"You, where did you come from, you wild man, to run wild in the Su family courtyard? Are you tired of living?!" Chen Renjie was so scared that he backed away.
"Ye Ling, you're nothing but a prospective grandson-in-law, yet you dare to make trouble and beat people in my Su family. I will definitely report this to Grandfather and have him kick you out of the Su family!" Su Ya screamed at the top of her lungs.
The surrounding members of the Su family chimed in, "That's right, we all saw it, it was Ye Ling's people who came looking for trouble and causing a scene. We must have Grandfather punish him!"
The crowd cursed angrily, painting him as if he were an unforgivable criminal, almost wishing to have him shot.
Looking pale, Su Rou no longer had any strength in her body and collapsed onto Ye Ling, saying miserably, "Ye Ling, let's just leave. There isn't a single person in the Su family who is reasonable!"
A pain shot through Ye Ling's heart, and a cold light flashed in his eyes. The icy intent to kill made Chen Renjie's blood almost freeze.
Trembling, he clenched his teeth and shouted angrily, "Ye Ling, are you going to start a fight again? No wonder you were thrown in jail; you really are an unreasonable wild man!"
"Heh, unreasonable? Is someone like you, who twists right and wrong and spews filthy language, in any position to talk about reason with me?" Ye Ling mocked with a sneer, then stepped up to Chen Renjie, seizing hold of the jade Buddha inside the box.
He swayed the jade Buddha in the sunlight, casting a mocking look at the crowd.
"Haven't you ever heard? Natural imperial green jade has even color when moved under sunlight, with stable radiance. In contrast, fake jade that has been artificially dyed will show dispersion and color weakness."
The crowd stared straight at the jade Buddha, looking suspiciously at Chen Renjie.
Chen Renjie's face turned pale as he spread his hands and said hurriedly, "Don't listen to this trash's nonsense. I'm the young master of a jewelry business. Do you think this trash knows more about jewelry than I do?"
"Exactly, with Young Master Chen's status and wealth, for a mere one or two billion, would he need to stoop to faking it?" Su Ya voiced out urgently.
She believed in her judgment. Young Master Chen was a true second-generation rich man; he wouldn't embarrass her in a situation like this.
"Heh, it seems I won't make you fools understand until I break this jade Buddha and let you see its inside with your own eyes!" Ye Ling sneered coldly, his fingers applying slight pressure, and the jade Buddha started to crack.
Chen Renjie's face whitened as he quivered, "Ye Ling, have you gone mad? This is a jade Buddha worth 150 million! Even if you sold your wife, you couldn't afford to pay for it if you crushed it!"
Su Ya's eyes revealed scorn, she shouted loudly, "Ye Ling, if you have the guts, crush it! Something worth 150 million, that's enough to put you in jail for a lifetime!"
Tears fell from Su Rou's eyes as she beat her hands, crying out, "Ye Ling, put that jade Buddha down, we can't afford to compensate for it!"
Everyone present fixed their gaze on Ye Ling, their eyes filled with horror, thinking this young man had truly gone mad!
But Ye Ling's expression remained indifferent, pressing his thumb downward.
With a loud "bang," the jade Buddha shattered like glass.
In the midst, a series of green stains were revealed.
"No, it can't be, how can this jade Buddha be fake?" Su Ya's face turned red as she flipped through the debris over and over again, poking her finger until it bled without any reaction, her eyes blankly staring at the pile of shards.
Zheng Renjie's face turned pale as he looked around at the pairs of mocking eyes. They felt like slaps to his face, and he wished he could crawl into a hole.
"Damn it, this bastard is just a prisoner, how would he know about imperial green jade?" Zheng Renjie cursed. He had always been careful with his forgeries, only giving them to old folks who treated jade Buddhas as collectibles. As long as they were not brought out for appraisal, most people would not notice anything amiss.
But unexpectedly, he had encountered an expert like Ye Ling here, and now he couldn't save face.
Just then, Su Jun stepped forward and scolded, "Ye Ling, what are you so proud of? Young Master Chen just made a mistake in his observation. He's the young owner of a jewelry business, a man with assets in the tens of billions. Why would he fake something worth merely one billion?"
Everyone paused, then echoed, "Yeah, Jun's right. With Young Master Chen's family status and wealth, why would he deliberately forge anything? Wouldn't that be slapping his own Chen Jewelry business in the face?"
Chen Renjie regained his composure and waved his hand, "Haha, yes, I've received so many jade pieces these days, I got confused this time. Next time I will find the real deal and properly present it to Grandpa!"
A mocking glint flitted across Ye Ling's eyes. According to his research, the jewelry business run by the Chen family, with its shops open to public view, was just to deceive others. The real profit came from selling forgeries in the upper circles.
This so-called rich second generation was nothing but a bona fide swindler.
A flicker of hatred passed through Su Ya's eyes as she suddenly grabbed the old painting on the table and spread it out before everyone.
"Haha, look at this, the gift from Ye Ling. Tang Yin, is this some third-rate artist from the street market?"
"Haha!" Everyone sneered, with Su Jun adding, "Ye Ling, you might as well have picked up a fake jade Buddha from the street stalls. How can such a shabby painting be worthy of being displayed in my Su family's hall?"
He chuckled coldly, grabbed the painting, and was about to rip it apart.
"Stop right there!" Old Master Su exclaimed with a stern voice, hurrying forward and protecting the painting as if it were a treasured child, before suddenly slapping a strong one across and yelling, "You beast, this is a rare treasure! If you destroyed this painting, even killing you would not compensate for it!"
Su Jun clutched his cheek, staring with bulging eyes, "Grandpa, have you really gone senile? This is just some shoddy painting bought off a street stall, a rare treasure? Aren't you overestimating Ye Ling too much?"
Old Master Su's face darkened, pointing excitedly at the seal and saying, "Don't you see? This is Tang Yin's Eight Steeds Picture, it's an unparalleled gem in the art world!"
"Grandpa, Tang Yin isn't even a renowned artist, you must be mistaken!" Su Jun shook his head unwillingly.
"Ignorant!" Old Master Su shouted angrily, delivering another strong slap, stamping his foot, "Tang Yin is Mr. Tang Bohu, the most famous painter of the previous dynasty. This Eight Steeds Picture is considered the pinnacle of horse paintings. The auction alone starts at two hundred million, and it's priceless!"
A slap came flying, and Su Jun didn't even try to dodge, his gaze stunned as he looked at the old painting in front of him, murmuring, "The Eight Steeds Picture, a famous painting worth two hundred million, how could Ye Ling, that good-for-nothing, possibly have it?"
Su Ya's face turned even more miserable, and she began to feel a twinge of regret. If she hadn't refused the marriage proposal with Ye Ling, the glory in front of her could have been hers.
"Damn it, how could this trash have something like the Eight Steeds Picture!" Chen Renjie cursed as he left Su's residence with a dusty face under the ridicule of everyone.