"I have seen so many paintings that contain deep emotions, and this one is definitely in the top three."
Ivant continued to sigh.
"So you're going to buy this painting?"
Shad asked.
The man shook his head:
"I don't have that much money."
"So which item are you bidding for this time? I'm here to buy a No. 5 fountain pen on behalf of a distinguished lady who doesn't want to reveal her identity. I hope our goals don't conflict, as she gave me a very high upper limit for the price."
Xia De continued to get close.
"Oh, don't worry about it then. I'm here to buy number 10."
Steve Ivant said, but Shade knew that he would not buy anything, and when the auction started, he would just raise his sign for show. Standing here, he was just on guard to see if there was anyone in the crowd who might ruin tonight's event.
This group of cultists probably didn't realize that there were almost more people from the Church of God in this house than they did.
"Number 10?"
Xia De nodded and naturally looked in the direction of auction item No. 10, which was a gold ring. It had no historical value or story, it was just a pure gold ring, appearing here as jewelry.
Of course, Shade was not looking at the ring, but at the person standing on his right. One of the men took off his deerstalker hat from his head and shook it twice. Shade immediately understood that the people were in place:
"By the way, I forgot to introduce myself, Hamilton from Rejade, you may have heard of me."
He extended his hand to Mr. Steve Ivant, who hesitated for a moment and then extended his hand to shake his hand. He was wearing the Huasheng ring on his finger, and at a close distance, Shade confirmed that this one was genuine.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Hamilton, I am Steve Event."
The middle-aged man who was working undercover introduced himself:
"I'm probably a broker and collector, helping some nobles and businessmen to introduce antique business."
The tone of voice was normal, and the expression was natural. "He" was very good at playing a man, just like Lady Lazoya was very good at playing a woman. This might also be one of the characteristics of the Huasheng Ring.
“This is a very profitable business.”
Xia De said enthusiastically, calculating the time, and chatting with Mr. Ivant about the other items mentioned in the invitation. When there were less than three minutes left before the next auction, he looked around, carefully took something out of his pocket, and lowered his voice:
"Mr. Event, since we happened to meet today, why don't you take a look at this thing? How is it? How much is it worth?"
Xia De took the small jewelry box out of his pocket and opened it. Mr. Ivant only squinted his eyes slightly at first, but when he saw what was in the box, he immediately widened his eyes in surprise:
"This is... ... "
Inside the jewelry box was a huge ruby ring, and the gem on the ring was so big that it was frightening. Even if you didn't look at the gem, just looking at the ring itself, you could tell that it was not an ordinary item.
"Keep your voice down. I saved the queen, and this is her personal reward to me. I've actually been wanting to find someone... to help me see how much gold it's worth."
Shade smiled sheepishly;
"But you also know that once I take it to a local jewelry store or antique shop, the tabloids will publish news the next day saying that Hamilton from Rejade wants to sell the treasure given by the Queen. But you are different. You are not a native of this country, so I want you to help me take a look."
The cultists were currently carrying out their mission, so it was reasonable that they should not cause any trouble. But when Shade enthusiastically handed over the box containing the ring, "he" took it after just a moment's hesitation.
It would be a bit strange to refuse directly at this time, so the middle-aged man used his body to block the sight of others behind him, took the ring box, and said:
"I'm not good at identifying antique jewelry. I mainly collect and trade calligraphy and painting works of art... Oh, this ring is really nice."
The ring was certainly very nice. Queen Diana didn't know that even if Shad wasn't there, Miss Carina, who was sitting next to her at the time, would not let her get into trouble, so she sincerely believed that Shad saved her life. According to Miss Carina, the ring has a long history and has been passed down from generation to generation in Queen Diana's maternal family for at least 300 years.
If it had not been given to Shade, the ring would have been passed down as a dowry jewelry when a princess got married.
“That’s really good.”
Mr. Steve Ivant couldn't help but sigh again, and Shade smiled in response:
"Can you give me an estimate?"
"It's hard to give a specific estimate, after all, I have very little experience with antiques in this area. But if you're willing, I can introduce a few friends to help you take a look."
She looked at the ring in the ring box with some reluctance, but still handed it back to Xia De. He was willing to pay the price of turning himself from a woman into a man, and he would not make trouble on such an important occasion today.
"very good."
Xia De put the ring box into his coat pocket, began to count down in his mind, and said politely while extending his hand to shake hands:
"Thank you very much, I..."
The woman holding the wine glass looked at Shade from behind, and then looked at the man wearing a deerstalker hat standing on Shade's right. The latter blinked, raised his leg and tried to walk to the side, but suddenly fell towards the woman as if he was tripped.
The woman was unable to dodge and collided with the man in the deerstalker hat. Although she held the wine glass steadily, the wine still spilled on Shade's back.
"Oh, for Mr. Dawn's sake, what's going on here?"
Xia De, who was about to shake hands, first screamed, then turned around in dissatisfaction, and the people around him also looked over here 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 called the servants and wanted to take Xia De to another room to clean, but Xia De waved his hands and said dissatisfiedly:
"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 someone next to him to help confirm that the white shirt underneath was not wet.
Steve Ivant looked silently at the coat in Shad's hand, and then looked at Shad's young face.
Just as Shad said, he had no time to change his clothes because the auction was about to start.
The long tables in the restaurant had been removed and replaced with neatly arranged single chairs. The people participating in the auction sat down on the chairs, while Steve Ivant sat with Shade, whom he had just met, and listened to the old auctioneer presiding over the auction.
The auction progressed very quickly. Since this kind of fundraising auction did not involve too much competition, each item would only require three or four bids to be sold.
Xia De won the auction items No. 2 and No. 5, which were the "Derraion Ancient Fairy Tales" and the golden fountain pen. He bought the extra storybook not because he liked the book very much, but because he wanted to show off to his new friends after successfully bidding:
"The pen is what the lady wanted, and the book... ... I don't have that much money myself. I recently hooked up with... ... I met a very rich aristocratic lady, she is really very..."
Xia De raised his eyebrows and smiled ambiguously:
"Very rich."
Iven nodded without any expression, but his eyes glanced at Shad's wet coat again.
The coat was held in the hand of Shade, looking very casual. After the auction, Shade invited Mr. Ivant to see the items he bought, but was rejected.
Steve Event's job was to stay here and monitor the crowd, make sure there were no suspicious people, and ensure that the summoning ceremony would not go wrong, so he could not go too far.
"That's a shame. I'll show you the things later. Happiness should be shared. I can't wait to see the book. I like old books like this."
Shade said this, and stood up excitedly to leave. But at this moment, the man in the deerstalker hat who had bumped into the middle-aged woman just now came over with a maid. He waved to Shade in a local accent, and his brown hair stuck out from the edge of his hat:
"Sir, I'm really sorry about what happened just now. I heard that there is a laundry room in the courtyard of the mansion. There is no one there now, but this maid can help wash the clothes. I'm really sorry, but this wine stain is hard to wash once it has dried completely."
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 wash clothes, they were all arranged by Miss Carina.
"do the laundry?"
Xia De looked at the maid suspiciously, thought for a moment, handed over the coat, and said to the maid:
"I don't have time to go with you, so you can wash it first. I'll get my things and wait for you on the first floor. Dry it as soon as possible, this suit is not cheap."
Having said that, he nodded apologetically to Mr. Ivant, and then walked excitedly to the inside of the restaurant where the items were to be picked up.
Steve Ivant stood there expressionlessly. He first looked at Shad's back as he left, then saw the man in the deerstalker hat continuing to look at the next round of auction items with his friends, and finally saw the maid who left the restaurant holding Shad's coat and disappeared outside the door.
He lowered his head and thought for a moment, then glanced around and followed the maid in a calm and composed manner.
Shad didn't turn around to see where Ivant had gone, but someone next to him gestured to him and he knew that the plan had worked.
Perhaps a person can restrain greed because of responsibility, but that is only because the temptation appears at the wrong time. In the script arranged by Miss Carina tonight, the stupid and mercenary Shade, the coincidental departure of the coat, and the slightly stable auction... ... At this time, this temptation is just right.