Li Chonglou feigned a moment of contemplation and asked, "Miss Yu, are your finances sufficient?"
Upon hearing the three words, Yu Xianxian couldn't help but immediately say, "Uncle Hua Dong, you should still call me Xianxian."
Li Chonglou nodded.
"Financially, there shouldn't be a problem. I think I could even afford one or two spiritual artifacts. But anything more and I'd be in trouble; I've almost spent all my pocket money."
In reality, the latter half of that sentence was unnecessary. Li Chonglou silently scoffed, realizing that everything in this antique market, whether genuine or fake, started in the millions.
Spiritual artifacts were even more so, with a base price in the tens of millions, and that was just the starting bid. After a round of bidding, the price would easily multiply several times over!
And she called that pocket money?
This also indirectly revealed that Yu Xianxian's identity was not simple.
At least, in Li Chonglou's understanding, not even scions from the Sixteen Names possessed such wealth; they couldn't simply have this much pocket money!
However, as long as her finances were sufficient, that was all that mattered!
Li Chonglou immediately steered the conversation towards jade.
The older generation either favored landscapes or jade, and Li Chonglou was leveraging this very fact to prepare Yu Xianxian in advance.
This was in case no good landscape paintings were presented for transaction in the end. If they encountered good jade pieces first, they could seize the opportunity to bid.
Yu Xianxian nodded without a second thought, "I'll listen to you."
Li Chonglou smiled knowingly but then glanced at Grandpa Fu beside them.
At this moment, Grandpa Fu was Yu Xianxian's guardian. While he wouldn't interfere with her freedom, Li Chonglou understood that the final say on any major decision rested with him.
Fortunately, Grandpa Fu didn't sense anything amiss and nodded, "So be it. However, I worry Xianxian might buy fakes again..."
Was he subtly targeting him again?
Li Chonglou immediately responded, "Rest assured, compared to identifying spiritual artifacts, discerning authenticity is my strong suit."
The old man and the young woman both broke into smiles.
Indeed, the biggest drawback of such private bazaars was the prevalence of counterfeit goods.
The Liu family's rise was also attributed to their private bazaar maintaining the lowest rate of fakes among their peers, but even so, fakes still appeared.
This was the difference between private bazaars and the grand halls that had official permits.
In true grand halls, similar to auction houses, if an item was genuine, it would be declared as such. If a fake was sold as genuine, the venue owner would compensate threefold!
And if a fake was identified, it would be explicitly stated.
As for certain special items whose authenticity could not be determined, they would be categorized as rare items and put up for auction separately.
This was the advantage of grand halls – they offered guarantees.
The benefit of private bazaars, however, was that although items would still undergo appraisal by the venue, both genuine and fake items could be put up for auction, with no strict requirements.
The most crucial point was discretion.
Grand halls would inquire about the origin of items, and anything of unknown provenance would be meticulously investigated to prevent it from being official private property.
Private bazaars, however, did not.
Therefore, some people preferred legitimate grand halls, while others favored private bazaars.
Private bazaars undoubtedly tested one's discerning eye the most.
They were rife with all sorts of good items that couldn't be openly traded, meticulously crafted fakes that were almost indistinguishable from the real thing, and even items whose authenticity or antique status was completely unknown.
If one's eyesight was not keen enough, they could easily enter and leave a bazaar and find themselves having to eat instant noodles every day.
The reason Grandpa Fu brought Yu Xianxian here was firstly because private bazaars had a wide variety of items, and the chances of encountering good pieces were not insignificant.
More importantly, he knew the Liu family, and through them, he could get insider information on which items were confirmed genuine. Of course, he couldn't recognize all of them.
Otherwise, Li Chonglou's help wouldn't have been needed.
The evening continued, and before long, the item Li Chonglou was most interested in came up.
When the red cloth was unveiled, what lay on the plate was a jade bracelet.
Liu Bazaar, unlike other private bazaars, clearly stated the authenticity of items it put up for auction, which was one of its core principles.
This jade bracelet was an antique whose era even Liu Bazaar could not ascertain.
Upon hearing this, almost half of the guests immediately lost interest.
Not everyone was like Yu Xianxian; being able to buy one item in an entire evening was already quite good. Who would dare to gamble on treasures?
As for the remaining half, although they were interested, their interest was not significant.
The primary reason was the immense risk involved; exceeding a certain bid price was akin to throwing money away.
The bracelet, which started at 1.3 million, only saw three bids before reaching 1.5 million, and then no one else raised their paddle.
This was also the lowest-priced item of the entire auction.
"I don't think the quality is that good either; it's probably a modern craft."
"Liu Bazaar themselves said they couldn't discern its authenticity."
"Heh, nothing is set in stone. Perhaps Liu Bazaar is being managed by someone else now."
The impact of Liu Rui's previous performance was evident, and his expression immediately turned quite gloomy.
At such a moment, it was difficult for him to explain. The more he said, the more it might lead people to suspect him of profiting from deception if the item turned out to be fake after purchase.
A fake item cost at most a dozen yuan, but selling it for over a million was undoubtedly a massive profit.
Seeing the staff on stage about to begin the countdown, Li Chonglou finally spoke in a low voice.
"Xianxian, buy it."
There was no further explanation, but his tone was exceptionally firm.
Yu Xianxian was first taken aback, then, as the staff counted down to two, she quickly raised her paddle and said, "Two million."
Li Chonglou's expression froze, and he couldn't help but cover his face.
The minimum increment was five thousand. This item had stopped rising at 1.5 million, and Yu Xianxian could have likely secured it with an additional five or ten thousand!
Who would have thought she would directly add fifty thousand?
This was no longer a matter of her being rich or foolish. The sudden, massive increase in price made it hard not to question its true value!
People were like this; they were easily influenced by their surroundings. If you saw a stone by the roadside, even if thousands of people passed by, no one would take it home.
The same stone, if someone cordoned it off and sold it for a few yuan, while likely no one would buy it, it would definitely attract a lot of interest.
The same stone, if not only cordoned off but sold for hundreds of yuan, then it would be different. Even if it looked like an ordinary stone, someone would still buy it!
Li Chonglou feared exactly this!
When you suddenly increased the price so much, anyone would suspect they had overlooked something!
Fortunately, the situation Li Chonglou feared did not materialize.
Yu Xianxian successfully acquired the bracelet at the final transaction price of two million.
It wasn't that he was overthinking; it was that the other guests saw the people standing on either side of Yu Xianxian, Grandpa Fu and himself, and chose to yield.
When the next treasure was brought onto the stage, Grandpa Fu suddenly asked, "Brother Hua Dong, was there anything special about that bracelet just now?"
Li Chonglou shook his head, "I couldn't tell either, but my instincts told me this item was extraordinary. I'll take a closer look once it's delivered. If I bought the wrong thing, I'll pay for it."
Yu Xianxian's expression became anxious, and she quickly interjected.