Chapter 19: Acquiring the Shallow Water Bay Mansion
More than 20 days before the Spring Festival in 2015, Guo Yu returned and directly called Zhang Chong to ask about the antique auction. This was his first time showing concern for the auction, simply because he felt short of money.
Zhang Chong told him that the auction was being held the day after tomorrow afternoon, and he had time to come over directly and make it in time for the on-site auction.
Guo Yu flew to Hong Kong the second night and rested in a hotel overnight, just in time to attend the auction tomorrow. This was not a large-scale auction, but there were still many people attending, and the venue was set at the Hilton Hotel's auditorium.
At 9:00 am, people arrived one after another, and Guo Yu and Zhang Chong also entered the venue with the crowd.
"That woman in a windbreaker is the eldest daughter of the Xing family. The Xing family doesn't know what to do, you're really embarrassing, Lin Qingxia's husband."
"That's the second son of the Guo family's second house, this kid is more charming and often plays with young celebrities, considered a rich playboy. The Guo family is far more powerful than your surname Guo, basically one of Hong Kong's second richest families."
"That's the Deputy Financial Secretary of Hong Kong, I didn't expect him to come today." After Zhang Chong and Guo Yu sat down, Zhang Chong quietly introduced Guo Yu to some influential people at the scene, mentioning this chairman and that director, a whole bunch of them. It seems that in recent days, Zhang Chong has also made connections in Hong Kong.
Originally, antique trading was a business for the wealthy, ordinary people who have spare money to buy antiques?
At 9:40, the auction started on time. According to Zhang Chong, there were a total of 128 lots in this auction, and Huafu Auction House sent 48 lots for auction. The others had duplicates, so they could only be arranged for later sessions and did not appear in this auction.
First, there is a Qing Kangxi self-sealed "Conquering the West General" imperial sword, which was sent by the Huafu auction house. The study of this object is very interesting. When Kangxi conquered Galdan, he gave himself an additional title and specially asked the imperial craftsmen to engrave the words "Conquering the West General" on his own sword.
Auctions are usually two-headed, and the opening must be preheated. Take an item that is sure to open at a high price, stir up people's enthusiasm, and the items in between will drive up the price. This is basically a common tactic.
The auctioneer was introducing the sword with a glib tongue, in 2006, at a spring auction, a Qianlong dagger was sold for HK$46 million, and this sword is obviously much higher than that dagger, after all, the sword is a symbol of the emperor, showing identity.
The starting price was 100 million, and people began to raise their signs. From the initial dozen or so people bidding, it continued until only three people were left competing, at which point the price had reached 830 million.
The last three people competed fiercely, and the two young masters of the Guo family finally got this treasure sword for 940 million, spending nearly 1 billion, and they were very proud of themselves.
The crowd applauded, and this guy even stood up and gave a fist bump to the crowd.
The auction continued, and all the way down, not a single item was unsold. Until the last item, it was Huafu's Qing Dynasty Qianlong Falangcai Peony Peacock Open Screen Large Plate, the plate is really beautiful, with a size of 43 cm. As soon as this item appeared, it immediately ignited people's enthusiasm.
In the past few years, high-quality Qianlong famille rose porcelain has rarely been sold for less than 100 million, and such exquisite famille rose has not appeared at auction for over two years, making this a rare opportunity.
The auctioneer came here and didn't waste any words, directly reporting the name and starting price, only saying "Absolutely genuine, a rare masterpiece in recent years, missing it may be a lifetime without chance, please seize the opportunity." Then the bidding began.
This time, the number of bidders was actually fewer. After all, there were only a few people present who could afford to buy this cloisonné enamel large plate. The bidding started, not fierce, but each person had a very determined look on their face as they raised their paddles. The price kept going up until it reached 160 million before stopping.
Kuo Yu watched from the side, his blood boiling with excitement, this was all his own money after all.
"1.67 billion for the first time"
"1 billion 670 million second time"
"One billion six hundred and seventy million for the third time, sold!" The small wooden hammer fell heavily, and this auction also came to a successful end. The cloisonné enamel large plate was bought by a wealthy man surnamed Liu.
Kuo Yu's whole body feels refreshed, money has arrived, can buy a luxurious house now, hahaha.
Two days later, the auction was settled, and Guo Yu's antique was sold for 5.7 billion Hong Kong dollars in cash. After deducting the auction fees, he received 5.1 billion.
In the shallow water bay of Hong Kong, Kowk Yu stood in the courtyard, gazing out at Victoria Harbour, while the sales manager continued to introduce the architectural style, decoration and feng shui of this villa.
"I like it here, just tell me how much it is." Guo Yu interrupted the manager's chatter, he was really tired of listening to the Hong Kong version of Mandarin.
"The monthly rent is 1.2 million Hong Kong dollars, which is already a discount for you, and the property management fee needs to be calculated separately by yourself," said the manager.
"Who says I'm renting? I'm buying this place, I really like it here." Guo Yu said with great fanfare.
"Unsaleable" - these two words left Guo Yu speechless.
"Guo Yu turned his head to look at the manager, 'Why not sell? It's really fresh. Aren't you guys selling houses?' Guo Yu felt a bit amused, was this supposed to be tempting him?"
After talking for half a day, the manager still wouldn't sell. It wasn't until Guo Yu contacted Zhang Chong that he understood this place was not where just anyone could buy, and that selling such a large mansion wasn't something a sales manager of this level could decide on their own.
Having money but can't spend it is really frustrating.
Arrived at the company and sat in the office with Zhang Chong, Guo Yu still spoke with some resentment.
Later, Zhang Chong thought of a way and asked the boss of Kaisa in Hong Kong for help. In fact, this villa is not unsalable, but it depends on who buys it. Having money is not enough, people with both money and status can get them to sell to you eagerly.
After all, real estate companies still have to consider the reactions of surrounding customers. If it's a nouveau riche, it will lower the grade here. It seems that I am being treated as a country bumpkin.
No, after the Spring Festival, let Zhang Chong organize an auction, in 2014, Christie's Hong Kong spring auction turnover reached over 30 billion, and the annual turnover was over 200 billion. I will organize four times, and the annual turnover can reach over 10 billion, slowly making a name for myself.
Finally, Guo Yu and Zhang Chong contacted the CEO of Christie's Hong Kong, through his connections, they finally bought this mansion located at 26 Hulan Road, Repulse Bay, occupying an area of 2,100 square meters, with a building area of approximately 900 square meters, a three-story Spanish-style villa, for a total price of HK$550 million.
The overall decoration style of the villa is modern, but Guo Yu wants to decorate the first floor in a more classical style, and then put his solid wood furniture brought from the Republic of China on display, that's what I call upgrading. The second and third floors will remain unchanged, the current decoration is better for daily life.
The renovation work is not a lot, calculated to be completed in about thirty days. Guo Yu arranged the furniture he had chosen in the villa and found the decoration personnel from the sales company to tell them his ideas before returning to his hometown.
There are still ten days before the New Year, Guo Yu returns home with gifts and takes his parents and son to visit relatives and give gifts. Three uncles, one aunt, then big uncle, little uncle, and aunt's family, after a round of visits, it took 5 days.
Had a few more drinks with family and friends at home, and that's how the year went by. Now celebrating the new year is just like this, busy and bustling, without any special feeling, maybe this is just the mindset of grown-ups.
On the second day of Lunar New Year, Guo Yu took his family to Hong Kong and checked into the Harbour Plaza Hotel. The festive atmosphere in Hong Kong had not yet dissipated when Guo Yu took his family on a tour of the city, bringing his son to Ocean Park, Madame Tussauds, and Disneyland, while taking his parents to visit Wong Tai Sin Temple, take in the views of Victoria Harbour, all under the guise of getting familiar with their surroundings.
After playing for a few days, Guo Yu brought his family to see the house. The house still had more than ten days before it could be renovated, and some furniture was not yet in place, but it still shocked his parents. His parents didn't know exactly how much this place cost, but it must have been an astronomical price.
Kuo Yu told his parents that he is now handling the immigration procedures for his son, and it will be done soon. After it's done, he'll let all family members come over together. He'll take care of everything here, so his parents don't need to worry.
After the trip, Guo Yu did not return to his hometown with his parents and stayed in Hong Kong to take care of some matters. He needed to find a good housekeeper for his villa, as he spent more and more time in the Republic of China and could not often accompany his parents and children, so he had to arrange someone to take care of things at home.
