Chapter 491 - 296: Liszt

Chapter 491: Chapter 296: Liszt

’Even though it’s all real money, I get a rebate!’

’The more expensive it is, the bigger the rebate!’

’I’ll run these rivals into the ground!’

And so...

The bidding war raged on.

After a few more rounds, the price of the Jade Pottery Spring Bottle soared past one hundred million US Dollars.

The auctioneer on stage was nearly losing his mind, shouting himself hoarse.

Below the stage, the atmosphere in the room was exceptionally thrilling.

By now, the only ones still bidding were Lu Ming and the black tycoon.

Old Hei kept glancing over, beads of sweat trickling down his forehead. Clearly, the price was putting him under immense pressure.

He was just barely hanging on.

After a few more rounds of bidding, he finally gave up. As if drained of all strength, he collapsed limply into his chair.

One hundred and fifteen million USD!

The auctioneer’s hammer fell with a heavy BANG, the crisp sound echoing throughout the hall. The Jade Pottery Spring Bottle had been won by Lin Chu.

Its brilliance was simply too dazzling.

So much so that for the final "grand finale" piece—a plum vase with a motif of Qiu Chuji meeting Genghis Khan—there were hardly any bidders left. It seemed as though everyone in the room had entered a state of post-nut clarity.

In the end, it was once again snapped up by Lin Chu’s side for a price of forty-one million USD.

That price was already astronomical, but it was still a far cry from the Jade Pottery Spring Bottle.

Lin Chu’s curiosity was now piqued to the absolute maximum.

’To be honest...’

’No matter how you look at it, the "Qiu Chuji" piece should definitely be more expensive than the Jade Pottery Spring Bottle. It’s almost an insult to compare them.’

’And yet, the price at the auction house showed the Jade Pottery Spring Bottle was more expensive.’

’This must be because of that name, Liszt, and whatever is behind it.’

It wasn’t that Lin Chu hadn’t considered it. ’Are these bastards working together to set a trap for me? Tricking me into paying a higher price?’

But after careful observation and some thought, he figured that probably wasn’t the case.

’So this Liszt... Who the hell is he?’

...

With the final auction item sold, the entire auction officially came to a close.

Lin Chu went backstage to pay and collect his items.

The auction house had previously stated that any currency was acceptable. They would also handle all the paperwork and even arrange for shipping.

All he had to do was swipe his card.

Just then, the black man to their left stood up and walked toward Lu Ming. The sweat on his face was gone, replaced by a grim look in his eyes. Seeing him approach, Ma Teng stood up as well, watching him with a slight frown and a hint of wariness.

The security guards on site noticed the situation and quickly moved in.

"Hello. A pleasure to meet you. This is my card."

The black man noticed their reactions. He pulled a gilt business card that smelled of cologne from his suit pocket and handed it to Lu Ming, his eyes still staring intently at him.

Lu Ming nodded nonchalantly and took it. The man was speaking English, which Lu Ming understood.

"Can you give me your contact information?"

The black man waited for a moment. When he realized the Asian man had no intention of offering a card in return, he seemed taken aback, his tone growing colder as he asked.

Lu Ming spread his hands and shrugged.

"I don’t have one."

"I use WeChat."

For a moment, he was a bit dumbfounded.

’What era is this?’

’Who the hell still uses business cards?’

’Even if they’re made of gold!’

The others couldn’t help but chuckle, especially Ma Teng, who took out a pen and paper from his pocket, jotted down an email address, and handed it over.

The man took it, glanced at it, and then turned and left.

The group struggled to hold back their laughter.

"Whoa, a solid gold business card. Congrats, Brother Ming, you’ve struck it rich."

"The big shot wants you. He’s asking you to his room tonight."

Ma Teng glanced at the card, judging by its feel that it was solid gold. He leaned close to Lu Ming’s ear and teased him with a grin.

Lu Ming: ...

He cursed good-naturedly, "Go to hell! How about I give him to you instead?"

’This foreigner... what a weirdo!’

...

「Backstage.」

Lin Chu was paying.

Of the nine auctioned items, the most expensive was the Jade Pottery Spring Bottle at 115 million USD, equivalent to 820 million RMB.

The other eight pieces totaled 1.36 billion.

With such a huge sum of money for all nine items, the staff backstage from the organizing committee treated him like a king.

This was truly the first time in their professional careers they had ever seen such a thing.

A single client, buying out the entire collection of an auction!

"Hello, sir. This is our company’s top-tier black gold card. Congratulations on becoming our highest-level permanent member."

The manager quickly presented a black gold card, having specially found a female translator who could speak Chinese. He said this with a brilliant smile.

Lin Chu glanced at him and casually took the card.

"Don’t congratulate me. You should be congratulating yourselves for gaining a client like me."

Hearing this, the young, beautiful female translator’s eyes practically started sparkling.

’So cool!’

’So domineering!’

Of course, it wasn’t just his words that were domineering, but his earlier actions.

Nearly 2.2 billion, paid without a second thought. What kind of power was that?

It was truly unimaginable.

She translated Lin Chu’s words to the manager exactly as he’d said them.

The manager didn’t seem offended at all; in fact, his smile grew even wider.

"Have everyone else leave. I have something to ask you two," Lin Chu said.

Soon, the room was cleared, leaving only the three of them.

"This Jade Pottery Spring Bottle, what’s its origin? How did the price get so high?"

Lin Chu asked bluntly, his gaze fixed on the female translator’s eyes. ’This girl is quite pretty. Eyebrows like green hills, eyes like autumn water. Very easy on the eyes.’

"Huh? You don’t know?"

She didn’t even have time to translate, asking in disbelief with her mouth agape.

"Know what?"

"Obviously not! If I knew, why would I ask you? Just spit it out! Don’t dawdle!"

Lin Chu chided impatiently.

Her: ...

She was completely stunned.

’How rash!’

’How abrupt!’

’You didn’t even know the meaning behind this piece of porcelain, so how could you dare to bid such a high price?’

’Eight hundred million!’

’The actual market price of this collectible is one hundred million at most, and that’s pushing it!’

’The remaining seven hundred million was all a sucker’s fee!’

’Er.’

’Then again, you can’t really call it a sucker’s fee.’

’After all, the ownership of this porcelain doesn’t belong to the auction house. It was consigned by a client, and the excess profit still belongs to the client.’

"It’s like this, Mr. Lin. This collectible belongs to a Mr. Liszt. Mr. Liszt is a famous tycoon in the circles of wealthy Europeans and Americans."

"Every year, he puts one item up for auction, placing it randomly in an auction house somewhere in the world. Before the auction, all information is kept secret. Only when the item is about to be presented does our auctioneer make an on-the-spot announcement."

"Even the auctioneer doesn’t know this information before the item comes up. They are notified by the backstage staff at the last minute... and have signed non-disclosure agreements."

"According to Mr. Liszt himself, it’s a game. He’s getting old and wants to meet a new young person every year to expand his social circle... There are even rumors that he’s looking for a successor."

"It’s a bit like Buffett’s lunch, but it’s more high-class and the information channels are more secretive."

"And to prevent people from trying to get in on purpose, he uses this method to verify the other party’s financial strength and, through that wealth, their sincerity. It’s basically... all up to fate."

"We will be sending a video of your entire performance at the auction to Mr. Liszt. I believe it won’t be long before he contacts you."

The female translator explained in great detail, her voice incredibly gentle.

The manager next to her probably gathered that she was talking about Liszt. After a moment’s thought, he added, "Mr. Liszt founded a club called the Genius Club."

"Currently, the publicly known members of the club include Buffett, Maezawa Tadashi, and Munger... Of course, Mr. Munger has already passed away."

"Last year’s new member was Jin Bingzou, the owner of a pharmaceutical company in South Korea, with a net worth of 9.7 billion US Dollars, placing him in the global top 500."

"The new member from the year before was the Indian tycoon Mukesh Ambani, also in the global top 500."

The female translator relayed all of this to Lin Chu verbatim.

As Lin Chu listened, his brows furrowed slightly.

’This...’

’This!’

’This kind of thing is truly unbelievable. It sounds like something out of a fantasy.’

’However, it’s not entirely without reason.’

’I’m starting to think the world is just a makeshift stage, full of too many uncertainties.’

’The information barriers are thick enough. There are just too many things that ordinary people don’t know.’

’These kinds of "clubs" are actually very common abroad.’

’Having such an organization is also quite normal.’

’It’s no big deal.’

’I’ll just think of it as a global version of the "Unity Association".’

’For me, this might not be a bad thing. After all, I’m already taking the plunge... oh no, I mean, I’m already going global.’

...

...