Auction Company

The next day.

Jingcheng.

Although Dong Xuebin had a lot to ask about the reasons for Zhai Yunxuan's job transfer, he didn't go straight back to the North Entrance of Heping Street upon his return to the Capital. Instead, he thought about auctioning off the pearl necklace in the password box first. Otherwise, he would be constantly worried about it being stolen if he kept it with him. So, after getting off the train and having lunch, Dong Xuebin took a bus to Nan Xinhua Street. After asking a newspaper-selling woman near the Xinhua Bookstore, Dong Xuebin strode into the area of East Liulichang.

Hanhai Auction House.

The place wasn't very big. People were gathered in twos and threes, whispering to each other. One person was holding something that looked like a Yuan blue-and-white porcelain, and another was holding a bronze tripod. It seemed that experts were appraising their items to determine if they were suitable for auction. This two-story auction company in East Liulichang wasn't the actual auction location. Auctions were usually held in hotel conference halls depending on the scale. This place was only responsible for collecting and appraising items. The Power of Time and Wealth 123

Dong Xuebin walked to the front desk and said to a female staff member behind it, "I have something I want to auction."

The female staff member looked at him. "Hello, sir. What kind of item is it?"

"Jewelry, I guess," Dong Xuebin said. "A pearl necklace."

"Okay, please wait a moment." The female staff member picked up the landline and made a call. After saying a few words, she hung up and said with a professional smile, "Teacher Sun will be down soon. Please have a seat and wait."

"Okay."

There was a water dispenser in the waiting area. Dong Xuebin didn't stand on ceremony and poured himself a cup of hot water, gulping it down.

Before long, a man in his thirties who didn't look too old came down from the stairs. Seeing the female staff member point at him, Dong Xuebin put down his water cup and went to greet him. Teacher Sun glanced at the password box in Dong Xuebin's hand and said with a smile, "Can I take a look at the item first?"

Dong Xuebin was worried about being seen by too many people. "Can we go somewhere else?"

Teacher Sun hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Okay, come with me."

In an office on the second floor.

"Hehe, no one will disturb us here." Teacher Sun sat down on the leather sofa with him. "The item is a pearl necklace? Where did you buy it? Have you had it appraised before?"

"I haven't had it appraised. I just got it from Zhu Ji."

"Oh?"

Dong Xuebin twisted the password and opened the box. "Please take a look and see what you think."

Actually, Dong Xuebin was asking a redundant question. He had personally watched the pearls being opened from the oysters, so they couldn't possibly be fake.

Teacher Sun didn't take it seriously at first. He specialized in appraising jewelry and saw countless pieces brought in for auction every day. However, 95% of them weren't worth auctioning because many were just bought from shopping malls, which made it unnecessary to auction them. After hearing that it was a pearl necklace, Teacher Sun had a general idea in his mind, thinking it was probably an ordinary item of a few millimeters. But when he saw the golden necklace, with each pearl almost 1.5 centimeters in diameter, Teacher Sun was immediately stunned. "Golden pearls? So big? Oh my, this is a treasure."

"Do you have any large auctions scheduled in the near future?"

"Let me take another look." Teacher Sun looked at the unremarkable Dong Xuebin with surprise. He didn't expect him to bring out such a treasure. He carefully took the pearl necklace out of the box and examined it carefully several times. He also used magnifying glasses and other tools to scrutinize it for a long time. Finally, he sighed and said, "Good stuff! Good stuff! The only slight flaw is that the chain that strings the pearls together doesn't quite match this string of pearls... "The chain is a bit rough, but, well, it doesn't hurt much, doesn't hurt much."

Dong Xuebin was in a hurry to see the finished product when he was in Zhu Ji, so the process might have been slightly rushed. The Power of Time and Wealth 123

After making a phone call, Teacher Sun said, "Let's sign an agreement. Your necklace will be temporarily kept here with us. If you agree, I'd like to replace the chain for you, so it will look better and the transaction price might be higher. What do you think?"

Since he was a professional, Dong Xuebin naturally trusted him. "Okay, I'll listen to you."

Teacher Sun added, "When would you like to have it auctioned? The autumn auction has just ended, and the spring auction is still a few months away. Hanhai doesn't have any major auctions recently. I suggest you wait a bit. There will be a big auction in about a month or two, or you can wait until the spring auction..."

Dong Xuebin interrupted, "I really can't wait that long." He also knew that the spring and autumn auctions were the largest in the country, and the items auctioned there could usually fetch a good price. However, Aunt Xuan's job had problems, and her life would definitely be difficult if she offended her leaders. She might resign at any time, so it was the time when she needed money to start a business. Dong Xuebin had to get the money as soon as possible. "Can you do it sooner? Or just put it up for the next auction?"

Teacher Sun said with a wry smile, "I'm only suggesting this because I think your item has the potential to fetch a high price. If you insist on doing it as soon as possible, that's fine too. I'll make arrangements." Seeing him nod, Teacher Sun thought he might be in a hurry for the money, so he said, "The fastest one seems to be a preview tomorrow. It's a small auction. The auction will be the day after the preview. If the buyer pays quickly, the money can be transferred to your account on the fourth or fifth day."

Hey, that's fast. "Okay, let's do that one."

"...Are you sure?"

Dong Xuebin gave a hmm and said, "For a small auction, it wouldn't fail to reach even a million, would it?"

"Hehe, it won't be that bad. With something this good, it should fetch at least one million two hundred thousand."

One million two hundred thousand, after deducting the auction house's commission, taxes, and all other expenses, Dong Xuebin would get about a million Renminbi in hand. That was his expected target. Hmm, he estimated that even if this necklace were put up for the spring auction, it wouldn't fetch much more than that. There was no need to wait two months for those extra tens of thousands of Renminbi. He didn't have that kind of time. "Okay, then let's go with this small auction. Hmm, what do you think the starting price should be..."

Teacher Sun pondered for a moment. "Lower, I think fifty thousand is very appropriate. The price will be called up little by little, and the atmosphere will be driven up little by little. The final transaction price may be higher. Of course, this is just my personal suggestion. If you..."

Dong Xuebin said without thinking, "I'll listen to you. Let's go with fifty thousand."

After discussing the details for a while, Dong Xuebin signed the agreement with satisfaction. The pearl necklace was left at Hanhai Auction House for processing, and Dong Xuebin left Liulichang with the empty password box and took a car home.

Just two or three days left...

Phew, just waiting to collect the money after the auction!!