Zhou Wenchang said: "You need to pay a deposit to participate in the auction, Brother Chen, if you want to participate, you can go to the staff to go through the formalities." ”

Chen Wenka still has 3.73 million US dollars, which can be regarded as a little rich, but it is still far from the grade of the rich, and this money is not enough to see when he gets it to the auction house to play the auction, he said with a smile: "I don't plan to shoot it for the time being, let's watch the excitement." ”

Han Cunshui said: "If Brother Chen wants to buy something he likes, we can go to Sotheby's sales office and choose from the non-lot items in a while." Maybe you can come across something interesting. ”

Chen Wen nodded and didn't ask any more. Asking too many questions makes it seem embarrassing.

The three of them sat down in their chairs and began to look at the booklet in their hands.

Chen Wen thought that the three booklets were the same, because they bought three tickets, only to find that they had misestimated again. The three booklets are completely different.

According to the brochure, the 1992 Sotheby's Paris Autumn Auction lasted for 11 days, with three auctions per day, focusing on jewelry, calligraphy and paintings, and rare crafts.

Each of the three booklets corresponds to a theme, and Chen Wen holds rare handicrafts in his hands. Dozens of pages, each page printed with several photos, each photo is a handicraft, accompanied by a simple text description.

These handicrafts are half antiques and half are the works of modern masters. Below each image, the starting price of the lot is printed, ranging from a few hundred dollars to millions of dollars.

Chen Wen felt that Chinese antiques should account for a large proportion, but after looking through this booklet, he only found three. One is a Ming Dynasty white-glazed porcelain vase with a small mouth, a thin neck and a big belly, with a starting price of 150,000 US dollars. The other is a Qing Dynasty blue and white porcelain gallbladder bottle with a wide mouth, thick neck and long belly, with a starting price of 120,000 US dollars.

Chen Wen knew that Mr. Ma liked porcelain very much, but he was not interested. He thought to himself, fortunately he didn't let Mr. Ma know that he came to Sotheby's today, otherwise that old thing would have been all over the place, and he would have to let Lao Tzu buy these two bottles.

In the handicraft booklet, Chen Wen saw a favorite thing he liked, which was the third Huaxia lot, a camel made of copper tires and gold.

The size description text shows: 12 cm long, 8 cm high, a camel in a lying position, it is a mini ornament, produced by a small country in the Western Regions in ancient China, about 1300 years ago, with a starting price of 10,000 US dollars.

Chen Wen calculated that 1,300 years ago, this camel was a cultural relic of the Tang Dynasty, a product of a small country on the Silk Road, and the small country had long been lost in history.

Chen Wen's brain made up for a moment, the camel is not big, it should be quite suitable to hold in the hand, it can be placed on the desk as an ornament, it can also be played, and it can also be used as a paperweight, and the two humps on the back can be used as a pen holder, which is really multi-purpose, beautiful and practical.

The Southeast Asian brothers are flipping through two more volumes

Chen Wen has not yet reached the point where he can buy millions of beautiful knife jewelry for his girlfriend, and his cultural accumulation is very weak, and he has no research and taste for Chinese and Western calligraphy and painting, so he is too lazy to ask for those two booklets.

But this mini camel, Chen Wen saw it in his eyes and loved it in his heart.

So he found the staff at the door and expressed his willingness to participate in the auction.

Sotheby's staff are very professional, and although they lick the super-rich, they are able to maintain basic courtesy towards ordinary bidders. After a standardized process, Chen Wen filled out the directional auction agreement, promising to only participate in the auction of this miniature camel, and paid a deposit of 10,000 US dollars by card.

The agreement promised that if Chen Wen did not win the auction, Sotheby's would refund the deposit, and ordinary tourists like Chen Wen would not be able to participate in the auction for other lots.

Chen Wen did not feel discriminated against or discriminated against in the slightest about this agreement, but happily signed it. This is one of Chen Wen's great advantages, he does not have such a fragile self-esteem, and he will not cry and accuse the other party of discriminating against the Chinese and the poor because of a little grievance.

If you feel wronged because of Sotheby's discrimination, then it's easy to do, you make more money, become a top rich, and let Sotheby's kneel in front of you, this is the right way to open. It's no need to get angry with Sotheby's.

Chen Wen can understand that Sotheby's has sound rules, if you want to participate in the auction of top goods, then you should come up with a proper proof of wealth, otherwise a troublemaker will blindly raise a card, and Sotheby's will not do business?

Knowing that Chen Wen was going to participate in the auction, Han Cunshui and Zhou Wenchang were very excited.

Han Cunshui said: "I originally thought that I was here to see the excitement today, but I didn't expect Brother Chen that you would participate in the auction, it's so exciting!"

Zhou Wenchang said with a smile: "I wish Brother Chen a beautiful hug!"

Chen Wen said: "This saying is not used like this, it is called hugging the camel and returning!"

Han Cunshui laughed quietly: "It's not a mistake for Brother Zhou to hug the beauty, Brother Chen will definitely be able to hold the twin beauties one day!"

Chen Wen is very beautiful in his heart, he likes these two brothers to talk.

After a while, the first auction of the day officially began.

The order of lots is in reverse order of price, starting with the lot with the lowest starting price.

The starting price for the first lot is 3,000 US dollars, and the item is a pendant of a tribal chief in an African country, 200 years ago. There were a bunch of black stone ornaments on it, and Chen Wen couldn't tell what it was made of.

Zhou Wenchang whispered: "Ethiopia's, the ancient tomb was blown up by the Italian army during World War II and got it

Africa. ”

Chen Wen remembered that the black human rights nobleman Keita he met a few days ago was Ethiopian.

This person can't stand the chatter, Chen Wen just thought about Keita, and his eyes saw Keita.

The auction has begun, and the first person to raise his card is Keita!

Keita sat in the VIP seating area, and his bodyguard sat in a chair next to him. After five rounds of sign-up, Keita auctioned off the relics of the ancient chieftain of his hometown for $8,000.

The host asked three times, but no one raised the price again, and the wooden hammer smashed on the auction table to announce the deal.

Keita stepped up to the podium and said in French: "This handicraft may not be of much value in your eyes, but it is an ornament of a great man in my country. It has been away from home for fifty years, and today I take it home and donate it to our national museum. Thank you!"

The audience and bidders applauded Keita, and the big black man smiled and greeted everyone. Subsequently, he left the scene under the guidance of the staff and went to the backstage to handle the payment and handover procedures.

The next few lots, with a starting price of less than $10,000, are mostly modern handicrafts, and only one is an antiquity, from Russia.

Finally came to the copper-inlaid gold camel that Chen Wenxin had in mind.

When Keita was bidding, there was no one competing with him. But when it was Chen Wen's turn to bid, he actually met two opponents.

Looking at the face and listening to the accent, the other party is from Wanwan and Hong Kong Island respectively.

Chen Wen had many dealings with the people of Wanwan, and for the first time in his life, he met the people of Hong Kong Island.

There are no fathers and sons in the casino, and there are no friends in the auction room. There is competition, and Chen Wen can't get a favorite lot as easily as Keita.

The price of copper-inlaid and gold-encrusted camels, under the competition of three Chinese, has risen all the way, starting from the starting price of 10,000 US dollars, and increasing the price by 1,000 each time to 28,000 US dollars.

That's nearly 150,000 Huaxia coins!

Of the two competitors, Wanwan people sat in the same ordinary seating area as Chen Wen, but in the first row. Hong Kong Islanders sit in the VIP area. Chen Wen looked at the back of their heads, and felt a wave of disgust in his heart.

Too lazy to increase the price by another 1,100, Chen Wen raised his card for the Nth time and shouted directly: "33,000!"

The people of Hong Kong put down their signs and no longer participated in the competition.

The Wanwan people turned their heads and glanced at Chen Wen, their eyes were very vicious. Chen Wen saw the other party's appearance clearly this time, and he always felt familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere.

After glaring at Chen Wen, the Wanwan man turned around and sat upright again, and Chen Wen didn't know what the other party's mentality was.