Mu Jinyu, looking at the disgustingly unpleasant expressions of the crowd as if they'd eaten dead flies, felt particularly elated and scoffed:
"How about it? The 'Authentic Pink Porcelain Bat Peach Pattern Olive-Shaped Vase' from the Qing Dynasty's Yongzheng era you bought for fifty million, with the year 2003 inscribed inside—Old man, do you still have the nerve to claim it's genuine?"
The crowd was speechless.
What could they possibly say?!
After all, it was Gu Zhengxin who, despite clearly recognizing that the Famille Rose porcelain piece was a fake, nevertheless deliberately took Zhang Qiuhuai's side and assured them it was real.
In addition, nobody expected that Mu Jinyu would be so audacious as to smash the porcelain bottle—which hadn't been definitively proven fake—into pieces!
Thus revealing the counterfeit marks inside and slapping their faces resoundingly.
Gu Zhengxin was extremely annoyed inside, feeling that Mu Jinyu was really ungrateful, not leaving him any dignity.
He thought resentfully, "Damn it, you dare to slap my face like this, if I still let you be with Xiao Yan, I might as well take your family name!"
However, Gu Xiyan, unlike them, had fewer things on her mind. She gazed at Mu Jinyu's face, and in her glass-like beautiful eyes, a trace of admiration appeared.
But then, considering Mu Jinyu's arrogant and disrespectful behavior, and his disregard for elders, her disappointment couldn't help but resurface, and thinking of Grandpa Gu's intentional bias, she felt even more disheartened.
Zhang Qiuhuai stood aside, feeling his face slapped resoundingly by Mu Jinyu, and remembering the promises he had made so confidently earlier, he truly wished he could find a hole to crawl into!
Afterward, he noticed the changing faces of the people around him.
Especially Old Master Gu, whose expression darkened as if about to dripp water.
Zhang Qiuhuai sensed an opportunity for himself.
"Enough!"
Zhang Qiuhuai stepped forward, scolding with a cold face:
"Even if I was temporarily mistaken and bought a fake as a birthday gift for Grandpa Gu, it's still better than you, as the son-in-law on Grandpa Gu's grand birthday, presenting a large white radish and insisting it's a 'Thousand-year Ginseng', isn't it?!"
"That was indeed 'Thousand-year Ginseng,'" Mu Jinyu retorted with a curl of his lips, speaking indifferently.
"You think I'd believe your bullshit?!" Zhang Qiuhuai, looking at Mu Jinyu, was full of disdain.
"If you truly had a heart of filial piety towards Grandpa Gu, I might reluctantly believe that your white radish has a slight possibility of being Ginseng. But how do you address Grandpa Gu? Calling him an 'Old thing,' an 'Old immortal'? How can we believe your words when you show such disrespect for your elders?!" Zhang Qiuhuai said with a heavy tone.
Seeing this, the aunts and uncles chimed in, sensing an opportunity to show support:
"Exactly, calling him an 'Old thing'—you, with such disrespect for your elders, how could you possibly present a 'Thousand-year Ginseng' worth over a hundred million as a birthday gift? If I believe your nonsense, I'd chop off my head and use it as a stool for you!"
"From your attitude, I can't see a trace of respect or reverence for your elders. I can't believe that a person as arrogant as you would present a 'Thousand-year Ginseng' as a birthday gift to Old Master Gu!"
"..."
Facing the crowd's skepticism, Mu Jinyu smiled lightly and said, "Why should I show respect for someone like him who doesn't deserve it as an elder? I'm already being polite by not calling him an 'old dog' instead of 'old thing'!"
"You?! You..."
Gu Zhengxin, upon hearing this, was so angry he nearly vomited blood.
Mu Jinyu didn't even glance at him and continued calmly, "Regarding your questions, first of all, the Ginseng in my hand is indeed 'Thousand-year Ginseng,' not some white radish, and to be honest, you really aren't worthy of my lying to you!"
"Secondly, I never intended to present this 'Thousand-year Ginseng' as a birthday gift to that old thing. It was snatched away by Xiyan just now, leading you to misunderstand that I was going to give it to him. The mere fact that I'm here is already a grand gesture!"
Mu Jinyu's words had just fallen.
"Arrogant!"
Gu Tianyun could no longer hold back and stood up to rebuke sharply, then glared at Mu Jinyu, exclaiming, "What status do you have to attend the birthday banquet and consider it a big gift? You even say you brought a Thousand-year Ginseng, but it's not for my dad. I think you know my dad can tell if it's really a Thousand-year Ginseng or not. You're scared of being embarrassed, so you're saying this in advance, right?"
Gu Xiyan's third uncle, Gu Tiange, also couldn't help but speak, "Exactly, do you think by saying that you won't be humiliated? We can't even purchase a Thousand-year Ginseng, and you, a poor kid, could get your hands on one? Don't display your incompetence, it's laughable!"
Gu Xiyan's father, Gu Tianhe, also spoke with a stern voice, "Young man, that kind of character won't do. You're arrogant and condescending. As a son-in-law, you come to give a birthday gift, and you bring a daikon radish? Someone like you, I won't allow to be with my daughter!"
"Dad..." Gu Xiyan couldn't help but speak out.
"Shut up! You bring such a greenhorn to Grandpa's birthday banquet to make trouble; I will deal with you at home!" Gu Tianhe reprimanded coldly.
Gu Xiyan stopped talking, feeling dejected, with a disappointed and gloomy look in her eyes.
With all three sons of the Gu Family speaking up, their wives naturally joined in, scolding Mu Jinyu. After that, Gu Xiyan's cousins also stood up one by one, taking the opposite side to Mu Jinyu, castigating him with cold rebukes.
"Qiu Huai was just momentarily blinded and bought a fake, but his filial piety towards Grandpa is known to heaven and earth, clear as day and night. What about you? You brought a radish to fool people, inferior even to Qiu Huai!"
"That's right, someone stingy and arrogant like you, who even called our Grandpa an old dog, you dream of being with our cousin, don't even think about it!"
"You, get out of here right now! Don't come to our birthday banquet; you're spoiling our sight, get lost! We don't welcome you!!"
"..."
Suddenly, Mu Jinyu found himself the target of everyone's scorn, unwanted by all the Gu Family members, except for Gu Xiyan!
Mu Jinyu, amidst their anger and embarrassment, was not so out of control as to start fighting.
He just found them laughable. They hadn't even seen the Ginseng in his hand yet, and because of Zhang Qiuhuai's words, they immediately concluded that the Thousand-year Ginseng he was holding was a big daikon radish. How biased could they be?!
What a ridiculous bunch.
Mu Jinyu let out a cold laugh and said, "Believe it or not, you think I'm actually eager to attend your birthday banquet? Once I've eaten my Ginseng, I'll leave!"
Having said that, Mu Jinyu then took out the Thousand-year Ginseng from the wooden box in his hand.
Gu Zhengxin saw the Ginseng that Mu Jinyu took out, and couldn't help but twitch slightly at the corners of his eyes.
From its appearance, he felt that it did indeed look like Ginseng. But whether it was of the Thousand-year level, he was not quite sure.
"Crunch, crunch..."
While Gu Zhengxin was contemplating, Mu Jinyu was already munching on it directly.
Zhang Qiuhuai, seeing this, scoffed, "Failing to fool everyone, feeling angry and embarrassed, you want to destroy the evidence? Are you trying to remove all traces of your lie?"
"Hahaha..."
The crowd burst into laughter.
They felt that at this moment, Mu Jinyu was like a beaten dog, no longer possessing the prestige he had when he angrily smashed the Famille Rose Porcelain and successfully exposed the fake. Instead, after destroying the evidence, he was about to slink out of their sight in shame.
Just then.
The news on the television in the banquet hall changed, starting to broadcast another piece of news:
"This morning, a Ginseng hunter named Chen someone on Changbai Mountain dug up an extremely rare Thousand-year Ginseng, which was finally bought by someone for a sky-high price of five hundred million..."
As the audience heard the announcer's voice, a stir went through their hearts, and they couldn't help but turn their heads to look towards the television at the side.