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"Fake? You're saying the thumb ring is fake?"
Chu Tiange was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing: "This is truly the joke of the century. You cripple, actually dare to say my Spirit King Ring is a counterfeit?"
Ye Feng didn't even need to look at the so-called ring to know it was a fake, because he knew who held the real Spirit King Ring.
As the previous guest had said, such a ring contained spiritual energy, was extremely precious, and unique in the world; it was not something a minor Jiangdu business magnate like the Chu Family could lay their hands on.
"Look, Ye, even if you can't bring out a decent gift, there's no need for this, right? If you really become the Hong Family's son-in-law, I'm afraid you'll only bring shame upon the Hong Family!"
Chu Tiange snorted coldly, his eyes filled with contempt.
Hong Yuting also said, "Exactly, a worthless man who can't present a gift, should just admit it, directly. Your actions only make us disdain you even more."
Ye Feng looked at the two of them, his eyes gradually turning colder. Today was Old Master Hong's seventieth birthday; he didn't want to make a move, so as to not embarrass Old Man Hong too much.
Secondly, with his own status, he really had no reason to bother with such ant-like figures; it was just that these two flies insisted on buzzing in his ear, relentless.
"The real Spirit King Ring, due to the spiritual energy within, will produce fine spirit patterns, and those patterns must be green!"
Ye Feng continued, "There are three ranks of thumb rings. The lower rank has chaotic and mixed spirit patterns with impure colors; the middle rank has pure-colored but imprecise patterns; only the high rank has spirit patterns that are completely green and crystal clear."
Some guests remarked, "True, there are three ranks of thumb rings. I heard a jade shop expert master mention this, but I wonder, how can the spirit pattern be verified?"
Upon hearing this, Ye Feng smiled faintly, thinking that there were indeed some well-informed people present, and then said, "How to verify it is quite simple, just smash it and you can clearly see the patterns inside!"
"What did you say, smash it directly, you want to smash my thumb ring?"
Chu Tiange immediately bristled, "You cripple really have no sense of gratitude. This is a Spirit King Ring, a treasure of immeasurable value. If you smash it, can you afford to compensate?"
Hong Yuting scoffed, "Not to mention smashing it, even if it's scratched a tiny bit, he couldn't afford it in his lifetime!"
Hong Wei also scoffed, "I say, Ye, as the son-in-law candidate of our Hong Family, can't you be a bit more sincere? If you can't present a gift, do you have to slander someone else's property? Do you have no shame? Even if you don't, the Hong Family does!"
"Enough!"
Master Hong roared in anger, truly furious, "What is all this noisy quarreling, Young Master Chu? Whether the thumb ring is real or fake, take it back!"
"Grandpa Hong, this thumb ring is indeed real..."
Hong Zhenguo interrupted with a wave of his hand, "The Hong and Chu Families are on good terms. I appreciate your intention to give a gift, but this year, I am not accepting any, from anyone!"
Chu Tiange dared not argue further. Although the Chu Family was an almost first-class business magnate, they still fell short compared to the Hong Family, not to mention his aspirations to become a son-in-law of the Hong family.
Before coming, the elder of the Chu Family had instructed him, hoping for a strategic marriage alliance between the Hong and Chu Families. In that way, the Chu Family could ride on the coattails of the Hong Family's prestige and enter the ranks of the first-class magnates.
Of course, this wasn't the main objective. The ultimate aim of the Chu Family was the Hongtian Group!
Currently, Hong Zhenguo was getting on in years, Hong Tianming was notoriously weak and useless, and the third-generation Hong Wei was even more of a profligate incapable of accomplishment but exceeding at causing troubles.
Thus, by becoming a son-in-law of the Hong Family, the Chu Family could plan to gradually devour the Hong Family's assets. Once Old Master Hong passed away, with the Hong Family leaderless, that would be the moment for the Chu Family to annex Hongtian Group.
This was the reason why Chu Tiange was willing to present such a generous gift today, seeking a marriage alliance with the Hong Family.
Suddenly, Hong Yuting said, "Grandpa is impressive and incorruptible, and it is fine not to accept gifts, but that useless man must apologize. He slandered Tiange's thumb ring as fake; he must apologize today!"
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Hong Wei said, "Sister is right, the Chu Family is a prestigious noble family after all. This crippled son-in-law, who is only good at slandering others with his mouth, kneel down, kneel down and apologize to Chu Tiange!"
Chu Tiange stood with his arms folded across his chest, silent, as if by not demanding an apology himself it would make him appear magnanimous.
Ye Feng's gaze sharpened, and he sneered, "Kneel down to apologize? Are you sure?"
As a former king who stained the battlefield with blood and defended the nation's gates with his own strength, no one had ever dared to be so presumptuous in front of him.
If it were not for the sake of Old Master Hong, these two ignorant fools would have already been corpses.
Seventeen, standing behind him, had also clenched his fists at this point, with a killing intent soaring to the skies.
If the other party dared to utter another word, he would certainly strike, and it would be lethal!
Hong Zhenguo was startled by this and exclaimed, "Both of you shut your mouths!"
After speaking, Hong Zhenguo turned to Chu Tiange and said, "Smash it, smash that Spirit King Ring of yours!"
"Smash it?" Chu Tiange's eyes widened, thinking he had heard wrong.
"Smash it, to see what it really looks like inside!"
Hong Zhenguo's voice boomed like a large bell, "However much you paid for it, Elder Fu will compensate you at the original price!"
Old Master Hong knew that if he didn't step in now, his two foolish grandchildren might very well lose their lives here tonight.
Hong Yuting said, "Grandpa, what are you talking about? This is the Spirit King Ring, a treasure beyond measure. It's worth dozens of millions at least. You can't just say smash it!"
Hong Wei also said, "A treasure worth millions of dollars, Grandpa, you always say I waste money, but now it seems, you're even more extreme than me!"
Hong Zhenguo, without another word, slapped him across the face.
"You worthless thing, you are grounded for three months. Sell off all those sports cars in the garage and hand over the money, and you can't have more than one hundred thousand in spending money for a year, got it?"
After speaking, Hong Zhenguo gave Hong Tianming and his wife a glare, the implied message being that if they dared to go easy on him behind the scenes, they too would be punished.
Of course, Hong Zhenguo had no choice in the matter; otherwise, this fool might even lose his life.
Hong Yuting huffed, "Chu Tiange, go ahead and smash it. After all, someone will compensate for it, and your Chu Family won't lose anything. What are you afraid of?"
Chu Tiange shouted, "I can smash it, but if this Mr. Ye keeps insisting that my ring is a fake, when we find out this is a slander, he must kneel down in public and apologize to me by kowtowing!"
Before Ye Feng could even speak, Hong Yuting snatched the ring and smashed it down hard.
The ring shattered on impact, and upon picking it up, Hong Yuting said, "There's a Spirit Pattern, although it's not very pure. But it's not green, it's red. What rank is this?"
"Red Spirit Pattern? It seems like there's no rank, not even the lowest. Wearing it for a long time might even be harmful to the person."
One of the guests who seemed to be more knowledgeable suddenly spoke up.
Hong Yuting's face darkened and she turned her furious eyes directly on Chu Tiange.
With a sinking feeling in his heart, Chu Tiange realized he was finished; his hopes of being the Hong Family's son-in-law were probably dashed.