The Swan Auction House had a similar format to the Pelican, but with a lot more interested bidders because of its reputation and steady flow of estate auction. Many high end clients prefer the Swan to covert material items into cash. 

Inside the display area, Li Yun’s eyes gravitated to a small liding, a bronze tripod used in food rituals. Li Yun had seen a lot of small bronze cauldrons on the street selling for 4000 yuan (600 USD), but none looked like it was worth more than the asking price.

<Liding>

 

Upon using Qivi on the bronze tripod, an image of a buff and tanned man appeared. The man was in the midst of embedding simple decorations into the clay tripod and smoothing out the edges. Although the tripod was simple, simplicity was where it was possible to see mistakes. Only an expert craftsman could create a perfect mold prior to pouring in the molten bronze.

 

Then, a second flash appeared with a man from the Qing dynasty engraving a simple poem and a seal onto the piece. The seal belonged to the Qianlong emperor. This surprised Li Yun as he released his hand.

 

Being in the capital city, there were higher chances of finding items from the royal family. Only the best artisans were allowed to work in the Imperial Palace, and it was where artists were allowed to thrive without economic constraints.

 

The Qianlong Emperor in the Qing Dynasty was an avid collector and lover of the arts. As a highly cultured emperor, he collected many high quality art pieces and inserted his seal on the work. His seal added value to many pieces of art, as it showed that the work was approved and valued by the emperor. If the emperor loved the work enough, he would add poetry to the pieces of work.

 

There was a Qianlong emperor marking, but it was covered with hardened grime. Judging from the quality of the tripod, it looked like it was forgotten in the attic. For it to be priced at 10k yuan (1.5k USD), it was a serious mistake by whoever was evaluating the item. On auction, it could fetch over 5 million yuan (775k USD).

 

Li Yun planned to bid for three items, but the cauldron was something he needed to fulfill his mission. He walked around to inspect the other items while keeping an eye on the table with the bronze vessel. Anyone stopping by to carefully inspect the vessel was a potential rival. 

Depending on the individuals,  Li Yun may need to call Bufu for a loan. A man holding a paddle marked 56 approached and inspected the item very diligently, although he doesn't look like he was particularly interested in the art. Some merchants were like that, they only see profit from items, and not any sort of historical or artistic value. 

 

Number 56 continued looking at the vessel and seemed to have taken an interest it in. Fortunately for Li Yun, the man did not look wealthy. It wasn't the way he dressed, but the way he carried himself. Most people were dressed casually at the Swam, and the smart ones naturally dressed down to blend in. The man’s mannerism lacked confidence, and he seemed to be calculating in his head whether he could afford it.

 

During the auction, Li Yun bet conservatively, and managed to pick up two items for 20k yuan that he could resell for 200k.

 

"Lot 27, miscellaneous wares, 50k," the auctioneer announced the next item for bid.

 

Although Li Yun only wanted the cauldron from the lot of ten items, there were other items that other merchants wanted to buy. He evaluated all the items to be around 100k. As the auction continued with various bidders shouting out their bid, Li Yun waited until #56 called out the bid of 125k.

 

"130k," Li Yun’s voice echoed calmly, but with bored expression.

 

"135k," Number 56 responded as he glanced at the competitor.

 

"140k.”

 

Number 56 hesitated and looked at Li Yun who had a smug expression on his face. He had seen those types of people before. "Is this a 2nd generation rich kid?" Number 56 thought, but decided to try once more. "145k," Number 56 called out.

 

"150k," Li Yun quickly replied. Again, there was no hesitation and pause.

 

“151k,” Number 56 slowly replied.

“160k.”

The auctioneer waited, specifically for Number 56. He naturally knew when their was a bidding war between two people. However, after five breathe, there was still silence.

 

"All right, last chance for this wonderful batch of items," said the auctioneer. "It could contain a priceless item!" 

No one was buying it. 

"Sold!" The auctioneer finally declared.

 

With all three items successfully attained, Li Yun was about to head back to his apartment.

 

"Mister, hold on for a moment," said the #56 paddle man. "Do you have any idea what item you have?"

 

Li Yun returned a blank look to the man, “What item?”

“From lot 27.”

 

"Is it valuable?" Li Yun responded, playing the fool.

 

"I won't hide from you, but this item is valued at least 400k," said the man while pointing at the lamp rather than the liding. He then gave Li Yun his business card. "I work for another auction house, and I can buy the lot off your hand for 500k."

 

Li Yun wondered if there was a fool who would take the offer. Either way, the losing wasn't an item Li Yun was willing to sell. It fulfilled one of his items requirements.  He wasn't going to sell it even for 10 million, but he was willing to trade it with any qi items.

 

“I guess you can get the lot, but I’m gifting this liding to my grandpa,” Li Yun replied.

Number 56 was suddenly at lost. He wasn’t sure if Li Yun was a fool or a hidden. He gave up his pursuit and left. 

Li Yun filled out the final paperwork with the auction manager. Once settled, he took ownership of the item. As Li Yun took the item, item mission went up by one.

 

Items: 9 different items with 1000 qi. 2/9.

 

He was hoping for the cauldron mission to increase, but it didn't seem to classify as one. The mission requirement was a lot harder to accomplish than he had imagined. Although he could use Qivi on the items, finding something that had 1000 qi was not going to be easy. If he could rob the Imperial City Museum, he could finish the mission.

 

He sighed. The risk was too high, and he wasn't sure if his risk tolerance had changed that much even after starting his company.

 

Li Yun should be glad that the six items he owned were valued at over 13 million yuan (2 million USD.) However, he needed to turn the items over to a reputable auction house if he wanted to maximize the profit. A 1 million dollar vase could sell for 2 million if the buyer was really interested in buying it.

 

It was the main reason for him to visit the Protector next.