Chapter 81: A narrow victory
The dinner auction had concluded, and the room was in an uproar, mostly with astonishment at the young man who had won dinner with Zhan Hua. Meanwhile, managers had already approached the successful bidders to ask whether they would attend the ceremony that followed. After an auction, buyers generally signed a confirmation of sale to confirm payment; once signed, their bidding deposits would become the first installment. The man who had won Xie Shichen's "Clear Snow on Mount Taihang" earlier smiled at the agent asking him and waved a hand. "I'll just sign it in a little while."
Once the staff member walked away, the man glanced toward Su Can, who had now become the center of attention. Su Can met his gaze at the same moment, then they looked away.
The man smiled. "A complete victory? A narrow defeat? Neither comes easily. Zhan Hua had a clear target, but the other side came prepared. There's quite a bit going on behind this. We'll have to see what follows... Zhang, do you think that young man lost out by paying a million for the edict and dinner? Heh, Zhan Hua only gave that edict a brief showing, but its value is anything but ordinary. A border of dragons playing with a pearl among clouds, five-colored brocade, and the words 'By the mandate of Heaven' inscribed on it. By my judgment, a preliminary valuation would be around five hundred thousand. An edict like that could perfectly well fetch this price even without being bundled with dinner with Zhan Hua. Why did Zhan Hua insist on auctioning it at the wastefully low starting price of a hundred thousand?"
The bodyguard-like man beside him paused, then smiled. "Mr. Gu, you're the expert. I'm just a rough fellow who