Christie's is one of the world's leading art auction houses, bringing together rare works of art, watches, jewelry, automobiles and wines from around the world, with offices in 90 major cities around the world and regular auctions in 16 locations around the world.

Christie's Hong Kong offers its five-day auctions twice a year, at the end of May and the end of November.

30 May 2013, the last day of Christie's Hong Kong.

In the 20th Century & Contemporary Asian Art auction, 45 of the 50 lots sold for a total of HK$414.95 million, with a total sell-through rate of 90% by lot and 91% by turnover.

At this time, the two large LED screens in the auction hall have finished the display of the lots, and the Christie's logo is used as the freeze-frame picture. The auctioneer on the stage is also packing up the materials and handing over to the on-site management personnel.

The original seats were full, and the collectors and entrepreneurs who participated in the auction either returned with a full load or regretted being lost, but all of them enjoyed a visual feast of art and left the table with a kind of spiritual abundance.

After the ringing of the phone fell completely silent, the entire auction hall suddenly became unusually quiet, and there were only a few groups of buyers left, sitting calmly in their original positions, holding a tablet in their hands and constantly flipping through the information, while the assistants by their side were whispering on the phone, leaning on their boss's ear from time to time to report the situation.

If Carlos was also there, he would definitely be able to recognize that the youngest bidder who is still in the auction hall is actually the former president of the student union who should have been far away in CAFA, only to see the president sitting next to a middle-aged man who seems to be his father in a formal suit and with a stern appearance, and next door to his father is He Sheng, a famous Hong Kong and Macao entrepreneur known as the "Macau Gambling King".

"Cousin, isn't the auction over? What are we doing here? The quality of this auction is too low, and several consortiums have not bid. ”

The gambling king, who was called his cousin, smiled, and the tail lines at the corners of his eyes made the whole person more kind.

"Because the real auction hasn't started yet."

"What......"

The president's words were not complete, for he seemed to have seen some incredible scene, and looked behind the gambling king in amazement. The shocked expressions of the nephew and son made the two men present turn their heads to look behind him in line of sight.

I saw that the door of the auction hall was opened from the outside, and two foreign bodyguards with huge bodies and swollen muscles, even with sunglasses, could not hide their fierce expressions, stood by the door with their hands behind their backs, and then under the escort of two teams of black-clothed bodyguards, a handsome young man who was as handsome as a god was dressed in British leisurely clothes, as if he was strolling leisurely in his own back garden.

"How could he be here!"

The sound of the chairman gritting his teeth attracted the attention of the gambling king.

"Whatever happens between you, right now, what you should do is keep a smile."

"Yingjie, do you know the young man in the lead?"

The president's father turned slightly sideways to block his son, leaving some space for the young man to manage his expressions.

"Carlos West, an American exchange student at our school."

Lowering his head slightly, the president hid his slightly hideous expression.

Damn, what the hell is this guy all about! The pomp is too big! He still relied on his cousin's relationship to obtain the qualification to enter the auction house, and his rival actually swaggered and broke in with the whole team very arrogantly?

The chairman chuckled in his heart, could he have stepped on a mine that was hidden very deeply?

On the other side, the gambling king looked at the pile of agents holding Wen Jiàn bags without a trace, and his fingers on the armchair moved. The assistant, who had been behind the three people, hurriedly opened the database with a tablet and handed it to the gambling king.

Barnett Ban, a British, is one of the best financial brokers in the United States and is currently employed by the Simulation Group. It can be said that he is the CEO. It's interesting that such a character is actually standing behind the young man. Don't have any information about that person? ”

Pushing the tablet back into the assistant's hand, the gambling king asked casually.

"I'm sorry, He Sheng, we only received the news of this auction a month ago, and we didn't collect complete information about the consortium participating in the auction."

Gently stop it, and it can be regarded as exposing the topic.

As a rookie simulation group in the United States, he also once understood that it was a private ownership group like a fan, with amazing financial resources and good friends with the Hoffman family. As it stands, the young man on the other side is most likely to be the successor, if not the one in power.

My nephew is still too young and impulsive, so it is necessary to mention one or two.

After Carlos and his party took their seats not far from the gambling king, in the next 15 minutes, there were 6 new groups of bidders appeared one after another.

The world's top billionaires and collectors actually attended the auction in person.

The gambling king followed the watch auction until now, and several Hong Kong businessmen exchanged glances, and it seems that this auction will become a real, no gunpowder war, and one can only rely on money to speak.

――――――――――

Once the bidders were seated, the auction hall was locked from the inside, and large LEDs already displayed details of the first lot and listed the huàn values of the various currencies. At the same time, two uniformed staff members carefully lifted the lot onto the display shelf so that all bidders could intuitively appreciate the charm of the artwork.

There were only about 10 bidders in the audience, and the few lots that appeared in front of them were all foreign private collection artworks, or some cultural relics obtained through irregular channels. Carlos was so bored that he put one hand on his cheek and the other hand swiped over the tablet provided by Mr. Advisor showing the list of lots.

"Lot 698, 'Bronze Nyorai Standing Statue', a Buddha statue about 38 cm high, made in the Korean Peninsula around the 8th century. In 1974, it was designated as an Important Cultural Property of Japan. The auction starts at HK$8 million. ”

As soon as the auctioneer's voice fell, someone added it to 9 million, and this impatient fierce momentum, blurted out the typical Japanese English, and told everyone that this entrepreneur is bound to buy back his country's cultural relics.

Smiling and bending his eyes, Carlos tilted his head slightly to speak to Mr. Advisor.

"That thing has a very rough life, it was stolen once in 1995, although it was found back that year, but it was stolen again last year, and I don't know if it's because the security work is too scummy, or if it's the same as Japanese comics, strange thieves will fly away. This time, you don't have to waste manpower to find it, just buy it back at the auction house. I don't know if they brought enough money, this world is very malicious. In other words, the Japanese are very patriotic and united, what do you think? ”

Maybe it was because he had mixed up with Jacob for most of his childhood, and when he talked about Japan, Carlos unconsciously became infected with the arrogant tone unique to the young master, and a few words of ordinary English were ironic by him.

In the face of his boss's intermittent convulsions, Mr. Consultant was very reserved and did not squint, and raised his chin slightly. Oh in a flat tone, obviously not wanting to talk.

"Don't believe me? I'll prove it to you. ”

it! His boss wants to make trouble again! Before Mr. Consultant could stretch out his hand, Carlos picked up the bright red number plate with the number 69 printed on it.

Yes, it matches his own forcing very well, and Carlos is very happy with this number.

"10 million."

The silky timbre made everyone in the auction room who heard Carlos's voice for the first time look at him in unison. When his appearance is exposed to people's eyes, collectors who have always pursued art and beauty have to marvel at this perfect face carefully made by God.

Several ladies blushed on the spot, and asked their assistants about the identity and background of the young man.

There was a slight commotion at the scene.

The gambling king team not far from Carlos heard what he just said the whole way, and after probably understanding the deep meaning, He Sheng also signaled the assistant to raise the card and stretched out two fingers.

"12 million."

His eyes lit up, Carlos looked at He Sheng who was smiling, he picked up the red wine glass on the table and toasted lightly. The two foxes, one big and one small, smiled tacitly.

To be reasonable, this bronze Buddha statue, in terms of appearance, is indeed difficult to impress the hearts of the foreign collectors present. If the value of the Buddha statue itself as a cultural relic, it is better to say that it is of great significance to Japan, and when it was first stolen, its market price was about 100 million yen, which is equivalent to 6 million soft sister coins.

The second time it was stolen, it was smuggled out of Japan. To be honest, the Japanese side wants to die and wants to buy it back, otherwise it will not only be the loss of cultural property, but more importantly, the country's face will be damaged.

is to see the other party's eagerness, not to mention that there is a deal of Gao Ren sharing the spoils in front of him, the pineapple general attack with bad intentions and patriotic characteristics has already made up his mind, and he will raise the price carelessly. Anyway, Lao Tzu is now a British citizen, and he has the ability to beat me!

"13 million!"

Japanese entrepreneurs followed closely behind the gambling king's offer. It seems that in his eyes, only this legendary Chinese is their biggest enemy.

Seeing that the price of the two broke through the 20 million mark in less than 1 minute, other collectors who were not interested in Buddha statues gathered around with great interest. While drinking red wine, I communicated with the assistant around me, which was very pleasant.

After 20 million, the increase in the quotations of gambling kings and Japanese entrepreneurs has shrunk significantly, only increasing by a few hundred thousand each time. Not to mention that several assistants on the Japanese side were eagerly on the phone, and they snorted and said that the chairman and his father around the gambling king were also stern.

"Cousin-in-law, be careful of pitfalls."

"Haha, don't be afraid, I'm just a small appetizer, and the main owner hasn't played yet."

He Sheng's expression remained unchanged, and after he finished speaking in a low voice, he turned to look at the Japanese entrepreneur, showed a friendly smile, and put down the number plate to show that he would not fight.

The other party smiled gratefully, put down the card, and waited for the auctioneer to knock on the gavel.

"21.5 million for the first time, 21.5 million for the second ......"

"30 million."

The originally noble and elegant English smashed the triumphant smile of the Japanese entrepreneur, and he stared at Carlos who was lazily holding up a sign with round eyes.

AS A SMALL SUPPORTING CHARACTER WHO IS IN THE SAME SHOT AS HIS OWN BOSS, MR. CONSULTANT PERFECTLY HOLDS HIS ELITE FACE. But his heart was already broken, and he couldn't wait to tie this beloved guy back to the little black room immediately.

"Boss, you are playing so big now, wait for your white moonlight to come out, be careful of being besieged."

"Barnett, you underestimate other people's patriotic feelings, only multiply it a few times, even if you give up all the following lots, little Japan will definitely eat this Buddha statue." Moreover, my opponents have never been them, and all the trenches you are present are dead? Everyone's goal is the same. ”

is worthy of being from the same country, the two of them have maintained the integrity of their smiles to a high degree, and they don't need to move their mouths, and they directly transmit the sound into their ears.

"30.3 million!"

Glancing disdainfully at the blushing-faced Japanese entrepreneur, Carlos calmly raised his card.

"35 million."

"35.2 million!"

After squeezing out another 200,000, the other party's eyes at Carlos were about to kill, and his mouth kept talking rapidly.

"What is he talking about?"

It's a bit far away, no, it's actually an excuse, the point is that Carlos doesn't speak Japanese and doesn't understand.

has been paying attention to the confrontation between the two sides, and the gambling king has turned the tablet in his hand to the position of Carlos, which has two lines of specially enlarged English, which is roughly that: return to China to start Carlos's bottom, apply for a comprehensive boycott of his production and operation in Japan, and implement an economic blockade.

Blinking innocently, Carlos innocently said to Mr. Advisor.

"I didn't plan to go to Japan at all, what the hell is he doing. If you don't have money, don't be fat, 39 million. ”

didn't suppress his voice at all, Carlos's words were relayed by the Japanese entrepreneur's own translation, which completely ignited the other party's patriotic heart, and pushed the price up to 40 million Hong Kong dollars in one go, which was converted into more than 560 million yen.

With a transaction price far exceeding the budget, he finally bought the "bronze statue", but at this moment, the Japanese entrepreneur was already sweating profusely, his face was pale, and he looked like he would not be able to afford to go at any time. No matter what heirloom cultural relics appear in the future, they have nothing to do with them, and the blessing of Tokaros has completely emptied the funds brought by them.

Not to mention the Japanese entrepreneurs, the adults who watched the whole process of Carlos digging pits and raising prices are not comfortable, damn it, this is a completely different level of beast from himself, a good trench is not appropriate, why do you want to come all the way from the United States to China as an exchange student!

If you have money, you have the right to say it early! What to do if you get injured by mistake!

The baby's heart is bitter! But the baby can't tell!