Chapter Nine: Buying Words!

"I'm sorry, I really have an appointment with a client and don't have the time," Xu Qingran shook her head.

Jiang Yichen's expression soured slightly. He had assumed Xu Qingran's earlier excuse to Xiao Chen was just that—an excuse. He hadn't expected her to turn him down as well. However, the shadow on his face vanished as quickly as it had appeared, replaced by a gentlemanly smile. "No problem, business comes first. Since I'm already here, why don't I give you a ride?"

Xu Qingran hesitated, then shook her head again. "No need. I'll drive myself." With that, she walked straight to her car and drove off.

Once Xu Qingran had left, Jiang Yichen's face darkened completely. "Damn it, how dare she turn me down." His eyes flashed with a feverish light. "Just wait. One day, I'll have you in my hands. Let's see how long you can keep up this act of innocence in front of me." As if picturing something that excited him, a wicked smile curled his lips as he slid back into his sports car.

Then, as if recalling something, he muttered, "Right, just now, Qingran asked that useless Xiao Chen to go buy a birthday gift for the old lady of the Xu family..."

He pondered, some malicious scheme brewing in his heart.

"Qingran wasn't lying to me after all." Not far away, Xiao Chen, having overheard the exchange between Xu Qingran and Jiang Yichen, breathed a great sigh of relief. Joy and a sense of unprecedented satisfaction filled his heart.

Only then did he remember the task Xu Qingran had entrusted to him.

The so-called family gathering was just a meal with several branches of the Xu family. Everyone from each branch had to attend.

To be honest, Xiao Chen didn't care much for such occasions. There were always people who liked to flaunt themselves in front of him, and others who would take any opportunity to criticize Xu Qingran in front of the old lady.

There was little to prepare for the family gathering itself, but Xiao Chen did need to buy a decent set of clothes. During these gatherings, the men of each branch were expected to represent their lineage and deliver annual reports or the like.

Though Xiao Chen was merely a live-in son-in-law, he was still considered one of the men of the family and would be expected to speak.

In the past, Xu Qingran would write his speech for him, and he would simply read it aloud.

The truly important occasion, however, was the old lady's eightieth birthday, held after the family gathering.

It was said the old lady attached great importance to this celebration. To curry her favor, everyone in the Xu family had begun preparations for birthday gifts well in advance. The ten thousand yuan Xu Qingran had given Xiao Chen was primarily for purchasing a suitable present.

She knew she couldn't compete with people like Xu Chengyang—after all, though she managed a company, she didn't have much money of her own and dared not touch company funds. If discovered, people like Xu Zhongshan and Xu Chengyang would surely seize on the opportunity to make trouble.

So Xu Qingran merely hoped to avoid blame, if not win praise. A gift worth several thousand might not please the old lady, but at least it wouldn't provoke her anger.

Although Xiao Chen felt little affection for the old matriarch, since Xu Qingran had asked him to handle this, he would do his best. He didn't want to see Xu Qingran upset over such matters.

"I've heard the old lady is fond of calligraphy and paintings. I'll go buy one, then," Xiao Chen muttered to himself, catching a bus to the antiques market.

Meanwhile, Jiang Yichen quietly trailed him in his car. When he saw Xiao Chen enter the antiques street, he sneered and followed as well.

With Xiao Chen's sharp perception, he had long since noticed Jiang Yichen following him, but he paid it no mind. Jiang Yichen might see him as a good-for-nothing, but in Xiao Chen's eyes, Jiang Yichen was nothing more than an ant—hardly worth a second thought.

Though it was called an antiques street, most of the wares here were fakes. Anyone who came here to buy antiques was basically just throwing money away.

Of course, there were genuine pieces as well, but those required a discerning eye. Some people, blessed with both luck and sharp judgment, might even stumble upon a treasure.

But for someone like Xiao Chen, such things were child's play. The rare relics he'd handled in his life probably outnumbered the entire collection of the Linzhou Museum. When it came to appraising antiques, not just in Linzhou, but across all of Jiangnan, even the whole country—if Xiao Chen claimed second place, no one would dare claim first.

One glance and he could determine the authenticity and even the era of a piece—something even experts with decades of experience struggled to achieve.

He visited several antique shops, but found nothing resembling a decent painting or calligraphy scroll. Most were outright fakes; the few genuine articles were of poor quality and outrageously overpriced—far beyond the ten thousand yuan budget Xu Qingran had given him.

After a while, he entered yet another antique shop.

"Well, if it isn't Xiao Chen. I heard you married into the Xu family as a live-in son-in-law—the most pathetic sort, too. What are you doing in an antiques shop?" Before Xiao Chen had even stepped inside, a young man in glasses and a crisp suit spotted him and sneered.

It was Li Xiang, Xiao Chen's high school classmate. Back in school, Li Xiang, coming from a well-off family, had always thought himself superior, targeting poor students like Xiao Chen at every opportunity.

Years had passed since they'd last met, and neither expected to run into the other here.

Li Xiang then turned to the shop owner, a balding old man, and said, "Tell me, Old Sun, he's not one of your janitors, is he?"

Old Sun quickly waved his hands. "Young Master Li, you must be joking. My little shop is tiny—barely big enough for one person, let alone any staff."

He had no intention of mocking Xiao Chen along with Li Xiang. After all, to him, every customer was a god of fortune.

"What I do here is none of your business," Xiao Chen replied coolly, not bothering to engage Li Xiang, and walked further into the shop.

He scanned the room, and soon his gaze landed on a calligraphy scroll not far away. In an instant, a glint flashed in his eyes, though he kept a calm demeanor. "Bring me that scroll. I'd like to take a look," he said.

Old Sun hurried over and presented the scroll to Xiao Chen with a flattering smile. "Excellent eye, sir. This is an authentic piece by Yan Zhenqing himself—truly a treasure worth every penny."

Xiao Chen smiled faintly, taking the scroll to examine it closely.

Li Xiang, seeing Xiao Chen ignore him, scowled. Then, noticing the calligraphy scroll in Xiao Chen's hands, he couldn't help but snicker. "Ha! A country bumpkin like you, shopping for antiques?"

"Do you even know anything about calligraphy? Even if you're trying to act cultured, you need money for that. I heard you live off Xu Qingran's hundred or two a day—how could you possibly afford anything here?"