Chapter 29: Precious Items Appearing One After Another
Chapter 29: Precious Items Appearing One After Another
Lin Mu brought Luo Bingyun into the study. Old Master Lin, who had collected items all his life, naturally filled his study with a dazzling array of various treasures.
A nanny was carefully feeding Old Master Lin a bowl of cod porridge, spoonful by spoonful. The moment Lin Mu entered the room, a flash of light suddenly appeared in Old Master Lin’s cloudy eyes.
Slowly pushing the nanny’s spoon aside, Old Master Lin stared straight at Lin Mu.
“Alright, you can go now. I’ll talk with the old master,” Lin Mu said, glancing at the troubled nanny and waving his hand.
“Yes, Young Master Mu,” the nanny replied, standing up and leaving the study with the tableware.
“Old Master, it’s A-Mu. I came back to celebrate your big birthday,” Lin Mu said as he moved a chair and sat down next to the old master’s wheelchair.
Old Master Lin shakily grabbed Lin Mu’s hand. His rough, large hand kept stroking it back and forth, but his eyes wandered toward Luo Bingyun nearby.
“She is my friend. She came today to wish you a happy birthday too!” Lin Mu said with a slight smile, looking at Luo Bingyun who was observing the surroundings.
“Good, good,” Old Master Lin made a few unclear sounds in his throat. While stroking Lin Mu’s hands, his own hands moved almost imperceptibly, and a small object was slipped into Lin Mu’s palm.
Feeling the new item in his hand, a look of confusion flashed in Lin Mu’s eyes, but he saw that Old Master Lin still looked the same as always, appearing dazed and confused.
His thoughts churned, but before Lin Mu could figure anything out, the study door was pushed open by the nanny. “Young Master Mu, Miss Du Xiaoyue from the Du Family is here. She’s downstairs, saying she came to wish the old master a happy birthday.”
Lin Mu was slightly startled. “Du Xiaoyue?”
“Yes, she’s already here, right downstairs!” the nanny quickly added.
“Alright, take care of the old master. I’ll go down and see,” Lin Mu nodded. As he stood up, his right hand subtly touched his pocket, and the object in his palm quietly slipped inside.
Luo Bingyun also nodded with a smile and followed Lin Mu downstairs.
Du Xiaoyue had dressed up specially today. She wore a black silk gown with a one-shoulder design that perfectly showed off her lovely figure. With light makeup on her face, she looked very eye-catching.
But Lin Mu didn’t care about any of that. Looking at Du Xiaoyue standing among the crowd, he asked lightly, “What are you doing here?”
“It’s Old Master Lin’s eightieth birthday. My grandfather instructed me to definitely bring the Du Family’s birthday gift,” Du Xiaoyue replied equally calmly. “This Doucai plum vase from the Chenghua era is our Du Family’s gift.”
As soon as she finished speaking, two people stepped out from behind her, carefully holding a transparent glass box containing a very beautiful vase.
“Wow! It’s actually a Doucai vase from the Chenghua era!”
“This vase must be worth at least ten million, right?”
“At least that much! This is an extremely rare genuine piece!”
“Old Master Du is really generous!”
Such an extravagant birthday gift caused an immediate stir among the surrounding guests, all marveling at the Du Family’s lavishness. For people in the collecting world, money is never the most important thing; the collection items themselves are what hold the most value.
Genuine pieces from the Ming Dynasty Chenghua era like this were already very rare in the world. For Old Master Du to be willing to part with such a treasure showed great courage!
Seeing the reactions of the guests around them, even though Lin Mu didn’t know much about collecting, he understood that this vase had an astonishing origin and was extremely valuable.
“We appreciate the sentiment, but please take this Doucai plum vase back with you!” Lin Mu said indifferently, his gaze unwavering. “The gift is too precious. Our Lin Family doesn’t deserve to accept it.”
Du Xiaoyue’s eyes flashed. “As your nominal, not-yet-married granddaughter-in-law, surely the Lin Family shouldn’t feel undeserving of a small gift?”
Hearing this, the surrounding guests also nodded in agreement. Many had heard about the bet between the Lin and Du families. Given this position, giving a gift was naturally appropriate.
“Oh? Has Miss Du, like me, already died once?” Lin Mu smiled sarcastically. “Otherwise, why would you suddenly have such a change of heart and remember the marriage arrangement with the Lin Family?”
“The marriage arrangement was verbally agreed upon by the two family elders. Until it’s canceled, I am the Lin Family’s not-yet-married granddaughter-in-law,” Du Xiaoyue said expressionlessly, showing neither joy nor anger. “Visiting to wish a happy birthday is my duty as a junior.”
“Is that so? Then it must be my mistake,” Lin Mu nodded, looking playfully at Du Xiaoyue. “If I had gone to the Du Family earlier to cancel the engagement, Miss Du wouldn’t have needed to trouble herself to come today.”
This one sentence immediately set off another wave of discussion among the guests.
“What? The two families are canceling the engagement?”
“Whose idea is this?”
“It probably isn’t Old Master Lin’s idea. Isn’t Old Master Lin already suffering from dementia?”
Lin Rong saw the atmosphere turning tense and quickly stepped forward, walking to Lin Mu’s side. “A-Mu, what are you saying? What do you mean about canceling the engagement with the Du Family?”
“Nothing much. It’s just that Miss Du feels I’m not good enough for her. At school, she repeatedly pressured me to take the initiative to cancel the engagement,” Lin Mu said with a casual smile. “I suppose it might be because Old Master Du values face, so he’s embarrassed to bring it up? It’s fine, our Lin Family can be the one to say it. There’s no shame in that.”
“After all, a forced melon is not sweet.”
Seeing the atmosphere in the hall growing increasingly strange, Luo Bingyun smiled slightly and walked to Lin Mu’s side. She took out a small box from her pocket.
“Lin Mu, I came this time to wish the old master a happy birthday. I heard the old master likes collecting, so I specially chose this item for him. I hope he’ll like it.”
Without waiting for a reply, she stuffed the small box into Lin Mu’s hand and looked up with a giggle.
“What is this?” Lin Mu turned the small box over in his hands. The box was just the right size to fit in his palm, and he wondered what could possibly be inside.
“Open it and see, then you’ll know,” Luo Bingyun pouted slightly and pointed at the box.
Shaking his head helplessly with a smile, Lin Mu opened the box. A green glow immediately shone out, and under the hall’s lighting, the box revealed a jade thumb ring that emitted a gentle, flowing light all over.
Although he knew what this object was, Lin Mu had no idea about its background. He couldn’t help but look questioningly at Luo Bingyun.
“This is the thumb ring that Emperor Kangxi once wore on his hand. It was made from the highest quality jade using eight different carving techniques. It’s called Queyang.”
Naturally, Lin Mu knew about Emperor Kangxi. After all, he was now a top student in the History Department at Donghai University—how could he not recognize this once highly renowned great emperor of Earth?
This was the emperor who personally led the Qing Dynasty into its golden age, achieving countless great deeds throughout his life. Later generations made numerous films and TV shows about his achievements for people to admire.
A thumb ring once worn by Emperor Kangxi couldn’t be measured in terms of money anymore. It was simply a priceless treasure. Anyone who obtained it would never transfer it for mere currency.
“The thumb ring is indeed made of fine jade, but its claimed origin—who knows if that’s true or false,” Du Xiaoyue, not far away, looked at the thumb ring in Lin Mu’s hand and suddenly let out a light laugh.
Born into a collecting family and naturally intelligent, Du Xiaoyue was different from Lin Mu. She had learned extensive appraisal knowledge since childhood and was already quite well-known in collecting circles.
A light flashed in Lin Mu’s eyes, but before he could speak, Luo Bingyun beside him spoke up. Smiling slightly at Du Xiaoyue, she said, “This sister has good eyesight, recognizing the material’s authenticity at a glance.”
“The jade is real, so its origin must be real too. Our Luo Family has never dealt in fakes, and no one would dare to cheat our Luo Family. If I say this is Emperor Kangxi’s thumb ring, then it definitely is the thumb ring Emperor Kangxi wore during his lifetime.”
Although Luo Bingyun spoke with a smiling face, an invisible chill seemed to sweep through the hall. All the attending guests couldn’t help but shiver.
Even Lin Mu couldn’t help but glance at her sideways. Only now did he realize how little he truly understood about this Luo Bingyun.
Such presence wasn’t developed in just a day or two. Even though Lin Mu had lived his life traversing the Cultivation World, the number of people he’d met with this kind of presence could be counted on his fingers!
“If Sister Luo says so, then this thumb ring must certainly be genuine,” Du Xiaoyue adapted very quickly, immediately blooming into a smile on her face. “Then I must congratulate Old Master Lin for obtaining such a rare treasure in the world!”
Just based on this point alone, the previous Lin Mu really hadn’t been a match for Du Xiaoyue. The gap between them was too large. Compared to the dazzling Du Xiaoyue, Lin Mu was completely ordinary.
The only thing slightly worth mentioning about him was being from the Lin Family—benefiting from the Lin Family’s glory. Without the Lin Family, the previous Lin Mu could be said to be worthless.
When Luo Bingyun suddenly presented such an expensive gift, Lin Mu actually wanted to refuse at first. But Luo Bingyun subtly pinched his waist unnoticed, and the words that reached his lips were swallowed back down.
“Then I’ll thank you on behalf of the old master, Bingyun,” Lin Mu nodded, putting away the small box in his hand. Then he looked at Du Xiaoyue again.
“I’ll also accept the Du Family’s congratulatory gift on behalf of the old master. Another day, I’ll personally visit the Du Family to cancel the marriage arrangement between our two families. Miss Du won’t need to waste any more energy on the engagement in the future.”
“Fine. Since the birthday gift has been delivered, I won’t disturb any longer.”
Du Xiaoyue gave a slight nod, then turned and left the Lin Family villa. Shortly after, the Du Family’s car had disappeared from the Dinghu Villa area.
“A-Mu! How could you make such a decision so casually? This marriage was verbally agreed upon by the old master back then!” Lin Rong’s face was dark, clearly unhappy.