“I have seen too many paintings that contain deep emotions, and this one definitely ranks among the top three in my experience.”
Yvante continued to sigh.
“So are you going to buy this painting?”
Xia De asked.
The “man” shook his head:
“I don’t have that much money.”
“So which item are you buying this time? I’m here to buy a No. 5 pen for a noble lady whose identity cannot be revealed. I hope our goals don’t conflict, but she gave me a very high price. upper limit.”
Xia De continued to hold him close.
“Oh, don’t worry about that. I’m here to buy No. 10.”
Steve Evans said, but Shade knew that he would not buy anything. The auction would start soon, and he would just pretend to hold up his sign. Standing here is just a warning to judge whether there is anyone in the crowd who may ruin things tonight.
This group of cultists probably didn’t realize that there were almost more people from the Zhengshen Church in this house than they did.
“No. 10?”
Xia De nodded and naturally looked in the direction of auction item No. 10, which was a gold ring. There is no historical value or story, just a pure gold ring, appearing here as jewelry.
Of course, Shade was not looking at the ring, but at the person standing on his right. One of the men took off his deerstalker hat and shook it twice. Shade immediately understood that the personnel were in place:
“By the way, I forgot to introduce myself, Hamilton from Rejed, you may have heard of me.”
He stretched out his hand to Mr. Steve Evans, who hesitated for a moment and then extended his hand to shake it. He wore a [Metamorphosis Ring] on his finger, and at close range, Shade confirmed that this one was genuine.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Hamilton, my name is Steve Evans.”
The middle-aged man who was working undercover introduced himself to:
“Probably a broker and collector, helping some nobles and businessmen introduce antique business.”
The tone is normal and the expression is natural. “He” is as good at playing a man as Mrs. Lasoya is good at playing a woman. Perhaps this is also one of the characteristics of the [Metamorphosis Ring].
“This is a very profitable business.”
Xia De said enthusiastically, counting the time, and chatted with Mr. Evante about the other lots mentioned in the invitation letter. When there were less than three minutes left before the next auction, he looked around, carefully took something out of his pocket, and lowered his voice:
“Mr. Evante, since I happened to come across it today, why don’t you help me take a look at it? How is this thing? How much is it worth?”
Shade took out the small jewelry box from his pocket. After opening it, Mr. Ivant only slightly squinted his eyes, but when he saw the contents in the box, his eyes immediately widened in surprise:
“This is…”
In the jewelry box is a huge ruby ring. The gems on the ring are frighteningly large. And even if you don’t look at the gems, just look at the ring itself, you can tell that this is no ordinary object.
“Keep your voice down, I saved the queen, and this is a private reward she gave me. I’ve actually been wanting to find someone… to help find out how much gold it is worth.”
Xia De smiled sheepishly;
“But you also know that once I get it to a local jewelry store or antique store, the tabloids will publish the news the next day, saying that Hamilton of Ray Jade wants to sell the treasure given by the queen. But you are different , you are not from this country at all, so I want you to take a look at it for me.”
Cultists are currently performing tasks, and logically speaking, they should not cause trouble. But when Shade enthusiastically handed over the box containing the ring, “he” just hesitated and took it.
It would be a bit strange to refuse directly at this time, so the middle-aged man used his body to block the sight of others behind him, took the ring box, and said:
“I’m actually not good at antique appraisal of jewelry. I mainly do art collection and trading of calligraphy and painting… Oh, this ring is really nice.”
This ring is of course very good. Queen Diana didn’t know that even if Shade was not there, Miss Carina, who was sitting next to her at the time, would not let anything happen to her, so she really believed that Shade saved her life. According to Miss Carina, this ring has a long history and has been passed down from generation to generation in Queen Diana’s maternal family for at least 300 years.
If it had not been given to Shade, the ring should have been passed down as dowry jewelry when a certain princess got married.
“This is really good.”
Mr. Steve Evans couldn’t help but sigh again, and Shade smiled in response:
“Can you give me an estimate?”
“It’s difficult to give a specific estimate. After all, I have very little contact with antiques in this area. But if you are willing, I can introduce a few friends to help you take a look.”
Looking at the ring in the ring box in his hand with some reluctance, but still handed it back to Shade. If he is willing to pay the price of transforming himself from a woman into a man, “he” will not cause trouble on such an important occasion as today.
“Very good.”
Xia De stuffed the ring box into his coat pocket and began to count down in his mind. He stretched out his hand to shake hands and said politely:
“Sorry to trouble you, I…”
The woman holding the wine glass looked at Shade from behind, and then looked at the man wearing a deerstalker hat standing on Shade’s right. The latter blinked and raised his legs to walk aside, but suddenly fell towards the woman as if he had tripped.
The woman was unable to dodge and collided with the man wearing a deerstalker hat. Although he held the wine glass firmly with his hand, the wine inside still spilled on Shade’s back.
“Oh, for Mr. Liming’s sake, what’s going on?”
Xia De, who was about to shake hands, first “screamed” and then turned around dissatisfied. People around him also looked here curiously.
“Oh, sir, I’m so sorry, so sorry.”
The man first apologized to the lady, and then hurriedly apologized to Shade. At the same time, he also called the servants and wanted to take Sha De to another room to scrub, but Sha De waved his hand and said dissatisfied:
“The auction is about to start, I don’t want to miss it.”
He took off his coat and took it in his hand, and asked the people on the side to help confirm that the white shirt inside was not wet.
Steve Avant looked silently at the coat in Shade’s hand, and then looked at Shade’s young face.
Just like Shade said, he didn’t have time to change clothes because the auction was about to start.
The long table in the restaurant has long been removed and replaced with neatly arranged single seats. The people participating in the auction sat down on their seats respectively, while Steve Ivant sat with Shade, whom he had just met, and listened to the old auctioneer presiding over the auction.
The progress of the auction is very fast. There is no fierce competition in this kind of fundraising auction, so each item can be sold by raising a placard three or four times.
Shad bid and won the No. 2 auction item and the No. 5 auction item, which were the “Encyclopedia of Ancient Fairy Tales of Delarion” and the golden pen. The reason for buying additional storybooks is not because he likes that book very much, but because he proudly shows off to his new friends after successfully bidding:
“The pen is what the lady asked for. This book…I don’t have that much money myself. I recently fell in love…and met a very rich woman. Noble, she is really…”
Xia De raised his eyebrows and showed an ambiguous smile:
“Very rich.”
Evan nodded without expression, but looked at Shade’s wet coat again.
Shade held the coat in his hand, looking very casual. After the auction, Shade invited Mr. Ivant to go see the items he bought, but he was rejected by the other party.
Steve Ivant’s mission is to stay here to monitor the crowd, to ensure that there are no suspicious persons, and to ensure that the God-Calling Ceremony does not go wrong, so he cannot go too far.
“That’s such a pity. I’ll bring it to you later. Happiness should be shared together. I really can’t wait to see that book. I like this kind of old books.”
Xia De said this, standing up excitedly and preparing to leave. But at this time, the man wearing a deerstalker hat who had bumped into the middle-aged woman just now led a maid over. He waved hello to Shade with a local accent, and his brown hair stuck out from the edge of the hat:
“Sir, I’m really sorry for what happened just now. I found out that there is a laundry room in the yard of the mansion. There is no one there right now, but this maid can help clean the clothes. I’m really sorry. This kind of wine stain is completely Once it dries, it won’t be easy to wash.”
Of course, whether it was the woman holding the wine glass just now, the man wearing a deerstalker hat standing in front of me, or the maid who was going to do the laundry, it was all arranged by Miss Carina.
“Doing laundry?”
Xia De looked at the maid suspiciously, thought for a moment, handed over the coat, and said to the maid:
“I don’t have time to follow you. You can wash it first. I’ll get the things in a while and wait for you on the first floor. Dry them as soon as possible. This set of clothes is not cheap.”
As he said that, he nodded apologetically to Mr. Evante, and then walked excitedly to the inside of the restaurant to pick up the auction items.
Steve Evans stood there expressionlessly. He first looked at the back of Shad as he left, and then saw the man wearing a deerstalker hat continuing to watch the next step here with his friends. After a round of auction items, the maid who was last seen leaving the restaurant holding Shade’s coat had disappeared outside the door.
He lowered his head and thought for a moment, glanced around, and then quickly followed the maid calmly.
Shad did not turn around to see where Ivante was going, but someone around him gave him a signal, and he knew that the plan worked.
Perhaps a person can restrain greed because of his sense of responsibility, but that is only because the temptation arises at the wrong time. In the script arranged by Miss Carina tonight, the stupid philistine Shad, the coincidental departure of the coat, and the slightly stable auction…at this time, the temptation is just right.