Chapter 63 Auction "Tao Tao, let's go pay."...

Chapter 63 Auction "Tao Tao, let's go pay."...

Zhou Mingsheng typed the message and saw it appear in his chat with Su Yi'ang.

After Su Yi'ang replied that he would complete the task, he described the jade bracelet he had seen in the auction catalog.

Among all the auction items, those starting at 8 million are rare.

[HT-Flash: What?! It might cost over 20 million to film?! Boss, are you really going to reimburse me?]

Zhou Mingsheng was speechless. "[Just use Tao Tao's bidding paddle.]"

Zhou Mingsheng then contacted his account manager at the bank. For large payments in the tens of millions, sometimes the manager has to act as an intermediary so that the bank can coordinate the amount in advance.

This simplifies the TaoTao payment process.

Zhou Mingsheng reopened the live stream.

The only remaining cameraman in the "Classmates Are Here" program crew was far away, so he filmed a panoramic shot.

Fortunately, the image quality was clear enough to capture everyone's expressions.

From the moment "Populus euphratica in the Desert" was displayed, he knew that Tao Tao would like it. This painting style is one that Tao Tao has loved since she was a child.

Even when the family goes on vacation, Tao Tao prefers natural landscapes.

Cheng Zhao, that scheming ex-fiancé, was at the auction; he couldn't possibly give Cheng Zhao any opportunity to take advantage of him.

The phone rang, and the caller ID showed it was his father.

"Ming Sheng, ask HT Base to suppress the online buzz."

"Tao Tao already knows."

Ye Weizheng spoke in a rare serious tone, "I understand you're happy that Tao Tao knows you and Maze are the same person, but to be on the safe side, let's not let the discussion spread too widely."

Zhou Mingsheng fell silent.

He was five years old when Tao Tao was born.

He looked at his tiny little sister from outside the incubator, thinking about how he would become a good older brother who would protect her in the future.

However, for the next three years, he could only see Tao Tao most of the time in the hospital.

"It was my oversight." Seeing Tao Tao's rosy cheeks at the guesthouse, Zhou Mingsheng almost forgot his past experience at the hospital. "I'll have someone remove the trending topic right now."

He logged into an account he rarely used and sent an email to HT's public relations team.

To outsiders, this account and Maze are two different people. It was a lock he added when he decided to pursue esports to prevent fans and haters from digging up his real-life information.

The auction continues, and the light from the crystal chandelier is imprinted on "Populus euphratica in the Desert," making the scenery appear even more unrestrained and expansive.

Someone raised their bidding paddle again.

"Number 21, 1.3 million." The auctioneer, microphone in hand, scanned the room. "Any higher bids?"

Seeing that no one else was going to bid, Cheng Zhao picked up the bidding paddle on the table.

His bidding paddle was number 12, which he specifically chose.

Unexpectedly, just as he raised his paddle halfway, Su Yi'ang, sitting on the other side, suddenly snatched Tao Tao's bidding paddle and held it high.

Cheng Zhao: "?"

Ye Hantao: "??"

Entrusted with an important task by the big boss, Su Yi'ang was so excited that he shouted "1.35 million!" before the auctioneer even called out the price.

Ye Hantao: "!"

You have no sportsmanship!!!

The sound of 135w drew most of the attention in the room.

They didn't see Su Yi'ang snatching Ye Hantao's bidding paddle; rather, they rarely saw anyone bidding so loudly at an auction.

【？？？？？】

Am I seeing things? Su Yi'ang is holding up a bidding paddle for Ye Hantao?

I saw it too! He snatched it!

[He was scrolling through his phone before he rushed over; did Maze ask him to take the picture?]

[That's possible! Ye Hantao studied traditional Chinese painting and probably likes this painting.]

Oh my god! Maze spoils his little sister so much.

Ye Hantao pulled down Su Yi'ang's wrist and whispered a reminder, "Ang'ang, you're holding up the wrong sign! Your bidding sign is number 10."

“That’s right, that’s right.” Su Yi’ang grinned, revealing two tiger teeth. “The big boss told me to help you take the photos, and he gave you a card!”

Seeing this, Liao Jiayue clenched her hands angrily, her long fingernails digging into her palms.

The original novel also features an auction scene, where the female lead bids a total of 12 million, making her the highest-priced guest on "Classmates Are Here".

Now, is Ye Hantao going to steal her thunder again?

Liao Jiayue doesn't believe that Maze's assets alone are worth more than the entire Liao family's!

The auctioneer announced again: "Number 21, 1.4 million!"

Su Yi'ang raised bidding paddle number 7 again, "1.45 million!"

"Stop filming, stop filming!" Ye Hantao hurriedly stopped him again. "Big boss? You mean my brother?"

Su Yi'ang: "Of course! I only recognize Maze as my boss."

The cameraman was far away, so the audience couldn't hear the conversation and could only infer from the actions.

[Is Ye Hantao stopping Su Yi'ang from taking pictures?]

[Tsk tsk tsk, even the richest people are stingy when it comes to charity.]

【？？？？】

Why couldn't Ye Hantao have tried to stop them and film it herself?

[We all know our own situation. I suspect Maze isn't as wealthy as you all think. Ye Hantao is probably worried that Su Yi'ang won the bid and won't be able to pay for it.]

[Impossible, Maze said in the car that it would be enough to cover everything.]

[You fans are being ridiculous. The items in this auction totaled over 100 million. Back when Maze was at its peak, didn't anyone dig into their family background?]

[Disease progression: 59%]

Ye Hantao paid no attention to the inexplicable feedback about the character's personality; she only held onto Su Yi'ang's arm tightly, who was about to raise his sign again.

She was afraid that if Su Yi'ang bid again, the number 21 bidder would give up.

Ye Hantao snatched her bidding paddle number 7 and said firmly, "Don't bid yet!"

How could Su Yi'ang not take the photos?

This was a task assigned by the big boss, and he couldn't let someone else win the bid.

After two rounds of bidding by others, Su Yi'ang raised his bidding paddle.

Auctioneer: "Number 10, 1.65 million!"

Ye Hantao was contacting her older brother on her phone and didn't realize for a moment that number 10 was Su Yi'ang's bidding paddle.

So, Zhou Mingsheng, who was watching the live stream, unexpectedly received a reminder from Tao Tao in the family group.

[Taking a bite of a peach: Bro, while maintaining a facade of lying on the show is important, not being able to afford the auction is also a serious matter!]

[Taking a bite of a peach: We can't afford to bid on expensive items just for vanity.]

Zhou Mingsheng: "???"

[Manufacturer: Peach, I have money in my account.]

At the same time he sent the message, Tao Tao's third message popped up.

[Taking a bite of a peach: ...Bro, I just discovered my social media account has gained almost four million followers, and they all believe you're Maze (question mark.jpg)]

Ye Hantao disabled private messages from strangers.

This saved them from being overwhelmed by a flood of compliments.

It's one thing for one person to admit their mistake, but four million people who are following this have all admitted their mistakes?

That doesn't make sense either. Maze has always had a dark complexion and white hair. They've never seen Maze after she turned white, so they just assumed she was the boss.

Is Angang's statement about being a "big boss" really that powerful?

Ye Hantao's mind was a little confused. Was this reasonable?

But Ye Hantao couldn't figure out why her older brother had any reason to keep it from their family.

Besides, my elder brother had already said that Su Yi'ang had mistaken someone for someone else.

Later, she lied and said that her older brother was Maze, and only then did her older brother have to admit it.

Suddenly, Ye Hantao made a bold guess.

The eldest brother can't possibly have a twin brother, can he?

When Zhou Mingsheng, Ye Weizheng, and Zhou Ti in the group saw this message, it was like a bolt from the blue.

What? !

Tao Tao never believed that he and Maze were the same person!

No wonder Tao Tao didn't get sick!!

Although it's hard to explain why others believed it but it had no effect, it must have a lot to do with why Tao Tao didn't believe it.

Ye Hantao was still reminding her family, [taking a bite of a peach: Big brother, if anyone tries to persuade you to do live-streaming e-commerce, commercial activities, or any other profit-making activities under the Maze name, you absolutely cannot agree (pats head.jpg).]

Simply claiming to be someone in public is not illegal, but using that claim to develop certain activities could be illegal.

Ye Hantao didn't want to harm her family for her own selfish reasons.

[Manufacturer: Okay, don't worry.] Zhou Mingsheng replied.

He was suddenly grateful for the phone call his father had made not long ago; otherwise, Tao Tao would have seen the certifications from all the HT base members and the official HT base.

"Ming Sheng! The card you gave Tao Tao!" Ye Weizheng called anxiously, "How much money is in it?"

Zhou Mingsheng paused for a few seconds, "It's a Citibank black card."

Ye Weizheng & Zhou Ti: "..."

My son has taken too big a step.

They had just come up with a few excuses to tell Tao Tao about the tens of millions in savings in the bank account, but now they didn't need them anymore.

A black card.

Is that something an ordinary person could accomplish?

What excuse could they use to convince Tao Tao?

At the auction, the bid for "Populus euphratica in the desert" had reached 1.75 million yuan.

Ye Hantao never raised the bidding paddle again.

[See! I told you Ye Hantao only stopped Su Yi'ang because she didn't want to film!]

[Maze shouldn't have less than a million.]

Having a million or so and spending a million or so on bidding for a painting are two different things.

[Please, those who are mocking this, take a look at the villas at HT's base, okay? And Maze's properties.]

Did Maze himself say this was his property?

[Maze didn't say it himself, but Flash and his team mentioned it during their livestream!]

The auctioneer brought down the gavel for the third time, "One million seven hundred million, the third time! Sold! Congratulations to lot number 10!"

As the gavel fell, the auctioneer signaled to the staff to take notes.

A staff member in a suit walked over and handed Su Yi'ang a transaction confirmation form, saying respectfully, "You can complete the payment during the halftime break, or you can pay at any time within three days."

Ye Hantao then remembered that Ang Ang had taken bidding paddle number 10.

"!!!" Ye Hantao quickly pulled Su Yi'ang over, and as he leaned in with his upper body tilted, she apologized very quietly, "My older brother and Maze just look alike, he is not Maze, don't listen to him."

Upon hearing Ye Hantao's words, Su Yi'ang thought to himself that the big boss really understood Tao Tao!

Tao Tao just couldn't bear to part with him, worried that he would continue to help the big boss film things, even saying that the big boss wasn't Maze.

"Mmm, I don't want to hear it." Su Yi'ang blinked her puppy-dog eyes. "I only took the photos because I liked them."

He secretly planned to get the big boss's card from Tao Tao after the payment was made, and then pay the bill in a flash!

It was Tao Tao who kept it from him all along.

Good heavens! He was so scared when he suddenly met the big boss at the guesthouse that his soul still hasn't returned to his body!

Cheng Zhao watched Ye Hantao and Su Yi'ang whispering to each other, and then, recalling Su Yi'ang's behavior of grabbing the bidding paddle, he guessed that it was Ye Hantao's brother who instigated it.

Tao Tao's brother will definitely take pictures of whatever Tao Tao likes.

Cheng Zhao fiddled with the bidding paddles on the table, wondering if he would have any use for them tonight.

One item after another was put up for auction, including three antiques donated free of charge by the "Classmates Are Here" program team.

They captured 4 million, 4.3 million, and 5.35 million views respectively.

Several jade merchants sat together at a table. "I saw her. Ye Hantao is sitting at the table in front."

"Three more pieces and it'll be halftime," the square-faced man said. "Let's go find Ye Hantao together and have her authenticate the Shoushan ornaments to see if they are truly Huang Lao's work."

This was something that had been discussed beforehand, so the others naturally agreed.

"Didn't your child call?"

"What call?"

The short-haired woman shook her head as she spoke. "My son said on the phone that Ye Hantao's brother is Maze. He knows I'm also here for the auction, so he asked me and Ye Hantao to get Maze's autograph."

Maze?

Who is it?

The youngest of them is already in his forties; I really don't understand which celebrities young people admire.

"An e-sports player, I heard he won a world championship."

"Playing video games, huh?"

This is completely neglecting one's proper duties.

The two children of the square-faced man went abroad to study after graduating from junior high school, and returned to China after graduating from university to work in their family business.

In their view, this is the right path for the younger generation to take.

Soon, they arrived at the last item up for auction before the intermission.

The auctioneer introduced the items as follows: "This lot is a pair of old mine, full-green, glassy jadeite bangles, each 56mm in diameter... The raw material was sourced from..."

After the auctioneer gave a long explanation, Ye Hantao recognized the bracelet as the one she had mentioned to her older brother.

To the naked eye, there doesn't seem to be much difference between old mine glass-type jadeite and regular glass-type jadeite.

At least Ye Hantao couldn't tell the difference between the materials used for the bracelet and the Shoushan ornament.

This jade is so beautiful!

It's so sheer!!!

[Is this the old mine glass-type jadeite? It looks so similar to Ye Hantao's Shoushan jadeite ornament!]

【Ahhh, I wanted to say that too!】

[Your information is too outdated! Some people online are already speculating that Ye Hantao's Shoushan jade ornament is actually old mine glass-type jade.]

[First, there was Ji Changtu, who wanted to buy it repeatedly, and before he was taken away by the police, he had already asked for 5 million yuan. Then there's Maze, so it's not surprising that Ye Hantao has a jade ornament worth tens of millions of yuan.]

[But the ornament was a gift from my ex-fiancé! It has nothing to do with Maze.]

[You guys are quite interesting. It's the same thing, yet you have different standards for judging whether Maze is Ye Hantao's.]

Auctioneer: "Starting price is 8 million, minimum increment is 50,000."

Seeing that Ye Hantao hadn't raised her placard again, Liao Jiayue had a better understanding of Ye Hantao's family background and smiled as she held the placard in her hand.

In the first half hour, she bought two items, totaling nearly 4 million yuan.

My father gave me a quota of 5 million for this auction.

Liao Jiayue originally intended to bid over 12 million like the female lead in the original novel, but the thought of having to use her own savings to bid on items she didn't like made her feel bad.

She doesn't mind spending millions, but she'd rather use it to buy designer brands that she can show off, than keep antiques at home.

This jade bracelet is quite nice. Ye Hantao definitely wouldn't dare to even raise it. She plans to raise it to 10 million before stopping.

This will allow all the viewers in the live stream to see clearly who among them is the real heiress.

The next second, Liao Jiayue's smile froze on her lips.

Why is Su Yi'ang holding up a sign?!

Su Yi'ang not only held up a sign, but also shouted, "10 million!"

The big boss later said that this bracelet might cost 20 million to buy, so he told him to start bidding from 10 million and increase the bid by no less than 500,000 each time.

Liao Jiayue stared at his figure in disbelief.

Although Su Yi'ang is a popular contestant with a net worth of over 100 million, it is still shocking enough that he can casually mention 10 million.

The wave of sign-raising continued, one after another.

However, no matter who raised the bid, Su Yi'ang always bid over 500,000 yuan at a time.

【Ang Ang?】

Is playing esports really that lucrative?

I know a contestant who spent 30 million on a large apartment; he's definitely rich!

[But Su Yi'ang was so domineering when he shouted out 10 million!]

[Hehe, maybe he's just putting on a show.]

Auctioneer: "Number 10, 18.5 million, any other bids?"

Ye Hantao liked it, but she didn't feel disappointed when she saw that it cost 18.5 million.

She likes the big villas that other people bought, so she can't be disappointed about everything.

However, Ye Hantao still posted a message to maintain her public image.

Ye Hantao V: My brother gave me a bank card that can buy 10 pairs of jade bracelets, but there's no need to bid on them.

[Disease progression: 58%]

Ye Hantao glanced at the comments section, a slight embarrassment on her face.

As expected, most people in the comments section didn't think she had a hundred or two hundred million in her account, but the comments all started with "even though you are Maze's sister".

I wonder when the real Maze will go online to clarify and condemn her lying.

The phone on the table rang with a notification tone indicating it was under special attention.

Cheng Zhao glanced at Ye Hantao before unlocking his phone.

As soon as he saw the contents, his brow furrowed.

Wasn't Su Yi'ang taking pictures of these bracelets for Tao Tao on behalf of her older brother?

Cheng Zhao was quite certain that he had personally heard Tao Tao say that she liked the jade bracelet in the auction items while they were in the car.

Auctioneer brought down the gavel: "18.5 million, for the first time!"

Cheng Zhao picked up the sign and held it up.

"Number 12, 18.55 million!"

Number 12, isn't that Cheng Zhao's bidding paddle? Ye Hantao quickly turned to look at Cheng Zhao, her eyes revealing obvious shock. Cheng Zhao could actually afford 18.55 million?!

[Well, Su Yi'ang might not be putting on a brave face, but Cheng Zhao definitely is!]

[He only raised his paddle because he saw Su Yi'ang was determined to win, right?]

Isn't that price gouging?

Su Yi'ang originally thought that 18.5 million was a sure thing, but then someone suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

Upon closer inspection, he realized he recognized the person. Cheng Zhao didn't need to raise the price if he wanted to bid and give Tao Tao a free gift!

Wait a minute, why did he subconsciously think that Cheng Zhao wanted to give Tao Tao?

Why would Cheng Zhao give Tao Tao a jade bracelet worth 18.55 million? He's not even Tao Tao's older brother.

Su Yi'ang steeled himself and raised his sign again.

This time, he didn't ask for 500,000 again; he honestly raised the price by 50,000.

It's one thing for others, but to add 500,000 yuan just for Cheng Zhao's one bid is too much of a loss!

When the auctioneer asked again, Su Yi'ang winked at Cheng Zhao.

The main point is simple: I took these photos for Tao Tao. We're all family here, so let's be generous!

Cheng Zhao strangely understood what Su Yi'ang wanted to say.

He stopped holding up the sign.

More importantly, he saw clearly whose sign Su Yi'ang was holding up in the last round.

Most of the viewers in the live chat didn't notice this.

They unanimously concluded that Cheng Zhao's recent paddle raise clearly indicated that he was certain Su Yi'ang would raise his paddle again.

[He just wants to show off that he's rich too, right?]

[Could they have believed Ye Hantao's post?]

[I'll just say one thing: Cheng Zhao left in a Rolls-Royce in the first episode, and he used three or four custom-made Leica cameras. You've been proven wrong by Ye Hantao so many times, haven't you learned your lesson?]

The audience: "..."

My cheeks suddenly started to ache slightly.

The auctioneer brought down the gavel, "18.6 million, third time! Sold!"

"Let's congratulate number 7!"

Number 7?!

Isn't that my brand?

Ye Hantao looked at the table again and saw that her nameplate was no longer there. She looked up and saw that it was indeed in Su Yi'ang's hand.

Aaaaaaahhhhh!

When did he steal it?!

Next up is halftime.

People can choose to enjoy the food and drinks, or they can go and pay for the auction items.

Ye Hantao saw a familiar staff member hand her the first payment confirmation slip.

"..." She dared not accept it.

Su Yi'ang leaned closer and asked, "Can I pay now?"

Staff member: "Yes."

Su Yi'ang stood up and said excitedly to Ye Hantao, "Taotao, let's go pay the bill."

Ye Hantao could no longer walk.

A lie that the "big brother" is Maze was actually worth 18.6 million!

-----------------------

Author's Note: Peach: [Crying] Who can afford this?!

--Randomly dropping small red envelopes~--

*The above applies to situations without authorization and is not recommended.

This is something the eldest brother can afford, and Angang, who was verbally entrusted with the task, also knows that the eldest brother can afford it.

In a real auction, it's unlikely that someone would snatch another person's bidding paddle, right? [question mark]