HLM – Chapter 116 The Love Rival Appears

To his disappointment, the Grace Coins weren’t particularly valuable—each one could fetch around twenty thousand dollars.

Although these coins had existed for over a century and were made of gold, they had been minted in large quantities at the time. As a result, many were still in circulation, giving them little value as collectibles.

Adams explained to Wang Bo that the image on the back of the coin depicted Saint George slaying the sea monster, indicating its denomination as 1 Sovereign—equivalent to one pound, and it had once been in circulation.

After explaining the coin’s background, the CEO prepared to end the call. To someone of his stature, a twenty-thousand-dollar coin was meaningless—two million might be more interesting.

But Wang Bo’s next sentence caught his attention: “This coin is part of the inheritance my godfather left me. There are other intriguing items too. If you’re interested, you could come over and take a look.”

Adams paused, adjusting his tone, and responded more warmly, “Ha! Buddy, that sounds great. Could you send me a photo?”

Wang Bo declined, replying, “It’s mostly gold and silver jewelry and porcelain pieces, but they look quite nice. If you’re interested, come and see for yourself.”

With that, he hung up the phone. He had to maintain control of the situation.

Charlie, intrigued by the exchange, asked, “Your godfather’s inheritance? Besides the Sacred Hymns, you have more?”

Wang Bo shrugged, “I’ve got quite a few things. But now’s not the time to talk about that. Eva’s school is organizing a charity auction, and I’m planning to donate this coin.”

“Oh, shit!”

“Boss, you’re really splurging just to impress a woman!”

“Back off from that girl!”

“Ah hell, your mom’s gonna blow!”

The charity auction was scheduled for Saturday. On Friday afternoon, Christie’s Auction House sent over an appraiser, apparently arranged by Adams, to help Wang Bo assess his antiques.

With the auction right around the corner, Wang Bo didn’t have time to showcase all the pieces, so he had the appraiser—Wisk Bourne—stay over for now, while he focused on preparing for the auction.

On Saturday morning, Wang Bo had Bowen slaughter a lamb. He also caught five plump chickens and five ducks, packed them up, and the entire group set off in grand fashion for Oak City.

As he’d expected, although his ranch now had chickens, ducks, geese, and pigs he had bought from back home, no one seemed to notice. Charlie and the others never went to the ranch, and though Bowen did, he was too carefree and only paid attention to the cattle and sheep.

The charity auction was being held in a small plaza of a park not far from the school. With help from the school and volunteers, a canopy was set up for shade, and tables, chairs, speakers, and an auction stage were arranged. The setting looked quite professional.

As soon as the car pulled into the park, Wang Bo spotted Eva—she always stood out.

Given the formal occasion, she had styled her hair into a graceful bun. She wore a coffee-colored office suit with a pencil skirt, her long and elegant legs wrapped in nude crystal sheer tights. Matching open-toe high heels and frameless glasses completed her polished, intellectual look.

Eva quickly noticed him too. Once they met up, Wang Bo handed over the meat and poultry, and then presented a gift box containing the coin. “This is my item for the charity auction. Who should I give it to?”

The teacher smiled, “You’ll keep it with you. Later, you’ll go on stage and introduce it and auction it yourself. I’ll give you a number soon, okay?”

Wang Bo nodded. “Of course. No problem.”

They had only just reunited when a few young men approached. A blond man with sharp, angular features stood beside Eva, squinting his eyes as he asked, “Elena, who is this? Don’t think I’ve seen him before.”

Wang Bo narrowed his eyes too—the guy’s gaze was hostile. If he guessed right, this was definitely a love rival.

Eva took a subtle step sideways, putting some space between herself and the man.

She introduced them, “This is Downton Huseman. He runs a Toyota dealership in town and is an extreme sports enthusiast.”

As more residents trickled in to help with the setup, Wang Bo and Downton each led their people to get busy. At that moment, the little girl came over carrying a tray of drinks.

Eva had dressed the little girl up adorably—her simple princess hairstyle and fluffy dress were matched with a red silk ribbon around her waist, tied in a big, beautiful bow at the back. The effect was heart-melting.

“Brother, have some water.” Dale walked over cautiously, tilting her head up with anticipation in her eyes.

Juan thanked her and reached for a drink, but Bowen grabbed his arm and chuckled awkwardly, “Better make sure first—is there a restroom nearby?”

The little girl blinked innocently, as if she had forgotten her past prank, and replied,  “Brother, you need the restroom? There’s a really pretty one in the park!”

Charlie and the others didn’t know Bowen had been tricked by her before, so they just looked puzzled. After taking the drinks, they grinned and showered her with praise, nearly lifting her to the clouds.

At 3 p.m., when the hottest part of the day had passed, the auction officially began.

Wang Bo was assigned number 25. Since he would be auctioning an item, he sat at the front, next to a familiar face—Porter, the general manager of the Pastoral Dwellings Architecture Group, and his long-legged, queenly wife.

The first to take the stage was Ms. Katherine Houston, who auctioned a piece of cross-stitch embroidery—a man’s portrait. The starting bid was fifty dollars, with ten-dollar increments.

The price was low, so Wang Bo raised his hand to bid. Ms. Houston smiled gently when she saw him and said, “Mr. Wang from Sunset Town—sixty dollars, first call!”

Immediately another person raised a hand—a man in his forties—and shouted, “One hundred dollars!”

Applause rang out. Wang Bo was baffled. Why such a big reaction to a small bid?

He raised his hand again, and Ms. Houston continued smiling, “Mr. Wang from Sunset Town—one hundred and ten dollars, first call.”

The same man raised his hand again. “One hundred and fifty dollars!”

Another round of applause and a few chuckles followed.

Charlie squinted at the man, then tugged Wang Bo’s sleeve and whispered, “Okay, buddy, don’t bid anymore. That guy’s probably her husband. The cross-stitch portrait is of him.”

Wang Bo suddenly understood. No wonder the guy kept outbidding him and glaring—this was a playful couple’s game for charity, and he was crashing it.

The following auction items were similar—mostly handmade crafts, romantic photos between couples, and children’s paintings. Prices were modest, starting as low as ten dollars, with the highest around five hundred.

This made Wang Bo feel a bit awkward. Compared to others, his donation was far too formal. That wasn’t a good thing—it made it harder for the next items to follow his.