Rebirth 1983: Building My Business Empire-Chapter 551 - 534 Charity Gala (2)

"Six hundred thousand."

Lu Jiaxin could tell from the shouting that it was Li Huini. This classmate of hers was also fierce; while others were increasing their bids by fifty thousand, she would go up by a hundred thousand at once. How was anyone supposed to compete with that?

Zong Shimeng raised her bidding sign and shouted, "Eight hundred thousand."

Seeing how the two of them were raising the price, the others didn’t dare to compete further. The two of them went back and forth until Li Huini won with a final bid of 1.6 million for the Jade Ruyi.

Next up were porcelain pieces, two calligraphy and painting scrolls, and then it was Nie Zhan’s limited edition wristwatch. Lu Jiaxin had thought that his watch would be more popular than her Jade Ruyi, but it ended up selling for only five hundred and eighty thousand Hong Kong Dollars. Well, in Hong Kong, it seemed that beautiful antiques with good symbolism were more popular, and the appeal of limited edition luxury wristwatches had its limits.

What surprised Lu Jiaxin was that the finale of the auction turned out to be a pale golden South Sea pearl necklace. This item hadn’t been in the auction catalog.

The auctioneer explained to everyone that this lot had been donated by a mysterious lady and because it was only delivered that morning, they didn’t have time to announce it publicly.

Nie Zhan saw Lu Jiaxin staring at the pearls without even blinking, "Do you like it?"

Lu Jiaxin nodded and said, "I like it, it’s beautiful. I must have it."

Nie Zhan thought the pearls on the necklace were a bit small; a friend’s sister of his owned a silver South Sea pearl necklace. Hmm, he’d contact his friend tomorrow to see if his sister would be willing to part with it.

The starting price for the pale golden pearl necklace was two million. According to the rules, each increase in bid had to be at least one hundred thousand. But Lu Jiaxin liked this necklace and, taking a leaf out of Li Huini’s book, she upped the bid by two hundred thousand directly. Indeed, with that move, many people gave up, as there was no need to compete financially with Hong Kong’s wealthiest woman. But there were still those who wanted to challenge her.

"Three million six hundred thousand."

In the auction, the highest bidder wins; there wasn’t much else to say. Lu Jiaxin raised the bid to four million, only to have the other party immediately call out four million one hundred thousand.

Lu Jiaxin couldn’t help but look towards the person making the bid: a young woman in her twenties. She didn’t know if the woman genuinely loved the necklace or was just driving up the price. After considering for a moment, she called out, "Four million five hundred thousand."

Lu Jiaxin and the young woman went back and forth with their bids, and soon the price of the pearl necklace reached seven million one hundred thousand.

The other party was adding just one hundred thousand each time. Lu Jiaxin’s eyes flashed with a fierce determination, then, with a tone laced with gunpowder, she intentionally shouted, "Eight million."

Without hesitation, the other party announced a price of eight million one hundred thousand.

Nie Zhan saw that Lu Jiaxin hadn’t said anything and was about to raise his bidding sign when he was stopped. Lu Jiaxin said, "It’s fine, if she wants it that much, let her have it."

Although South Sea pearls from Australia were quite precious, for a necklace of this quality like the one being auctioned, the price was around two million. But it was for charity, and since she did like it, paying two or even three times more was not a big deal. But if someone was competing with her as if to make a fool out of her, she would rather not have it. The world is full of beautiful things; it’s impossible to own them all.

"Eight million one hundred thousand for the first time..." The auctioneer looked towards Lu Jiaxin as he called out the price, but unfortunately, Miss Lu was talking to the man seated next to her.

"Eight million one hundred thousand for the second time, eight million one hundred thousand for the third time... Congratulations, Miss Loo, the necklace is now yours."

With the fall of the gavel, the evening’s charity event came to an end.

Zong Shimeng said with a smile, "Jiaxin, you were right; this necklace is worth just over two million in the market, it’s not worth eight million."

When Lu Jiaxin was bidding just now, she tried several times to signal Nie Zhan to persuade her to stop, but unfortunately, Nie Zhan just shook his head gently. She felt at the time that even with money, one shouldn’t spend it this way, and truly, if one bought the necklace for eight or nine hundred million just because of a spur of pride, the gossip magazines would surely have a field day with cold jeers and hot scoffs. Spending a big sum of money only to be mocked, the thought alone was vexing! Fortunately, Lu Jiaxin was rational and held steady at the critical moment.

Lu Jiaxin said with a smile, "I could have bought it for five or six hundred million, considering it a contribution to Hong Kong’s charitable causes. But to deliberately inflate the price just to make me spend more, I’m not someone with more money than I know what to do with."

Spending extra money was one thing, but being played and talked about would open one to ridicule.

Once outside, Zong Shimeng said, "The one who was challenging you just now is called Loo Xiaozhou, the daughter of the second branch of the Phoebe Jewelry Company’s Loo family."

Lu Jiaxin asked, "Was it because of competition with Five Auspicious Jewelry that she deliberately drove up the price?"

Nie Zhan denied this, "In business, everyone relies on their abilities, and Five Auspicious Jewelry’s rapid development is due to our good management philosophy and policies.

"Phoebe is also doing well, and currently, it’s the Loo family’s first branch that’s in charge. They wouldn’t raise the price on purpose over this matter; there must be another reason."

Seeing his earnest analysis, Zong Shimeng said with a smile, "Nie Zhan, your Nie Family once intended to form a marriage alliance with the Loo family, but Loo Xiaozhou’s sister wasn’t interested in Nie Jingting. Not long after, you returned, and Loo Xiaozhou’s sister took a liking to you. Both families wanted to arrange a match, but you said you weren’t interested, and so the matter was dropped. After you and Jiaxin started dating, Loo Xiaozhou’s sister went abroad to study, and it’s unclear whether she has moved on now." fгeewebnovёl.com

Gauging Loo Xiaozhou’s deliberate obstinance, it seemed her sister hadn’t let go.

Hearing this, Nie Zhan looked nervously at Lu Jiaxin, fearing she would get angry over the unwarranted trouble he brought.

Lu Jiaxin said disdainfully, "So just because Nie Zhan wasn’t interested in her sister, she’s taking it out on me? Does she have a screw loose in her head?"

"Mutual interest is essential; is it a cardinal sin not to reciprocate? Are their family’s girls all princesses? If they fancy someone, do they have to be married into their family? Even the princesses of ancient dynasties faced many rejections!"

Nie Zhan reassured her, "Don’t worry, I’ll take care of this bit of grievance for you."

Lu Jiaxin shook her head, "Every family has its own set of troubles; there’s no need to make an enemy over such a trivial matter."

Zong Shimeng also felt there was no need for major actions and said with a laugh, "Nie Zhan, Jiaxin, I have some acquaintance with Eldest Mrs. Loo, so I’ll talk to her about it and ask her to discipline this Miss Loo."

Jiaxin was generous enough not to take it to heart, but not everyone has the same capacity. Today, Miss Loo made her intentions clear by causing a scene. If there were to be retaliation, the Loo family would have nothing to say.

Nie Zhan said, "Then I’ll have to trouble you, sister-in-law."

Upon returning home, Zong Shimeng called Eldest Mrs. Loo, not mentioning the small grievance between Loo Xiaozhou and Lu Jiaxin, but casually chatting before arranging a mahjong date.

Any household matriarch was nearly always shrewd; a phone call so late at night meant she had an ulterior motive, which was not the drink itself. Reflecting on the charity banquet Zong Shimeng mentioned, she immediately had someone find out more.

The next afternoon, Zong Shimeng filled in Lu Jiaxin on the follow-up, "Second Mrs. Loo was originally planning to bring Loo Xiaozhou over to apologize to you, but I guessed you wouldn’t want to see her, so I refused on your behalf."

Lu Jiaxin felt Loo Xiaozhou’s parents were reasonably sensible: "I suffered no loss in this matter; there’s no need for an apology."

The South Sea pearl necklace was ultimately won by Loo Xiaozhou herself; eight hundred million was no small amount, and she surely couldn’t pay it. That was enough for her to deal with.

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