"I’m very sorry, sir, but the auction has already started. If you want your painting to be included, it needs to be appraised first. Even if it meets our standards, you’ll have to wait for the next auction."

Before Bai Menghan could translate, the woman across from them answered Fang Chenyi in perfectly fluent Chinese.

Fang Chenyi wasn’t surprised to hear her fluent Chinese. After all, how could the person in charge of a Huaxia-focused event not understand Huaxia?

But after hearing her out, Fang Chenyi simply smiled and shook his head, then asked with a playful look,

"Oh? So you’re saying there’s absolutely no way to have it auctioned now? Let me get this straight—even if I were to produce an authentic work by Picasso, you still couldn’t do it?"

"Oh my god, I hope you’re not just saying that. If you truly have an authentic piece by Mr. Picasso, then we can arrange to have it auctioned immediately, if you wish! But you must guarantee its authenticity."

Clearly, she didn’t quite believe the Huaxia man before her could possess an authentic Picasso. After all, such works were incredibly rare.

However, as she finished speaking, the man simply smiled and shook his head. He reached into the bag he was carrying. When he pulled his hand out, he was holding a quaint, old-fashioned notebook.

As Averill watched in amazement, Fang Chenyi placed the notebook directly on the coffee table and gestured for her to take it.

Averill picked up the notebook with a slight frown. But the moment she opened it to the first page, her gaze froze, her expression turning to one of shock.

As the head of the auction, while not a professional appraiser, she had a keen eye for valuable objects. At first glance, Averill could tell this was no ordinary item.

The more she looked, the stronger the feeling became. She gently placed it back on the coffee table, then looked up at Fang Chenyi and said respectfully,

"Sir, this... this is extraordinarily valuable. May I call our appraisers over to have a look?"

Fang Chenyi shrugged. "Go ahead. But please be quick. I need to get back to the auction and bid on something I have my eye on."

"Of course, of course. Rest assured, we’ll have it appraised as quickly as possible."

After saying that, she took out her phone and made a call. A dozen or so seconds later, several figures hurried into the reception room.

Two white-haired, elderly foreign men burst in, panting, and rattled off a stream of French to Averill that Fang Chenyi couldn’t understand. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Averill pointed to the sketchbook on the coffee table. The old men’s eyes immediately lit up. They rushed over, and upon seeing the sketchbook, their wrinkled faces bloomed into delighted smiles.

But none of them rushed to touch it. Instead, they cast an inquisitive glance at Fang Chenyi. Only after he nodded did they pull white gloves from their pockets, put them on, and begin to examine the sketchbook.

They studied the first page for quite a while, which left Fang Chenyi speechless. ’At this rate,’ he thought, ’the auction will be over by the time they’re done appraising it.’

He tore his gaze away from the group and turned to Demo Did, who was looking thoroughly bored. "Old Di," he began.

"Old Di, stay here and watch them. I’m going to head to the auction floor. Call me when they’re done. And remember, don’t let that thing out of your sight. Its value isn’t far off from that painting you want."

Demo Did, who had been completely uninterested, was stunned to hear this sketchbook was nearly as valuable as the Mona Lisa he coveted. He was also shocked that Fang Chenyi would entrust him with guarding something so precious.

He nodded without hesitation. With a solemn expression, Demo Did promised Fang Chenyi he would complete his task.

Fang Chenyi then gave Averill a nod, took Bai Menghan by the hand, and strode toward the auction hall.

"One hundred eighty-eight million, one hundred thousand euros! Alright, bidder number 26 is at one hundred eighty-eight million, one hundred thousand euros! Do I have another bid? Alright, for one hundred eighty-eight million, one hundred thousand, going once! Going twice!"

"I bid one hundred eighty-eight million, five hundred thousand euros! To the gentleman from Huaxia, I’m telling you, this Copper Beast Head will be mine today!"

When Fang Chenyi returned to his seat, the auction for the Copper Beast Head was, surprisingly, still underway. However, it was clearly reaching its end.

This was evident from the dejected faces of most of the people in the room.

After the foreigner shouted out his bid of one hundred eighty-eight million, five hundred thousand euros, the hall fell silent once more. On stage, the auctioneer was starting to sweat.

He inwardly cursed the shill a thousand times over. ’Is this guy an idiot or what? Can’t he see the other bidder is at his limit? This is where you’re supposed to back down gracefully and let it go. I can’t believe he kept bidding!’

If this bid fell through and the shill got stuck with it, the potential commission lost would be greater than the profit from all the subsequent lots combined, even if they exceeded expectations!

Just as the auctioneer feared, once that price was announced, the Huaxia man who had been bidding all along let out a long sigh and tossed his paddle down on the table in front of him. He was clearly giving up.

Seeing this, the shill’s heart sank. ’I was just going to bid one more time and then quit,’ he thought, ’but I didn’t expect him to just give up completely. What do I do now? My commission of nearly a million just went up in smoke.’

Although the auctioneer on stage refused to accept this reality, the auction had to go on. No matter how he tried to coax the audience, the floor remained silent. Finally, he gritted his teeth.

He still said,

"Alright, bidder number seven is at one hundred eighty-eight million, five hundred thousand euros! Ladies and gentlemen, are you all going to stand by and watch this precious treasure fall into another’s hands? Fine. One hundred eighty-eight million, five hundred thousand euros, going once! Going twice! For one hundred eighty-eight million, five hundred thousand euros, going for the third—"

"Two hundred million euros."

Yet, in the split second before the gavel fell, the paddle in Bai Menghan’s hand shot up. Her sweet, calm voice then rang through the entire auction hall.

[To be continued...]