The Tycoon's Enchanted Mermaid-Chapter 129 - : Commercial Value

Chapter 129: Chapter 129: Commercial Value

“What Xiling? What auction? What are you guys talking about?” Tang Bufan was completely dumbfounded, unable to get a word in or understand the topic.

He had only left the Capital City for a little while, yet it felt like the world had changed.

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What’s going on?

Wei Lan pointed a finger at him, “You, stop talking.”

Tang Bufan had to shut up temporarily.

Qin Yu pondered, “Since they are spreading rumors about it being from Xiling, the target is probably me.”

Wei Lan thought so too, “Could it be the Qin Family is up to something, like Qin Huaiming? Right after Qin Xiu left, everyone’s eyes are on the South Pacific Region. He might be causing trouble now on purpose, perhaps to divert your attention, make you too strained to attend to the South Pacific Region, and then seize power.”

At this point, Tang Bufan couldn’t help but interject, “Qin Xiu ran off to the South Pacific Region? Why?”

Wei Lan felt like hitting him. Tang Bufan had to cover his mouth quickly and raise his hand in an ok sign to indicate that he wouldn’t interrupt again.

“It’s not impossible,” Qin Yu said, his finger lightly tracing the rim of the cup, he let out a cold snort, “Qin Huaiming or anyone else, no matter what they’re plotting, I won’t know until I completely shatter their schemes.”

Wei Lan looked at him, “Third Young Master, are you planning to attend the Wanrong Auction Evening?”

Qin Yu smiled faintly, his dark eyes mingling with ice and snow, chillingly striking, “Since the stage is already set by the other party, how can the play go on if I don’t attend?”

Moreover, regarding the matter of Xiling, whether it was true or not, I had to investigate fully. I couldn’t keep dragging on the affair with Ah Da.

Suddenly, Qin Yu looked over, Ah Da turned her head to meet his gaze.

“Do you want to go see the show?” Qin Yu asked.

“Huh?” Ah Da didn’t quite catch on, but she obediently nodded, “Sure, I’d like to see it.”

Qin Yu smiled and agreed, reaching out to ruffle her hair.

Wei Lan said with crossed arms, “Since you’re both attending the banquet, I might as well join you to check out the excitement. I have a good eye for authenticity, I can tell if it’s real or not at a glance.”

Qin Yu nodded. Wei Lan was an expert in this field and knew about antiques; if something from Xiling was really there, no matter what, it had to be acquired.

Tang Bufan also raised his hand to assert his presence, “Don’t forget about me, eh? If you all are going, I want to go too.”

Wei Lan didn’t want to deal with him and continued, “Mr. Qin and Mr. Yu are also quite surprised by this, since the matter of Xiling is absolutely confidential. Now that Wanrong is suddenly announcing it, there are many suspicions. And I found out that Wanrong won’t allow any advance reservations this time.”

“No reservations allowed? What does that mean?” Tang Bufan asked, puzzled.

Wei Lan explained, “Wanrong has always been different from other auction houses. It’s more like a middleman, a platform. Many of the antiques it auctions don’t belong to Wanrong; they’re just placed there for selling. Wanrong takes a certain fee, about ten percent of the final sale price.”

“Ten percent? Are they crazy? It’s not even their item. Are they running an auction or robbing people?”

Tang Bufan exclaimed.

Wei Lan continued, “Wanrong dares to charge a high price mainly because they have many clients, making it easy to sell items. The prices rise with the tide. Some have suspected they’re involved in illegal activities, such as fakes, allowing some dubious money to be laundered through their platform.”

“But these are all speculations; no one knows if they’re genuine or just masking their true business.”

“As for reservations, before, when Wanrong Auction House openly auctioned some antiques, they’d always purposely leak the info about the antiques before the auction starts. Collectors interested in a certain piece would then go to make reservations, which is basically the same as outright buying them.”

“The price for reservation will be higher than the estimated value. You guys should know that each antique has its own appraisal value. For example, if the bid doesn’t meet the estimate during the actual auction, it’s very likely they’ll end up not selling. That’s one of Wanrong’s private rules.”

Tang Bufan mocked, “An auction can actually end with regrets halfway through? Wanrong Auction House really has some tricks up its sleeve. How come I never noticed before, was I living under a rock?”

“This is something only those of us in the know are aware of. If you don’t look into it specifically, surely no one will tell you. Besides, you weren’t interested in these things in the past.”

Thinking about it, Tang Bufan agreed. He always thought antiques were just everyday items of ancient people, nothing special about them, their only value perhaps being that they carried historical significance.

Of course, to the average person, value equates to price, and expensiveness has always been a label of antiques.

After deciding on attending the Wanrong Auction Evening, the group began their breakfast. After eating, Ah Da went upstairs to pack some things to prepare for departure to the museum.

Wei Lan, having mooched off breakfast, found an excuse to plan his escape. Tang Bufan, who was known to push his luck, asked Qin Yu before leaving why he suddenly fell in love with jewelry, alluding to the string of beads on his wrist.

Qin Yu replied with a lackluster demeanor, “I see you’re quite happy staying in Tong City. When I have time, I’ll talk to Uncle Tang. We could arrange for you to stay there long-term to develop your career.”

Hearing this, Tang Bufan almost dropped to his knees and begged for mercy. He had barely escaped from Tong City, and being sent back there would be like being pushed into a fiery pit!

After a series of solemn promises, Qin Yu finally let up, and Tang Bufan didn’t delay any further and took off.

By the time Ah Da came downstairs, both Wei Lan and Tang Bufan had vanished, leaving only Qin Yu sitting on the couch.

They must have already left.

Wearing little leather shoes, Ah Da approached Qin Yu.

“I’m ready.”

Qin Yu looked up, the young girl had switched into a blue gradient skirt, her jet-black hair braided into plaits with two or three floral clips atop her head, her snow-white complexion unadorned and fresh.

Her outfit made her look even more youthful.

Qin Yu slowly placed the magazine he was holding aside and stood up, “I’ll go change my clothes.”

Ah Da replied with an “Oh”, not understanding why he needed to change now, so she just settled onto the couch, “Go ahead. I’ll wait here for you.”

Watching Qin Yu ascend the stairs, Ah Da pulled out her phone from her little backpack. She had completely spent her game currency last night, and the two main forces of the anti-black group had immediately noticed.

In just the time it had taken to have breakfast, their chat history had already surpassed 999+ messages.

They were even desperately mentioning her, asking if it was her.

Ah Da opened the group chat.

Bai Zhouliu (Group Owner): It’s exploded. Not just the fans, super talk topics have exploded, the haters and rivals too, hahahaha, I really snapped upright from my deathbed. Never thought we’d have a day to hold our heads high, exhilarating!

Is There a Fault in Liking Qingtong: I’ve seen countless marketing accounts on the plaza spewing their sour remarks already, some say the studio bought it, some say the company sold out, and others say Qingtong paid out of her own pocket to buy them, driving the haters mad.

Bai Zhouliu (Group Owner): Their sourness is useless. Once the official celebration of the sell-out was posted, Qingtong’s commercial value soared. They only have envy to keep them company.

Is There a Fault in Liking Qingtong: Indeed, don’t mind their sarcastic remarks about how one fan buying everything indicates a lack of fans. Do we care about the numbers? Absolutely not. Besides, what fan wouldn’t want a wealthy fan in their circle to splash out real cash? They know better than anyone the importance of having rich fans when it comes to sales.