Chapter 369: Should we buy a few pieces to take back?

After those women left, Su Jinchen fished a cigarette from his pocket, lit it with a lighter, took a few fierce drags, stubbed the butt out, and tossed it into a nearby trash can. He then ducked into the adjacent stairwell and strode down toward the hotel lobby.

Ten minutes later, the group gathered in the hotel lobby.

Behind Xu Tian, besides Bai Lu and Su Jinchen, were Yun Shuying, the Astrologer, and others. These five women were the center of attention wherever they went, and their presence immediately left the other Tang family secret guards dumbfounded.

After Jiang Yan arrived in the lobby with the Tang Group's expert team, he immediately noticed Yun Shuying and the others. He frowned slightly, looking displeased, though he felt a hint of secret delight in his heart.

This pretty boy Xu Tian really knew how to stir up trouble; the moment he escaped Tang Bingyan's control, he started acting lawlessly.

They had come to Pawa to attend an antique auction, yet Xu Tian had actually found five women to accompany him. If word of this reached Tang Bingyan's ears, this kid would definitely be in for a world of hurt.

Of course, regardless of how much he despised Xu Tian in his heart, he still had to go through the motions on the surface.

"Mr. Xu, the auction we are attending this time is a private event, so the rules are a bit different from a public auction. Gu Xiansheng reached out to the organizers a month ago and reached an agreement that the set of blue-and-white porcelain we have our eyes on can be withdrawn from the auction for a private transaction. The auction is this afternoon, so we must get there before it starts."

This type of private auction is generally spearheaded by an antique dealer who joins forces with small sellers who lack the capacity to host their own private auctions to determine a catalog of items, and then they seek out buyers willing to attend.

Of course, because some items are not meant to see the light of day, these invited buyers are basically old customers familiar with the dealer or people introduced by acquaintances.

Naturally, some buyers, upon seeing the catalog, choose to reach a deal privately with the seller, which avoids the risk of being outbid by others and saves on a portion of the cumbersome handling fees.

However, in an auction, only the items provided by the organizers can be traded privately. As for the small sellers who send their items to the auction, they must honestly follow the formal procedures and let the antiques they brought go under the hammer.

It just so happened that the seller of the Song dynasty blue-and-white porcelain vase that the Tang family was targeting this time was the organizer of this private auction, and Gu Beicheng had dealt with this person before, so he had negotiated this early private transaction with the other party a month in advance.

Although Jiang Yan appeared to be reporting the itinerary to Xu Tian, in reality, he hadn't taken Xu Tian's thoughts or plans into consideration at all.

"Manager Gu has been very thorough this time. Mr. Xu, you just need to follow us and witness the antique trading process. Gu Xiansheng is very familiar with the antique circle here in Pawa, and he made extensive preparations and gave many instructions before we came over this time. Therefore, you can complete your task very easily; just treat it as a trip to Pawa."

"That's right. Since Manager Gu has already made the arrangements in advance, we just need to go through the motions. Besides, Manager Gu previously sent an acquaintance here in Pawa to appraise it, and they indicated that the set of vases is absolutely fine. In a while, Mr. Xu, you can just go over and pay; you don't need to worry about anything else."

These people seemed to be looking out for Xu Tian on the surface, but in reality, every word and sentence showed they didn't take him seriously at all, as if Xu Tian were merely a tool for paying and signing in front of them, with no need to consider his opinion.

Xu Tian didn't get angry either; he just said indifferently: "Since you have all decided, then I will go over with you to take a look."

Soon, the group set off and arrived at the largest antique street in Pawa. Originally, Xu Tian wanted to wander around a bit first, but Jiang Yan stopped him.

"Mr. Xu, there's no need to look at these small shops; they are all fakes. Even if there were genuine items, they wouldn't be put on display. You aren't in the antique circle, so it's very easy to buy fakes. Going in would just be a waste of time."

Then, Jiang Yan led Xu Tian and the others straight to the front of a magnificent four-story Chinese-style building in the center of the antique street.

Xu Tian looked up and saw a square plaque hanging over the main entrance, with three large characters written in cursive script: "Linglong Zhai." The owner of this Linglong Zhai, Chen Sanping, was the organizer of the private auction they were going to attend.

Chen Sanping had great prestige in the antique circle here in Pawa. Besides being the owner of Linglong Zhai, he was also the vice chairman of the Y Country Antique Association, and the several important public auctions held each year were also organized by him.

Of course, besides organizing public auctions, Chen Sanping would also hold small-scale private auctions every so often, which operators in the entire antique trade could attend, though they also needed to pay a portion of the handling fees to Chen Sanping.

Therefore, some antique shop owners who obtained antiques with sensitive backgrounds, or who worried that their shop scale was too small to sell the antiques for a good price, would sign up to participate in Chen Sanping's private auction, which could be said to be putting a layer of gold on the collection in their hands.

Although private auctions also allowed for private transactions, because of Chen Sanping's influence in this generation of the antique circle, those small bosses didn't dare to do so at all.

Therefore, at every private auction, only Chen Sanping or a few big bosses who were on good terms with him could possibly reach a deal with a buyer before the auction started.

As soon as Xu Tian's group walked into the lobby, a young clerk wearing a Tang suit ran over on his own initiative.

The young clerk walked straight up to Jiang Yan and greeted him with a smile: "Mr. Jiang, long time no see. Our boss is already waiting for you."

Jiang Yan and Gu Beicheng had visited Linglong Zhai many times before, so the clerks and staff at Linglong Zhai naturally recognized them, knew their identities, and were very respectful toward them.

However, the young clerk glanced behind Jiang Yan and discovered that the person who came with him this time wasn't Gu Beicheng, but a young man of similar age to Gu Beicheng, yet with a more outstanding temperament.

A flash of doubt crossed his eyes, but it was immediately covered by a smile. The clerks in the shop naturally knew how to read the room when entertaining guests, and they knew that they absolutely shouldn't speak about things that weren't their business.

"Everyone, please wait in the reception area to the side for a moment; I will go ask the boss to come down right away."

The young clerk instructed the other staff in the shop to pour tea for Jiang Yan, Xu Tian, and the others, while he quickly ran up the stairs to invite Chen Sanping.

As soon as Xu Tian sat down, he saw the Astrologer, the Black-haired Lolita, and others looking very interested in the jade and porcelain vases displayed in the lobby. He raised his eyebrows slightly and asked: "Do you like antiques too? If you see anything you like, should we buy a few pieces to take back?" ===== CHAPTER 370 =====