Panda Novel
Chapter 131: The person behind this is really good at making money.
Chapter 131: Chapter 131: The person behind this is really good at making money.
Qi Yue looked around and saw many both famous and obscure items.
One could say that there were all kinds of treasures on display.
Among those Qi Yue could recognize were a hundred-year Ginseng, tiger bones, and other such things, indeed more precious than those found outside.
Suddenly, she saw the crowd moving in one direction, and Mother Zhang also pulled her along in that direction.
“Young master, there’s an auction today. Let’s go have a look,”
Asking around, she learned that this auction was indeed an auction, where the rules involved the audience bidding against each other and the item going to the highest bidder.
Qi Yue couldn’t help but rub her hands together.
Living two lifetimes, this was her first time at an auction house!
She thanked her transmigration for allowing her to experience a different life!
Following the crowd, they arrived in front of a building, where Qi Yue noticed that the cavern was frighteningly large.
It was half the size of a soccer field, and the building was like a giant pillar, wedged between the ground and the roof of the cave, assertively supporting the heavens above and giving people a sense of security.
“What marvelous craftsmanship!”
Qi Yue praised again.
By then, people had already started entering, and Mother Zhang had bought entrance tickets, leading Qi Yue into the building.
“Yunlai Inn?”
Mother Zhang covered her mouth with a laugh.
“Is the young master about to praise the name of this building again?”
“Indeed, it’s not bad,” Qi Yue raised her eyebrows.
Who let her be so terrible at naming things? She always thought that whatever names she came across were so very well chosen!
Upon entering the hall, they were immediately greeted by uniformly dressed attendants who led them to a tall stand.
The stand was partitioned off, and the spot they were in had an excellent view, practically overlooking the entire venue.
Soon another attendant brought up various kinds of food.
“Please enjoy, the auction will start shortly.”
Qi Yue nodded, and Mother Zhang immediately sent the attendant away, leaving just the two of them in the small compartment.
“Gan Tang, this place isn’t cheap, right?”
She had already given Mother Zhang a silver note worth a million taels to spend as she saw fit.
As for the medicinal pills, she didn’t bring any this time; she planned to wait and see what the situation was like first.
If it was really good, she would take out a couple of bottles. Anyway, she was used to pulling things out of her gown at any time and any place, and Mother Zhang was already accustomed to it.
“Our seats are in a good position, costing a thousand taels; there are also those for five hundred taels,”
Mother Zhang indicated several spots and then pointed to the vast open space below the stand.
“The cheapest is also ten taels of silver per person.”
About two to three hundred people had entered here, and a rough estimate suggested that the owner behind this event had already collected tens of thousands of taels of silver.
Qi Yue could not help but silently praise the person behind this for their money-making skills.
Soon, a pleasing flute sound was heard, and everyone immediately quieted down.
“It’s starting,” Mother Zhang whispered in explanation.
On the empty stand below appeared a woman with a graceful figure, and immediately various coarse laughs and comments from the men rang out.
“She is the hostess and auctioneer of this auction, named Man Qing,” Mother Zhang promptly explained.
The main clientele of the auction house was men, so it was a longstanding practice to employ seductive women as auctioneers.
Qi Yue nodded, indicating she understood.
Indeed, the woman did not seem to mind the jesting from the crowd, and instead introduced herself in an even more coquettish voice, confirming her name was Man Qing.
Green and tender vines, fragile and lovely.
Qi Yue thought to herself that the ancients indeed knew how to choose names!
The first item up for auction was quite interesting; it was a pearl the size of a chicken egg.
“Noble guests, this pearl is smooth and warm to the touch, can calm the mind, relieve shock, clear heat, and extinguish wind. Wearing it for a long time can bring numerous benefits,”
Man Qing swayed her hips on the stage, holding up the pearl with her delicate hands, pretending to exert effort in gripping it.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
The result, of course, could not be held onto.
This is how the small hands of a woman set off the largeness of the pearl.
Suddenly, a sleazy laughter erupted from the stands and the surrounding area.
“Miss Man Qing, that pearl is quite large, isn’t it?”
“Hahaha, Miss Man Qing’s delicate jade hands….”
“….Hahaha….”
The men, probably because they found Man Qing attractive, couldn’t help but blurt out some dirty words.
“Master, has it ever been this rowdy before? Perhaps we should…” Old Madam Zhang was worried Qi Yue, a young girl, couldn’t handle it and was thinking about taking her away from the scene.
But Qi Yue simply gestured with her hand.
“No harm done, I’ve heard worse than this.”
The risque jokes of modern people are much more exaggerated than these.
Old Madam Zhang looked at Qi Yue in surprise, clearly not understanding how a young girl like her could have heard anything worse.
Qi Yue smiled indifferently and pointed to the stands below.
“Gan Tang, just watch the drama unfold.”
Suddenly, a harsh flute sound pierced the air.
It was a warning.
Upon hearing it, everyone immediately fell silent, as if chilled to the bone.
Man Qing on the high platform also seized the moment to enter the auction phase.
Qi Yue, uninterested in the pearl, asked Old Madam Zhang about the flutist.
“Gan Tang, why did these people get so scared when the flute sounded?”
“The Master does not know; the flutist is an enforcer. After a warning sound, if someone violates again, they will drop dead on the spot.”
“Ah, that’s terrifying?” Qi Yue couldn’t help but lower her voice.
“At first, no one believed it, but after a few people died, no one dared to offend again. However, there are still some newcomers who unintentionally wander in and make mistakes.”
No sooner had Old Madam Zhang finished speaking when they saw a clueless youth suddenly stand up in the crowd.
“This bloody whore…”
He hadn’t finished his sentence when a prolonged flute note sounded through the air, and that clueless youth dropped dead on the spot.
When two waiters carried him out, there was not a single drop of blood on his body.
Qi Yue was shocked and guessed it must be some kind of highly precise hidden weapon.
Suddenly, she felt a tingle on her scalp and that sensation of being watched returned.
She quickly looked around, but saw that everyone was absorbed in the auction of the pearl, and no one was paying attention to her.
Despite the intense feeling of being watched, Qi Yue braced herself to sit still, but inside, she cursed the person staring at her a hundred and eighty-eight times.
Damn it, you coward, come at me face to face if you dare!
Let’s see if she won’t blast you to bits with a Small Fragrant Melon!
After cursing a couple of times, she suddenly felt the gaze on her disappear and immediately felt a sense of relief.
At that moment, the auction on stage had entered an intense phase, with one person seeming determined to win, having raised the price to a hundred thousand taels of Silver.
But another person was relentlessly pursuing the bid, showing an unwavering determination not to lose.
In the end, the two of them even rushed out of the stands to face each other and shout their bids.
“One hundred and ten thousand.”
“One hundred and fifteen thousand!”
“One hundred and twenty thousand.”
“One hundred and twenty-one thousand!”
“…”
Qi Yue suddenly felt that one of them looked somewhat familiar, so she fixed her gaze to get a better look.
She didn’t notice that not far from her, a tall figure had suddenly left the stands.
The person was tall and upright, like bamboo or a pine tree, wearing a black ghastly mask over his face, and his back resembled that of Zhao Xiyan.