Chapter 439 I Would Rather Keep It in the Bottom of the Box than Give It to You for Free

“Dang, dang, dang”, three wooden gavels hit the table, “Ladies and gentlemen, I am Tang Ning, the auctioneer of this special auction of Chinese antiques. First of all, I would like to thank our Highness Wilson for coming. Please stand up and welcome him. Thank you.”

Hearing the words of the auctioneer, William rolled his eyes. Although he was reluctant, he immediately said to Shen Cheng and several other Chinese guests, “Please stand up out of courtesy, friends, thank you.”

After that, he took the lead in standing up and clapping at Wilson. With his friendly relationship with Wilson’s family, William would not slap the royal family in the face at this time. Instead, he should maintain the cooperative relationship. Anyway, he just applauded.

Except for the English, the audience would stand up and applaud consciously. The others were stunned for a moment, and when they saw William standing up and applauding, they also stood up and applauded.

Wilson was stunned for a moment, and when he saw William standing up and applauding, he reacted and stood up with a smile on his face and nodded to the people around him, saying “thank you, thank you” all the time, not daring to be impolite.

After the courtesy, many people stared at today's auctioneer. If it weren't for him, why would everyone stand up and salute a young man who was just 18 years old out of politeness? Wilson even didn't feel him in his heart, but would blame him for being nosy.

"God, this thing is the most annoying", William complained to Shen Cheng after sitting down, "Today's auctioneer must be English and a supporter of the royal family, otherwise Wilson would not enjoy this courtesy."

After saying that, William turned around and teased Wilson who was still excited, "Right, Wilson, this is probably the first time you have accepted everyone's welcome alone at a non-holiday time."

"Haha, thank you, thank you very much", Wilson showed sincere thanks, and then complained with a smile, "Man, can't you not expose my dream so quickly?"

"Sorry, my fault", William said in a serious and weird tone, "Your Excellency the Duke of Cambridge".

As soon as he heard William's tone, he knew he was unhappy. Wilson responded with a laugh, "God, be serious, Your Excellency the Earl of Oxford, this is a public place, and you and I are in the same group."

"Haha", everyone laughed in cooperation to ease the embarrassment just now.

After the joke, the auction officially began. The first item to be auctioned was a blue and white cloud dragon longevity pattern lidded jar from the official kiln of the Ming Dynasty Jiajing period.

After the bidding began, many people looked at William. Professor Guan, who came with Shen Cheng, saw that William was completely uninterested and asked with a smile, "Mr. Devonshire, this official kiln is a good thing that can be judged at a glance. Are you not interested?"

"Professor Guan, don't be so polite, just call me William."

Professor Guan nodded, and William smiled and nodded in response, "There are too many porcelains from the Jiajing period. I have more than ten pieces that are several levels higher than the ones being auctioned now. There are too many duplicates, which really makes me lose interest."

Well, this made everyone choke immediately, and they couldn't help but complain in their hearts that you are a rich man and you are right.

More than a dozen pieces of porcelain, calligraphy and paintings were auctioned in dozens of minutes, but William didn't raise his card once, which disappointed the treasure owners who had expected William, a super rich man, to join.

After bidding a few more antiques, the auction house staff used a tray to bring out the white jade, and William became interested.

This piece of jade is the top-grade white jade mined in 10 years. The owner spent several years looking for the top master to carve it. After it was made, he kept it and never touched it himself. No one had ever played with it, so William was of course interested.

The whole piece of jade is the size of a goose egg, round and integrated, without any flaws. Only eight horses were shallowly carved on the jade, which is very suitable for playing with in the hand.

So as soon as the auctioneer said the starting price of 200,000 pounds, William raised his card.

Those who were attracted to this jade saw William raise his card to increase the price without thinking, and they couldn't help but worry in their hearts. When the price reached 500,000 pounds, which exceeded the market price of this jade by 6 layers, no one bid anymore.

"Is there anyone else bidding?" The auctioneer asked twice, and seeing that no one was willing to bid at the scene, he said it for the third time and immediately knocked down the gavel in his hand, "Congratulations to Mr. Devonshire for bidding this eight-horse white jade."

Seeing that the item had been bought, Shen Cheng whispered to William, "Do you not care about the price when buying things?"

"Why care so much?" William said with a smile, "It would be a pity if you didn't buy it directly if you found something you like. Besides, it's only 500,000 pounds."

"Well, it's only 500,000 pounds, more than 6 million Tianchao coins," Shen Cheng said with a crooked mouth, "I may not make 6 million Tianchao coins in my life. Should I say you are extravagant or that you regard money as..."

"Stop," William hurriedly stopped Shen Cheng from speaking, "Old Shen, this is not authentic. Mutton-fat jade is something that needs to be held in your hands every day. If I hold it in my hands in the future, I will think of the word you said. Why do I still play like this?"

"If you feel disgusted, you can give it to me. I don't mind," Shen Cheng joked.

William curled his lips and smiled, "Haha, do you dare to take it if I give it to you?"

"Dare, why not? I don't have any public office now, why not."

No mistakes, just one post, one content, one 6, one 9, one book, one bar!

"Go to hell" William rolled his eyes. He hadn't even touched the item yet, and would rather leave it in the basement than give it away for free.

The auctioneer knocked on the gavel, "Okay, ladies and gentlemen, today's highlight is here."

Three staff members came up with three trays covered with red cloth, put them on the display table and took off the red cloth. The three animal heads were immediately displayed in front of everyone.

The auctioneer said loudly, "According to the owner's request, we have temporarily changed the auction plan. The monkey and tiger animal heads will not be auctioned separately but as a set. The reserve price is 2 million pounds. Each bid must not be less than 100,000 pounds. Please bid."

"Damn it!" The people who were interested in the three animal heads at the scene immediately cursed. The price of 2 million pounds for the three pieces immediately made many people hesitate. The price of bidding all three pieces together would definitely be much higher. Many people protested loudly.

"Bang, bang, bang," the auctioneer knocked the gavel in his hand quickly. "In order to express his apology for changing the auction plan, the owner will give a 5% discount after the transaction. Okay, ladies and gentlemen, 2 million pounds, is there anyone who wants to bid?"

With a 5% discount, the participants on the scene felt better and their resistance was not so strong. Only Shen Cheng suddenly felt that he and his people were being calculated. He turned his head and looked at William in confusion, thinking that the owner's sudden change of the auction plan could not be caused by William.

After discussing with other companions, they had to accept it. For them, it would be best to buy all three pieces. If not, they would at least buy two pieces to take back. Now that the three pieces were auctioned together, their plans were immediately disrupted, and they felt uneasy.