Chapter Fifty-Seven: The Auction

  "Are you going to buy a house again? Don't waste your money." Mom hurriedly said to Gaoyang.

  "Mom, don't worry, my business is going well and I've made a lot of money. Of course, I have to take good care of you two elders." Gaoyang smiled and picked up some food with his chopsticks for his parents.

  "Why don't we go back to Beijing? We have a house in Beijing, don't we? Your mom and I can't speak Cantonese either." The father sitting next to him asked.

  "Hey Dad, I'm not comfortable with you guys living in Beijing for a long time, the air quality is really bad there. Hong Kong is much better, and nowadays most people can speak Mandarin there, so don't worry. Plus, my company's focus will be shifting to Asia soon, so I'll be able to spend more time with you guys. Whenever you want to take a vacation, just come back here, or if you want to see relatives, go to Beijing."

  "Will you have more free time later? Is work at the company not busy?" Mom asked hastily.

  "Now, the company's business is on the right track, and everything has a professional person in charge. I just need to grasp the direction. You don't have to worry, just live happily." Gaoyang got up to serve soup for his parents.

  "Well, you handle it then." Dad and mom said with a glance at each other. For them, whether it's Beijing or Hong Kong, as long as they are surrounded by people with yellow skin and black hair, that's all that matters.

  The next morning, Gao Yang returned from 1925 and was about to go to the gym when Stock arrived with an invitation. "Sir, Sotheby's auction house invites you to attend tonight's Starlight Gemstone Special Auction in Geneva. This is the invitation they sent."

  Gaoyang took the invitation and opened it to take a look, which was similar to what Stock had said. The golden font used was still in Chinese. "How did they know I have money?" Gaoyang asked Stock with a puzzled face after shaking the invitation slightly.

  Mr. Stoke's face was hung with a professional smile "Sir, Sotheby's is doing business for the rich. If they don't know a big shot like you, Sotheby's should have closed down long ago." "Oh, gemstones." Gao Yang rubbed his eyebrows and thought of Zheng Xiujing's cheerful smile, and smiled slightly at Stoke "En, okay, you go prepare, I'll take a look tonight." "Yes, sir."

  At noon, Gao Yang accompanied his parents to play Mahjong for three people. They played until after 4 pm before ending. Mom had a great time satisfying her Mahjong craving and was in an excellent mood, with a smile on her face all afternoon. If not for Gao Yang having to go to Geneva tonight, mom wouldn't have wanted to end the game yet.

  Gao Yang sat in the back seat of the Mercedes-Benz S400L, while Stokke sat in the front passenger seat. "Sir, shall we depart?" Gao Yang nodded, and the driver started the car and drove out of the villa, followed by several bodyguards driving another S400L.

  It's about 160 kilometers from Bern to Geneva, and it takes more than an hour to drive along Lake Neuchatel and Lake Geneva. Gao Yang sat quietly in the back seat with his eyes closed, resting, but his mind was negotiating things with Yuan Dian.

  "Africa's side may look good at covering up, but the actual crude oil production and sales are so different, it will be exposed sooner or later," Yuandian said.

  "I know!" Gao Yang also felt a bit helpless, most of the energy points he had obtained were now being used to manufacture biochemical warriors. Although each individual biochemical warrior didn't consume many energy points, it was the sheer quantity that was overwhelming. As Gao Yang's army in the 1925 timeline grew larger, so did his demand for biochemical warriors. The army was Gao Yang's most crucial reliance, and the biochemical warriors were the key to controlling it!

  "Is there any good advice?" Gao Yang, who couldn't think of a good solution, had no choice but to push the question back to Yuan Dian. "There is a way," Yuan Dian said. "Huh?" Gao Yang opened his eyes, pulled out a cigarette and lit it up. "Tell me."

  "I've read a lot of your human data on the internet, and some of it says that if you want to cover up something, it's best to use another thing to distract everyone's attention," said Yuan Dian.

  "Another thing?" Gaoyang silently puffed on his cigarette, thinking of a way to shift everyone's attention in the country where the mine was located. He extinguished the cigarette butt and leaned back against the headrest, closing his eyes, and soon an idea formed in his mind, and Yuandian also fell silent.

  The car drove very fast and it was already six o'clock when they entered Geneva. Mr. Stock turned his head with a smile and said, "Sir, I have booked a table at the Snow Flower Restaurant in advance. Shall we go for dinner now?" "Oh, let's go." Gao Yang's thoughts were interrupted, and he replied slightly reluctantly.

  Geneva is the culinary capital of Switzerland, with over 1100 restaurants in the city. Le Relais de Saint-Pierre is one of them, located on a hill overlooking Lake Geneva, and it's part of the Auberge de la fleur de neige restaurant chain.

  When Gao Yang and his entourage arrived at the restaurant, there were not many guests yet. After Stock went forward to negotiate, the waiter invited Gao Yang to a table on the second floor with a balcony, which was the best location in the entire restaurant. The balcony overlooked Lake Lemans, with elegant surroundings. On one side, Swiss folk music was being performed, with a few-meter-long pipe playing beautiful music. The entourage members were dining at ordinary tables, only Stock followed Gao Yang's side. The waiter quickly brought up the dishes.

  "Go eat too." Gaoyang said softly to Stock. After all, he was an old man in his sixties or seventies, standing beside him watching him eat, Gaoyang felt very awkward.

  "Ah, sir, I've already eaten before coming," Stock said with a slight smile. He walked forward and opened the lid of the dish, introducing it as "Dry cheese hot pot, the most famous local specialty." He picked up the wine opener and opened a bottle of white wine, saying "This is a locally produced white wine with an excellent taste, well-known in Europe." With both hands holding the napkin and supporting the wine bottle, he poured a cup for Gao Yang. After putting down the wine bottle, he stood behind Gao Yang's side, his hands slightly crossed in front of him. Gao Yang shook his head slightly and began to enjoy his dinner.

  Half an hour later, the number of guests in the restaurant gradually increased. Gao Yang took over the napkin handed by Stock and wiped his mouth with a smile, saying "Your work, I'm very satisfied." Stock gave Gao Yang a professional smile back.

  Bodyguards and drivers surrounded Gao Yang as he left the restaurant, getting into the car and heading directly to the auction venue. Sotheby's held this auction at the Geneva Opera House on the Place Neuve in Geneva.

  When Gao Yang arrived at the opera house, Ronger, the reception manager of Sofitel, saw Gao Yang get out of the car and his eyes lit up. He hurried forward a few steps with a smile and said, "Mr. Smith, hello, welcome."

  Gaoyang looked at the bald-headed man in front of him and smiled slightly, saying "Manager Rong, it's been a long time. Your alopecia seems to have worsened." Rong smiled awkwardly and gestured for Gaoyang to enter. The current Gaoyang was no longer the insignificant little person who came to sell snuff bottles over a year ago.

  As they entered the theater, Rong led the way with Gao Yang to the second floor VIP lounge. "Mr. Smith, this is your private box. If you need anything, please don't hesitate to let me know." Rong said with a slight bow.

  Gao Yang sat on the leather sofa, lit a cigarette and said "Manager Rong, just call me Mr. Gao from now on. Please forget that name! There's nothing for you to do for the time being."

  Manager Rong handed a red wooden sign with the number 182 written on it to Stock, and slightly bowed his head towards Gao Yang, saying "Mr. Gao, I understand. Please wait for a moment, the auction will start soon." After finishing speaking, he slowly exited the private room.

  "Shouldn't we all be sitting together?" Gaoyang asked, looking at Stoke with his legs crossed. "Why would I have a private room?" Stoke picked up an exquisite ashtray and walked over to Gaoyang, gently placing it on the tea table in front of him. "Sir, at Sotheby's auction, all billionaires with assets exceeding $100 million are in the private rooms. Those sitting downstairs are just agents."

  "He was slightly startled and said, 'How did they know I'm a billionaire?'"

  "Sir, Sotheby's is exactly for this. But they won't pry into your privacy, all they need to know is that you're a wealthy person." Stock picked up the auction catalog next to him and handed it to Gao Yang, raising the paddle in his hand and saying "Sir, do I need to go down? Which item have you set your sights on, what's the bottom price in your mind? Please tell me, I'll be your proxy bidder."

  Gao Yang opened the auction catalog and looked at it carefully. There were necklaces, rings, earrings, princess crowns, bracelets, and rough materials, among others. In terms of materials, there were various colored gemstones, pearls, agate, crystal, and diamonds.

  The items on the auction list were incredibly beautiful, each with a starting price attached. After flipping through it, Haoyang didn't find any that started at less than $100,000. "This is really an event for the wealthy," he thought to himself. He extinguished his cigarette and looked at Stock, who was standing slightly bowed beside him, and smiled, saying, "Can we also bid here?" Stock nodded lightly, saying, "Yes, sir, there's a special bidding phone in the private room." Haoyang slightly turned his head and saw a red phone on the counter nearby.

  He got up and went to the wine cabinet, picked up a bottle of whiskey and said "Don't go down yet, let's take a look first." Stock took over the bottle, opened it, poured it into a glass, picked up a few ice cubes from the ice bucket and put them in the glass, and handed it to Gao Yang.

  It was already 8 o'clock in the evening, and through the one-way glass in front of the sofa, Gao Yang saw that the seats in the theater below were already filled with people, but there was no noise. The lights gradually dimmed, and the host walked onto the center of the stage to briefly introduce and announce the start of the auction.

  A staff member walked onto the stage with a tray. The first item up for auction was a platinum ring set with a 3.01-carat diamond, starting at $1.6 million.

  The large screen next to the host showed various angles of photos and introductions of the ring, after which the host enthusiastically introduced the diamond ring and announced the start of the auction. Soon, the bidding started frequently, with prices rising from $160,000 to $230,000, after which no one bid again. The host inquired and then dropped the hammer, the whole process taking less than three minutes.

  Stoke smiled and said to Gao Yang, "Sir, the dishes in front are just appetizers. The good stuff is all at the end." Gao Yang nodded slightly and took a sip of whiskey without saying anything.

  The auction went very quickly, with hundreds of items being sold in a short period. The starting price also gradually increased, and the starting price of a natural Burmese ruby had already reached $1.07 million, eventually being sold to an anonymous phone bidder for $1.83 million.