In just the blink of an eye, the porcelain piece was auctioned off for 70 million.
Although the price didn't rise as quickly afterward, it eventually sold for a stunning 130 million.
Everyone present was shocked.
Sophia understood clearly that after this auction, it was time for her to hire some personal security.
Even though everyone present was either a guest, staff from the event planning company, or the security team, not to mention just Ronin and Ling, she couldn't take chances. If word got out, it could easily attract greedy people.
"The seventh item is sold to Mr. Liang Youde!"
The first auction item took less than ten minutes to sell.
After that, things moved faster — one item after another.
All nine items were sold within an hour.
Altogether, the total amount from the nine auction items was over 600 million.
The other bidders held their number cards and lined up to pay Sophia.
By then, the sky was slowly turning dark. The setting sun painted the horizon with a warm orange glow.
Laoyezi smiled and said, "You really know how to enjoy life, girl!"
This place was peaceful, far from the noisy city.
At this moment, lying on a chair in the courtyard, with the gentle autumn wind blowing and the sunset in sight — it was perfect.
Sophia looked innocent as she replied. Truthfully, this was the first time she had noticed how beautiful it was here.
Even though she had lived here for a while, she hadn't really taken the time to enjoy it.
Ever since she got that pig trough, her wallet had grown fatter, but she barely had any time to relax.
She kept telling herself that once she finished everything, she'd take a proper break and spend some of the money. But she was always busy, and it didn't seem like it would stop anytime soon.
Still, there was no other choice. Even though she had more than enough money now — enough for a few lifetimes — many people were still waiting for her to send supplies through that trough. Half of the money wasn't even hers; at least half belonged to General Yves.
Even though Laoyezi and the others were reluctant to leave, they had no choice.
Otherwise, it would be very late by the time they got back to their hotel in the city.
"Laoyezi shouted as he was leaving, "Sophia, just wait! We'll build a few villas in your village too!"
He said it jokingly, unwilling to go.
Sophia only smiled. She didn't take it seriously.
Once everyone had left, the planning company staff could finally start packing up.
Sophia sat in the courtyard with a calculator, adding up the total money made today.
She had just calculated the amount when Manager Yang from the planning company came over and said, "Miss Sophia, there's still a lot of food left in the fridge. Don't forget to eat it."
It was the leftover ingredients from the big lunch they had prepared earlier.
Sophia thought for a second and asked, "What's left? Let me check. You all haven't had dinner yet, right? Why not stay and eat something before leaving?"
Although the ingredients were leftovers, they were high-quality and expensive — rare delicacies people wouldn't usually buy for themselves.
Since they were hosting important guests, Sophia had given them a generous budget.
At first, Manager Yang wanted to decline. It wasn't their habit to eat at a client's place.
But Sophia added, "It's all seafood, and it's still fresh. If we don't eat it today, it won't taste good tomorrow."
Besides, she rarely cooked. If no one ate it now, it would just sit in the fridge until the new year.
After hearing that, Manager Yang finally agreed, "Alright, I'll go find two people who know how to cook."
Two of the staff who could cook went to prepare the food, while the rest continued cleaning up the decorations outside.
Sophia looked at the balance on her bank card and contacted her bank manager through WeChat to handle some business the next day.
Today, she sold a total of 113 antiques, making 6.7 billion yuan altogether.
That was enough to buy plenty of food for General Yves and his team.
She kept 1.7 billion yuan and planned to deposit the remaining 5 billion in the bank.
Every time Sophia looked at all those zeros in her bank account, she felt like she was dreaming.
Just six months ago, she didn't even have a hundred thousand yuan.
Who would've thought that in such a short time, she would have more money than most people could earn in ten lifetimes? Even just the yearly interest was more than enough for her to live on.
In less than an hour, the smell of something salty and delicious drifted out from the kitchen.
Sophia followed the scent and walked in.
"Miss Sophia, I was just about to call you for dinner! Should we eat inside or outside?"
One of the girls from the event planning company asked her.
"Let's eat outside. The moon looks beautiful tonight."
The moon was big and round, with a thin cloud beside it. The evening breeze was cool and refreshing.
Since the security team, Ronin, and Ling were also there, there were quite a few people, so they split into two tables.
"Miss Sophia, the porridge this morning was really good. I asked Ronin, and he said the seafood porridge around here is famous, so we made a big mixed seafood porridge."
The girl who cooked said, "Didn't expect it to turn out so tasty."
"Our place may not be very developed, but the food here is definitely well-known," Sophia replied.
As she said it, she couldn't help but feel a little distant—like she hadn't fully blended into the village yet. She still viewed everything as an outsider.
While she was lost in thought, the others kept chatting about food and local dishes.
Time passed quickly. After about half an hour, dinner was over.
Everyone pitched in to clean up and wash the pots and dishes.
Luckily, Sophia had a fully equipped kitchen. After rinsing the dishes, they could just put them into the dishwasher.
Seeing that everyone had almost finished up and were getting ready to leave, Sophia paid the final fees.
She also sent several large red envelopes in the group chat—there were about 20 to 30 people in the group, and Sophia sent six red packets of 5,000 yuan each for everyone to grab.
That way, each person could at least get a few hundred yuan.
Everyone had worked hard all day, from morning till night. Before the red envelopes, people were starting to look tired.
But after the red packets arrived, the atmosphere changed—everyone looked cheerful again.
It wasn't just because of the money, but also the feeling that their hard work had been appreciated.
"Thanks, everyone. Get some rest when you get home!"
Sophia waved goodbye to the last group of people.
Peng Jiaan and the others were the last ones to get in the car. Through the window, Sophia said to him, "Manager Peng, I'll visit your company in the next couple of days. There's a business deal I'd like to talk to you about."
Peng Jiaan looked very pleased when he heard that.
After everyone had left, only Ronin and Ling were still around, checking the place to make sure nothing was left behind and that all the doors and windows were locked.
Sophia called the two of them over. "Thank you both for your help today. You were a bit shocked earlier, right?"
Honestly, both of them were still trying to process what they had seen. Their minds hadn't caught up yet.
They had guessed that Sophia might be worth tens of millions, maybe over a hundred million at most.
But they never expected she had another identity—someone with a huge collection of valuable antiques.
Until today, they thought this was just a regular business banquet.