909: Chapter 94 Agarwood

The hall instantly erupted.

Lin Zifeng raised his paddle first.

"Fifty-five million!"

He glanced provocatively in Shen Yan's direction, seemingly waiting for him to bid.

But Shen Yan remained with his eyes closed, like an old monk in deep meditation.

The price soared continuously, finally being won by Lin Zifeng at the sky-high price of eighty-eight million.

Lin Zifeng stood up, basking in the applause and envious gazes of the entire audience.

He deliberately walked in front of Shen Yan and waved the paddle in his hand.

"Mr. Shen, it seems you truly don't understand this business. You didn't even bid on something this good. What a pity."

Shen Yan finally opened his eyes.

He didn't even look at the chicken-cup, just looked at the auctioneer on the stage.

"Next item."

Lin Zifeng snorted coldly, returned to his seat, and prepared to see what Shen Yan would manage to bid on.

"Lot number 44."

The auctioneer's voice was noticeably lower, clearly lacking confidence in this lot.

Two staff members carried up a dirty wooden box.

When the box was opened, inside was a pile of broken porcelain shards and a few pieces of black, rotten wood.

"This is... a box of broken shards of Qing Dynasty folk kiln blue-and-white porcelain, suitable for beginners as study specimens. Starting bid, fifty thousand."

Scattered laughter echoed throughout the hall.

This kind of item usually went unsold.

Placing it at an auction of this caliber was simply a joke.

"Is Wanbao Xuan out of people? Why bring trash like this up?"

Lin Zifeng loudly mocked.

"Buy a pile of junk for fifty thousand to fill a fish pond?"

The people around also started joining in the jeering.

"Hurry up and withdraw it, don't waste everyone's time eating."

Just as the auctioneer was awkwardly preparing to announce it unsold, a hand was raised.

It was Shen Yan's hand.

His movement was casual, even somewhat languid.

"Fifty thousand."

The entire hall instantly fell silent.

Everyone's gaze focused on Shen Yan, their expressions filled with confusion and mockery.

The dignified Chairman of the Shenyan Group, a tycoon worth billions, came here to spend fifty thousand on a box of junk?

Was he crazy? Or did he have some peculiar hobby?

Lin Zifeng was stunned at first, then burst into wild laughter.

"Hahahaha! Mr. Shen, are you trying to make me laugh myself to death so I can inherit your credit line?"

"You passed up the eighty-eight million chicken-cup, only to spend fifty thousand on a box of broken porcelain shards?"

"Is this the vision of you tech guys? Truly unique!"

Facing the ridicule from the entire room, Shen Yan remained expressionless.

He just looked calmly at the auctioneer.

"If no one bids higher, hammer it down."

The auctioneer seemed to wake up from a dream and quickly raised his hammer.

"Fifty thousand once! Fifty thousand twice! Fifty thousand three times! Sold!"

As if afraid Shen Yan would change his mind, the hammer fell swiftly.

Shen Yan stood up and straightened the hem of his suit.

"Guang Ke, go swipe the card and take the items."

Although Chen Guangke was bewildered, feeling that the fifty thousand was a bit wasted, he never questioned Shen Yan's decisions.

He ran onto the stage, swiped the card, signed, and then carried the broken wooden box down.

"Mr. Shen, don't be in such a hurry to leave."

Lin Zifeng blocked the aisle, wearing a look of schadenfreude.

"Since you bought it, why not let everyone open their eyes right now? Let's see what mystery is hidden in this fifty-thousand-dollar treasure?"

"Perhaps Mr. Shen can turn waste into treasure?"

The surrounding people also gathered around; everyone wanted to see this joke.

Shen Yan stopped walking.

He looked at Lin Zifeng's punchable face and suddenly smiled.

The smile was faint, but it inexplicably made Lin Zifeng feel a wave of unease.

"You want to see?"

Shen Yan asked.

"Of course I want to see. This is quite a grand gesture from Mr. Shen."

Lin Zifeng said, steeling himself.

"Good."

Shen Yan turned to Chen Guangke and said.

"Put the box down."

Chen Guangke placed the box on the nearby display stand.

Shen Yan reached out, rummaged through the pile of porcelain shards, and casually tossed aside a few blue-and-white fragments that looked somewhat appealing.

Finally, his hand stopped on a long, black piece of wood.

This piece of wood looked like a packing block from the box. It was pitch black and covered in dust and grime, making one feel nauseous just looking at it.

"I'll take this one."

Shen Yan took out the piece of wood and kicked the rest, along with the box, aside.

"Hahahaha! Mr. Shen, you spent fifty thousand just to buy this piece of rotten wood?"

Lin Zifeng laughed so hard he almost shed tears.

"This thing probably smokes too much to even be used as firewood by the roadside, right?"

Shen Yan ignored him.

He picked up a utility knife used for opening boxes from a nearby tool stand.

"Some people's eyes can only see the glaze on the surface."

"But for some things, you must peel back the skin to see the bone."

Shen Yan suddenly exerted force with his wrist.

The sharp blade cut into the thick layer of black sludge.

Screech—

The harsh scraping sound made everyone's teeth ache.

As a layer of black hard shell was peeled away,

An indescribable fragrance suddenly exploded in the air.

It wasn't the scent of ordinary wood.

It was a scent mixed with coolness, sweetness, and the aroma of flowers and fruit—so rich it felt like it could pierce one's soul.

In just an instant, the expensive perfumes, red wine, and even the sweat scent on people in the entire auction hall were suppressed by this fragrance.

Everyone present, whether they understood antiques or not, felt their scalps tingle and their spirits lift the moment they smelled it.

Lin Zifeng's laughter stopped abruptly.

His eyes widened, and his nostrils twitched frantically.

"What... what is this smell?"

An elderly man wearing a Tang suit, seated in the front row, suddenly sprang up from his seat.

He was the president of the S City Antique Association, a man who had spent his entire life dealing with incense.

At this moment, his wrinkled face was flushed red with excitement, and his trembling hands pointed at the piece of wood in Shen Yan's hand.

"This... this is... Qinan?!"

"And top-grade White Qinan!!"

The old man's voice cracked.

"This scent, this oil content... Heavens, how was this preserved? And such a large piece?!"

The entire hall was in an uproar.

Qinan Agarwood.

Worth ten thousand gold per gram.

Ordinary agarwood was sold by the gram, but Qinan Agarwood was sold by the carat.

Moreover, most of the Qinan circulating on the market was only the size of a fingernail.

The piece in Shen Yan's hand was nearly as long as a forearm and as thick as a thigh!

This wasn't wood; it was a mountain of gold!

Shen Yan ignored the greedy and shocked eyes surrounding him.

He continued to scrape carefully with the knife.

As the black outer layer completely fell off, the true appearance of the wood—saturated with oil and featuring grain patterns like a landscape painting—was revealed.

That soul-stirring beauty made the eighty-eight million chicken-cup from moments ago seem somewhat vulgar.

"This... how much is this piece worth?"

Chen Guangke swallowed and asked in a low voice.

The elderly man in the Tang suit walked over tremblingly, looking at the piece of wood as if it were a miracle.

"If this is solid White Qinan all the way through... this is worth at least three hundred million... no, someone would fight over it for five hundred million!"

"Five hundred million..."