BXBX NOVEL Chapter 1170 - Auction Part 1
1170 Auction Part 1
The next morning, Jiang Chen stretched his body, yawned, and sat up from the bed.After he quickly brushed up, Jiang Chen walked into the kitchen, still sleepy. He took out a box of instant pasta and a box of milk from the storage dimension and stuffed the pasta into the microwave oven on the cabinet.
Then, he placed the milk and the pasta that dripped with tomato sauce onto the table and prepared to enjoy his breakfast. But then, Lu Fan knocked on the door, came in, and saluted.
“Gen... boss, this is an invitation from the hotel manager.”
“An invitation?”
Still yawning, Jiang Chen put down his fork and took the invitation from Lu Fan. He glanced at it for a moment before he displayed an intrigued expression.
The Dorsett Hotel had an auction at ten in the morning and it was being held in the lobby on the second floor. He was holding the invitation to the auction along with an admission ticket.
Although he did not register to participate in the auction, but because he lived in the presidential suite on the top floor, the hotel manager certainly would not miss a rich guest. Therefore, whether he registered or not, the hotel manager would send an invitation out of respect. What’s more, the hotel manager prepared a VIP booth along with a beautiful waitress to serve him.
After all, apart from the really wealthy, no one would live in the presidential suite that cost 200 crystals per night.
The profit of a Death Claw was only about 50 crystals. Living in the hotel for one night meant four Death Claws must be killed. Other than the people with no better place to spend their wealth, even the rich would not waste money on accommodation.
Since there were no other arrangements that morning, he decided to check out the auction.
With the thought in his mind, Jiang Chen left the invitation aside and continued to enjoy his breakfast.
...
There were still ten minutes left before the auction started.
With the reception of the waitress, Jiang Chen entered the auction venue from the VIP passage and into the VIP booth prepared for him at the Dorsett Hotel.
The waitress respectfully pushed open the wooden door, slightly bowed, then stepped aside to invite him in.
Red wooden beams decorated the roof, and the wooden floor was covered with a fur he couldn’t identify. The room thirty square meters in size was lined with antique furniture. Even for pre-war standards, the decor would be considered extremely luxurious.
In the VIP booth, a beautiful waitress in a cheongsam stood next to the red wooden table.
When she saw Jiang Chen, she greeted him with a warm smile and a respectful bow. The neckline of the cheongsam inadvertently revealed a large area of softness. Her smile and her gesture, all lingered with temptation.
After quickly examining the VIP booth, Jiang Chen thought that the owner of this place must be a powerful individual to be able to possess this asset on Pingan Street.
Of course, regarding power, no one was more powerful than him.
So, it was only a thought in his mind, nothing more.
At this moment, the waitress took out a business card and courteously handed it to him with both hands.
“This is the business card of our boss, and I hope you, sir, can accept it.”
“Business card?” After he received the business card, Jiang Chen smiled and looked at it. “Your boss is Mei Zhiyong?”
“Mhmm,” the waitress’s face displayed a short glimpse of pride. “The Dorsett Hotel is just one of our boss’s assets. Although he did not join the Survivors Alliance, my boss’s influence in Shangjing is comparable to the members of the alliance.”
“Your boss is very powerful?” Jiang Chen smiled.
The waitress laughed and didn’t act arrogantly because of her boss’s identity. Instead, she said with the same respect.
“I don’t mean anything else, just listening to your accent, you should be from the South. Our boss recently bought two merchant fleets and is doing business with the survivors’ in Wanghai. A friend is another connection. Well, the boss told me that if I ever see an influential businessman from the South, I must do my best to serve our friend... I hope you won’t mind sir.”
“The auction process will be introduced by the host, I wish you can find your favorite item at the auction.”
With another bow, the waitress no longer disturbed Jiang Chen, and exited the booth.
Inside the room, Jiang Chen sat in the old chair and overlooked the crowd gathered in the auction hall.
The windows of the VIP Booth were unidirectional, light-transparent glass. From the outside, only blurred figures were visible, but from the inside, everything was crystal clear. The design maximized the privacy of the VIPs.
After all, not only valuable items were auctioned here, so were items with “unknown” sources. If someone had an eye on an teim but did not win, it would be troublesome.
For this very reason, even in the regular seats, the bidders wore masks randomly distributed by the hotel. Only a card with a number represented their respective identities.
A booklet was presented to Jiang Chen, and the beautiful host smiled.
“This is the catalogue of the auction items. If you see anything that interests you, just let me know?”
“Mhmm, I see.”
At the same time, Jiang Chen took the catalogue and flipped a few pages.
In terms of scale, the level of this auction was undoubtedly quite high. Aside from the dozens of VIP booths, there were hundreds of merchants and riches that sat in the auction hall. With such a large scale, there should be some interesting items.
And it was indeed true. When Jiang Chen flipped through the pages, he suddenly showed interest... or an intrigued smirk.
“It’s here?” Speaking to himself, his fingers slid over the item, remembered the number, and turned to the next page.
The crowd in the venue spoke amongst themselves. Then on the platform in the center, a ray of light suddenly appeared.
In the chatter, the auctioneer stepped onto the platform, clapped his hands to signal everyone to focus on him, and then announced the beginning of the auction...
In general, the process was similar to the modern world.
The auctioneer spectacularly praised each auction item and led many wealth individuals to bid. The auction items also varied greatly. There were commodity items that bankrupt merchants were desperate to get rid of, ingenious high-tech products, a box of canned beef, and even people.
“...The next auction item is Zhao Qiuran! Many people should have heard of her name. Yes, she is a lone traveler active in Haizhou. Because of an accident, she was captured by a raider clan. By the way, the seller, in an effort to receive a good price, has not done anything to her, if you know what I mean. Ahe. Muscle Strength 41, Bone Strength 30, Reflex 37, Brain Activity 13, Gun Rating S, Combat Rating A+, Sneak Rating B... Starting price, 1500 crystals!”
A woman with her hair scattered was fixed on a metal cart and forced to kneel down. The cart was pushed by two bodyguards with guns onto the center of the platform. Under the light, the auctioneer grabbed her loose hair and showed her face to the buyers in the audience.