Super Zoo

The three still raising their paddles were a Japanese man with a small mustache in a crisp suit, the Taiwanese man who had earlier bid $300,000 directly, and an elderly Korean gentleman.

It was rather sad to say, this Monkey Wine was originally a specialty of the mainland, a part of Huaxia culture, and yet, the final competitors were not a single mainland Chinese.

It seemed Easterners cared more about 'face'; the bidding between these three grew heated, and after the Monkey Wine reached $400,000, the price soared once more.

In the end, the Taiwanese bidder hammered it down at $580,000!

Sitting on stage, Suming was dizzy from this sudden stroke of fortune.

My goodness, $580,000, do you know what that means—almost four million Huaxia currency!

The hell, am I rich just like that?

"Mr. Zhao, I actually... actually have a few more bottles. Should I bring them all out to sell?" Suming stammered as he asked Zhao Yun.

"Foolish boy, haven't you heard that scarcity makes something more valuable? Today, a unique bottle of Monkey Wine appeared, which is why it sold for this price. What do you think would happen if another bottle shows up tomorrow?" Zhao Yun retorted.

"That's true, heh heh, heh heh..." Suming chuckled awkwardly, indeed a bit too greedy for his own good.

After the Monkey Wine was sold for the high price of $580,000, Suming was somewhat distracted during the rest of the auction, his head in the clouds.

It was no wonder, even for a white-collar worker earning a salary of $100,000 a year, it would take a lifetime to make a few million. And here he was, having made what seemed like a lifetime's earning in one day; it'd be strange not to be excited!

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Even though he was a bit out of it, Suming was still shocked by the final bottle of the auction.

A bottle of 1992 Han Emperor Moutai.

This liquor had only ten bottles produced that year, and as of now, only three are accounted for worldwide.

This bottle eventually fetched a sky-high price of $1.89 million US dollars!

With enough money, a person often becomes more generous and open-minded. Suming might have felt some envy, jealousy, or resentment before, but now he was merely astonished.

Whether it was speculation, or an underground deal, or the bottle was truly worth that much, Suming didn't care anymore; what concerned him was his own $580,000.

After the auction concluded, Suming followed Zhao Yun to the VIP customer area of the auction house.

"Mr. Zhao, every time you visit, you bring us a surprise! Of course, congratulations to you too, dear Suming, you are truly a lucky young man!"

By this time, Luo Ben had changed into a different outfit, no longer the formal suit he wore on stage, but rather a tight suit with gold trims that made him look flamboyant. As he sashayed in, he greeted Zhao Yun with great enthusiasm, then extended his hand to Suming.

"Your splendid introduction also played a part in bringing that high price for the wine," said Suming, shaking hands with him, finding Luo Ben's skin surprisingly smooth.

"That's my job after all, and to serve such a handsome young man as yourself is an honor," Luo Ben said, with a flirtatious twitch of his eyebrows.

Zhao Yun burst out laughing, "Luo Ben, let's get down to the business at hand."

Then, leaning close to Suming's ear, he chuckled, "This guy is gay."

Suming quickly withdrew his hand: "..."

"Even if I am gay, I'm a gay with professional integrity," Luo Ben said nonchalantly, pulling out a contract and adding for Suming, "According to the agreement, for a final bid under $200,000, the auction house takes a 25% fee, and for $200,000 to $3 million, a 20% fee. The final bid for this auction was $580,000 US dollars, so you need to pay $116,000 US dollars in commission. Since it's your first visit to the auction house, we can offer a 20% discount, plus with Mr. Zhao's consultant status, that discount can be further reduced to 80% of the original rate, bringing your total commission to... $74,240 US dollars. I will take the liberty of rounding down, making it $74,000 US dollars. The remaining $506,000 US dollars, converted into Huaxia currency as per your request, will be transferred into your designated bank account within a week."

"That's about 3.3 million Huaxia currency," Zhao Yun said.

"Lucky young man, by mainland standards, you are now among the young and wealthy. Have you thought about how you might enjoy life with this money? If needed, Sotheby can offer top-notch services," Luo Ben said.

"Top-notch services, but they also require top-notch commissions. Su, don't mind this English bloodsucker, just watch your purse," Zhao Yun laughed heartily.

Suming also smiled slightly and turned down Luo Ben's 'kind' offer.

To an ordinary person, over three million might be considerable, but it's still far from being truly wealthy. It's not enough to splurge and enjoy life to the fullest.

Suming originally didn't care much about money. As long as he had enough for himself and could improve his family's life, that was sufficient. After acquiring his animal abilities, he felt even more that making money wasn't the most important thing. Or rather, one shouldn't aim to earn money as the primary goal. As long as he kept strengthening his Animal Friend abilities, wealth would surely follow.

So, when he came to Xiangjiang this time, he only took two days off and didn't even plan to sightsee. His thought was to hurry back to the zoo after the auction was over; that was where he truly belonged.

"There is another matter. A client who attended the auction wishes to meet the seller of the Monkey Wine. Of course, this is not mandatory. We have a client confidentiality agreement, so if you prefer not to meet them, you can certainly decline," Luo Ben said.

"Mr. Zhao, what do you think?" Suming asked Zhao Yun, who had more experience with auction houses, and he thought it wise to weigh his opinion for there could be benefits and no harm.

"It won't hurt to meet them. They could become part of your network in the future," Zhao Yun said with a smile.

Before long, the door to the VIP room opened, and a middle-aged man with an assistant walked in.

Suming was taken aback; he didn't expect the one who wanted to meet him to be that superstar.

"Haha, looking at Su's expression, I think you don't need to introduce yourself, Jacky," Zhao Yun obviously knew this Zhang Tianwang.

"Idol, hello!" Suming, after a moment of surprise, caught on and put away his astonished expression, greeted Jacky with a smile. Now, he was the seller, not appearing as a fan, so there's no need to be overly shocked.

At that moment, Zhang Xueyou didn't have the dazzling aura of the stage but instead appeared quite casual and relaxed. He first nodded and greeted Zhao Yun, then with his slightly accented Mandarin, he said to Suming, "Just call me Jacky. I hope you won't find it presumptuous of me to want to meet you."

"Idol, you're too courteous. I saw you upstairs earlier, if not for the ongoing auction, I would've rushed down to get your autograph," Suming said with a laugh.

"It's not too late for that."

Zhang Xueyou's assistant, very observant, interjected and took out an old-fashioned vinyl record from a bag. Holding the record with both hands, they offered it to Suming: "A small gift for our first meeting, please accept it with my compliments."

"This is…" Suming took it and saw that the record was quite old but well preserved. The outer paper sleeve was wax-sealed, bearing Zhang Xueyou's autograph, dated '97.

"A bit of a laugh, this is a vinyl record I made the year of the handover. It wasn't released in the market, so it does have some collector's value," Zhang Xueyou said, shrugging his shoulders with a smile: "I spend my days singing, acting, and earning money, I don't have other hobbies. Just fond of collecting various wines. If Mr. Su has Monkey Wine again in the future, I wonder if you could inform me first?"

He laughed somewhat sheepishly and explained, "The management companies are vampires; I work hard for my money. Spending high amounts at auctions, and frequenting them for wine purchases costs a lot, and the wife would fuss."

"I understand, no problem. If I happen to have more, you'll be the first to know, idol."

Suming quite liked Zhang Xueyou's candid attitude. He did have some more Monkey Wine left, aside from what he intended to drink, putting together another bottle wouldn't be too difficult. Selling it directly to Zhang Xueyou wouldn't work for 580,000 US Dollars, but surely thirty thousand could be expected.

However, as Zhao Yun mentioned earlier, such wine is rare and not easily found. If he sold it repeatedly, its value would diminish, making it less extraordinary. Therefore, he wasn't planning to offer it just yet.

"Thank you!" Zhang Xueyou then turned to his assistant, "Tony, leave my private number with Mr. Su."

"Yeah, if I'm fortunate enough to find it again, I'll call you," Suming said to Zhang Xueyou, waving the piece of paper with the phone number on it.