42: Chapter 42 Auction Bidding

"Besides, I was talking about him, not you. Why are you getting so agitated? Are you perhaps his girlfriend?"

Liu Hui's eyes widened, and her face immediately flushed red.

Seeing this, the curator narrowed his eyes, walked forward, and said to Liu Hui, "Alright, let's not argue with her. Just look at what we came to see."

Liu Hui disagreed; she felt the woman's attack on Shen Yan was completely baffling.

"No way, he absolutely must apologize to Shen Yan!"

The woman laughed again upon hearing this.

"Apologize? Why should I apologize?"

"To put it bluntly, someone of a country bumpkin's status isn't even worthy of looking at the paintings here!"

It was then that Shen Yan finally spoke.

"Whether someone is worthy or not is not for you to decide."

"If you want to say that, then I can also say you aren't worthy of looking at the paintings here."

The woman continued to wave the handkerchief in her hand.

"Oh, really? Then can you afford even one painting here?"

"I estimate, with your salary, you couldn't afford one even if you worked your whole life, right?"

His whole life? A painting he couldn't afford even after a lifetime would likely be priced over ten billion.

Thinking of this, a slight smile curved the corner of Shen Yan's mouth.

"What if I can afford it?"

The woman boastfully declared, "If you can afford it, I will kneel down and apologize to you!"

Shen Yan nodded and walked directly to the painting labeled number one hundred and four.

"Fine, I'll buy this painting."

Liu Hui was greatly alarmed. She hurried to Shen Yan's side and whispered, "You really don't need to do this just to spite her. She's the one in the wrong here..."

Shen Yan was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. "I'm not doing this out of spite; I genuinely intended to buy this painting."

Worry filled Liu Hui's eyes. She pursed her lips and quietly revealed the price of the painting.

"This painting is over two hundred thousand... Are you sure you want it?"

Before he could answer, the curator stepped forward and said loudly to Shen Yan, "Mr. Chen, you really don't need to force yourself. This painting is over two hundred thousand; you probably can't afford it. How about this, I'll give you a painting as a gift..."

Hearing this, the woman burst into loud laughter.

"You can't even afford a cheap painting like one for two hundred thousand, yet you dare to boast that you can afford other paintings here?"

"You want me to kneel and apologize to you? Dream on!"

Shen Yan remained calm and spoke slowly, "Who said I can't afford this painting?"

"I said, I want this painting. I don't need anyone to give it to me."

The curator sighed heavily upon hearing this.

"Mr. Chen, you really don't need to do this. This painting is over two hundred thousand, which, considering your salary, is a very heavy burden."

"You wouldn't want all your savings to disappear just like that, would you?"

Shen Yan found this curator very strange.

From start to finish, he hadn't revealed his salary to the other party. Why was the curator acting like he understood him so well?

Shen Yan raised an eyebrow and considered for a moment, thinking the curator was very likely deliberately trying to put him down in front of Liu Hui.

"Curator, just one word: are you selling this painting or not?"

After hesitating for a moment, the curator replied, "How about this? I'll give you a discount and sell it to you for one hundred thousand."

The woman refused and spoke up directly, "That's cheating! No way. If you want to sell this painting for one hundred thousand, then I want to buy it too!"

The curator put on a look of surprise. "Under normal circumstances, if two people want to buy the same painting, they must compete through bidding, Mr. Shen... Are you able to do that?"

Shen Yan scoffed, thinking this curator was truly interesting.

He clearly didn't want him to buy the painting easily, yet he insisted on pretending to be acting in his best interest. Could it be that he liked Liu Hui?

Just as he was speculating, Liu Hui spoke up.

"Can you stop saying 'can you' or 'can't you' all the time?"

"I never said Shen Yan couldn't afford a painting, and Shen Yan himself never said that either."

The curator hadn't expected Liu Hui to suddenly address him. He replied in a wronged manner, "I didn't mean anything else. I just feel that Mr. Shen doesn't look like a rich person..."

"No... oh dear, I misspoke again. What I meant was, he doesn't look like someone who can afford a competitive auction price."

Shen Yan was momentarily speechless.

Good heavens, and he claimed that wasn't what he meant? It was obvious he thought Shen Yan was pretending to be rich and couldn't afford the price.

"Whether I can afford it or not, why don't you try and find out?"

"Didn't you just say you wanted to compete in a bidding auction? Come on, I'll compete with her."

The curator blinked and nodded in agreement. "Since you put it that way, let's go to the first floor together to compete in the auction."

There were far more guests on the first floor than on the second.

When everyone saw them coming down with the item, they couldn't help but look over with curiosity.

"Now is the time for our competitive bidding. Interested guests are welcome to come and take a look."

Seeing everyone was very curious, the curator "kindly" reminded everyone to gather around and watch.

The reason he did this was that he wanted to see Shen Yan publicly humiliated.

He had already observed that not a single piece of clothing Shen Yan was wearing was a designer brand; they were all cheap street clothes.

If Shen Yan had any money, he wouldn't possibly fail to dress up his appearance at all.

Therefore, the curator believed Shen Yan was definitely pretending to be wealthy.

"Alright, now our competitive bidding officially begins. The starting price is two hundred and forty thousand. No bids?"

As soon as the words fell, Shen Yan raised his paddle: "Three hundred thousand."

The woman sneered, "Three hundred and fifty thousand!"

Shen Yan continued to raise his hand: "Five hundred thousand."

The woman hadn't expected Shen Yan to suddenly shout out five hundred thousand, and she began to hesitate.

She frequented private collection galleries, so she knew the value of these paintings.

The painting Shen Yan held was, at its absolute maximum, worth three hundred thousand.

If she were to acquire the painting for a price over five hundred thousand, she would genuinely be unwilling to accept it.

However, if she didn't continue bidding, she would have to kneel down and apologize to Shen Yan.

She was hesitating while the curator started the countdown.

"Five hundred thousand once! Five hundred thousand twice! Five hundred thousand thri..."

"Five hundred and ten thousand!"

The woman shouted the bid again.

The next second, Shen Yan also shouted his bid again.

"Six hundred thousand!"

When this price was announced, everyone present erupted in an uproar.

"Who is this person? Shouting out such a high price as six hundred thousand?"

"Who is this divine being? Could he be a hidden tycoon?"

"Impossible, look at his clothes—they are all cheap street clothes..."

"Then why is he shouting six hundred thousand if he has no money?"

The crowd's discussion reached the woman's ears, and she started to feel conflicted again.

Six hundred thousand already far exceeded her budget.

If she continued to bid, she would have to borrow money from others to buy the painting.

At this moment, the curator began shouting again.

"Six hundred thousand once!"