As the bids were continued to be yelled out, she whispered, “Listen carefully. The bid is now at ten million. Normal people won’t be able to offer more than five hundred.”
I pursed my lips and sighed. There were some rules that we could never change.
The higher one rose, the more unscrupulous affairs they would witness. One wrong slip and you would end up amongst the muck, an accessory to the thugs.
Finally, an elderly person won the gold hair ornament with a bid of ten million.
Such events were common.
There was no point in being surprised.
The second item up for bid was a blood jadeite. Apparently, Robert had brought it back for his wife when he went overseas for business in the nineties.
Although this was premium jadeite, it lacked a bangle. Thus, the bid only went up to five million.
Joseph frowned and he seemed to be trying to puzzle something out.
The auction was starting to bore me, so I chatted with Stacey.
Stacey’s gaze had swept the entire auction area and took in all that there was to see.
She introduced all the artifacts to me and sighed in awe. “Wow, these are all worth tens of millions. These collectors are hoarding all these riches. Some of these items are priceless.”
I looked around and agreed with her. “If someone stole one of these, the money they would make off of it would last them for a lifetime.”
Stacey’s lips twitched and she deadpanned, “See? The items are being protected by diamond containers, and there’s two highly skilled personnel assigned to each item. There’s no way a regular person could dream of getting close to any of the items. A professional comes to do a check every five minutes as well.”
It was tough.
“The sandalwood box is here. Look!” Stacey said as she pointed towards the stage and patted me.
I turned to see. On the stage was the exact replica of the box that Grandma had given me.
The host was enthusiastically introducing the sandalwood box. “All of you must be curious to know why we’re auctioning off this seemingly unassuming sandalwood box, right?”
The audience members nodded.
The host continued speaking, “To tell you the truth, this box has unbelievable meaning. Although it looks plain, if you take a closer look, you’ll see that it was made from hundred-year-old sandalwood. You can’t find such wood anymore. It’s completely extinct. Moreover, I have to point out the box’s workmanship. I know it looks ordinary from the outside!”
The host turned the box for the audience to see.
A commotion broke out amongst the audience. The host spoke again, “From this noise, I can tell that you’re having the same reaction as I did. This is actually a box. The special part of this box’s design is that it looks like it can be opened. However, upon closer inspection, you’ll realize that it can’t be opened. Actually, this box has a pair that comes with it. As of now, we have no idea where its partner is. You’ll only be able to open this box if you find its pair.”
“See, I told you!” exclaimed Stacey excitedly.
I nodded and looked at the sandalwood box on stage. As I peered closer at it, I could see no difference between it and the box Grandma had given me.
However, there must be something special about them.
The host continued to speak, “The bid for this sandalwood box starts at two thousand. You may begin bidding.”
With such a low price, there should be bidders. However, the bid only reached a hundred thousand and stopped there.
I was confused and asked Stacey, “Why aren’t they bidding for the box?”
Stacey said to me in a hushed tone, “It’s simple. No one knows if there’s anything inside the puzzle box. You have to find its pair in order to open it. If the pair can’t be found, there’s no point in owning the box.”
“But it’s a precious collectible. Even if you can’t find the other box, it has great workmanship. If they keep it as an artifact, the value is sure to increase after a hundred years.”
Moreover, compared to the items that were worth tens of millions, a few hundred thousand were peanuts.
Stacey chuckled. “Many people know this box belongs to Robert Murphy and that he treasures it. The young master of the Murphy family must have slipped up by putting it up for auction. He wouldn’t dare to sell it off.”
