Blake's tone was as if he was giving alms. Ma Xiong's face suddenly darkened. He didn't expect the young and aggressive Blake to be so domineering. He had already started to provoke Xia Ruofei before he even entered the venue.
Xia Ruofei's expression didn't change. He glanced at Blake lightly and said, "Take care of our business? Maybe you'll be disappointed. You won't be able to get a single truffle today! "
Blake suddenly sneered and said, "Why would I be afraid of not being able to buy truffles with money? What a joke! "
Xia Ruofei didn't bother to pay attention to Blake anymore. He directly said to Ma Xiong, "Mr. Ma, let's go in!"
Ma Xiong immediately nodded and glared at Blake. Then, he said to Xia Ruofei, "Xia Sheng, please!"
The two of them had just taken two steps when Xia Ruofei heard Blake's surprised voice behind him. "Monica! You're here … "
Xia Ruofei stopped and turned around. He saw Monica, who was wearing a luxurious dress, walking out of the elevator with elegant steps.
She was already very tall. Coupled with a pair of Ferragamo handmade high heels, her long legs looked even more slender. When she walked over with elegant steps, she immediately attracted a lot of stunned gazes.
Xia Ruofei couldn't help but think of the charming scene last night. He couldn't help but feel his heart skip a beat.
Facing the enthusiastic Blake, Monica's beautiful eyebrows frowned slightly. Then, she nodded at him lightly as a greeting.
Then, her gaze moved to Xia Ruofei. Her delicate face suddenly bloomed with a beautiful smile. She quickened her steps and walked quickly toward Xia Ruofei.
"Xia! It's such a pleasure to meet you again in the beautiful Hong Kong! "Monica said in English.
Xia Ruofei also pretended that the two of them had just met. He smiled and said, "Monica, you're getting more and more beautiful!"
Monica glanced at Xia Ruofei flirtatiously. At this time, she had already walked in front of Xia Ruofei. Without hesitation, she hugged Xia Ruofei and kissed him on the cheek.
Just as they hugged, Monica secretly pinched Xia Ruofei's soft flesh on the waist. Such a small action in public made Xia Ruofei's heart skip a beat. He felt nervous and excited.
Although hugs and kisses were normal etiquette in Europe, to be hugged by a beauty like Monica, Xia Ruofei still attracted many envious gazes.
Not too far away, Feng Jing watched this scene unfold. For some reason, she felt a sense of sadness in her heart.
As for Blake, his eyes were almost burning with anger.
Just now, he took the initiative to greet Monica. Moreover, the two of them were old acquaintances. Monica's Grasso family and his Blake family even wanted to matchmake the two of them through marriage. In the end, Monica was so cold to him.
Then, Monica immediately hugged Xia Ruofei and kissed him on the cheek.
Such differential treatment made Blake so jealous that he was about to go crazy.
His eyes revealed a deep coldness. He secretly gritted his teeth and stared at Xia Ruofei. His hands covered by his sleeves were tightly clenched into fists. His nails were almost piercing into his flesh, but he didn't feel it.
Blake couldn't wait to go up and give Xia Ruofei a good beating. However, in the end, his rationality prevailed over his impulse. He just stood there and watched Xia Ruofei, Monica, and Ma Xiong walk into the auction site, talking and laughing.
"Huaxia country bumpkin, I will definitely teach you a lesson!" Blake said hatefully in his heart.
Blake also stepped into the auction site. He didn't have an invitation letter, so after checking the deposit receipt and the general admission ticket at the door, he was guided to the general area at the back by the staff.
Xia Ruofei, Monica, Ma Xiong, and the others naturally sat in the guest seats in the middle of the front row.
Ma Xiong was also a clever person. He arranged for Xia Ruofei and Monica to sit next to each other.
After Xia Ruofei and Monica sat down, Ma Xiong greeted them and left his seat to chat with his old friends who were invited to participate in the auction.
Ma Xiong didn't introduce those friends to Xia Ruofei before the auction started. After the auction, there would be a small thank-you lunch. Those who were invited were all Ma Xiong's old friends for many years. Every one of them was a very influential person in Hong Kong, and they were also important people in the upper echelons of various industries.
Ma Xiong planned to introduce them to Xia Ruofei at the lunch. That kind of environment was more suitable for everyone to communicate.
After Ma Xiong left, only Xia Ruofei and Monica were left sitting in their seats.
However, there were cameras everywhere in the venue, and there were many people behind them. Moreover, there were media cameras everywhere. Therefore, the two of them still sat upright and didn't dare to do anything out of line.
Of course, although the two of them sat in their seats without looking sideways, they could still whisper. However, when they spoke, they would cover their mouths with their hands to prevent others from reading their lips. The paparazzi in Hong Kong were too powerful. Xia Ruofei had to be careful.
"Monica, have you rested well?" Xia Ruofei asked in a low voice.
Monica looked ahead and seemed to be watching the official promotional video of the auction very seriously. At the same time, she also covered her mouth and said softly, "Very good! I feel energetic now. Xia, you're really a magical man! "
Hearing Monica's undisguised praise, and even with a hint of admiration in her tone, Xia Ruofei couldn't help but feel a strong sense of accomplishment.
He couldn't help but blurt out, "Are you free tonight?"
Monica couldn't help but chuckle when she heard this. She said, "Dear, you're becoming more and more infatuated with me …"
Xia Ruofei coughed awkwardly and said, "It's not easy to see you. We should cherish the time …"
"Agreed, then … I'll go find you tonight?" Monica chuckled and said, "When I think of your body, I'm so excited that I don't even want to attend the auction …"
Xia Ruofei couldn't help but sweat. He thought to himself, Sister, aren't you being too proactive? This will make me feel like I'm being f * cked by you …
However, he couldn't admit defeat in front of a beauty, so Xia Ruofei quickly said with a smirk, "If you can unlock more positions, you'll definitely want more …"
Monica's charming blue eyes became even more blurred. She giggled and said, "That will depend on your ability!"
At this time, the guests in the seat next to Monica were also guided to their seats by the staff. The two immediately stopped this charming topic and began to talk about the auction.
At 9: 30, the auction officially began.
This time, Feng Jing specially modified the arrangement. She didn't go on stage at the beginning of the auction. Dong Jiajun, the manager of Hengfeng Auction House, replaced her role.
Xia Ruofei flipped through the schedule of the auction. Feng Jing would only give a simple speech after the auction ended.
She really didn't want to show her face in public, but she didn't have the ability to refuse Xia Ruofei's rogue arrangement. In the end, such an arrangement was the product of compromise.
After Dong Jiajun went on stage, he didn't make a long speech. He just enthusiastically introduced the auction items and thanked all the guests and guests who came to support him today. Then, he invited Hengfeng Auction House's gold auctioneer, Lu Zhongguang.
There were 38 pieces of white truffles and 19 pieces of black truffles in the auction this time.
The largest white truffles were 2.75 kilograms and the black truffles were 2.66 kilograms.
There were 6 pieces of white truffles that were more than 2 kilograms and 3 pieces of black truffles. In addition, there were 15 pieces of white truffles and 7 pieces of black truffles between 1 and 2 kilograms. The remaining 16 pieces of white truffles and 8 pieces of black truffles were at least 800 to 900 grams.
It could be said that the truffles in this auction, even the worst one, could be regarded as the best.
The first items to be auctioned were white truffles and black truffles that were less than 1 kilogram.
Eight pieces of black truffles appeared first.
About half of the buyers in this auction came from Europe and the United States, so the general currency, US dollars, was used for settlement.
These eight pieces of black truffles were auctioned one by one. These eight pieces of black truffles, which weighed an average of 800 to 900 grams, were sold for more than 4,000 US dollars. The eight pieces of black truffles brought Xia Ruofei a total of 35,000 US dollars.
The price of white truffles was obviously a lot more expensive.
White truffles of the same weight were originally more precious than black truffles. In addition, this year's white truffle harvest was the worst in recent years, which objectively led to a rise in price.
The starting price of the 16 pieces of white truffles was 10,000 US dollars. The lightest piece was 882 grams. This truffle was sold for a high price of 65,000 US dollars, and none of the following 15 pieces were lower than this price.
In the end, the total price of the 16 pieces of white truffles reached 1,129 million US dollars.
This could only be regarded as a warm-up auction – the good stuff was still to come! Even so, Xia Ruofei had already earned 1,164 million US dollars.
Basically, the buyers who participated in the auction were in the ordinary area. Although this batch of truffles would definitely be regarded as the best on other occasions, in today's auction, it was only the lowest grade. There were more and bigger truffles that had not been revealed yet. The guests who were specially invited to participate in the auction basically wouldn't bid at this time.
People with status still had to be reserved.
Blake, who was sitting in the ordinary area, also had a disdainful smile on his face. He didn't participate in the bidding for this batch of truffles.
After the auction of the truffles less than 1 kilogram was completed, Lu Zhongguang immediately announced the start of the second batch of truffles.
There were too many top-quality truffles in this auction, and now that the Taoyuan Company's reputation had been established, it could be regarded as a brand guarantee, so Lu Zhongguang rarely kept people guessing. The entire auction was very tight.
The remaining 11 pieces of black truffles were all arranged to be auctioned in this batch.
Among them, there were 7 pieces between 1 and 2 kilograms, and 4 pieces above 2 kilograms, including the largest 2.66 kilograms.
For a long time, the price of black truffles had been much lower than white truffles. Even in the case of a sharp decline in production this year, the transaction price of black truffles was much lower than white truffles.
7 pieces of 1 to 2 kilograms of black truffles were sold for a total of 380,000 US dollars.
4 pieces of 2 kilograms of black truffles brought a total of 730,000 US dollars for Xia Ruofei. Among them, the 2.66 kilograms of black truffles was sold for 200,000 US dollars, which was far more than the price of black truffles.
Of course, the black truffles that broke the world record for weight alone, because of their rarity, the price certainly couldn't be calculated by the market price.
Next, only the white truffles were left. The rich and famous people who had been uninterested before sat up straight and began to show serious expressions.
Although Blake still pretended to be indifferent, his gaze on the stage from time to time exposed his inner thoughts.
The first to be auctioned were 15 pieces of 1 to 2 kilograms of white truffles. The starting price of these white truffles was 100,000 US dollars.
As soon as the first piece of white truffles weighing 1.12 kilograms was auctioned, everyone bid enthusiastically, and the price soon reached 210,000 US dollars.
This price was basically close to the limit in previous years, but this year's harvest wasn't very good, so the price may go higher.
There were two chefs from Michelin restaurants who participated in the bidding. Even after the price reached 210,000 US dollars, the two were still weighing how to increase the price.
After all, if such a piece of white truffle was brought back to the restaurant, it would definitely bring a considerable advertising effect, and it would definitely not be a loss if it was sold in the restaurant.
At this moment, a lazy voice said, "250,000 US dollars!"
This voice came from the ordinary seats, and Lu Zhongguang couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, but his professional attainment made him subconsciously look towards the voice, and then accurately reported the price, "Mr. 184 bids 250,000 US dollars!"
The person holding the number 184 bidding card was Blake.
Blake's price was a bit unreasonable. The price was already close to the ceiling, but he suddenly increased it by 40,000 US dollars, making it clear that he was determined to win.
After he reported the price, he glanced sideways at Xia Ruofei. Of course, he didn't forget to secretly look at Monica, but unfortunately, Monica's expression didn't change at all.
As soon as this bid came out, the people who had competed before gave up one after another.
Although there were many rich people here, none of them were spendthrifts. Besides, there were more than a dozen pieces of white truffles waiting to be auctioned, and there was a more important finale later. Why would they be afraid that they couldn't buy truffles if they had the money? No matter how awesome Blake was, could he have bought all the truffles in such an unconventional way?
Sitting in the middle of the first row, Ma Xiong's face became a little ugly, but he couldn't do anything. Blake came all the way here uninvited, and he was definitely going to make a move at the auction. This was something he couldn't stop.
Ma Xiong was worried that Xia Ruofei would feel uncomfortable in his heart.
Lu Zhongguang saw that the buyers present didn't seem to have the intention to bid, so he said without hesitation, "Is there anyone else who wants to bid a higher price? 250,000 US dollars once! 250,000 US dollars twice! 250,000 US dollars thrice … "
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