The twelve animal heads of the Chinese zodiac are world-famous.
These twelve bronze statues were originally part of the fountain outside Haiyan Hall in Yuanmingyuan. They were cast red bronze statues during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty.
In 1860, the British and French forces invaded China and burned the Old Summer Palace, and the bronze statues of animal heads began to be lost overseas.
It was not until 2012 that the bronze statues of cow heads, monkey heads, tiger heads, pig heads and horse heads returned to China and were collected in the Poly Art Museum.
In 2013, the French Pinault family announced that they would return the rat and rabbit heads from the Twelve Waters of the Old Summer Palace free of charge.
So far, 8 of the twelve zodiac animal heads have returned, among which the dragon head is well preserved on Treasure Island.
Only the heads of snakes, chickens, dogs and sheeps have been searched by countless people for more than a hundred years, but their whereabouts are still unknown.
Among the collectors at today's grand auction, I don't know how many people have spent decades and immeasurable money looking for the remaining four zodiac animal heads.
But even if their energy reaches the sky, they still get nothing.
Cai Ping and other Chinese collectors thought they would never see the remaining four beast heads again in this life.
The same goes for Chen Xuan.s11
He, who doesn't usually know cultural relics, has heard of the famous names of the twelve zodiac animal heads.
Jackie Chan has a movie that tells the story of the twelve zodiac animal heads.
Therefore, Chen Xuan knew how important these twelve bronze statues were to China.
If all the bronze statues can be returned to the motherland, it will not only mean a major victory for the Chinese cultural relics community, but also symbolize the historical process of China from being a lamb to be slaughtered to being reawakened by the dragon.
When the remaining four animal heads were carried onto the stage by the organizers, the whole audience was shocked.
Cai Ping, Yi Zhuo, Bai Fu and other old Chinese collectors were so excited that their whole bodies trembled and tears filled their eyes.
The two little girls Jiang Yuan and Bai Xiaopei also had excited faces on their faces.
Needless to say, Chen Xuan came here just to get back the Chinese national treasure.
When you see the twelve zodiac animal heads, how can you not be excited by them?
Of course, he restrained himself better than others.
And after the excitement, Chen Xuan quickly entered a calm thinking stage.
He was thinking that if they bid normally, they would not be able to get the four animal heads on the ceremony table.
There are so many rich people abroad. There are at least several hundred rich people present who have stronger financial resources than them.
Not to mention Mr. House, who was in the opposite compartment and took photos of all the national treasures in front of him.
The four beast heads reappeared in the world, and Chen Xuan believed that Mr. House was determined to win.
Therefore, if you want to send the four beast heads back to China, you must use strong methods.
Chen Xuan was thinking this secretly, but he heard the host on the podium say, "As everyone is so excited, you must all know that the Chinese zodiac animal heads are among the national treasures. You must know that the Chinese official has spent hundreds of years to get them back."
Eight, and the remaining four are even more valuable. Our organizer has set a starting price of 400 million U.S. dollars. Now, please start bidding."
The starting price for four animal heads is US$400 million, which sounds quite reasonable.
But everyone knows that this starting price is just randomly set by the organizer.
The real value of the four animal heads is far more than 400 million.
The organizer knows exactly how much he sets, and the final transaction price will far exceed it.
When the host announced the starting price, countless arms were raised.
"500 million"
"600 million"
"800 million"
"billion"
In less than ten seconds, the bidding price for the four beast heads soared to one billion
US dollars
No wonder the host said that today is the grandest auction in the past four years.
It's so crazy
The rich people were shouting out their bids one after another, saliva was flying everywhere, and their voices were almost hoarse.
But in Jiangyuan's private room, everyone had sad faces.
The bidding price has soared at such an abnormal speed, how can they afford it?
Cai Ping lamented, "As an ancient country with five thousand years of civilization that has never been epoch-making, China's national treasure-level cultural relics are so popular. The final transaction price of these four beast heads will probably be more than two billion US dollars. Lao Cai, I just lost everything."
I can’t even afford it.”
"Oh, I am the same." Yi Zhuo sighed, "The twelve beast heads are so rare and of great significance to China. If I can't buy them back, then I really have to die to apologize."
"You two, why don't we raise funds to bid? Your family property, plus our Bai family's, should be enough."
Bai Fu's suggestion made Cai Ping and Yi Zhuo's eyes light up.
Yes, why didn't they think of this method? s11
If the three rich men join forces, can't they buy back the four beast heads?
"Mr. Bai, your method is very good. Let's quote how much money each of us can afford, and then I will be responsible for the bidding," Cai Ping discussed.
Yi Zhuo and Bai Fu nodded together, indicating that they had no objection.
So the three people reported their funds, and after adding them up, they felt that they should be able to win the four beast heads, so Cai Ping pressed the bidding button in the box and started bidding.
As Cai Ping expected, the bidding for the four beast heads reached the astronomical figure of two billion US dollars within one minute.
Many of the rich people sitting in the ordinary seats could not afford to keep up with them, so they had no choice but to give up bidding and beat their chests.
Only a few people in the platinum and diamond boxes continued to follow her.
The box Mr. House is in is obviously different from the decoration in Jiangyuan. It should be a diamond box.
And he was one of the few who continued to follow.
As there were fewer and fewer bidders, Cai Ping, Yi Zhuo and Bai Fu secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Twenty-one billion."
Chapin reported a new number.
After a few seconds passed, he found that there was no movement at all in the other boxes, and he couldn't help but feel happy.
Have they all given up on quotations?
Just as I was thinking this, the quotation light in the diamond box opposite suddenly turned on.
"Twenty-two billion"
Mr. House, follow me again
"Who is this Mr. House? He just took photos of several national treasures, and now he is such a rich host. Are you sure he really has that much money?"
The wealthy people in the audience raised questions one after another.
They were really jealous. Everyone came here for the national treasure today, but they didn't expect that every national treasure brought to the stage would be taken away by Mr. House.
If the four animal heads also fall into the possession of Mr. House, then they will definitely create a bloody storm at all costs after the auction, regardless of whether Mr. House is a diamond member or not.
"I told you, please don't doubt Mr. House's financial resources." The host smiled and asked, "Platinum Box No. 5, do you still want to take the photo?"
Cai Ping, Bai Fu, and Yi Zhuo looked at each other, then gritted their teeth and pressed the button.
"Twenty-three billion"
Unexpectedly, as soon as the lights in the box here turned on, the lights in the diamond box opposite also turned on, as if Mr. House could pick up on Chapin's movements.
"Three billion"
Mr. House suddenly raised his bid significantly, and all the rich people in the room were in an uproar.