Chapter 59: Restlessness

Chapter 59: Chapter 59: Restlessness

The auction was about to begin.

Thanks to Grandma Wen’s influence, Hua Buwan managed to secure a seat in the very front row. As she sat down, she discreetly glanced at the people sitting nearby—they were all big shots! Some were prominent figures she had only ever seen in newspapers or on television, yet here they were, sitting right next to her. If word of this ever got back to her hometown, everyone would undoubtedly say that Hua Buwan had truly made it big.

Of course, as they had made their way to their seats, quite a few people had gone out of their way to greet Grandma Wen, which spoke volumes about the elderly woman’s status. Hua Buwan genuinely felt that her luck was off the charts today.

A moment later, the venue fell silent.

A beautiful woman dressed in a beige qipao, her hair styled in an elegant updo, stepped onto the auction stage. Hua Buwan knew this had to be the auctioneer. She exuded a composed and magnanimous aura, her demeanor confident and dignified. The moment she took her place, all eyes converged on her.

"Hello, everyone, and welcome to..."

After a concise opening remark that successfully livened up the atmosphere, she immediately cut to the chase. The first auction item was brought onto the stage. It was a painting by a renowned artist from several centuries ago, with a starting price of five hundred thousand. Hua Buwan observed it intently, without the slightest intention of raising her hand. After all, she was completely broke. With empty pockets, she could only sit there and watch in bewildered awe.

Grandma Wen didn’t participate in the bidding either. She simply chatted with Hua Buwan occasionally, mainly focusing on educating her about the various antiques being presented. Hua Buwan felt as if she were absorbing so much new information that her brain was practically tingling with the overload.

Over an hour later, the auction took a brief intermission.

There was a buffet area nearby where guests could eat, drink, and mingle. Hua Buwan and Grandma Wen had barely walked over when they overheard some people murmuring nearby.

"I heard the finale items coming up later are absolutely incredible. They just arrived today and were only just processed into the inventory."

"What kind of incredible items? I don’t remember seeing anything about them in the catalog we received earlier."

"Rumor has it they’re artifacts from over a thousand years ago, incredibly rare. We’ll find out soon enough."

"Oh, come on! You can’t just whet my appetite like that and not give me the full story!"

As the chatter continued around them, Grandma Wen glanced at Hua Buwan with a knowing smile before turning her attention back to recommending which of the small cakes were the most delicious.

The real reason she hadn’t bid on anything yet was that she was waiting for Hua Buwan’s items to appear.

Her husband knew all too well that ever since she was first introduced to this circle by her family, she had been deeply fascinated by Dongxuan Country. Whenever anything related to Dongxuan Country surfaced, she wanted nothing more than to dive headfirst into researching it. She desperately wanted to reconstruct the ancient map of Dongxuan Country and uncover the stories of what had happened during that era. However, for so many decades, her wish had remained unfulfilled.

Now that Hua Buwan had appeared, she had a strong intuition that this girl could untie the knot in her heart and help her realize her dream. Even if it just meant seeing a few more artifacts from Dongxuan Country, she would be able to rest in peace when her time finally came. Ever since she was a little girl, she had felt a profound sense of familiarity with anything from Dongxuan Country. Seeing its antiquities would sometimes even make her heart ache and bring tears to her eyes. Her husband used to tease her, joking that she must have been a citizen of Dongxuan Country in her past life.

When the auction resumed and drew to a close, the host began to build the suspense.

"Alright, everyone, it’s time for the finale items of tonight’s auction. Are you excited? Let’s unveil their mystery together!"

As the artifacts from Dongxuan Country were brought onto the stage, a restless stir swept through the crowd. Even Wen Erya couldn’t control herself. She stood up abruptly, looking as though she desperately wanted to rush to the front just to get a closer look.

Only Hua Buwan remained quietly seated, looking around at the wildly exaggerated reactions of the prominent figures surrounding her. The entire venue had erupted into a scene of utter pandemonium.