Yesterday.
Gu Changsheng had already pressed out the mastermind behind the scenes—it was none other than Zhang Hai, the young owner of Hua Yu Construction Company.
Yet today, he presumed to arrive at the Zhou Family's birthday celebration as if nothing had happened?
Gu Changsheng's gaze was icy cold. After a brief moment of thought, he also understood why Zhang Hai dared to come—it was because of his own reputation as a fool, wasn't it? And the intimidation from yesterday, those people probably didn't dare to speak the truth, otherwise, how would they explain themselves to Zhang Hai.
"Thinking of laying a hand on my wife Jiayi, you won't be able to settle this account easily!"
Another sideways glance.
The postures of his father-in-law and mother-in-law also annoyed Gu Changsheng.
Even if Mrs. Zhou suppressed the third branch of the family, as a direct descendant of the Zhou Family, why would they feel the need to curry favor with Zhang Hai? Did they really want to marry Jiayi off to that piece of trash so badly?
Looking back to the times of Zhou Gudao, even if he was not a particularly powerful or impressive figure, the fact that he started from scratch and established the Zhou family's business was something to be lauded. How come everyone from his spouse to his own children were such disappointments?
Not much later.
Zhou Jianmin and his wife, along with Zhou Jiayi, took their seats with Zhang Hai.
That's right, even for Mrs. Zhou's birthday banquet, the third branch couldn't take the main seats but had to be content with secondary ones. The grand and righteous explanation given was 'to attend to the guests'.
"Madam Zhou has arrived!" the announcement resonated loudly.
The first and second branches flanked Mrs. Zhou as she made her entrance.
Unbeknownst to the audience, Zhou Jiaming had already gone to the back hall, and now making an appearance, he took up the position to the left and right to assist Mrs. Zhou. Mrs. Zhou's face beamed with kindness, a picture of complete satisfaction.
The guests stood up, those familiar with her stepping forward to offer congratulations, while those less acquainted echoed loudly, the scene boisterously lively.
Once Mrs. Zhou took her seat in the place of honor.
"Grandma, this eighty-eighth birthday of yours is of extraordinary significance. Can you guess what I have prepared for you? This is mutton-fat white jade I had someone specially seek out from Xijiang, which has been sculpted by a master's hands into a fortune and longevity Buddha. Do you like it?"
Zhou Jiaming had someone bring over a gift box which, when opened and illuminated by the lights of the room, appeared extremely dazzling.
Mrs. Zhou was overjoyed at the sight, clapping his hands, "Good, good, Jiaming is so thoughtful."
The room was filled with congratulations and praise, all dazzled by the mutton-fat white jade.
Zhou Jiacheng, upon seeing it, turned the color of liver.
Mrs. Zhou's fondness for jade and curios was well known, yet just last week, Zhou Jiaming said he was going to choose something at Huaqi Mall—how did he suddenly procure a treasure from Xijiang to ingratiate himself?
Shit! He's been played!
Now that thirty-eight thousand jade mountain of good fortune and longevity seems embarrassingly inadequate.
Although the first and second branches appeared to be on friendly terms, their struggles behind the scenes never ceased. Seeing the shade of his second brother, Zhou Jiaming knew he had succeeded and deliberately mentioned, "Second brother, what gift have you prepared for grandma?"
Zhou Jiacheng found himself in a difficult position, but still had no choice but to present his gift.
Upon seeing the jade mountain, Mrs. Zhou recognized its class but did not deliberately demean it, she chuckled, "Jiacheng is kind-hearted too. This jade is of good quality, full of luster, and is indeed a rare sight."
Zhou Jiacheng heaved a sigh of relief, but still, he couldn't let go of his resentment.
He had to find someone to cushion his fall, didn't he?
"Grandma, don't be too pleased just yet. Perhaps Jiayi's gift will delight you even more. My big brother and I were merely paving the way with our modest offerings."
With that said.
Zhou Jiacheng couldn't help but smirk. When it came to bringing down the third branch, they were always united.
However, what kind of gift could Zhou Jiayi possibly come up with? Her family was poor as church mice.
"Where is Jiayi? Why haven't I seen her?"
Below the stage, at the secondary seats.
Liu Jinhua nudged Zhou Jiayi, "Go on, bring out your gift. Didn't you say you were well prepared in advance?"
Zhou Jiayi grimaced. The gift she had prepared now lay in Zhou Jiacheng's hands.
Clutching the gift box given by Gu Changsheng, she felt uneasy, but there was no turning back now, so she braced herself and stepped forward.
Zhou Jiayi stood up and approached, "Grandma, this is my gift, inside is a..."
Before she could finish.
Her second brother, Zhou Jiaming, reached over to take the gift box and opened it. A dark red stone was revealed to everyone present.
It was at that moment.
The entire banquet hall fell silent.
All faces showed sheer astonishment...
"What the hell is this?"
"A worthless rock?"
About three to five seconds later, Zhou Jiaming burst into loud laughter, "Oh my, I'm convinced. What is this thing, a piece of garbage picked up off the street? Zhou Jiayi, what are you doing? Are you deliberately trying to cause trouble at Grandma's birthday banquet?"
Zhou Jiacheng, the eldest brother, seized the opportunity to scold her, "Zhou Jiayi, what's the matter with you? Are you intentionally upsetting Grandma?"
Mrs. Zhou, however, had trained herself in Qigong, simply taking a deep breath and forcefully suppressing her anger, "Alright, you may step down now. It's getting late, and the banquet should begin..."
At this scene,
tears of grievance were nearly falling from Zhou Jiayi's eyes.
Zhou Jianmin hurriedly stepped forward, "Jiayi, what, what are you doing?"
"Dad, this was prepared by Changsheng," she stated in her panic.
And everybody heard her clearly.
"I see," Zhou Jiaming sneered, "If it's him, then it's not surprising. An idiot wanting to anger Grandma, that's just standard operating procedure."
"But let me tell you, little sister, if Gu Changsheng doesn't know any better, don't you either? Why join him in this nonsense?"
Pressure, swept over them.
Not just Zhou Jiayi, but also the faces of Zhou Jianmin and Liu Jinhua were pale beyond measure.
Mrs. Zhou finally spoke, "Where is he? Get him out here for me!"
Liu Jinhua couldn't wait to shift the blame, pointing in Gu Changsheng's direction, "He's over there..."
For a moment,
all eyes converged on that corner.
And there Gu Changsheng had already stood up, facing these glaring eyes and taking steps towards the front.
"Grandmother was looking for me?"
Mrs. Zhou's face was expressionless, "I don't have a grandson-in-law like you. Now... take your worthless stone and get out. From today on, the Zhou Family has nothing to do with you. Get the divorce papers ready for tomorrow!"
Below the stage,
Zhang Hai was barely holding back his laughter, thinking that although he didn't finish Gu Changsheng off yesterday, today Gu Changsheng had ruined himself. Hahaha, it saved me the trouble.
Zhou Jiayi was already petrified, as if her soul had left her.
But Gu Changsheng, still remained calm—
"Elders do not joke; I hope you can take back that statement."
"As for my gift, there's definitely no issue, it's just that..."
"Heh, maybe my oldest and second brothers couldn't see the origins of this item, that's all."
Poor eyesight?
He wasn't just talking about Zhou Jiacheng and Zhou Jiaming; clearly, it was aimed at everybody present, including Mrs. Zhou.
"Oh?" Mrs. Zhou laughed out of fury, "Then please do tell us, what is the origin of this stone? But if you cannot provide a clear explanation, the words I just spoke must be carried out, and no one in the Zhou Family may interfere!"
At this moment, Gu Changsheng's heart was filled with helplessness.
The situation that had unfolded was also his own fault.
This 'worthless rock' had been propping a door at home for too long, having its luster and color obscured by dust, no longer showing its former brilliance... If only he had known, he should have cleaned it first, so it wouldn't have come to this pass.
He was about to speak...
But an elder sitting in the guest of honor's seat at the back took the initiative first—
"Wait, could this be the 'Auspicious Clouds Chicken Blood Stone'?!"
He walked over quickly, closing in a bit, his entire demeanor growing more excited, "No mistake, no mistake, it must be, it must be!"
One could see him delicately wiping the 'worthless rock' with a handkerchief he took from his pocket...
Slowly, the dust faded away.
The dull red turned bright red, and the mountain-shaped stone, adorned with layers of cloud-like patterns, was the perfect embodiment of the term 'auspicious clouds.'
"It's true, this is indeed an 'Auspicious Clouds Chicken Blood Stone'!"
Mrs. Zhou, recognizing the newcomer, "So it's Mr. Wu from Treasure Pavilion. Is this stone that rare?"
Mr. Wu adjusted his glasses and surveyed the room intently saying, "Not just rare, it is exceedingly rare, one of a kind in the world! Ten years ago, the final bid at the auction was as high as eighty million!!"
What?!
The room fell silent, the only sounds were the successive gasps of shock that could be heard.