Novel Full Chapter 209 - Prehistoric Fish Part One
Chapter 209: Prehistoric Fish Part One
Translator: Aristophaneso
“Zhao Cheng, you know our Sir Gu? And you know the young man beside him? What did they say to you?”
As soon as Zhao Cheng left Chu Xian and Gu Li, a beauty appeared by his side and curiously asked him a series of questions. The people by them also heard, and gathered around.
Zhao Cheng looked at them with some awkwardness, especially at the beauty that he had been admiring with Chu Xian the other day.
“I don’t really know either of them?” Zhao Cheng shrugged, and replied helplessly. “Sir Gu told me to work hard!”
“Ah?” The questioner exclaimed in confusion.
“Zhao Cheng, if you don’t know that young man, why did he help you? Weren’t you talking very passionately with him yesterday?” That woman Zhao Cheng had been talking to Chu Xian about asked curiously.
“Eh…” Black lines fell across Zhao Cheng’s face. He couldn’t just say that they had been talking so passionately about her, could he?
“I really don’t know him. Yesterday we just sat down and talked. I didn’t know that he was so powerful!”
“What is his background? I saw Sir Gu treat him so enthusiastically, his identity is definitely not simple!”
“I don’t know either!” Zhao Cheng looked at the people gathered around, and replied seriously. “I don’t even know his name!”
“You little brat, you are so lucky. With Sir Gu’s personality, you will definitely have a bright future in our group. After you become successful, don’t forget about this sister!”
“Hehe, hehe!” Zhao Cheng laughed a silly laugh, and looked over at that young man with an expression of heartfelt gratitude.
….
“Yi?” As Chu Xian was glancing through the auction inventory, he noticed something that piqued his interest, and he focused on one particular item.
“What? Did you find something you liked?” Gu Li noticed his reaction and asked.
“En!” Chu Xian nodded, and then looked to the item’s blurb.
Red Fish Chalcedony. a top quality blue (sic) Chalcedony formed in a natural fish shape. According to analysis, inside the mineral was trapped a droplet of blood. The quartz was a typical symbol of wealth and prosperity, and this Blue Chalcedony had elements of the sea, and had relations with the throat meridian in Chinese medicine, and was said to have benefits for self-expression and communication.
Blue is also the color of the open sky, and so wearing the Blue Chalcedony could help you keep calm and relaxed, reduce anxiety, improve your interpersonal skills, and help you see things without prejudice. The material was also said to help exercise the memory, and improve your recall to a certain degree.
The red fish meant a wholeness and completion in life and work, and brought happiness and freedom. It can bring prosperity to your business, and passion to your love.
This Red Fish Chalcedony weighs in at 80 grams. Starting Bid: 1 Million RMB.
“Red Fish Chalcedony!” Chu Xian looked at the item in the inventory, and felt an indecipherable attraction.
“A million rmb. If it’s not too expensive, I can buy it.” Chu Xian thought to himself. The blue chalcedony itself was only worth about ten thousand RMB per gram, and so eighty grams would be around 800 thousand rmb. Although this was just a simple rectangular blue chalcedony, the red fish shape inside added a significant amount of value.
It was this naturally formed red fish pattern that pulled his attention.
As Chu Xian was looking over the inventory, more and more people arrived. Although Gu Li was the host of the auction, there were many people here responsible for the ongoings of the event, so Gu Li did not have to go and greet every single person. Instead, he sat in a prominent central location and chatted with Chu Xian.
The auction was extremely classy. There were many small tables artfully covered with fruit plates, red wine, and some finger food. Each table could sit two people, and each of them had the inventory list.
Everyone who attened the auction was a famous business owner. It could be said that people with less than ten million rmb could not even get in the front door – after all, this was the large auction that Ancient Coin held only once a year. The starting prices for the items were all a million rmb or higher.
As people slowly trickled in, Chu Xian paused and took in the people. There were about two hundred or so guests inside already, and he recognized a few from television.
“Some extremely rich people have come this time, and they rank among the hundred richest people in China.” Gu Li said to him. “But when you bid, these people will be your opponents. Don’t back down! Although they are rich, most of what they own are in fixed assets. In fact, very few people would be able to take out a hundred million. Most of their money is invested away!”
“Oh.” Chu Xian agreed and nodded. The reason why rich people were rich was because they knew how to invest, and did not just keep their money in their pockets. They transformed their chase into other things, and when it came to the cash itself, some rich people could not take out that much, not even as much as Chu Xian could.
After buying the equipment and establishing the company in Thailand, Chu Xian still had thirty million rmb on hand, and this did not even take into account the money that Gu Li was going to send him for the sea cucumbers, or the price that the red coral might fetch!
“Pong!”
At that moment, an old man walked on stage carrying an auctioneer’s gavel. He lightly tapped his stand. “Welcome, ladies and gentleman. My name is Mu Wen, and I will be the host for this Ancient Coin Auction. Today begins our annual auction, and all the items we will present are listed in the inventory available at the table each of you are sitting at. Please take a look and prepare yourself, and if something catches your eye, be ready.”
“The rules for this auction have been written clearly in each of the inventory pamphlets. Please familiarize yourself with them, and do note that you will not be able to change your bid after it has been accepted. We do not refund any bids or deposits. Alright, I’m sure you’re all ready for the main event, so without further ado, our first item.”
“This is a drawing by Mr. Qi Baishi, measuring at five square chi, and is called Wealth and Fortune…”
As Mu Wen introduced the item, two beauties walked on stage with a piece of artwork between the two of them, and they carefully unrolled the drawing. There was a huge screen behind the old man, and a camera in front of him. With this system, they could project the picture on the screen for everyone to see.
“The starting bid is three million and five hundred thousands!” Mu Wen banged his gavel. “Let the bidding begin!”
“Three million and five hundred thousand rmb! So expensive!” Chu Xian examined the painting, but with things like calligraphy or drawings, Chu Xian could never appreciate them or understand why they demanded such high prices. They were not even as good as Chinese pottery and those kinds of things, at least those looked pretty.
“This drawing* done by Mr. Qi, if you are interested, you should buy it now. You won’t regret it!” Gu Li said to him.
“Maybe next time. I’m not an artistic person!” Chu Xian shook his head.
“Calligraphy and paintings are rising more and more in value. It would be a good investment!”
The auction began, and as soon as the old man banged his gavel, people began making bids. The fervor for the artwork was incredible, and soon the price shot from 3.5 million to over 8, and it was clear that the price would keep rising.
“It’s really crazy that a piece of art could be worth more than eight million.” Chu Xian shook his head, and he turned to Gu Li and asked quietly.” Brother Gu, what is your estimate for the total value of the items that the Auction is handling this time?”
“About three billion!” Gu Li smiled and answered.
“Three billion?” Chu Xian was surprised. The auction took a cut of ten percent, so if the total value of transactions was three billion, than Ancient Coin Auction would take in three hundred million. This kind of money making ability completely explained how they could own such a large establishment in such a prime area.
The first item, the artwork by Mr. Qi, was purchased by a rich business man from Taiwan at a final price of 9.5 million rmb.
The second, a small, delicate, blue and white porcelain bowl from the Yuan dynasty sold for over a million rmb.
After that came jade, and then bronze, pens, ink, paper, ink-stones, and even an ancient house.
Chu Xian was not interested in ancient callgiraphy and artwork, and he turned to check the order of items in the inventory. When he looked at the picture, he cheered up somewhat and wondered what the object would look like in person.
“Alright. Our next item is a Chalcedony. A natural formed red fish pattern Chalcedony. Our specialists have confirmed that inside this chalcedony is trapped blood that has somehow become shaped into a fish pattern. This process must have taken over a hundred million years, and under the light, the red fish inside looks alive.”
As Mu Wen spoke, a beauty holding the red fish Chalcedony placed it under the camera, and the image was projected onto the screen.
“In addition to the beautiful pattern inside, the material for this Red Fish Chalcedony is a precious material priced at at least ten thousand rmb per gram. This chalcedony weighs 80 grams. We’ll be taking bids starting from ten million. ** Any friends who are interested can begin making bids!”
Chu Xian looked at the Red Fish Chalcedony projected up on the screen. The rectangular pendant was tied to a red string, and the tiny, half-a-pinky-length fish shape looked alive, and the whole thing was extremely beautiful under the shining light.
“It really is beautiful!” Chu Xian looked at the screen, and with a thought, activated his god’s eye view.
When he looked at the Chalcedony pendant under his god’s eye view, he was astonished, and his face changed into an expression of complete shock.
“How is it possible. This, this status!” Chu Xian’s heart began beating rapidly.
“Hu!” He took a deep breath and calmed himself. His eyes shone with excitement, but he focused and reread the astonishing words.
Steel grinder – Dunkleosteus Blood: Energy 2700
Gift: Steel body
“A Dunkleosteus, it’s actually the legendary Dunkleosteus.” Chu Xian restrained his excitement, and his fist tightened.
The Dunkleosteus was a placoderm, an armored prehistoric fish, that lived in the Paleozoic Devonian Period (about 360 million years BC to 430 million years BC). The fish is estimated to have grown up to 11 meters in length and could weigh up to 4 tons. They had an estimated biting force of 5 tons, and was the largest ocean predator of the Devonian Period, and the largest carnivorous teleost of both the Cambrian and Devonian period. It mainly preyed on hard-shell fish and other invertebrates, and was an apex predator.***
The Dunkleosteus looked incredibly fierce, and resembled a shark more than any other modern fish. Tough thick armor covered its head and neck, and sharp rows of teeth lined its jaw. It could cut, bite, and grind through anything. ****
With a body as strong as steel, and an incredible biting force, this was a monster that could easily snap a shark in two!