"Sixty dollars!"
"Seventy dollars!"
"Eighty dollars!"
The price rose steadily, and soon approached the original price of one hundred dollars.
Although the auctioneer had emphasized that the material of the small box was unknown, its appearance was pleasing to the eye, and the workmanship was exquisite. Many of the believers in the front row were rich and had an eye for art.
However, the starting price of this item was relatively low. Subconsciously, everyone thought that it was made of artificial jade or emerald. The quality of the material was poor, and the price was low.
When the price rose to eighty dollars, Li Du, who had been looking at his phone, raised his hand. "One hundred dollars!"
Sophie looked at him in surprise. She smiled. "You don't have to bid. Don't mind what Marate said. He's just that childish."
Marate was also bidding. Of course, he was bidding because of Sophie.
Hence, when Li Du raised the price to one hundred dollars, he immediately followed. "One hundred and ten dollars."
Li Du said, "Two hundred dollars!"
His high bid immediately won applause. However, the other bidders backed out of the bidding. Obviously, they thought that two hundred dollars for a second-hand jewelry box was not worth it.
Marate did not back down. He shouted, "Two hundred and fifty dollars."
Li Du said, "Three hundred dollars."
Sophie quickly pulled him back and whispered, "A new one is only one hundred dollars. Why are you spending so much money? Li, don't be angry with Marate. It makes you look childish. "
Li Du patted her hand and said, "I know what I'm doing. I'll play a trick on you later."
Marate was enraged by the intimacy between the two. "Four hundred dollars!" he yelled.
Li Du raised his hand. "Five hundred dollars."
The bidding was not met with applause, but laughter. However, it was kind laughter. Everyone saw this as a competition between the two young men to please Sophie.
Mrs. Martin also tried to persuade Li Du. "That's enough, son. The price is high enough. Sophie's jewelry box has become the star of the show."
The laughter made Marate lose his cool. He thought that his bid would be met with applause. After all, this was his home turf. He did not expect to be met with laughter.
This made him feel humiliated. It hurt his pride as a tough guy.
So, he made a final struggle and said, "Six hundred dollars."
Li Du could see through his plan. These days, he had been dealing with auctions every day, and the people he dealt with were all cunning treasure hunters. His daily job was to analyze the psychological changes of his opponents.
Hence, when he noticed Marate's starting bid, he slowly said, "610 dollars."
Marate snorted coldly. The laughter around him continued. He stopped bidding and sullenly sat in his seat, fuming.
The auctioneer pointed at him and said, "610 dollars going once, 610 dollars going twice. If there is still no one bidding, then I will shout: 610 dollars going thrice! This precious auction item belongs to you, Mr. Li! "
Li Du stood up and bowed. Along with the applause, there was laughter.
After bowing, he did not sit down. Instead, he walked directly to the stage.
Seeing this, the followers were puzzled. The volunteer in charge of organizing the event quickly came up and said, "Sir, after the auction ends, we will hand over the items. You don't have to leave now."
Marate once again found Li Du's point of attack. He laughed and said, "Ha, you're a treasure hunter. Don't you know the rules? You've never participated in a formal auction? It's really funny. "
The laughter became louder. It was no longer just kindness. The other followers were obviously thinking the same thing.
Sophie reached out and pulled him back. She whispered, "Li, now is not the time to hand over the money."
Li Du held her wrist and turned back with a smile. "Remember what I said just now? I'll show you a magic trick. Now, let's go up to the stage. "
He turned back and whispered a few words to the volunteer. The volunteer looked surprised and obediently stepped aside.
Li Du held Sophie's hand and walked up to the auction stage. The female doctor's face was pink. She staggered and her eyes were blank. Simply put, she was confused.
Where is this? This is a church. In her mind, a man and a woman walking up to the pulpit hand in hand would only happen when a couple was about to get married.
Now, she was being pulled up to the stage by a man. Her parents and followers were sitting in the audience. No matter how she looked at it, it seemed like they were about to get married.
Someone also noticed this. He laughed and said, "Young man, are you going to propose to Sophie here?"
"This is not a good place. It's suitable for marriage, but not for a proposal."
"Sophie, you can't say yes. This kid is messing around."
The female doctor was in a daze. Her face was pink and her brain had stopped working. How could she hear what the crowd was saying?
Li Du heard them, but he did not care. He stood up and said to Lewis, "Buddy, I'll host the auction. I'll add some fuel to the fire."
The auctioneer laughed, "Please come over here. Don't go overboard."
Li Du nodded at him and took the jewelry box from the tray. He cleared his throat and stood facing the crowd.
Like Sophie, the followers were confused by what he was doing. They all looked at him in a daze.
Li Du said, "Everyone, I've bought this lipstick box. I'm going to put it back on the auction stage and give it to the rightful owner."
"You're going to give it back to Sophie? Isn't this making a mountain out of a molehill? "
"This is not romantic, buddy. It's not nice to do this."
"Go down, you're embarrassing Sophie."
Marate shouted, "You're a clown now, and you're making a clown of Sophie. What a shame!"
Li Du smiled and said, "Everyone has misunderstood me. I won this jewelry box, but I didn't win it fair and square. Everyone doesn't know the true identity of this box.
"The auctioneer said that the material of this box is unknown. I promise everyone here that this box is made of emerald. The small stones on it are also real sapphires, turquoise, and rubies!"
Hearing him say this, the previously noisy church suddenly became much quieter. Not many people spoke, and they all looked at him in shock.
Li Du continued to smile, "The reason why it's designed this way is to restore the image of the emerald in our Eastern mythology.
"In our Eastern mythology, the emerald is a bird that lives in the south. Its feathers are very colorful, usually red, blue, and green.
"Generally speaking, the male of this bird is red and is called 'emerald.' The female is green and is called 'emerald.' The eggs that they give birth are blue. The emerald is a very spiritual bird.
"In the Tang Dynasty, there was a famous poet called Chen Zi 'ang. He wrote a poem to describe this precious spiritual bird …"
At this point, he switched to Mandarin and recited rhythmically, "The emerald nest in the south sea, the male and female pearls in the forest. Beautiful and gentle jewelry, luxuriant brocade! "
As he recited the poem, applause rang out. The louder the recitation, the louder the applause, like thunder!
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