Chapter 116: The Antique Auction
Red and green, these two colors are seen as an extremely jarring color combination in modern society, and many people try their best to avoid pairing them.
However, in traditional culture, this combination of red and green is a color scheme rich in Oriental aesthetic characteristics, such as red shirts with green skirts, red walls with green tiles, men in red and women in green…
Pi Ling looked at Gu Wanrong, nodding with secret admiration in her heart.
From the moment she stepped into this Siheyuan and saw Gu Wanrong in the dark green long dress, although she felt it was difficult, a vague inspiration lingered in her mind.
It wasn’t until she placed the red jade and ruby on Gu Wanrong that she was pleasantly surprised. Even though Gu Wanrong wasn’t wearing ancient-style clothing or accessories, her graceful and elegant figure appeared like a celestial being from an ancient painting manifested in reality, full of classic charm and rhythm.
Ruyi Zhai Auction, this auction was an antique special session.
Unlike in the past, this auction was not open to the public. Therefore, none of the auction items were publicly revealed in advance like last time; only those participating in the auction could know the specific details of the items.
Precisely because of this, the venue for the auction was deliberately chosen to be a private manor owned by Ruyi Zhai.
But for Gu Wanrong, the reason she dressed up carefully today was not only to attend the auction but also because after the auction ended, she had to attend a gathering of the younger generation from Qingnan Hutong.
The private manor hosting the auction was located in the suburbs of Beijing, but compared to Baixian Manor, its geographical location was slightly inferior.
After all, even though both were in the suburbs of Beijing, the gap between one suburb and another could still be quite large.
At this moment, Gu Wanrong was sitting in the car, with Tong Shenba still beside her. Behind them, there was another car following closely, carrying the security personnel responsible for protecting Gu Wanrong’s safety today.
Due to the private nature of the auction and the emphasis on participant privacy, staff had already begun checking invitations on the road entering the manor’s perimeter.
The black sedan Gu Wanrong was riding in slowly stopped at the manor gate, and two staff members in uniform immediately approached. Smiling, they politely signaled to the people in the car and asked them to present their invitations.
The driver lowered the window and handed over an exquisite invitation. After carefully checking it, the staff verified it with internal personnel via walkie-talkie. Only after confirming it was correct did they respectfully step aside, signaling the vehicle could pass.
Under such repeated checks, there was no longer any possibility of people sneaking in.
The car continued forward, driving along the winding driveway deep into the manor.
The afternoon sun was just right, casting varying shades of yellow on both sides of the road, warm and soft. The car finally stopped in front of a magnificent building, which was the venue for the auction.
The car door opened, and Gu Wanrong got out, adjusted her clothes, and walked towards the entrance with graceful elegance.
Tong Shenba followed closely, while the bodyguards dispersed around them, maintaining vigilance.
Entering the hall, the interior was decorated luxuriously and elegantly, with brilliant lights and a lively atmosphere. Guests from all walks of life were dressed in formal attire, chatting in small groups.
Not long after Gu Wanrong arrived at the auction, the waiters on the scene announced that the auction was about to begin. Gu Wanrong was secretly pleased; Tong Shenba had timed it really accurately, allowing her to skip the pleasantries and small talk with others and go straight to her private box.
Gu Wanrong arrived at her exclusive box and sat down. The box was fully equipped with a comfortable environment, allowing the auction guests to fully enjoy the feast of this auction.
As time passed, the auction officially began. The host walked onto the stage and announced the information for the first auction item.
Gu Wanrong sat in the box, quietly watching the auctioneer on stage.
Today’s auction was divided into four rounds: the first round was jade and jewelry, the second round was calligraphy and painting antiques, the third round was bronzes and ancient porcelain, and the fourth round was miscellaneous items.
In the first round, every piece of antique jade and jewelry was extremely beautiful and exquisite, firmly attracting the attention of most women on the scene.
Gu Wanrong was no exception.
Ancient jewelry can be roughly divided into ji (hairpins), zan (hairpins), chai (hairpins), buyao (dangling hairpins), bianfang (flat hairpins), dian (inlaid ornaments), zhi (combs), huasheng (flower ornaments), belt hooks, forehead bands, scarf rings, gold earrings, belt buckles, bracelets, earrings, jade rings, nail guards, armlets, necklaces, and neck rings. At this auction, Gu Wanrong basically saw a complete set, and naturally, won a complete set.
Openwork double-sided dragon and phoenix playing with a pearl jade pendant, gold-inlaid jade with gemstone flower hairpin, twin golden lotus beaded buyao, purple jade glazed earrings, green jade carved bracelet, coral and jadeite pendant necklace, filigree gilt inlaid gemstone huasheng…
In addition, she also won a set of Qing Dynasty Hetian jade Seven Treasures of the Study: inkstone, brush washer, brush rest, brush handle, seal, arm rest, and paperweight.
This was a sudden interest Gu Wanrong developed when she saw this item come up; such a complete set of jade study utensils was rare.
As long as it was something Gu Wanrong fancied, she won every single item.
However, Gu Wanrong didn’t win these items to wear herself; she didn’t want to wear them personally. She owned Fu Zhen Jewelry and could have the craftsmen in the company design and make pieces specifically for her.
Thinking this way, the first round of the auction also ended.
Suddenly, a desire to draw blind boxes emerged in Gu Wanrong’s heart. Her sixth sense told her that this time she would definitely be able to draw various jadeite and jade mines.
Gratifyingly, after so long, after today’s auction, she could finally go and draw the blind boxes she had been longing for.
Immediately after, the second round of calligraphy, painting, and antiques began.
This was one of the key reasons Gu Wanrong came to this auction today; most of these ancient books and paintings could be hung in her Siheyuan.
In October, she bought the “Cursive Script Interpretation of Classics Scroll” at Qishou Palace. Although picking up a bargain was very happy, it was over twelve meters long and could only be opened and looked at during leisure time.
Fortunately, there was also a painting by Wen Zhengming, so her expensive Siheyuan had at least one authentic work, rather than being full of imitations selected by Lin Yu.
Today, she was going to replace all the imitations with authentic works.
“Solitary Bird Diagram,” “Mountain Temple Peach Blossoms,” “Autumn Mountain River View Diagram,” “Running Script Eight-Character Couplet”… Just like in the previous round, Gu Wanrong bid on whatever she fancied.
The second round passed quickly, and it was time for the third round—bronzes and ancient porcelain.
In this session, Gu Wanrong bid on much more than in the previous two rounds; there were too many beautiful and stunning items.
Gu Wanrong swept up all the incense burners alone: the tender pink hibiscus stone incense burner, the exquisite cloisonné enamel incense burner, the ethereal white jade lotus pattern covered burner—each one hit her heart directly.
In addition, the pink glazed gilt flower covered jar, the lotus root pink overlaid red plum snuff bottle, the openwork auspicious pattern hand warmer, the peacock green glaze plum vase, the blue and white interlocking branch flower and fruit pattern willow leaf vase… In this third round, Gu Wanrong unexpectedly took more than half of the auction items.
Finally, it was the fourth round…
Everyone present was buzzing with discussion. Today’s auction felt like they had just come to watch the excitement. For the items Gu Wanrong fancied, no matter how much you raised the price, she would go higher than you.
As a result, the items Gu Wanrong didn’t fancy and didn’t bid on, which they originally liked, now seemed unappealing to them. Really.
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