At the start, I tricked the school beauty, and ended up with twins?

```

The auctioneer's words carried a long, drawn-out tone, and he did not directly reveal the name of the first item on auction.

The audience below all stretched their necks with curiosity, eager to glimpse the splendor of this "Opening Cannon".

"As an opening treat, this first item isn't listed in the auction catalog."

"I'm actually quite curious about what treasure lies beneath that red cover."

Chen Tian tilted his head slightly as he watched the auctioneer place the plate squarely in the center of the display table.

It was only these kind of items with an element of mystery that slightly interested him.

"Does that silhouette seem like a hat?"

Lin Huaye guessed from the side.

Chen Tian nodded in agreement since the domed shape was indeed very similar to a hat.

It resembled the kind of crown from the medieval times, with a slight protrusion at the top where a gem is usually set.

"Uh, am I the only one who thinks it looks a bit like those common covers used in Western cuisine?"

Gu Yu hesitated for a second before stating his opinion.

Chen Tian and Lin Huaye exchanged glances, both smiling in mild disbelief.

After all, this was an auction—how could the first item be the auctioning of a dish?

Seeing the two did not agree, Gu Yu just shrugged his shoulders—after all, he was just guessing.

The auctioneer on stage had already built up sufficient mystery, and he was about to unveil the first mysterious item.

"The first item for auction is... a top-grade white truffle from Tuscany, weighing 904 grams! Handpicked and fresh, it was harvested no more than six hours ago."

"Starting bid: 10,000 US dollars! Each bid must be no less than one thousand! Please begin!"

The auctioneer gently lifted the red cover to reveal a glass dome underneath, and a massive white truffle came into everyone's view.

Under the light, it looked very much like a jade-like lump of tree root.

"Good! Bidder number 78 goes for 30,000!"

"Over here, number 44 bids 40,000!"

"..."

After a brief discussion, the bidding quickly commenced.

Watching those around him call out their bids, Chen Tian chuckled to Gu Yu, "Haha, this auction is quite inventive, isn't it? They're auctioning white truffle first thing in the morning—is this the appetizer for breakfast?"

Gu Yu smiled lightly and, hearing the continuously escalating bidding, felt that the world was becoming more and more absurd.

In just a few minutes, the price of the white truffle had been pushed to 100,000 US dollars, though the increments had shrunk to the minimum of one thousand.

But it was still outrageous.

For this ingredient not even weighing two pounds, the price was already nearing 700,000 RMB!

In the eyes of these top-tier global tycoons, spending several hundred thousand or even a million on high-quality breakfast ingredients seems to be nothing out of the ordinary.

Having been through experiences like black truffle milk tea and ginseng saffron tea at Old Mr. Chen's place, Gu Yu had strangely developed a tolerance for such extravagant spending habits.

After all, if you think about it, people with a net worth spanning quite a few goals spending tens of thousands on ingredients for cooking isn't much different from ordinary people buying a potato to cook at home. It just seems extravagant because it's not something most are accustomed to in daily life.

For these people, it's just ordinary living.

No, just for a piece of white truffle, this price would still be considered slightly on the higher side.

Like, a regular family buying a Boston lobster?

While Gu Yu was pondering, the auction in the hall had already concluded.

"112,000 going once!"

"112,000 going twice!"

"112,000! Sold!"

```

The auctioneer's hammer fell with a resonant "clang!", signifying that the top-grade white truffle on stage had been purchased by a buyer from Huaxia Jinling.

The expressions of the compatriots present, whether they had participated in the bidding or not, were slightly smug.

After all, this was Huaxia territory, and it was natural for the opening item of this international auction to be won by a Huaxia person.

If the opening success had been snapped up by foreigners, it would have been inevitable for these snooty foreigners to make jokes about it.

Even if they didn't laugh, they would certainly say a word or two behind the scenes, implying Huaxia people weren't as wealthy as they were.

They mostly liked to fight over this kind of senseless vanity.

"One hundred and twelve thousand, in US dollars, tsk, that's really rich."

Old Mr. Chen, who had been watching from the side, looked behind him at the upturned-nose rich merchant flushed with excitement from winning the first item, and chuckled.

This person clearly belonged to the nouveau riche type, not buying the white truffle for its supposed taste and texture, but simply to show off his wealth.

For these nouveau riche, even though they had money, they lacked the sense of recognition that comes with being an established rich person.

The truly self-made wealthy would generally not welcome these people into their circle.

And yet, they desperately spent money, purchasing luxury goods and following trends.

Of course, they did this to integrate into the real circle of the wealthy.

However, the more they did so, the more the truly cultured wealthy people despised them.

"..."

Gu Yu looked at Old Mr. Chen, speechless.

When it came to wealth, how many people in Huaxia could be richer than this old man?

The wild ginseng he casually consumed in his teas was worth millions of RMB!

Yet at the auction, he called someone else rich for spending one hundred and twelve thousand US dollars on a white truffle...

Of course, these sorts of retorts were just in Gu Yu's mind; he didn't voice them out loud.

He also knew that Old Mr. Chen wouldn't stoop to being compared to such nouveau riche.

The auction on stage continued.

The second item was an antique lounge chair made of huali wood from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, which fetched an astonishingly high price.

In less than three minutes, it had been pushed up to a high of three million by the eager Huaxia buyers.

At auctions, as long as the furniture was associated with the words "rosewood" or "huali", the price could never be low. Read new adventures at empire

Old Mr. Chen seemed a bit interested in the lounge chair, glancing at it a couple of times, but then quickly lowered his gaze.

"Senior, are you interested in bidding? As it stands, the price of this item hasn't reached the threshold. It would be quite a bargain to win it at the current price," Lin Huaye, who had nothing much to do, quickly asked after noticing Old Mr. Chen's movements.

But Chen Tian merely shook his head slightly and said, "Not buying, it's not as good as the one at home worth thirty million."

Lin Huaye: "..."

Gu Yu: "..."

Both of them then fully understood, Old Mr. Chen had absolutely no intention of spending a penny on any item other than Snake Head.

Since Old Mr. Chen had already made his stance clear.

The two naturally did not want to beat a dead horse, so they started doing their own things.

Gu Yu took out his phone and started discussing the company's recent arrangements with Boss Pu and others in the dormitory group.

Although it was called a dormitory group, it wasn't much different from a board of directors.

Because Xinyue had also been added to it.

Then there was a Fetion group, which included Kang Jia and Hu Xiaoya.

It was likely to become a large group for employees in the future.