Chapter 7 chapter Five
At 10:35, the art auction hall on the third floor of Hong Kong Jiade Company.
The bidding for the Northern and Southern Dynasties Buddha Head did not seem to be as intense as expected. The turmoil that happened 5 minutes ago subsided quickly. It seemed that more people were just watching the excitement, wanting to see who could capture the legendary head of Buddha with boundless magic power.
But every time someone raises a sign, there will be a small noise at the scene. Many people look around, looking for bidders, and more people are whispering. From time to time, their eyes are aimed at those buyers who seem to have a lot of money and are determined to win. .
Only bidder No. 9 sat quietly on the chair without looking around, his brows were slightly wrinkled, and his eyes were empty, as if he was looking at something from afar.His arms were crossed in front of his chest, and he rolled up the picture book with the artwork information of this auction, held it in his right hand, and patted his left arm lightly and rhythmically.
Suddenly a loud noise of "boom" woke him up, and he glanced at it, and it turned out that the Buddha head had been raised to 2.3 million by a buyer.His brows frowned even tighter, and his eyes were fixed on the huge photo of the Buddha's head.
The photo is right in the middle left of the auction hosting platform, standing on a rotatable mobile platform and rotating at a very slow speed, and bidders sitting in any corner can see it from a frontal angle.The upper part of the huge photo is a panoramic shot of the front of the Buddha's head, and the lower part is a close-up shot from various angles.Now the huge photo is rotated to face the angle of bidder No. 9.He seems very satisfied. According to the seating arrangement of Jiade Company, the trumpet is located very close to the auction stage, and the No. 9 seat happens to be on the left side of the auction stage, which allows him to watch the lot clearly without turning his body. photo.
But this Buddha head seems to make him very difficult.Its face is slightly elongated, its eyes are like slender moons, and there is a smile on the corner of its mouth. The bridge of its nose is high and well-defined, and the upper end of the bridge of the nose is naturally connected with the eyebrows.From the overall perspective of the Buddha's head, it has the characteristics of Westerners.
This is undoubtedly an early statue of Chinese Buddhism.His mind was spinning rapidly, searching his memory for the characteristics of Buddhist statues he knew: in the early days of Buddhism, there was no idol worship, and naturally there were no Buddha statues.Even when the Buddha was alive, he did not advocate building Buddha statues.The Buddha said that it was the Dharma-rectification period, and the real Buddha statues appeared only in the Dharma-image period.Even in the Ashoka era more than 200 years after the Buddha's Nirvana, the sculptures were nothing more than stone pillars. According to the records of Master Xuanzang of the Tang Dynasty in China, he had seen the stone pillars established by Ashoka in Lumbini. This is the place where Buddha was born, but unfortunately the stone pillar was broken by lightning at that time.Later, because no one knew the words on the stone pillar, no one protected the birthplace of Buddha. It was not until 1897 that someone rediscovered it, and some archaeologists recognized the words on it, and the Lumbini Garden was unearthed. ruins.
In the first century BC, that is, five hundred years after the Buddha passed away, India did not really have Buddha statues.At that time, India was influenced by the art of ancient Greek statues, which made the faces of the carved Buddha statues very similar to the Greeks, and some even resembled the sun god Apollo, which formed the famous Buddhist art of Gandhara.Later, through the Silk Road, this kind of Buddha statue was introduced to China, and the carving of Buddha statues in early China was also painted according to the gourd.
Judging from the Buddha head in front of us, its nose and eyebrows are undoubtedly the remains of Gandhara art. It seems appropriate to say that it is a work of art from the Southern and Northern Dynasties.But—his brows frowned again—wait, something is wrong, there must be something wrong with this Buddha head, if you can find its body, it will be clear at a glance.
He was suddenly awakened from his contemplation, and the low whispers around him just now became louder, and some people were even talking loudly.He turned sideways and followed everyone's eyes. In the left corner of the last few rows of the bidders' seats, two people had already raised the bidding price to 2.7 million yuan.At this time, the young man among them was whispering something in the ear of the middle-aged man beside him, and the middle-aged man looked straight ahead with a serious face, as if he was determined to win.Suddenly he turned his head, and two bright eyes stabbed straight at young man No. 9.
The moment their eyes met, young man No. 9 heard someone whispering beside him, "It seems to be Japanese." He was startled, how could it be Japanese?
He stared directly at the middle-aged Japanese, who also looked at him firmly, as if knowing that this young Chinese who had never raised his bid to participate in the auction would be his last opponent.The eyes of the two met, and it seemed that there was a kind of magic that attracted them.At this time, his arm moved suddenly, and he raised the number plate marked with "9", holding it high in the air and not moving.
The host was stunned for a moment, and after a brief surprise, he finally shouted, "Number 9, 3 million!"
There was another "boom" in the crowd, and everyone's eyes began to look for the position of No. 9. Some bidders who were about to raise their cards also put down their cards and discussed something with their assistants, as if they were unfamiliar with this man who came out halfway. Buyers were taken by surprise.What was even more surprising was that many spectators at the scene suddenly took out their cameras from their bags and walked towards the No. 9 position one after another.Obviously, they are well-prepared reporters.
Young man No. 9 was still watching the two Japanese.They said something to each other, the middle-aged man seemed to hesitate, and slowly raised the sign.
There was another commotion in the crowd, and people's eyes moved back and forth between No. 9 and No. 31, and finally, they all fixed on No. 9 by coincidence.I saw that his hand hadn't been put down, it was still held high there.
The host was a little overwhelmed, moved his mouth to the microphone, and asked, "Mr. No. 9, you..."
"As long as my sign is not put down, it will be 100,000 higher than his price."
"This..." The host showed embarrassment, he had never seen such an auction, "Sir, I'm afraid..." He said, turning his gaze to the two Japanese in the distance.
The young Japanese man whispered something in the ear of the middle-aged man, the corner of the middle-aged man's mouth moved, and he looked directly at No. 9 again. This time his eyes seemed to be wider and brighter.After a while, he slowly raised the sign again.
"No. 31, 3.2 million." The host had to follow the procedure and shouted, but he was obviously flustered by this unusual auction. He turned his head and looked at the staff behind the stage, looking for something.President Cheng is usually there at this time, why didn't he even show his face today?How do you charge for this field?
At the same time, on the second basement floor of Jiade Company, Cheng Bizheng and Sally were facing the TV wall, watching the auction hall.
"Sally, quickly check the information on No. 31 and No. 9." Cheng Bi ordered without looking back.
"There's no need to check, I've seen it a long time ago, they must be anonymous buyers." Sally didn't move at all, and continued, "No. 31, Japanese, Japanese Dade Software Development Company, in Hong Kong has a video game industry, and obviously, it's no use for them to ask for this Buddha head."
Sally paused, and continued: "Number 9, the information is incomplete, and even the name is not left, it should be a personal auction, but..."
"But what?" Cheng Bi hurriedly asked when she heard her pause.
"However, numbers 1 to 9 are usually reserved by the board of directors, and the buyers are related to the board of directors. The number 9, if you guessed correctly, was arranged by the board of directors."
"What?" Cheng Bi turned around and stared at Sally.
Sally looked at him blankly, then turned around and came to the computer, moved the mouse, and clicked on a file, "This is the information of this auction, and the information shows that No. 9 has not been registered with the company - obviously , It was directly arranged by the board of directors, and the board of directors has the right to control this number." Sally blinked her eyes and said mischievously, "It must be a fool who broke in to play a prank."
Cheng Bi frowned and lowered his head.He knew that what she said was true, and there was only one possibility.But what is the board doing?Why is it appointed to auction the Buddha head to the No. 9 they arranged for?
"What the hell is going on here! Sally, contact the board of directors quickly, I must know what they want to do!"
"Mr. Cheng, there's no need for that." When Sally encounters things, she always looks very calm, her tone contains unquestionable affirmation, "We are already on the track designed by the board of directors, and the only thing we can do now is Keep going, if there is a deviation, none of us will be able to deal with it..."
"Sally!" Cheng Bi suddenly raised his head and interrupted her. He stared at Sally very seriously, as if he could see some secret from her eyes, "Sally, I ask you to be frank. , has the board of directors issued any special instructions to you?"
"No, really not. I don't understand the auction. It is impossible for them to issue such an order. Moreover, even if it is issued to me, I have no right to interfere with the auction process."
That's true.Cheng Bi's eyes hesitated, and slowly moved away from Sally's face.She is just a special assistant to the general manager. She is only responsible for the company's daily management and liaison with the board of directors. It is impossible for the board of directors to give her orders directly about the company's business. Even if she is given her, it is useless without the authorization of the general manager.Moreover, the whole company knew that she was a person who knew nothing about art, and it was impossible for the board of directors to allow her to directly intervene in business matters.
"However, the board of directors gave me verbal instructions." Cheng Bi seemed to be muttering to himself.
"What?" Sally demanded. "What did the board say?"
"They asked me to take a photo of the Buddha's head to No. 9..."
Sally suddenly remembered something, "Mr. Cheng, there were rumors this morning that the real Buddha head had been stolen, and now the photo is a fake one."
Cheng Bi couldn't help secretly admiring Sally's quick thinking. In fact, this was the only way to explain it - if the board of directors finds that the Buddha head is a fake, then the best way is to arrange for someone to buy it back, so as to avoid the loss of the company.
However, Cheng Bi still smiled wryly and shook his head, "Impossible, you see, there are seven security procedures required to enter and exit this secret room, and I put the Buddha's head here."
"You mean, the Buddha's head is here?"
"Here, I moved out to see it last night."
"Strange." Sally stared at the TV wall. Many people in the picture had already stood up, as if they were watching a good show. She muttered to herself, "Could it be that the legend is true?"
"What legend?"
Sally came back to her senses and said: "The news came from Japan last night. A news agency reported that this Buddha head has boundless magic power, and those who get it will be given supreme power, because it reveals the inheritance of Zen Buddhism in China. secrets."
"Nonsense, nonsense." Cheng Bi shook his head with a wry smile, and said, "Do you believe in this kind of disappearance?"
"But how do you explain all this?" Sally pointed to the TV wall and said in a higher voice, "Mr. Cheng, you don't know that there are already many reporters around the company. If you return to the office, the calls from the reporters will come one after another." Ask about the Buddha head!"
"It's just hype. This thing is not worth that much money. In all honesty, it doesn't even qualify to be ranked in the top 50 among the artworks I auctioned."
Sally was silent for a while, as if she was thinking about something. At this time, only the noise from the monitor could be heard in the room. Suddenly, Sally raised her voice and said to Cheng Bi, "Do as the board of directors said. That's the only way to act."
Not knowing whether it was the sudden sound or what Sally said, Cheng Bi was startled. He turned around, stared at Sally, and said cautiously, "You said...to him?"
"Yes, shoot for No. 9."
"However, if it gets out, Jiade's reputation..."
"This is the decision of the board of directors. They will definitely be prepared. We can't control that much." Sally stopped and said word by word, "Now, we are playing a role in this drama."
Cheng Bi understood that behind them, there was an invisible hand manipulating all of this, and the protagonist hadn't appeared yet.
"Let's decide." Sally's tone returned to the previous decisive and calm.
Cheng Bi gritted his teeth, stretched out his hand and pressed a button on the console, and said into the microphone in a commanding tone, "Listen, shoot for No. 9."
At this time, there was a brief silence on the big screen, and Cheng Bi zoomed in, only to see that young man No. 9 was still holding his number plate, and his eyes were still fixed on the two Japanese in the corner.The middle-aged Japanese was still looking directly at him, and the young man beside him put on headphones at some point, and seemed to be listening to something.After a while, he nodded heavily, took off the earphones, put his mouth next to the middle-aged man's ear, and said something nervously.
The middle-aged Japanese listened expressionlessly. His bright eyes stared at the young man No. 9. After a while, his eyes gradually blurred and became deeper and deeper.Suddenly, he withdrew his eyes from No. 9, lowered his head and looked directly at the ground, the corner of his mouth moved slightly, and spit out a few words.The young man next to him nodded, stood up, and stretched his arms in the direction of No. 9, which meant that he gave it up.
At this time, the host also received instructions from Cheng Bi from the company's personnel. He stood in front of the filming stage enthusiastically again, stretched out his hand, and pointed in the direction of No. 9, "No. 9, 4.8 million, once... two times This time...deal!"
Looking at the scene from the TV wall, Cheng Bi breathed a sigh of relief, but suddenly he became nervous again, as if thinking of something, and just about to speak, the phone rang.Needless to say, this is the board line again.
Grabbing the microphone, an old voice came from over there, "Thank you, Mr. Cheng."
"Wait, what the hell is going on here? Who are you?"
The person on the phone laughed happily, "Mr. Cheng, maybe you shouldn't ask this question. I can only tell you that this is Japan. Thank you for everything you have done for us." After finishing speaking, the phone hung up .
Cheng Bi put down the phone, he felt as if he had gotten into a mystery.
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