Chapter 197 - Is That How It's Going to be? (1)
All Duchess Capet could think of right now was "WTF". Embarrassing. It was very embarrassing. To make matters worse, she had embarrassed herself in front of her new friend. While she felt that she and Fang could relate to each other, there was certainly also some sense of competition between the two beautiful women. Now that she had embarrassed herself so much, she just wish she could bury herself in a hole right now.
The only thing that made her feel better right now was how calm Fang was. She didn't make a big deal out of it, like it was nothing out of the ordinary. Especially when she had reacted quickly and had already placed her wig back on her while she was still stunned.
She looked around them and, sure enough, nobody else had noticed it. She let out a big sigh of relief. Fang was certainly a nice person!
Once Duchess Capet had calmed down, she gave Fang JunRong a bright smile. "Thank you."
"No problem."
She was very pretty when she smiled, bright and charming. Fang JunRong might appear very calm but the impact from what she had seen was so strong that she immediately recalled the earlier scene when she saw Duchess Capet's smile.
That being said, she understood why Duchess Capet did what she did. She, too, would choose to wear a wig if she was in her shoes.
Thinking of that, Fang JunRong felt that she could relate to the duchess. She whispered into the duchess's ear in a volume that only she could hear, "I will give you a few bottles of my Hair Growing Cream to try out after the auction. It is what I have been using recently."
Having said that, Fang JunRong showed the duchess pictures of herself from a while back and compared them with a more recent photo. Her hair now looked like some sort of filter had been applied to the photo.
"Alright." Duchess Capet looked, once again, at Fang JunRong's hair. She was extremely envious. It was only her dream to have quality and quantity of hair like that. She had already tried too many folk remedies for her hair but all of the results were temporary at best. She was a perfectionist and could stand any imperfections so she had been wearing a wig for the last year.
With this secret between the two of them, their relationship had reached yet a new level. Duchess Capet asked Fang JunRong the rocks that she had in mind and expressed that she would not bid against her.
Duchess Capet, in reality, was quite a genuine person.
Fang JunRong's smile became more sincere. "Why, thank you then."
Part of the reason that Fang JunRong had offered to help was out of compassion but, inevitably, there was also a part of her that thought of Duchess Capet as a live advertisement. Now she was more sincere in her intention to help her out.
Duchess Capet, too, was very happy that her kindness had been accepted. Whenever she had said something to that effect in the past, she would always receive an odd look from others. Finally, someone told her that when she talked like that, others would think she was just showing off her wealth.
But not Fang!
"JunRong, you are here too."
Came a familiar female voice.
Fang JunRong looked over in the direction of the voice and saw Bai ShiYuan. She was surrounded by a few experts who were up there in age. It was obvious that she had these rocks in mind, which was why she had brought so many experts with her.
Fang JunRong recalled that both her family and her husband's owned jewelry chain stores. No wonder she tried so hard to kiss up to Old Geng. Old Geng was, after all, someone who possessed a gemstone mine. Lo and behold, the warm jade that she tried so hard to get her hand on was nothing in light of Fang JunRong's jadeite. It would make sense that Bai Shiyuan held grudges against her. That being said, Fang JunRong didn't feel that she had done anything wrong. Bai Shiyuan was the one who started the fight between the two of them. All Fang JunRong did was to hold her ground.
She nodded slightly. "I see that you are here as well."
Fang JunRong had a very nonchalant look on her.
Chapter 198 - Is That How It's Going to be? (2)
Bai Shiyuan saw that Fang JunRong had on a hunter green gown today that matched the color of the bracelet that she was wearing. Her skin so fair that it almost seemed like there was a glow. Her bracelet looked to be emerald green but, when she wore them, it didn't seem overpowering. Instead, it complimented her beauty and her classy temperament perfectly.
Because of the weather, she had a white shawl over her shoulders. Her look was casual but the charm within her elegance was very attractive.
Sure enough, she still hated Fang JunRong so! In particular when she recalled how she had become her stepping stone.
With a fake smile on her, she said to Fang JunRong, "You have no shortages of good gems, JunRong. Why would you come to compete with us over these now?"
The group of experts that she had brought with her made her feel very confident. She had paid them all handsomely and, for sure, she would have a nice haul today.
Fang JunRong chuckled lightly, glanced over quickly at Duchess Capet, and said, "I can't bring myself to use what I have for skincare purposes so I thought I'd buy some here today. That way I won't feel too awful when I grind them into powder."
The muscle on Bai Shiyuan's cheeks twitched when she heard that. They were here to buy the gems for their business. Fang JunRong was buying them for skincare purposes? Was she making fun of them?
She gave a very exaggerated look. "You are so funny. What kind of idiot would grind up gems and apply them to their face?
They were speaking in Chinese. Duchess Capet didn't speak Chinese but she brought her own translator with her through the entire event.
As such, every word that Bai Shiyuan had said had been translated for her verbatim.
She was displeased immediately. "So what if I grind the gem up into powder? I've grinded emeralds before too!"
She said to her translator. "Translate that to her, each and every single word. Then tell her she is the idiot! And scold her some more for me!"
The young translator has eyes as blue as the sky but was very professional. Not only did he translated what Duchess Capet had said, he also added a few nasty words more fitted to the Chinese culture.
Bai Shiyuan was very annoyed. She wanted to call her bullsh*t but was stopped by one of her assistants who also clued her in on Duchess Capet's background. In short, she wasn't kidding when she said she had applied emerald onto her face and that her wealth was leaps and bounds ahead of hers and her husband's family combined.
Like a balloon that had been poked, her pride deflated immediately.
She looked over at Fang JunRong. If Fang JunRong wanted the same ones as her, she would for sure buy them all at high price. She needed a win.
Duchess Capet was still unhappy even after she had driven Bai Shiyuan away. All the way until Fang JunRong had changed the subject.
The format today was silent auction. In a silent auction, participants would place their bids silently and anonymously on a bid sheet along with the lot number of the gem and placed them in a box.
This way, nobody knew what each other was offering and that could avoid the situations of prices being raised maliciously or different parties colluding with each other.
She looked around the venue and, even though silent auctioned ones were of the majority, but the few that were ranked highest potential by the experts would be auctioned off regularly. Once the silent auctions were over, they would head to a different venue and the regular auctions would take place three days from now.
Among the silent auctioned ones, there were ten of them that Fang JunRong most definitely wanted. As such, she filled out very competitive prices. There were other good ones but there was no need to buy all of them. She should leave some for others as well.
Duchess Capet, on the other hand, didn't think that much. Anything that she had her eyes on, regardless of experts' opinions, she'd just throw money at it.
Fang JunRong saw her filling out at least 20 bid sheets. That was certainly a testimony to her wealth.
Chapter 199 - Is That How It's Going to be? (3)
As nobody could see what others were bidding, the atmosphere was much less aggressive.
By the afternoon of the second day, the result was out. Out of the ten that Fang JunRong had picked, she won seven of them for a total of 16 million yuan. She was quite pleased with the outcome.
As Duchess Capet put down very high amounts, she won all 26 of them that she had bid on.
The real auction started on the third day of the event.
Fang JunRong took a quick look and all the one that would be auctioned off regularly started at 3 million yuan.
Because of Old Geng, she had a good spot that was very close to the front and in the same row as Duchess Capet.
The auction started at 9 o'clock in the morning.
Fang JunRong wasn't interested in the first so she just watched others bid on them. The starting bid for the second one was 4.2 million yuan and finally sold for 13 million yuan.
Nevertheless, she felt that it was a bad deal for the winner of the auction as the piece of gem was filled with mystical qi.
By the sixth one, Fang JunRong was more focused. She had her eyes on this one and the starting bid was 1.3 million yuan.
She raised her sign – 3 million yuan. She decided to start with a slightly higher amount. That way she could convey her determination and perhaps make some people back off. Specifically, that one only looked alright from the openings. It wasn't one of the hottest ones.
"3 million. Do I hear any more bids?"
"3 million going once. 3 million going twice... Oh, 3.8 million! Guest Number 46 bid on it!"
Guest Number 46?
Fang JunRong turned and saw Bai Shiyuan, sitting exactly two rows behind her, giving her a big smile. She had a provoking look on her, obviously she did what she did purposefully.
Fang JunRong frowned. So we have resorted to throwing money at it? This gem was worth at least 20 million. Besides, she didn't believe that Bai Shiyuan could keep this up with her. Her money was her own and she could spend them however she liked. On the other hand, if Bai Shiyuan overspend, she has a husband to answer to.
Fang JunRong was just about to raise her bid before she heard a voice from above. "7 million. Guest Number 12 has raised!"
Guess Number 12 was Duchess Capet. She turned to Fang JunRong and mouthed a "You're welcome" to her.
With a gender reversal, that would be a perfect scene in a novel where a domineering CEO threw money to faceslap some cannon fodder for the female lead.
Fang JunRong felt resigned but also understood that Duchess Capet meant well. As such, she wouldn't keep going down this path with Duchess Capet.
Bai Shiyuan, too, understood the wealth of Duchess Capet. She would not be able to outbid Duchess Capet. In fact, she very well might end up offending her. As such, she gave up with a long face. The stone finally ended with Duchess Capet.
In the auctions that followed, anything that Fang JunRong had her eye on, Bai Shiyuan would raise the price. Then Duchess Capet, too, would raise and finally win it.
That had turned into an odd situation that followed. Anything that Fang JunRong was interested in, most everybody else would back off, not wanting to drag into this aggressive bidding war.
After a few times, Fang JunRong, too, had lost her temper.
She saw a few stones with starting bids over 10 million yuan but were, in fact, very low on mystical qi. They were perfect for Bai Shiyuan. If she didn't make Bai Shiyuan but them for over 100 million, she would no longer be a Fang!
So she liked stones that others had their eyes on right? Have at it then!
Fang JunRong lowered her head and signaled Duchess Capet to play along with her. At least to not bid on the next few gems. Bai Shiyuan was the one that she wanted to mess with. She didn't want Duchess Capet to become a collateral damage.