American Peak Life

"Yes, but I know him, he doesn't know me." The old man called a professor seemed very humorous.

"Old Wu, do you think Lu Ning came here because of the bronze head?" asked the intellectual young woman in her 40s.

"I don't know, but, maybe." The professor known as Wu Lao didn't know Lu Ning's purpose.

"Oh, if Lu Ning also came here for the bronze head, wouldn't the difficulty of our mission be greatly increased?"

"Yu Xin, don't be surprised, what are you doing?" Yu Xin who just exclaimed was reprimanded by an intellectual young woman in her 40s.

"Oh, Mr. Han, I'm not in a hurry. You know, we don't have enough funds. If we compete with that Lu Ning, we have no chance of winning at all."

Yuxin's words made the faces of the other four people a little ugly. Now, the only hope is that Lu Ning's goal must not be the three bronze heads of the cow, tiger, and monkey. Otherwise, the five of them will probably be in vain. I went for a trip.

On the other hand, Lu Ning and Natalie were also secretly discussing the group of five people they just saw.

"Lu, tell me, are they also here for the bronze heads?"

"I think so. Besides, it looks like they don't belong to a certain family, but they look like people from a university or a certain museum." Lu Ning guessed the identities of these people.

"Hehe, it seems that you are not the only one who is eyeing Tongshou this time."

"It doesn't matter, anyway, I am bound to win." Compared with money, Young Master Lu has never been afraid of anyone.

Chapter 525 Troubled Times Golden Antiques

When the other party guessed Lu Ning's purpose, Lu Ning and Natalie were also guessing the other party's purpose. What they know now is that they know Lu Ning. After all, Lu Ning is very famous now. The deeds of the rich list also caused an uproar in China. You must know that if Lu Ning was in China, he would not be able to escape the title of the richest man. What's more, Lu Ning is only 18 years old now.

All of a sudden, Lu Ning became the object of chatting with the people who eat melons after dinner and in the streets and alleys.

As for the identity of the other party, Lu Ning also guessed why. The five-person group was indeed from China and was sent by the Shanghai Museum.

Professor Wu, who is in his 70s, is an expert professor specially invited by the Shanghai Museum. He is one of the Chinese experts who study modern historical relics. Only then did Professor Wu be invited out of the mountain to participate in this "Sotheby's" auction, for the bronze head that appeared this time.

Sun Lan, an intellectual young woman in her 40s, is the team leader and person in charge this time, and the executive deputy director of the Shanghai Museum. Bronze head, vowing to bring it back to China.

Among the other three, Yuxin is the successor of Professor Wu. He is very intelligent in the study of cultural relics and belongs to the leader of the younger generation in the field of cultural relics protection. He is currently working as an appraiser and daily maintenance of cultural relics in the Shanghai Museum.

Another girl named Kexin is also a staff member of the museum, majoring in French, and is the team translator this time.

The boy's name is Chen Jie, and he can be regarded as a wealthy second generation in Shanghai. He has been very interested in modern history since he was a child, and he is also determined to work in the cultural protection industry. This time, he is also the only labor force participating in this mission.

A week ago, Sun Lan learned on the Internet that this time, three bronze heads of the ox, tiger and monkey will be auctioned at the "Sotheby's" auction in Milan. This is also the first time that the bronze heads of the 3 zodiac signs Show up at auction.

For a while, the people of Huaguo were enthusiastic, and they all wanted to bring the three copper heads of the cow, tiger, and monkey back to their motherland. For this reason, the Shanghai Museum held a meeting overnight to discuss, and finally let Sun Lan lead the team and specially invited Mr. Wu The professor sat in the town and went to Milan together, trying his best to bring back three bronze heads of the cow, the tiger and the monkey.

In order to participate in this auction, the Shanghai Museum specially raised a batch of funds, together with donations from enthusiastic people, a total of 2000 million RMB was raised for this auction.

Since this is the first time that the 12 zodiac copper heads have appeared at an auction, no one can guarantee the final price. However, according to the predictions of experts and the trend of recent auctions, this The one-time price should not exceed 1500 million RMB.

For this auction, Sun Lan deliberately mortgaged her real estate and brought 100 million more. As the second generation of rich Chen Jie, she was also crying at home, asking for 200 million yuan in funds. The extra 300 million RMB will be used as a contingency.

Therefore, they still had great hopes for this auction, but when they entered the venue, they unexpectedly met Lu Ning, which made them feel a little bit of crisis about this task.

On the second day after arriving in Milan, a group of five people couldn't wait to visit the exhibits for this auction. After repeated confirmation by Professor Wu, it can be confirmed that the auction items this time are undoubtedly authentic.

"Hey, I really can't figure it out. Those robbers stole our things back then, but now they want us to spend our own money to buy them back." Chen Jie complained a few words unhappily. Xin and Kexin's support, as for Sun Lan and Old Professor Wu, they just showed a wry smile. The reality is so cruel. Listening to the conversation of the passionate young people, they can only smile helplessly. There is no way to change these.

At this time, the auction is about to start. This time the "Sotheby's" auction, there are not many lots. It is not considered a large auction. There are only more than 50 lots in total. However, it is also divided into two sessions. conduct.

At 7 o'clock in the evening, the auction officially started, and among the guests at the scene, Lu Ning was the most dazzling unconsciously. Everyone wanted to know whether Lu Ning, who had just airborne on the rich list, would be a shocker as soon as he made a move.

However, it is a pity that Lu Ning had no intention of selling the previous auction items at all. He sat on the Diaoyutai, chatting quietly with Natalie next to him from time to time. Since Lu Ning did not participate, everyone else began to compete. A sword used by King Napoleon of France fetched 300 million euros at auction, which is also the highest price currently on the market.

Don't think that the auction will cost hundreds of millions of dollars. These are all fake, and a large part of them may be for money laundering.

In fact, there are not many auction items that can really arouse everyone's competition. Those peerless treasures or top-level famous paintings are generally in the hands of museums or private collectors, and they will hardly be taken out for auction unless the owner of the collection is really at the end of his life. the point.

And during this period of time, Lu Ning has never made a move. There are some high-quality goods among these things. However, Lu Ning is not very interested in antiques. Besides, the collections in his home are several times higher than these things. It's not like the Lu family doesn't have any collection value, such as Van Gogh's paintings.

Not to mention other things, the French Emperor Napoleon's brooch that was not bought for 2000 million a while ago will become a treasure that everyone will buy if they put it in this auction. However, when it is in Lu Ning's hands, It's not like being taken out and taken to the party of the lvh group.

"Lu, sometimes, I really don't understand, it's just a vase, is it necessary to sell it for 200 million euros?" Natalie said without cutting it.

"Hehe, that one just now is an international copyist. He has been promoting the rapid rise of antiques, so that the collections in his hands can be sold several times." Lu Ning explained in Natalie's ear with a smile. confused.

"That's no wonder, they are all profit-seeking people."

"No way, gold in troubled times, antiques in prosperous times, Natalie, this is the law, some people have money, so where should the money be spent, how can it preserve and increase value, antiques are one of the best choices. "

At this time, the person in charge of the "Sotheby's" auction also looked depressed. Lu Ning's appearance didn't seem like he came to bid at all. Look at his calm appearance, the auction is about to start Halfway through, Lu Ning never raised the bidding card in his hand.

Could it be that this person came here just for every special lot?

On the other hand, the group of five from Hua Guolai had also seen everyone's love for antiques. A vase that Professor Wu thought was only worth 50 Euros was sold at a price of 200 million Euros.

All of a sudden, Old Professor Wu felt that the money he had brought was too little.

Chapter 526 This Is An Undercover Agent

Now it is the last lot in the first half of the auction. It is the cow head among the bronze heads of the twelve zodiac signs that Lu Ning and everyone in the Shanghai Museum have been looking forward to. For a while, Lu Ning sat up slightly.

"Everyone, this is the first item to appear in our "Sotheby's" auction. Yes, it is the ox head among the 200 zodiac bronze heads in the Yuanmingyuan in the Qing Dynasty more than 12 years ago. Everyone, this is a piece of A rare treasure, it represents a period of prosperity, and everyone can actively participate in the auction." The auctioneer kept advocating the value of the bronze head to mobilize the enthusiasm of the scene, but it seemed that the effect was not good.

At least the reaction at the scene was very cold. Some people were shaking their heads, some were watching. Most of the collectors at the scene were not fools. To put it bluntly, these twelve copper heads are just decorations in the garden. There are a few, now we have to see who is interested in it.

If the response is mediocre, or the auction fails, then it means that it has no collection value. If someone or a group is willing to bid for it, then its collection value will increase sharply immediately.

"Okay, everyone, we set a starting price of 20 euros for this bull's head. Now, everyone can bid enthusiastically." The auctioneer spoke eloquently, constantly encouraging everyone's aura.

"21 euros." As soon as the auctioneer's voice fell, Chen Jie couldn't wait to bid, which not only made everyone in the venue look sideways, but even Lu Ning shook his head helplessly. Knowing the common sense of auctions, how can there be such a bid, not telling others clearly that I have a fancy for this thing, and it is bound to get it.

Of course, if you have the capital or strength to make everyone give you face and let you go, then that's fine, but the problem is, here, you Chen Jie is nothing. You are just a passerby in your eyes, who cares about you?Just know you can't wait for this stuff.

Then don’t raise the price to death, if you don’t feel sorry for yourself, even if you don’t care about this copper head, you might take the opportunity to raise the price, not to mention those “Sotheby’s” who are placed among the crowd. If you delay, you will definitely take the opportunity to increase the price, and don't worry if you don't follow, everyone is a veteran, and it's easy to deal with you, a tender chicken.

To be honest, as soon as Chen Jie yelled out, Sun Lan, the deputy curator of the Shanghai Museum, knew that something bad was going to happen. This kid was rushing to show off in front of Yu Xin.

Everyone knows that Chen Jie has a deep affection for Yu Xin. However, it seems that Yu Xin is only obsessed with the research and protection of cultural relics, and she ignores Chen Jie's various overtures. He always wanted to show off in front of Yuxin, no, this auction is a good opportunity for Chen Jie.

That's why Chen Jie raised the number plate in his hand so impatiently. He wanted to show his performance in front of Yu Xin. If everyone knew the truth, he would definitely laugh until his stomach hurts. A little kid who hasn't grown up yet That's all.

However, this time, he accidentally revealed his desire for the head of the cow. In this case, others will not be polite.

"25 Euros." A famous French collector also raised a sign.

"30 euros." Chen Jie didn't care about this, and before Sun Lan could stop him, he immediately revealed a new price. However, this time, it was a solid hammer, and these people came for Niu Shou .

After looking at their appearance, most people also figured out their identities, um, that's good, it seems that the copper heads of the 12 zodiac signs are still worth collecting, so everyone bid one after another, and at this time, Sun Lan He also snatched the number plate from Chen Jie's hand, and gave him a hard look, but the young man still doesn't know what mistake he made.