Chapter 198: Sincere or Insincere (7)

Chapter 198: Chapter 198: Sincere or Insincere (7)

Everyone in the industry was watching with wide eyes, eager to see if Apex Auction could actually pull off a successful event!

Running a successful auction house required real capability; it wasn’t as simple as it looked on TV. It wasn’t just about renting a venue, procuring a few pieces of art or jewelry, and then inviting some socialites, celebrities, and wealthy, powerful people to attend! In reality, every single step was a field of study in itself, fraught with difficulties.

The venue was the easy part; that just depended on the level of the auction.

Procuring the auction items, however, was difficult. The auction house itself had to possess a certain quality—one that could earn the trust of consignors. Otherwise, why would anyone entrust their items to Apex Auction House instead of any other auction house?

Even if consignors did come knocking, entrusting their items to your company for auction, you still had to generate buzz for the event. You needed at least one star item capable of drawing widespread attention. Only then could you attract the truly wealthy, the top-tier entrepreneurs, or the celebrities to attend!

Of course, you also needed an extensive network of contacts. You had to be on good terms with a large number of wealthy individuals, so they would do you the favor of attending your auction. Regardless of whether they ended up bidding on anything, for some people, their mere presence was the greatest endorsement the auction could receive.

Seraphina Sterling had barely touched any of this, leaving it all to Mina Adler. Since Joel Xavier had such high praise for Mina, she must have some real skill. If she couldn’t even handle these basic matters, then there was no way she could prove herself capable of managing Apex Auction House.

Whether they could become an overnight sensation and establish Apex Auction House’s reputation in Sanford—and even across the nation—depended entirely on Mina Adler’s abilities.

Of course, Seraphina wasn’t just shirking all responsibility. At the very least, she had prepared the main draw for the auction: that priceless Blue and White Porcelain! The company’s advertising for it was incredibly powerful. Even if Mina’s team was small, her network limited, and she couldn’t invite any major figures or heavyweights, the mere mention of this Blue and White Porcelain sent the collecting world into an uproar! When word got out that the auction would be held right after the Lantern Festival, many collectors immediately started heading for Tollan Town. Even if they couldn’t afford the piece, just getting to feast their eyes on it up close was satisfaction enough.

Blue and White Porcelain pieces were exceedingly rare and ancient, making them a holy grail for many collectors. Before the auction, Seraphina Sterling had given Mina Adler sufficient authority, ample funding, and, most importantly for this event, contributed her own long-treasured piece of Blue and White Porcelain. Everything else was left to Mina. Seraphina just had to wait for the results.

This first auction of the new year was a time for competitors to gauge Apex Auction House’s strength, a time for Apex Auction House to make its name and become an overnight success, and also a time for Seraphina Sterling to test Mina Adler.

If Mina Adler succeeded with this auction, Seraphina would entrust all future affairs of Apex Auction House to her management. She would let Mina, just like Joel Xavier, take on the primary responsibility, hoping that one day they would grow to become her right and left hands.

Of course, if Mina Adler wasn’t as capable as Joel Xavier claimed and she botched this auction, Seraphina wouldn’t spare Joel’s feelings—she would replace Mina immediately. Therefore, she needed to have a replacement candidate ready.

This was the main reason she had locked herself in her room: to find someone with solid expertise, experience running a company, a decent network of contacts, and the ability to appraise antiques. But a person like that was truly hard to find. She would have to investigate and screen candidates one by one.