The auction began quickly.

As expected of Christie's spring auction, after a brief warm-up, three Monet paintings appeared at once: *Chrysanthemum Group*, *Haystacks*, and *Water Lilies*.

Monet painted dozens of *Water Lilies* in his lifetime, some good and some bad. This one today was too abstract for Su Yehao to even consider bidding, and it ultimately sold for just over four million U.S. dollars.

The *Haystacks*, on the other hand, sold for over seven million U.S. dollars and was bought online by a telephone bidder.

Coming to an auction is all about the thrill of raising a paddle. Su Yehao wasn't as busy as some, so he certainly found it more interesting to attend in person.

Some artists' works looked valuable, but he simply didn't understand them. For example, a painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat successfully sold for over ten million U.S. dollars.

More than twenty minutes into the auction, he hadn't raised his paddle once. Today's auction mainly featured Western art. If he wanted to buy something, the best choice would be the Asian special sessions at the major auction houses, which target customers in different regions and are more likely to sell at high prices.

Yang Zhiyuan sat next to Su Yehao and raised his paddle to buy *Pumpkin* by the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. The yellow pumpkin with black dots almost gave Su Yehao a panic attack.

No need to guess, it was probably to pamper his wife. His wife was of Japanese descent and would probably like these things.

On the stage.

The auctioneer spoke extremely quickly, introducing a special Rolex gold watch.

The Rolex ref. 6062 wasn't rare. According to the slideshow, a total of 1,200 were produced, but only three had a black face with diamond hour markers, making it very valuable.

The one being auctioned today was called ref. 6062 "Bao Dai," commissioned by the last emperor of Vietnam, and it was still very well maintained.

Su Yehao immediately became interested, casually raising his paddle and pushing the price up to at least $660,000 U.S. dollars.

After the hammer fell, the auctioneer smiled and congratulated him, saying that he had broken the previous record for Rolex auction prices.

Immediately afterward, another custom-made Chopard diamond watch appeared.

Su Yehao continued to raise his paddle and successfully won this women's watch for over nine hundred thousand U.S. dollars. Smiling, he lowered his voice and told Yin Liuli that he was going to give her this unique watch.

When Jeff Koons' Balloon Dog stainless steel sculpture appeared, only pictures were shown because the real thing was too big.

The thing did look a little interesting. Yang Zhiyuan lazily raised his paddle as if it didn't cost him anything, and finally got it for $1.1 million U.S. dollars, which helped the sculptor become famous. In the future, if he wanted to sell Balloon Dog sculptures, there would be a price to reference.

Su Yehao could only feel helpless about this. The higher the price at today's auction, the higher the cost for him to buy it.

Since he knew that Jeff Koons still had an orange and a blue stainless steel Balloon Dog, buying them back as soon as possible could be a good deal. He had already prepared to contact the sculptor as soon as possible.

Finally, the Qianlong Doucai vase appeared, and the real vase looked even more beautiful than the pictures.

A Japanese person and an American Chinese person were bidding against Su Yehao. Starting at $1.5 million U.S. dollars, they kept raising the price to $2.05 million U.S. dollars before the other two competitors gave up.

It's good to have a strong backing; others' lives couldn't compare with Su Yehao's pocket money.

……

There were many good things at the auction. Su Yehao didn't bid again after buying the Doucai vase.

Relying on his good credit, he left early after signing the contract. The Rolex gold watch and Chopard diamond watch were taken directly, and the auction house would be responsible for delivering the vase to Grandpa Tang's house. He could pay the money in a couple of days.

Christie's gave him a credit line of ten million U.S. dollars, which ordinary people couldn't enjoy.

After leaving the auction house, he had people arrange several rooms in the hotel, as he didn't plan to rush back to Silicon Valley tonight.

He went out for a stroll near Union Square.

Yin Liuli was careful, looking at her new watch from time to time, and sighed, "Why don't I give it to someone else? I don't need such an expensive watch. More than nine hundred thousand U.S. dollars, plus commission, is more than a million, right? Converted to Hong Kong dollars, that's almost ten million. I feel like my hand isn't even mine anymore. What if I fall and break it?"

"A watch is just a watch, an accessory, no need to take it to heart."

Su Yehao took her hand and continued, "Look, holding my hand is like having billions of U.S. dollars more in your hand. Why aren't you usually so careful? Instead of buying a cheap watch, it's better to buy an expensive one. If you wear it for a long time, it can appreciate in value, turning from a consumer product into a work of art. If you think about it that way, wouldn't it be much better? It's like saving more than a million U.S. dollars for you and enjoying the interest on the appreciation."

Although she knew he was being facetious, after thinking about it carefully, Yin Liuli felt that it made sense and couldn't refute him.

When they first met, she wasn't even willing to accept a Chanel handbag.

Now that they've known each other for almost two years and their relationship is getting closer and closer, in addition to this custom-made diamond watch, Su Yehao has also given her an apartment, a villa, a set of diamond jewelry, a Porsche 911... There were too many things, and Yin Liuli was numb to it.

Girls, after all, can't help but be moved when they encounter truly beautiful and rare jewelry.

Yin Liuli said, "Then I'll keep it for you first, but in that case, we'll have to change to a better safe at home, right? My current safe can be carried away by two men, which is a little worrying."

"Okay, let's go buy clothes first. Speaking of which, I haven't had dinner yet, and I'm a little hungry. Let's look around and see what's available..."

They went into a mall and ordered a set meal at Pizza Hut.

Soon after, he received a call from Yang Zhiyuan, asking if he wanted to take a helicopter back to Silicon Valley with him. Su Yehao politely declined and agreed to meet for dinner in a couple of days.

Not long after he hung up the phone.

Yang Zhiyuan sent him another number, followed by the name Jeff Koons.

While eating, Su Yehao dialed the number, and the call was quickly answered. He only heard the other party's impatient tone, saying, "What time is it already? Who are you?!"

Looking at his newly bought Rolex gold watch, it was already 8:50 p.m. in San Francisco.

Su Yehao knew he was in the wrong and asked with an awkward smile, "Mr. Jeff Koons, the sculptor who made the Balloon Dog, right? I'm sorry, I'm on the West Coast and forgot to calculate the time difference. I wanted to buy something from you."

On the other end of the phone, Jeff Koons heard from his accent that Su Yehao didn't seem to be American.

Seeing that there was business to be discussed.

Jeff Koons' anger dissipated a little and asked, "It's okay, I'm holding an exhibition in New York and just went to sleep. What are you planning to buy?"

"The two Balloon Dogs in your hands. I just attended Christie's auction, and my friend Jerry Yang, the founder of Yahoo, bought it for $1.1 million U.S. dollars. He told me that you were willing to sell them, so... how about I offer two million U.S. dollars to sell me the orange and blue Balloon Dogs?"

Su Yehao asked tentatively.

He only heard Jeff Koons suddenly curse out loud. He wasn't cursing at Su Yehao, but he was speaking extremely quickly, saying, "My work sold for $1.1 million U.S. dollars?! No wonder someone suddenly came to me wanting to buy them for $350,000 each. Luckily, I haven't signed the contract yet..."

"...As expected of professionals, they move so fast."

Su Yehao tapped the table with his fingers and then asked, "I really like your work. Two million U.S. dollars is a fair price. After all, you have to pay a commission if you send it to auction, right? If you sell it to me, I'll send someone to deliver the check to you tomorrow morning."

Jeff Koons had been in the industry for many years, so of course he knew that if works from the same series sold for high prices, the remaining ones would also increase in value.

He hesitated for a while and said to Su Yehao, "If you're really sincere, then let's talk about it tomorrow. I need to understand the details first and can't give you an answer for now, okay?"

"Okay, how about we meet tomorrow? I want to see those two things in person."

Su Yehao had a private jet parked at San Jose Airport, which was convenient to transfer to San Francisco.

Although Jeff Koons was a little famous before, before the Balloon Dog series became famous, he could only make a little money by selling in bulk. His works weren't easy to sell, and thousands of works of art were still gathering dust in the warehouse.

Seeing that Su Yehao was prepared to talk in person, Jeff Koons readily agreed and said that he was preparing an exhibition, so he could just take a look at the two Balloon Dog sculptures.

The three-meter-tall stainless steel dog was relatively troublesome to transport and couldn't be sent to San Francisco for Su Yehao to see.

The real reason for actively mentioning going to New York.

The real reason was that Su Yehao remembered that this sculptor also had a particularly valuable stainless steel rabbit work. Because of its unique shape, he still had an impression of it.

If he had the opportunity to buy some in bulk and then hype up the price, it seemed quite interesting and worth a long trip.

Anyway, he could come back on the same day without delaying any serious business, and he could also take the opportunity to go to Wall Street and talk to several market makers about the details of Yanwenzi Group's offering price.

——————————

It takes more than five hours to fly from San Francisco to New York.

Su Yehao transferred the plane, continued to eat pizza, and then went shopping with Yin Liuli to buy clothes.

After inquiring about the weather in New York, it had just snowed recently and was much colder than San Francisco, and the clothes they brought weren't thick enough.

It wasn't until after 11:00 p.m. that they temporarily set off for the airport.

The hotel room hadn't been used yet, so it was useless. Wasting more than two thousand U.S. dollars in room fees was nothing compared to investing in art.

If he went to New York late and someone else beat him to it, and he didn't buy those modern artworks with the potential to appreciate in value, that would be a real loss.

The bodyguards hired from Silicon Valley talked to Su Yehao about the issue of overtime pay for overseas assignments.

Since they were going to New York, the previous price was definitely not suitable, so he temporarily arranged a subsidy of three hundred U.S. dollars per person per day, which settled this group of white bodyguards.

By the time the plane took off, it was almost twelve o'clock.

After getting on the plane, he went straight to sleep. What made Su Yehao have a headache was that two bodyguards were snoring, and the sound was particularly loud and rhythmic in the narrow cabin.

This left him speechless.

If he had known earlier, he would have temporarily hired a new batch of bodyguards locally after going to New York...