreigners to earn foreign exchange!"
After saying that, Gao Ang hung up the phone, leaving Zhang Xiaoming on the other end shaking his head, "He's even more of a radical than me, but... I like him!"
With Xiaoming joining, the approval process at Dongxin Auction House became much faster.
Gao Ang had already contacted Liu Qiming when he was handling the relevant procedures at Qian Sui.
Although Liu Qiming was momentarily bewildered by Gao Feng's absurd offer, he still happily accepted it.
He needed to repay loans and take care of his sick and hospitalized mother. If this matter hadn't truly disgusted him, he really wouldn't have wanted to do it.
"Your salary will be 20% higher than what you had at Christie's. You'll be in charge of the specifics of your work. As for your former colleagues, it's up to you who you want to hire. I'm just a hands-off manager, understand?"
Speaking succinctly over the phone, Gao Ang said, "Also, don't worry about not having business. I have some inventory here, which will help you boost your reputation. As for what happens after that, it's up to you. I started this company to make money, and I can only help you this much because I know you have guts."
"Please rest assured, Mr. Gao, I will definitely live up to your expectations!"
...
The next day, Dongxin Auction House went online.
Liu Qiming transformed himself from the head of Christie's East China branch into the general manager of Dongxin Auction House.
With Chitose's help, the first auction was decided to be held urgently at 3 p.m. that day.
"Wow, that's incredibly efficient!"
"This is the Dongguk speed! I love it!"
"Haha, good deeds are rewarded!"
"I have a feeling there's some kind of conspiracy involved, but I like it!"
"Breaking news! Relevant departments have launched an investigation into Christie's East China branch, involving taxation, fire safety, medical and epidemic prevention aspects... What a cause for celebration!"
"Good heavens, who did they offend? This is quite a large network of connections!"
"Who have we offended? We've offended 1.4 billion people of East Korea!"
Christie's headquarters was helpless in the face of this, and could only issue another strong protest and condemnation, and decided to file a lawsuit against Dongxin Auction House in the Shanghai court.
The reason is unfair competition...
"Senior sister, what do you think about this..."
"Our Ying Sheng Law Firm has taken it on. It's a guaranteed win, no problem at all!"
Du Yibing patted his chest loudly and readily agreed to the task.
At 3 p.m. that day, the first auction of Dongxin Auction House was about to be held.
This time, Gao Ang drew on the experience of the previous auction and also held an online auction.
He also used a lot of connections to prepare for this auction.
The goal was to establish the Dongxin brand and compete with internationally renowned auction houses.
Xiao Ming played a key role in the auction, and wealthy people such as Lao Ma, Xiao Ma, Lao Wang, Lao Xu, and Lao Zhong all expressed their intention to participate.
In addition to attending, these people also contributed a portion of their personal collections to support Gao Feng.
Gao Feng didn't care what these wealthy people would bring out.
What good stuff could they possibly have?
Can anything, no matter how good, be more valuable than a foreigner's national treasure?
The royal crown of the Kingdom of Ho is only a very small part of his many collections.
He was a very wealthy man who robbed Bethel Castle and Dort Castle.
If all those items were auctioned off, even at a low price, it wouldn't be difficult to become a billionaire, let alone a billionaire.
If you were to exchange the market value of the shares under his name... many people would have to step aside.
For reasons unknown, many media outlets have given extensive coverage to this auction by Dongxin Auction House.
Besides state-owned media outlets, all the reputable media outlets, journalists, influential figures, and celebrities have reposted the official Weibo post from Dongxin Auction House.
"Xiaoming, is this your doing again?"
Gao Ang, who had some free time, sent a message to Xiao Ming.
"The higher-ups' intention."
Gao Ang pursed his lips. Good heavens, they're all people who hold grudges.
"Well done, I like it!"
Who says that men from the East have no backbone? It's just that the national conditions are different at different stages.
Previously, we needed to keep a low profile and develop the economy, so when faced with many provocations and bullying, we would choose to be submissive and swallow our anger.
But things are different now. Dongguo has the confidence now!
The economy is doing well, and the military strength goes without saying. More importantly, it has established a completely independent and self-contained industrial system.
Unlike some countries, which are essentially factories for others.
In the industrial systems of countries like the Mountain Kingdom and the Sand Kingdom, those scattered small countries are merely parts of a massive machine, dispensable in comparison.
With a strong foundation, one's fist becomes bigger, one's voice becomes louder, and one dares to show off one's fist to others.
"Mr. Gao, many well-known figures want to participate in this auction. What should we do? Should we extend the auction time?"
Liu Qiming sent a text message.
"Celebrities? Who are they?"
"Many celebrities!"
"No need, we're doing something big, why are they getting involved... It's not a charity auction, we don't need their attention."
These celebrities are really something, trying to ride the coattails of even this small thing.
Gao Feng doesn't think these people are trying to ride on his popularity, because he doesn't have much popularity.
He did a good job of protecting his personal information; there wasn't much information about him in Dongguo, either among the general public or on the internet.
To put it more bluntly, apart from the name Gao Ang, nothing else can be found by searching.
The reason these celebrities are so eager to get involved is simply because they see these wealthy people involved.
Are celebrities really that famous?
They might seem impressive to their fans, but compared to these real big shots, they're just dust... probably not even worthy of being called a character.
With nothing else to do, Gao Feng drove his beat-up little car to the former Christie's, now the office of Dongxin Auction House.
After Christie's East China branch was dissolved, Liu Qiming used the funds Gao Yuan had given him to take over the branch intact.
Liu Qiming was very excited when he learned that Gao Ang was coming.
He led a group of his underlings to line the first floor of the building to welcome them, and there were flowers and beautiful women too!
"No need for all this formalities, the auction is about to start, let's go in!"
Taking the lead, Gao Yang entered the office building.
"So, are the employees feeling alright?"
"No, apart from a few foreigners, all the other colleagues are very happy."
How could I not be happy? My salary has increased, my benefits have improved, there's overtime pay, it's the nationally mandated five-day work week with two days off, there's paid annual leave, paid sick leave, five social insurances and one housing fund, and even a company cafeteria—all that's missing is a company apartment…
"That's good. Work hard and do a good job. I'm not one of those capitalists who say 996 is a blessing. I'm not short of money either. As long as you treat the company well, the company will definitely not treat you unfairly."
He patted Liu Qiming on the shoulder, looking like a proud, old-fashioned cadre.
"Yes, yes, Mr. Gao is right, I will definitely..."
“Alright,” Gao Ang interrupted Liu Qiming before he could say anything about loyalty, “Take me to see the warehouse and see what kind of treasures those rich people have gotten their hands on.”
Those who live close to Shanghai, like Lao Ma and his group, have already received their treasures.
Things belonging to people from farther away, like Xiao Ma, Lao Wang, and Lao Xu, were also delivered by private jet.
In the past, Gao Feng would never have believed that such efficiency was possible.
But when he thought of Zhang Xiaoming, he felt relieved...
After passing through numerous tight security measures, Gao Ang finally arrived at the warehouse where the auction items were stored with Liu Qiming.
Big and small, gold and jade, all sorts of things, even some bronzes and porcelains.
"Are all these procedures in order?"
"No problem, they have all been appraised and approved by relevant departments. They are personal collections and there is no illegal activity involved."
Liu Qiming immediately replied.
"That's fine. When we do this, we must make money honestly and fairly, not through crooked means. I'll say it again: I'm not short of money, and I don't want you to resort to any crooked methods. As long as a person is alive, there will always be opportunities to make money. If someone goes to jail or gets punished for breaking the law, wouldn't that be just like that line in the skit, 'The person dies before they've spent all their money'? That's the point, isn't it?"
Gao Feng earnestly warned again, expressing his fear that Liu Qiming was impatient for quick success and might do something unnecessarily. Although, after Qian Sui's investigation, he believed that Liu Qiming was unlikely to do such a thing.
But what could he do? Liu Qiming was a filial son, and he had an elderly mother with illnesses at home.
Thinking of this, Gao Ang turned to look at Liu Qiming and said, "If there are any difficulties at home, don't let your colleagues keep it to themselves. I will set up a relief fund for the company, the kind that is interest-free. Everyone has difficult times. Since they are our company's employees, as long as they are dedicated to the company, we can't let them suffer, right?"
"Yes, thank you, Mr. Gao!"
Liu Qiming was almost moved to tears.
In a fit of rage, he leaked Christie's emails.
As a result, he was fired, and the medical expenses for his elderly mother and the car loan caused him a lot of headaches.
Well, that's great, the new General Manager Gao solved all his problems for him.
He made up his mind and decided to work hard for Boss Gao for the rest of his life.
What good are blessings and empty promises compared to this relief fund?
After wandering around for a while, Gao Ang, who was about to leave, suddenly stopped in front of a small box.
Because he smelled a very familiar scent, and that scent was coming from the small box.
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