"I have seen too many paintings with deep emotions, and this one can definitely be ranked in the top three in my knowledge."
Evant continued to sigh.
"So are you going to buy the painting?"
Shad asked.
The "man" shook his head:
"I don't have that much money."
"So which item are you looking for this time? I am here to buy a No. 5 fountain pen for a noble lady who is not convenient to reveal her identity. I hope our goals will not conflict, but she gave me a very high price limit."
Shad continued to approach.
"Oh, don't worry about it then. I'm here for number 10."
Steve Evant said, but Xia De knew that he would not buy anything, and the auction would start in a while, so he just raised his cards in a pretend manner. Standing here is just to be vigilant here, to judge whether there are guys in the crowd who may spoil things tonight.
This group of cultists probably didn't realize that there were already more people from the Orthodox Church in this house than they had.
"Number 10?"
Xia De nodded, and naturally looked in the direction of auction item 10, which was a golden ring. There is no historical value or story, just a pure gold ring, which appears here as jewelry.
Of course, Xia De didn't look at the ring, but at the person standing on his right. One of the men took off the deerstalker hat from the top of his head and shook it twice, Xia De immediately understood that the personnel were in place:
"By the way, I forgot to introduce myself, Hamilton of Rejed, you probably have heard of me."
He held out his hand to Mr. Steve Evert, who hesitated, then extended his hand and shook it. He was wearing the [Metamorphosis Ring] on his finger, and at close range, Xia De confirmed that this one was genuine.
"Good afternoon, Sir Hamilton, I'm Steve Evert."
The middle-aged man who was working undercover introduced himself:
"Probably a broker and collector, helping some nobles and businessmen to introduce antique business."
The tone is normal, and the expression is also natural. "He" is as good at playing a man as Mrs. La Soya is good at playing a woman. Perhaps this is also one of the characteristics of [Metamorphosis Ring].
"It's a very lucrative business."
Xia De said enthusiastically, counting the time, and chatted with Mr. Ivant about the other auction items mentioned in the invitation letter. When it was less than three minutes before the next auction, he looked around, carefully took out something from his pocket, and lowered his voice:
"Mr. Ivant, since I happened to come across it today, why don't you take a look at it, how about this thing? How much is it worth?"
Xia De took the small jewelry box out of his pocket, and after opening it, Mr. Ivant just squinted his eyes slightly, but when he saw the contents of the box, he immediately widened his eyes in surprise:
"This is......"
Inside the jewelry box is a huge ruby ring, the gemstone on the ring face is frighteningly large. And even if you don't look at the gems, just look at the ring itself, you can know that this is not an ordinary object.
"Keep your voice down. I saved the queen. This is her personal reward. I've always wanted to ask someone...to help me find out how much gold it is worth."
Xia De smiled embarrassedly;
"But you also know that once I get it to a local jewelry store or antique store, the tabloids will publish the news the next day, saying that Hamilton of Regard wants to sell the treasure given by the queen. But you are different, you have no I'm not a native, so I want you to take a look for me."
The cultists are now on a mission, and it stands to reason that there should be no extra complications. But when Xia De enthusiastically handed over the box containing the ring, "he" just hesitated for a moment before taking it.
At this time, it would seem a little strange to refuse directly, so the middle-aged man blocked the sight of others behind him with his body, took the ring box over, and said in his mouth:
"I'm actually not good at antique identification of jewelry. I mainly do art collection and trading of calligraphy and painting... Oh, this ring is really good."
This ring is of course very good. Queen Diana didn't know that Miss Galina, who was sitting next to her at the time, would not let her have an accident even if Shad was not there, so she really thought that Shad saved her life. According to Miss Galina, the ring has a long history and has been passed down from generation to generation in Queen Diana's matrilineal family for at least 300 years.
If it wasn't given to Xia De, the ring should have been passed on as a dowry jewelry when a certain princess got married.
"That's really nice."
Mr. Steve Ivant couldn't help sighing again, and Xia De smiled in cooperation:
"It's hard to estimate the price. After all, I have very little access to antiques in this area. But if you want, I can introduce a few friends to help you look."
Looking at the ring in the ring box in his hand with some reluctance, he still handed it back to Xia De. If he is willing to pay the price of turning himself from a woman into a man, "he" will not cause extra problems on such an important occasion today.
"very good."
Xia De stuffed the ring box into his coat pocket, and began to count down in his heart. He stretched out his hand to shake hands and said politely:
"Then I will trouble you, I..."
The woman with the wine glass looked at Shad behind Shad, and then looked at the man in the deer hat standing on Shad's right. The latter blinked, raised his legs and wanted to walk aside, but suddenly fell towards the woman as if he had tripped over.
The woman couldn't dodge in time, and collided with the man wearing the deerstalker hat. Although he held the wine glass firmly, the wine in it still spilled on Xia De's back.
"Oh, for Mr. Liming's sake, what's the matter?"
Xia De, who was about to shake hands, "screamed" first, then turned around in dissatisfaction, and the people around him also looked at him curiously.
"Oh, sir, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry."
The man first apologized to the lady, and then hurriedly apologized to Xia De. At the same time, he also greeted the servant and wanted to take Xia De to another room to scrub, but Xia De waved his hand and said very dissatisfied:
"The auction is about to start, and I don't want to miss it."
He took off his coat and held it in his hand, and asked the people beside him to confirm that the white shirt inside was not wet.
Steve Ivant looked silently at the coat that Shad was holding in his hand, and then looked at Shad's young face.
As Shad said, he didn't have time to change a piece of clothing, because the auction was about to start.
The long tables in the restaurant have long been removed and replaced with neatly arranged single seats. The people who participated in the auction sat down in their seats, while Steve Evant sat with Shad, whom he had just met, and listened to the elderly auctioneer preside over the auction.
The progress of the auction is very fast, and there is no such fierce competition in this kind of fundraising auction, so each lot can be sold almost only three or four times.
Xia De won the second auction item and the fifth auction item, that is, "The Encyclopedia of Ancient Fairy Tales of Delarion" and the golden pen. The extra purchase of the storybook was not because he liked the book very much, but because he proudly showed off to his new friends after the successful bidding:
"The lady asked for the pen, this book... I don't have so much money myself, I recently got it... I met a rich female nobleman, she Really very..."
Xia De raised his eyebrows, showing an ambiguous smile:
"Very rich."
Evans nodded, expressionless, but glanced at Shad's wet coat again.
Xia De held the coat in his hand, looking very casual. After the auction ended, Shade invited Mr. Ivant to see the lot he bought, but the other party refused.
Steve Evant's task is to stay here to monitor the crowd, to ensure that there are no suspicious persons, and to ensure that the summoning ceremony will not go wrong, so he cannot go too far.
"That's such a pity. I'll show you something later. Happiness is meant to be shared. I can't wait to see that book. I like old books like this."
Xia De said so, stood up excitedly and prepared to leave. But at this moment, the man wearing a deerstalker hat who bumped into the middle-aged woman just now led a maid over. He waved to Xia De with a local accent, and his brown hair protruded from the brim of the hat:
"Sir, I'm really sorry about what happened just now. I found out that there is a laundry room in the courtyard of the mansion. There is no one there now, but this maid lady can help wash the clothes. I'm really sorry. The wine stains have completely dried up. It's not easy to wash."
Of course, whether it was the woman holding the wine glass just now, the man wearing a deerstalker hat standing in front of him, or the maid who was going to do the laundry, Miss Galina had arranged for it.
"do the laundry?"
Xia De looked suspiciously at the maid ~www.mtlnovel.com~ After thinking for a while, he handed over his coat and said to the maid:
"I don't have time to follow you. You take it to wash first. I'll get the things in a while and wait for you on the first floor. Dry them as soon as possible. This set of clothes is not cheap."
As he spoke, he nodded apologetically to Mr. Ivant, and then excitedly walked towards the place to pick up the auction items inside the restaurant.
Steve Ivant stood there with a blank face, first looked at the back of the departing Xia De, and then saw the man in the deerstalker and his friends continuing to watch the next round of auctions here The last thing I saw was the maid who left the restaurant holding Shade's coat, and disappeared outside the door.
He lowered his head and thought for a while, glanced around, and then quickly followed the maid quietly.
Shad didn't turn around to see where Yvant was going, but someone around him gave him a sign, and he knew the plan had worked.
Perhaps a person can restrain greed because of a sense of responsibility, but that is only because the temptation arises at the wrong time. In the script arranged by Ms. Galina tonight, the stupid philistine Xia De, the coincidental departure of the coat, and the somewhat stable auction... At this time, the temptation is just right.