novelraw Chapter 175 Heartache
Chapter 175 Heartache
After he finished speaking, the room fell completely silent.
Su Wuli sat there, her fingers tightening around the champagne glass.
Priceless?
She knew it was a fine piece of jade, but she never expected...
Her mind went blank for a moment, and only one thought occupied her mind.
It's too expensive.
She even had the idea of taking the jade back.
The auction had already begun. She sat there with a smile still on her face, but it looked a little stiff.
Wen Yan stood to the side with her mouth slightly open, her eyes fixed on the jade on the stage, not moving for a long time.
She turned to look at Su Wuli, "Who took this out? How come there was no word of it before? This jade... is too scary."
He almost choked on his own saliva as he spoke.
Su Wuli met her gaze, unsure of how to respond.
She knew that the expression on her face was probably very strange at that moment; she wanted to laugh and cry at the same time, but she had to hold it in.
Seeing that she didn't speak, Wen Yan turned her gaze back to the stands.
He muttered to himself, "A carving technique lost for six hundred years... what kind of person could have produced this..."
At this moment, the host walked onto the stage, took the microphone, and spoke a little louder than usual.
"Thank you for your excellent explanation, teacher. The donor of this item is—"
He paused deliberately.
Countless eyes in the audience were fixed on the host.
Su Wuli noticed that some of her classmates were whispering to each other, while others were craning their necks to look at the stage.
Xu Weiwei held a champagne glass, her face filled with anticipation.
Chen Lingshuang leaned closer, "Weiwei, do you know who it is?"
Xu Weiwei shook her head.
People in the back row were whispering among themselves.
"Where did this jade come from? Did something go missing from the Forbidden City?"
"Don't talk nonsense. Everything in the Forbidden City is recorded. If they stole it and dare to put it up for auction, I think they're in for a rough time."
"Where did this come from? How could something like this be hidden away in the countryside?"
"Who knows? Maybe it was donated by a collector."
At the next table, a middle-aged man was holding up an auction paddle, his eyes glued to the jade piece on the stage, not even blinking.
He said to the person next to him, "No matter who brought it out, I'm taking this jade today."
The person next to him chuckled, "You? Look at those guys in the front row, their eyes are practically green with envy. You think it's your turn?"
Some people in the front row were indeed getting restless.
A wealthy businessman with gray hair turned to the side and whispered a few words to his assistant. The assistant nodded and quickly walked towards the backstage area.
At another table, someone stood up and pretended to go to the restroom, but they went towards the backstage area.
The host opened the card in his hand, glanced at it, and announced it with an enthusiastic laugh.
"Ms. Su Wuli."
As soon as he finished speaking, all eyes turned to him.
They stood in a row, like spotlights.
Immediately afterwards, the entire venue seemed to be paused, but everyone's eyes were wide open.
The wealthy businessman with gray hair in the front row had just finished instructing his assistant when he heard this name and froze in his seat.
The assistant stood to the side, unsure whether to stay or leave.
The person at the other table who was pretending to go to the restroom had just taken a step when they stopped in the middle of the aisle, unsure whether to go forward or backward.
Su Wuli's table erupted in chaos.
The person who was just helping Xu Weiwei now looked at Su Wuli and unconsciously tilted their glass, spilling a little wine on the tablecloth without even noticing.
The other people's eyes darted back and forth between Su Wuli and the stage, as if to make sure they hadn't misheard.
Suddenly, someone at the next table gasped in surprise.
"Su Wuli? That Su Wuli?"
"That's her, the one who said she didn't bring anything."
"She didn't bring anything? What do you mean by 'didn't bring anything'?"
Someone at another table chimed in.
"They didn't say anything before because they didn't want to bother with you. But they've already shown this level of skill; what were those before?"
Someone chuckled, and several tables nearby heard it. "Who just said she was trying to crash the red carpet?"
No one answered.
Su Wuli sat there with her back very straight.
The people at the same table had different expressions.
The veteran actor who had been sitting silently in the corner was the first to react and clapped his hands.
The applause started sporadically, then grew louder and louder.
The young newcomer next to her, who had been keeping his head down, also looked up, his eyes shining as he looked at Su Wuli.
Wen Yan, standing to the side, raised her hand and clapped once in mid-air, then paused.
She looked at Su Wuli for a while before continuing to clap.
The applause was a bit chaotic, as if people hadn't yet recovered from the shock.
Chen Linshuang stared in disbelief, her mouth agape.
Her hand had been raised due to inertia, but she suddenly realized what was happening after clapping twice.
We're stuck like this now, not knowing how to proceed.
Xu Weiwei, standing next to her, was still holding that glass of champagne, her fingers tightening and loosening on the glass.
However, it was as if someone had pressed the pause button; his face was full of astonishment, and he couldn't move at all.
The applause was still ringing out.
Su Wuli gave a slight bow in response, her smile faint and polite.
But only she knew how stiff her smile was.
At that moment, only one thought was running through her mind.
How can we get this jade back?
The connoisseur said it was priceless.
However, she is now in a predicament where she cannot dismount.
Thinking of this, Su Wuli laughed even harder.
Because she couldn't let others see that she was heartbroken, so heartbroken that she could hardly sit still.
Wen Yan, finally regaining her composure, leaned closer and asked in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Pear, when did you...?"
Su Wuli didn't answer, she just shook her head gently.
Wen Yan watched as she swallowed back what she was about to say.
The bidding has begun.
The host's voice echoed in the venue: "Starting price, no reserve price, each bid must be at least 100,000."
As soon as he finished speaking, someone in the front row held up a sign.
One million.
A low gasp rippled through the crowd.
Everyone saw the quality of the jade and heard what the appraiser said, but the starting price of one million still made many people gasp.
Su Wuli sat there, her fingers gripping the hem of her skirt above her knees.
One million.
Someone else raised a sign: three million.
Immediately afterwards, someone raised five million.
The numbers were jumping so fast that Su Wuli could hardly keep up.
Someone in the front row shouted out ten million, and the room fell completely silent.
Wen Yan, standing beside her, placed her hand under the table and gently touched her knee.
Su Wuli didn't move, her eyes fixed on the jade on the stage, mentally calculating how many movies she would have to film and how much debt she would have to pay off.