Chapter 15: Gift

"Then thank you." Chen Yu nodded.

"The dishes will be here shortly. I won't disturb you further, Mr. Chen. If you need anything, please call me at any time." Manager Zhang bowed respectfully and retreated.

After Manager Zhang walked out, the expressions of everyone in the Ye Family turned somewhat ugly.

Especially Fang Chen; he looked as if he had been slapped in the face. No one knew what was going on. They were crazy—the manager here was crazy, and this world was crazy too.

A bill of over fifty thousand, waived just like that, and the manager here even served a piece of social trash with the highest specifications while ignoring the crowd of people here. Was he blind?

The dishes were served quickly, but apart from Chen Yu and his wife, everyone else found the food tasteless. They felt stifled inside; such a high-end hotel ignored them, yet they held a loser like Chen Yu in such high regard, which made them feel very uncomfortable.

"Dad, today is your birthday, so I prepared a gift for you. This is a desk pen holder ornament that Xiao Lu and I specially prepared for you. The pen holder is carved from yellow pear wood, and the ornament on top is polished from Burmese Jade. I wish you good health and steady promotion."

After eating only a few bites, Ye Chenguang took out the gift he had prepared. This gift was a study ornament, extremely exquisite, especially the jade on top, which was polished as smooth as a mirror.

"Good, good. It's rare for you to have such a heart." Although the item wasn't worth much, Ye Taihe liked it very much because it was a gift from his son.

"Dad, my Fang Chen also prepared a gift for you. I guarantee you'll like it too." Ye Qian, of course, refused to be outdone.

"Uncle, you like calligraphy, so I specially prepared a gift for you today. I guarantee you'll like it." Fang Chen put down his chopsticks and presented a gift box thirty centimeters long.

"What is this?" Ye Taihe was somewhat puzzled.

"Anything Xiao Chen sends must be a good thing. Open it quickly and let me broaden my horizons too," Ye Li said, stretching her neck.

"That's right, that's right. Anything my cousin-in-law sends must be worth a fortune," Liu Juan chimed in.

"Let me see." Ye Taihe opened the beautifully packaged gift box, and a brown brush appeared in his hand.

"This, this is..." Ye Taihe's eyes lit up. He liked calligraphy, and the brush in his hand had a sense of age; it seemed to be an antique. He kept stroking the brush in his hand, unable to make a judgment for a moment.

"So it's just a brush." The crowd, who had stretched their necks, felt a little disappointed. Fang Chen had a net worth of tens of millions; giving just a brush for his future father-in-law's birthday was too stingy.

"Cousin-in-law, did you just send a brush?" Liu Juan said with a hidden meaning: "This isn't your style."

"Haha, this is no ordinary brush. This brush is a Ming Dynasty Wanli bamboo-carved flower-and-bird pattern brush. It has a history of over six hundred years and was used by the Ming Dynasty calligrapher Zhu Yunming. It has been preserved to this day. I spent a lot of effort to win it at auction," Fang Chen laughed heartily.

"Ah, a Ming Dynasty item. It must be very expensive," Zhou Lu said in surprise.

"That goes without saying. Fang Chen bought it at auction for six hundred thousand. How could my Fang Chen be stingy with his spending?" Ye Qian said proudly.

"Six hundred thousand." Ye Taihe's heart trembled, and his movements immediately became cautious.

"My god, six hundred thousand. Qianqian, your Fang Chen is truly generous."

"Haha, the Ye Family really found a good son-in-law—handsome, wealthy, and generous."

"Hmph, unlike some people who came empty-handed. They really have the nerve," Ye Li said, not forgetting to glance at Chen Yu. It was clear who she was targeting.

Ye Xinyu kept her head down, not knowing what to do. Chen Yu had prepared a gift, but no matter how good a gift he prepared, it couldn't compare to Fang Chen's six-hundred-thousand-dollar brush. Both were sons-in-law, but the gap was simply too large.

"Chen Yu, you didn't come empty-handed today, did you?" Ye Qian asked, getting carried away.

"We didn't come empty-handed," Ye Xinyu said quickly.

"Not empty-handed? Then take the gift out. Giggles, you wouldn't have just bought something random from a street stall to pass off as a gift, would you?"

Ye Qian sneered: "But then again, Chen Yu only knows how to gamble and drink. He doesn't even have a proper job and has to rely on you, Second Sister, to support him. How could he have the money to buy a decent gift?"

"Chen Yu, don't take out your gift and embarrass yourself. Look at Fang Chen; he spends six hundred thousand at once. As for you, what face do you have to stay here?" Ye Chenguang sneered.

"This brush of yours is six hundred thousand?" Chen Yu smiled.

"That's right, it's six hundred thousand. I bought it from an auction house. It's worth more than the price," Fang Chen said proudly.

"Ming Dynasty Hu brushes were already mainstream. There were new developments in the materials and craftsmanship of the brush hair and the brush handle," Chen Yu said.

"What do you mean?" Fang Chen was stunned.

"Let me finish," Chen Yu waved his hand and continued: "Besides using traditional goat hair, wolf hair, and purple hair, there were also brushes made from mink hair, chicken hair, tiger hair, orangutan hair, and fetal hair."

"The brush handles were made of simple bamboo, as well as precious sandalwood, pear wood, and precious materials like gold, silver, jade, porcelain, ivory, and tortoiseshell. The ancients followed the 'Three Righteousnesses' and 'Four Virtues.' The 'Three Righteousnesses' refer to refined, pure, and beautiful, and the 'Four Virtues' are pointed, rounded, neat, and resilient."

"What exactly are you trying to say?" Fang Chen said angrily.

"What I want to say is that although your brush looks similar in shape, the industrial atmosphere is too heavy. It's a mass-produced item. No matter how well it's imitated, it lacks the form, spirit, and essence. A brush like this costs ten yuan, yet you spent six hundred thousand to buy it. Haha..."

"What did you say? Are you saying I bought a fake?" Fang Chen's face changed.

"What nonsense are you spouting? Chen Yu, you can't bring out a good gift yourself, so you have to say someone else's item is fake?" Ye Qian was furious: "If you have the ability, bring out the evidence."

"Evidence? Look at the brush handle. What words are written there? Read them out loud," Chen Yu sneered.

"The brush handle? There are words on the brush handle?" Ye Taihe took the brush handle and looked. His expression changed slightly; there were indeed words on it, and they read: "Manufactured by Shao Chen Sixth Factory."

"Dad, are there words? Is Chen Yu spouting nonsense?" Ye Qian asked.

"There are no words. He is just spouting nonsense," Ye Taihe snorted coldly and put away the brush: "I like this brush very much. Xiao Chen, you have a heart."

Just as Chen Yu said, the brush was fake, but he couldn't embarrass Fang Chen in public.

"Uncle, it is only right to show you filial piety." Fang Chen breathed a sigh of relief. If it really were fake, it would have been embarrassing.

"Chen Yu, if you can't bring out a gift, don't fart. If you spout any more nonsense, I'll kick you out," Ye Qian also breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, it wasn't fake. Chen Yu had spoken so convincingly just now that he had almost fooled her too.

"Husband, say less," Ye Xinyu pulled on Chen Yu.

"As you wish," Chen Yu smiled slightly and stopped talking.

"Chen Yu, what gift did you prepare? Take it out and let everyone see," Zhou Lu sneered: "You mock others for being fake, so take your own out."

"Heh, did he even prepare one? What else can a person like this do besides gamble?"

"He really has the nerve. His father-in-law is having a birthday, and he didn't even prepare a gift." The Ye Family relatives mocked him again.

"Dad, I specially bought this Tiger Tally for you. It's an item from the Spring and Autumn period and has quite a bit of collection value." Chen Yu opened the gift box and handed it over.

Because the Tiger Tally Chen Yu had scavenged was from a long time ago, it was slightly oxidized, and its greenish color looked somewhat worn. As soon as the Ye Family relatives saw this thing, they burst into laughter with a roar.