Not long after, the number of people in the auction hall gradually increased. Since it was the first day of open bidding, which did not matter much to most people, families like the Bai Family and Gu Family, which did not mainly operate in the jade industry, did not attend. Gu Yelin originally wanted to accompany An Yiqing, but due to some last-minute affairs, he could only arrive in the afternoon. The An Family did not have a jade business, but they still were not at ease allowing An Yiqing to come alone, which is why An Zhihang got the opportunity to look after his sister.
The seats in the auction hall gradually filled up, leaving only some in the front row empty, which seemed to be reserved for some influential individuals.
At this moment, a crisp female voice came from the entrance of the auction hall.
"Xiao Qing! I just knew I’d see you here!"
An Yiqing turned her head upon hearing the voice and saw Shen Feng bouncing over, followed by an increasingly steady and mature Shen Long.
"Xiao Qing, thank you so much for last time!" Shen Feng directly took the seat next to An Yiqing, affectionately clinging to her arm and said with admiration, "I heard everything from my brother. If it weren’t for you, I would have been captured by that old pervert. Xiao Qing, can you teach me martial arts? You were so cool!"
Shen Long sat beside them, sending An Yiqing an apologetic look. His sister had always been impulsive, but it was the good nature of girls that allowed her and Shen Feng to become friends.
Smiling widely, An Yiqing looked at the siblings and said cheerfully, "I dare not claim to be a teacher, but we can exchange ideas when there’s time."
Shen Feng quickly nodded in agreement, afraid that An Yiqing might change her mind.
After exchanging pleasantries for a while, An Yiqing looked up inadvertently and her eyes revealed surprise.
Unexpectedly, the Qin Family had also arrived! Led by Qin Han, with Qin Fang and Qin Jia following behind, the three of them walked into the auction hall with a posse of bodyguards.
"Brother, why has the Qin Family come? Don’t they have little to do with the jade business?" An Yiqing frowned, feeling that the presence of the Qin Family was odd.
"Not sure. I feel like there are many new faces at this year’s Jade Stone Conference. Normally, the Xuandu Jade Stone Conference would never attract so many people," An Zhihang shook his head, his gold-rimmed glasses reflecting a cold light.
An Yiqing lowered her gaze, contemplating quietly.
Perhaps intimidated by the previous scolding from Qin Dingshan, Qin Jia, after seeing An Yiqing, merely glared at her fiercely. Reluctantly, he was pulled by Qin Fang to take their seats. Just after the Qin Family sat down, the last to arrive, leisurely, were Guh Siqing and his party. It was unclear what they had been doing all that time before, but perhaps to assert the Guh Family’s importance, they waited until everyone else had arrived before entering with their chins held high.
The time for the auction had arrived, and the auctioneer, dressed in professional attire, briskly walked up to the spacious auction stage.
After a brief welcome speech, the Xuandu Jade Stone Conference had officially begun!
As it was an open bid, accounting for less than one-fifth of the entire conference’s rough jade, and the quality was somewhat inferior compared to the sealed bids, there wasn’t too much fierce competition. An Yiqing bid on just a few unremarkable pieces of rough stone. These were already the best in this batch of sealed bids, with some High Ice Species Yellow Seedling Green concealed beneath the stone skin.
The morning passed by, and for the Xuandu Jade Stone Conference, this was merely the appetizer. In the afternoon, self-service stone selection and purchase was available; compared to the morning crowd, the number of people in the selection hall doubled.
The self-service stone selection and purchase was similar to the trading area of a rough stone market, only the quality of the rough stones here was much superior to those in an ordinary market. As for the standard of buying and selling, naturally, the highest bidder won.