Chapter 516: The Auction That Caught the Globe’s Attention (Part One)
Hawking’s application for a visa to visit the M Nation was approved, and it attracted the attention of people from all over the world.
Suddenly, the Santander Auction House directly became the focus of attention.
Especially since Hawking approved the request to treat him live, on-site, all the media from around the world strongly requested to buy the rights to broadcast it live.
The president of Christie’s Auction House directly smashed down on the table and began unleashing hell on the project manager that was sitting across from him. “I heard the Mandala Lab came to our auction house first, and you rejected them, right?”
The project manager bitterly laughed. “They couldn’t provide any documents and looked very much like a scam. They also don’t have any patents registered related to the drug, how could I allow the auction house to take on the risk to auction this and say it cures cancer? I just didn’t want to take on too much risk, Sir…”
“But look at the current situation, even if the medicine is fake, it’s got the whole world’s attention! They are getting Hawking, the most outstanding physicist alive in this era, and he’s going to personally attend the treatment broadcast! Do you know how many scholars around the world would be paying attention to this? All the media around the world are now fighting with ridiculous compensations to ask to be able to enter the venue and be licensed to broadcast that event! Think about it, if it was our auction house that got this opportunity, plus our large venue that can accommodate over a thousand people, the influence of this event could definitely push our auction house into a new height!”
The project manager coughed and said, “But if that medicine is fake, and Hawking gets killed, and the U.K. side gets angry and demands a thorough investigation of this from beginning to end, can we escape the blame?”
“Yes, you better hope this medicine is fake,” the boss looked at the project manager and said, “because if this is real, you can fire yourself directly and go eat a d-ck!”
It wasn’t just this large auction house that was having this kind of next-level conversation. There were many auction houses in the M Nation where the project managers were getting scolded by their higher-ups. All of them were in extreme regret for missing this opportunity to attract global attention.
That person in charge of the Santander Auction House immediately received contacts from bigger auction houses that requested cooperation.
The boss obviously wasn’t stupid, he also wanted to take advantage of the exposure this time to increase the valuation of his auction house and then sell it. So, he refused to cooperate with other auction houses and insisted on holding it at his small venue that could only seat about a hundred people.
When the ticket master was selling tickets, a hundred seats were sold out within the first minute!
Some of the wealthy tycoons heard that Hawking’s trying out the medicine himself and they began to start believing in it more. At this moment, honestly, it doesn’t matter if they completely believe it or not, if you don’t believe it, there’s only one dose left anyways, and if you miss out, you can only wait for death, or maybe wait for another five years for the Mandala lab to make another one. But, can you live for another five years?
So, those wealthy tycoons with cancer all couldn’t sit still anymore. They all flew over to New York at the earliest time possible for them on their private jets.
And, some people managed to get tickets, and the ticket that was originally priced at 10K dollars a seat was marked up to at least 50K.
But, there would still be people willing to buy it, and in the end, the most expensive ticket sold went for 200K dollars!
It wasn’t exaggerated at all.
If you don’t go in, you won’t be qualified to bid, so no matter what, you gotta get in first.
In the end, the boss of the auction house was quite regretful for not selling it for a higher price.
But, the revenue from the ticket did bring him back from the verge of bankruptcy a bit.
On the day of the auction, thirty minutes before the event started, all kinds of wealthy characters came in with wheelchairs or crutches, and they were usually accompanied by bodyguards and an accompanying doctor in case of any emergency.
There were satellite TV cameras set up throughout the entire venue for live broadcast and filming. The auction house charged 300K dollars per broadcasting license, and there were over 20 media companies from all over the world that were willing and able to pay the price.
Chapter 516: The Auction That Caught the Globe’s Attention (Part Two)
That means, with the revenue from the tickets and broadcasting licenses alone, he was already able to make 7 million!
This was also why the other auction houses were in deep regret. This was also just how much the Santander Auction House can make. If it were the other larger auction houses, with more than a thousand seats and enough to host 200 media companies, that income would be even more ridiculous!
The boss was so happy that he immediately agreed to waive the commission fee they were going to charge. That means, if they successfully auction the medicine, the auction house won’t charge a dime. But of course, that would be if Dr. Hawking is fine.
That night, the world’s attention was gathered here, and all the cameras were pointed towards the stage at the host. He dressed the best he could, feeling like he was at the Oscars or something being watched by the whole world, he couldn’t help but feel the pressure and excitement.
In the past, he wouldn’t waste too much time talking. But he prepared a lot of jokes for tonight, knowing that there would be no better time to present his professionalism to the world than now.
“Alright, we will cut to the chase. I believe many of the guests here tonight are patients, your time may be even more precious than those of the entrepreneurs. I’m afraid that if I delay it any further, someone might faint and die here. Alright, then let’s get straight into it. Please look towards the big screen.”
The screen displayed a clear picture of the only two doses of medicine. The host loudly announced, “That’s right, two days ago, on this stage, the guests that attended the auction were skeptical about the effectiveness of this drug. So, we’ve invited someone that we are all very familiar with to test the effectiveness of this medicine. Here, we would like to express our gratitude towards Dr. Hawking to be able to pull time out of his busy schedule to come and accept the treatment! Can we get a round of applause for Dr. Hawking, please!”
The audiences all began clapping.
“Then, let us welcome the guest that the audiences around this whole world have been eager to see, Dr. Stephen Hawking!”
From behind the stage, Hawking’s guardian pushed his wheelchair onto the stage. On the stage, there were two exquisite glass boxes, and spotlights were shone upon those two with cameras focused on them to be able to project a clear image onto the screen.
Dr. Hawking indeed showed up on the stage! His guardian as well! This indeed shocked everyone as there was still a part of them being skeptical about whether he would show up or not.
The host asked Dr. Hawking’s guardian, “To be honest, are you afraid of this treatment?”
“Of course I am. If this experiment fails and damages my dad’s health even more, I will definitely sue the Mandala Lab!” Hawking’s son, who was also the guardian, said forcefully.
Hawking typed on the keyboard. “Let’s begin, I’m already prepared. Just ignore him. If this fails, I’m willing to let my life be one of the stones that pave the path for the future of medicine.”
The crowd immediately applauded.(
Lin Chuxue exclaimed, “I really hope this medicine can save this elder.”
“It will.” The corner of Xu Cheng’s mouth lifted up into a smile. “He’s the founder of quantum science, maybe I will need him!”