Chapter 39.2 Sashimi (b)

Translated by Ultra

Edited by Gumihou

 

Just then, someone placed a white jade box on the auction stage. It opened to reveal a dagger. The blade of the dagger was very fine and sharp. It was jet black from handle to blade except for the sharpened edge which glowed with a faint blue lustre.

At the sight of this dagger, Shiyu’s heart pounded. A faint feeling of… of an impending… something, destiny perhaps? Regardless, it was meant to be hers, she knew it.

Right then, the auctioneer was still drumming up excitement for the dagger, “…this dagger was brought to our Trading House. No one knows where it originated from, but our craftsmen have ascertained its value. This dagger has been graded, and we have determined that its level is close to Arcane Grade…”

The moment the words ‘Arcane Grade’ was out, the entire hall fell into a hush. The only thing that could be heard was the heavy breathing of the people within the hall as all eyes fixed upon the dagger. As soon as the words ‘Arcane Grade’ was attached to any item, its value automatically doubled.

Nevertheless, there were still a few sane minds among the excited audience, “Since it’s close to Arcane Grade, that means it’s not Arcane Grade. There’s a big difference between these two gradings and one should not mix these terms up.”

As soon as the voice of reason spoken, quite a few people came down from the high of hearing ‘Arcane Grade’ and began muttering among themselves. The auctioneer was miffed that the excellent atmosphere he that had so painstakingly created had been torn down. However, as professional, he gamely went through with the auction…

“The starting price for this dagger is set at 1 million taels. The minimum bid is 10,000 taels.”

Though one million taels did not seem high for a ‘near Arcane Grade’ item. The people knew that the final bid would most likely exceed the minimum price by several folds.

Shiyu mentally calculated the silver in her possession, wondering if she had enough. She might have to sell off some of her items for cash later.

“You want that dagger?” Lin Fan asked.

“En, I must have it.”

Lin Fan nodded, “You just bid for it, I will make up whatever shortfall.”

“Alright,” Shiyu was not shy about accepting his help.

While the two were speaking, the bidding had already gone over 2 million taels. However, they knew that the true powerhouses have yet to make their move.

Sure enough, once the number hit 3 million, there were fewer people making bids, but the price continues to go up.

“3.2 million.”

“3.3 million.”

“3.4 million.”

This single weapon was attracting attention from all around.

When the bidding price hit 4.6 million, there were only two or three people left on the scene. Shiyu knew that now was the time to make her bid.

“4.8 million.”

There was no hesitation from the opponent. “5 million.”

Shiyu’s response was an immediate, “6 million.” Shockingly, she added another million to her bid.

This caused the opponent to hesitate. However, someone else called out their bid, increasing the price to 6.1 million.

Shiyu raised her bid again, “7 million!”

Against her aggressive bid, the opponent hesitated. After some consultation, they settled back to their seats, choosing to give up.

The grin on the auctioneer’s face was very bright. The reserve price for this weapon was set at 5 million, and it had taken him a lot of effort to drag the price up to this 4.8 million. Unexpectedly, this girl had added another 2 million onto the reserve price.

“Then, I shall count to three. If no one else makes a new bid, the dagger shall go the young miss at seat number 34.”

Silence. [1]

Shiyu breathed a sigh of relief.

“7 million once.”

Still nothing. [1]

“7 million twice.”

Still, no one raises the price. The auctioneer raised his hammer, “7 million…”

“7 million and 10 thousand.”

The most despicable situation Shiyu had been worried about had just happened. Someone had stuck their bid in at the very last moment and sticking an embarrassing 10 thousand at the end. If the minimum bid had not been set at 10 thousand, they might have tacked on something much less.

Tracing the voice of the despicable person who made the bid, she spotted Mo Yin smirking at her over the railing of the VIP room on the second floor. She looked very proud of herself.

In that instant, Shiyu realized that this opponent had no interest in the dagger at all. She just wanted to make trouble for Shiyu.

Anger flashed through her eyes and Shiyu’s loathing for this person reached its peak.

She turned to the auctioneer. “8 million!”

“8 million and 10 thousand,” drawled Mo Yin lazily. The thought of seeing Shiyu’s deflated expression was enough to make her squirm with glee.

“9 million.” Shiyu’s voice was indifferent.

“9 million and 10 thousand.”

As the girls bid and counter bid, the people could see that they were directly competing with each other. Someone in the crowd recognised Mo Yin and said, “Hey, that’s the granddaughter of the Auction House’s Great Elder. No wonder she’s so daring.”

That’s the granddaughter of this Auction House’s Great Elder?

Shiyu sneered and raised her bid again, “10 million.”

10 million… the auctioneer’s heart thundered in his ears, he was nearly dizzy from the excitement generated from this unexpected rivalry. [2]

“10 million and 10 thousand.” Mo Yin continued.

However, her action was drawing looks of disgust from the crowd. This was clearly a deliberate ploy to force the bid higher. What is the most taboo thing at an auction? Making silly bids with the intention of forcing a false price raise. Moreover, everyone knew that Mo Yin was the granddaughter of the Auction House owner. Having an insider from the auction house force the bid up was even more despicable.

If the Auction House is known to use internal people to push their bids up, who would do business with them in the future? This girl was killing the chicken to get to the eggs.

From the floor, Lin Fan frowned, “She’s deliberately pushing up the price.”

“I know,” Shiyu nodded, her eyes fell on the dagger. “However, I’m willing to pay any price for it.”

At the determined glint in her eyes, Lin Fan kept his silence.

“11 million,” said Shiyu. Then she added, “Any time Miss Mo increases the bid, regardless of the amount, add another million to my bid.”

Such lofty attitude of treating silver like so much dirt humiliated Mo Yin so much that she called down, “Do you really have that much silver on you? This is an Auction House where silver must change hands first before you can walk away with the goods. We don’t allow for credit sales.”

Shiyu kept facing forward. “You may keep increasing the price. But after this auction, I shall never set foot into this despicable Trading House ever again.”

“That would depend on whether you have the money to even cross our threshold.” Mo Yin assumed that she was just bluffing. She was about to say something else when she suddenly went rigid. She was so shocked that she had lost the ability to speak.

Just what was happening?

She shook with fright as Grandfather stepped onto the auction stage.

“Little friend, please accept my apologies. My granddaughter has made a fool of herself just now. The original bid was at 7 million. I am happy to announce that this dagger has been successfully bid by this young lady at 7 million.”

When Shiyu saw the old man hurrying up the stage to say this, she sneered. What a convenient timing, he did not show up when his lovely little granddaughter was having her fun, but only appeared when the Trading House’s name being accused of being despicable. Who would believe the sly old man who’s trying to be a nice grandpa now?

“No need. It’s an open bid after all. Is your precious granddaughter going to increase the price again? I am willing to continue as long as she wishes to. Moreover, I wish to know something. Now that your granddaughter has called out a 10 million bid, could she actually cough out the necessary silver?”

The old man smiled, “Our Mo Family can still afford this amount of silver.”

Shiyu nodded, “But of course, you are, after all, the Great Elder of this esteemed Auction House.”

As soon as she said this, the old man’s face changed. The expression of other guests present at this auction flickered.

Bidding against guests was the greatest taboo with auction houses. Since Mo Yin had openly and unscrupulously force the bid up, how could anyone entering this auction house be assured that their bid would not be falsely forced up?

Now that her goal had been achieved, Shiyu urged the auctioneer to continue. The hammer finally came down at 11 million silver taels for the dagger.

When the final treasure was brought it, it turned out to be some kind of rare treasure that was on the verge of breaking into the Arcane Grade. As the last bidding item, it should have been the climax of the auction. The most precious item was always taken out last, after all.

However, the bid for this rare medicine stalled at 2 million taels. No matter how the auctioneer tried to raise excitement for it, the atmosphere was very cold.

The reason for this low bid was because everyone was afraid of putting their bid, having been frightened off by the possibility of being cheated. They ended up watching one another, waiting for someone to make a higher bid as the auctioneer called out for more bids, once, twice, three times. [3]

The hammer came down and the first person who had put up their hand won the bid.

Unfortunately for the Auction House, this person ended up being Shiyu.

On the second floor, Mo Yin’s chest was heaving with fury as the auction came to a lacklustre end. Once the whole business was over, she ran out of the VIP room to look for her grandfather. Surely Grandfather would block that slut from taking those things!

However, the moment he laid eyes on her, she received a resounding slap on the cheek.

“You fool! Never come to this Trading House again! You are not allowed to even be seen anywhere near this place!”

 

[Gumihou: I always enjoy a good auction scene. It’s so exciting!]

 

[1] Adjustment: Reduce the words to speed up the pace.

 

[2] Adjustment: Show don’t tell

 

[3] Just little additional details. This chapter is quite good. Bravo author-san.