After two rounds of bidding, Edgar's work settled at eight hundred thousand.
In fact, his work had much higher commercial value than Alan's. Buying it for eight hundred thousand was definitely a bargain. But for various reasons, it was destined not to fetch a higher price than "Ethereal."
After a short break, the upcoming auctions would no longer have price limits.
Thomas's charity auction rules were simple—anyone who wanted to go up could sign up, with no restrictions at all.
Those who received invitations were either musicians, rising stars, or hidden geniuses from musical families. There was no chance that someone would deliberately go up just to cause trouble.
But before signing up, there was one thing to consider—whether you could handle the embarrassment.
Any auction could have items that failed to sell, though at Thomas's auctions this almost never happened. After all, most people knew each other. Even if just as a favor, they wouldn't let someone's work go unsold—unless that person was very unpopular or their work was unbearably bad. In that case, they were on their own.
If that happened, not only would your work fail to sell, but getting invited back next time would also be in question.
There had been such a case before. Wanting to help newcomers, the banquet invited some short-term sensation celebrities. Though they were "traffic stars," unlike on Earth, becoming one on Blue Star still required real skills. The difference was that their popularity had a short shelf life and they couldn't consistently produce good works.
Bringing them in served two purposes: to give them a higher platform and in case one of them became a superstar later, they would remember Thomas's kindness.
The problem happened a few years ago. One invited star acted like a big shot from the moment he arrived at the estate, even trying to livestream the whole banquet. When refused, he went to the auction and showed no respect to the senior performers on stage—talking loudly and making rude remarks.
Thomas didn't kick him out right away. Instead, he flattered him and then invited him to perform on stage.
The result was predictable—no one paid attention to his performance. People kept eating and drinking. When the host announced the starting bid, it was a humiliating fifty cents, and even then no one bid.
At that point, the star completely lost it.
He shouted hysterically on stage, threatening to expose them on social media when he got back. But before he even reached the estate gates, he received a contract termination notice from his agency. After that, it was as if he had vanished—no trace of him appeared online again.
After telling William about the incident, Tiffany felt a little regret.
"You don't have to go up if you don't want to."
"Then wouldn't this trip be for nothing?" William said with a calm smile.
The bit of nervousness in his heart had already faded over time. Even though he hadn't prepared a specific piece, he could copy down a score anytime without the slightest worry.
"Next, let's welcome Mr. Dollas."
Dollas chose the guzheng as his instrument. All instruments were provided by the organizers, though participants could bring their own. But unlike flutes or xiao, a guzheng couldn't be carried around easily.
"Cloud."
Dollas simply announced the title of his piece and plucked the strings.
With each pluck, a scene of flowing clouds unfolded before everyone's eyes. The shapes changed endlessly—sometimes like water, sometimes like smoke—mysterious and elusive.
At first, the tune gave a hazy, dreamlike feeling. Each note came unexpectedly, breaking away from the usual patterns of composition, yet staying perfectly in line with the theme.
"Thank you very much for Mr. Dollas's performance. Now the auction begins. The starting bid is ten thousand, with each raise no less than ten thousand."
"$7000!"
"$27.000!"
"$32.000!"
After several rounds of bidding, the price for "Cloud" had been pushed up to $32.000.
It wasn't a commercial-style piece, so this was basically the limit.
"Then let's congratulate—"
"$69.000!"
Since he didn't have a paddle, William stood up to say it.
When Dollas in the audience heard the price of $69.000, he was surprised at first. Then, realizing it was a younger person, he thought the guy was just trying to get close to him by buying his work. But when he saw that the bidder was the same arrogant kid standing next to his niece, his face instantly darkened.
"Tell him I'm not selling to him."
"Mr. Dollas…"
The waiter serving their table wasn't some random temp worker, so he naturally knew how auctions worked.
Since Thomas started hosting these charity dinners, there had never been a case where someone refused to sell after another person bought an item.
Besides, the money wasn't even going to you—it was all going to be donated in the end.
Dollas said, "Just go and tell him."
With no other choice, the waiter jogged up to the stage, whispered a few words to the host, then went over to speak with Thomas.
Thomas knew quite a bit about the Dollas' family. One look at Tiffany sitting next to William, and he instantly understood what Dollas meant.
That kid hadn't earned Dollas's approval.
But rules were rules—you couldn't just break them whenever you wanted.
After telling the waiter a few things, Thomas walked up to the stage himself.
"Sorry to interrupt, everyone. We've run into a little situation, so please allow me to pause the current auction."
This was a first.
Thomas's words set off a wave of whispering in the crowd, and of course, the topic was this auction.
If there were still people who hadn't noticed the woman beside William earlier, they had now—Miss Tiffany.
She used to be a leading figure of the younger generation, but after a failed arranged marriage, she faded out of public view.
Six years later, no one expected to see her again like this—showing up at a charity dinner with a young man who looked fresh out of high school, bidding on one of Dollas's works. Was this her way of making peace?
The waiter who had been running back and forth returned to Thomas's side.
"He agreed."
Thomas nodded in satisfaction, then addressed William directly in front of everyone.
"I have a proposal that can let you take this piece home without paying a cent. Want to hear it?"
William nodded. "Go ahead."
He still had to show Thomas some respect. With Thomas's influence, anyone who wanted to tap into the music industry would have to go through him, and William had no interest in making an enemy out of him.
"You come up here and play a piece. I'll personally donate the same amount you bid for Miss Tiffany's piece, and I'll also have him give his work to you. How about it?"
"All I have to do is play a piece?"
"That's right. Just play one piece." Thomas smiled as if it were the simplest thing in the world.
William agreed without hesitation. "Alright."
Tiffany frowned. Anyone with eyes could tell Thomas was trying to put William on the spot.
Playing a piece might sound easy, but this wasn't like a kindergarten teacher asking you to sing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." If he didn't play well, the damage would be far more than just losing a smiley-face sticker.
"Don't be nervous."
Her attempt at comfort had zero effect—she was clearly more nervous than he was.
"Relax." William gave her hand a light pat. He wasn't stupid; he wouldn't walk into something that would just make a fool of himself.