Chapter 16 

After more than half an hour later, almost everyone had presented their gifts to the old lady. Although not all gifts were expensive, they were far from cheap either, since most did not cost less than 200,000 bucks.

It was worth mentioning that Elsa’s gift was also very noteworthy.

They were a pair of jadeite bracelets, of which the quality could be described as flawless. Its beauty was beyond words.

After seeing it, Grandmother Lyndon loved it so much and praised Elsa repeatedly. After receiving the jadeite bracelets, Grandmother Lyndon said to everyone, "By the way, Elsa is the eldest among our Lyndon family’s younger generation and is very caring. She doesn't have a boyfriend at the moment, so if any of you want to propose marriage, please be my guest. Of course, those who want to do so can’t be stubborn and obstreperous. After all, if you want to be her husband, you must be husband material."

Elsa's complexion turned red from blushing at the old lady’s words. Many of the guests who were present there felt tempted already.

Elsa was beautiful and occupied a high status in the Lyndon family. She was virtually on the goddess level.

At that moment, Elsa was seated beside Darryl because the seats for the birthday banquet were all arranged according to hierarchy. One could consider Darryl a lucky man to be sandwiched between two gorgeous ladies, with Lily sitting on his right and Elsa on his left.

Darryl had nodded to himself when she took out and gifted the bracelet earlier.

"This bracelet is interesting," Darryl seemed to be muttering to himself, "Ice Green Lao Hang Imperial Jade. Good stuff."

Ice Green Lao Hang Imperial Jade was the name of a rare and exquisite jadeite. It was naturally made of the finest quality, highly translucent, highly smoothed in texture, delicate to the touch, and strikingly attractive. The bracelets were estimated to cost no less than 400,000 bucks.

Elsa was seated when she heard Darryl’s mutter. Her eyebrows furrowed and she could not help but turn to look at him.

She and Darryl were people of two worlds, as she was an exalted goddess while he was a poor live-in son-in-law. She realized she had never spoken to him before since he 'married' into the Lyndon family.

At that point, however, Elsa could not resist asking in curiosity, "You know that it’s an Ice Green Lao Hang Imperial Jade?”

Elsa was very surprised. No one in the Lyndon family except Darryl had recognized the jadeite bracelets and its origins.

He nodded and asked, "How much did you spend on the bracelets?"

"Six hundred thousand," Elsa replied.

Darryl shook his head. "It’s overpriced. It’s at most valued at just over 400,000 bucks."

"Why?"

Elsa's curiosity was piqued. The bracelets had been sold to her by a close friend who claimed to have not made any profit from the sale.

Darryl explained in a low voice, "There are several factors to consider when evaluating a piece of imperial jade: purity, color, texture, and uniformity. Your bracelet is satisfactory in the first three criteria, but the problem lies in its uniformity. The color distribution is not even, and the market price is about four hundred and fifty thousand. If you bought it from an acquaintance, then it should sell for four hundred thousand at most. If it exceeds that price, then the person has made a profit from you."

Elsa stared at Darryl without blinking!

Even an expert would not dare to make such conclusive statements!

Darryl was nothing but a loser in everyone’s eyes, yet he still knew such things?

"Granny Lyndon, here’s my gift!" A young man in his early twenties stepped forward.

The young man was the eldest grandson of the White family, named Zachary White.

When he opened his gift box, most of the guests were stunned seeing what was inside.

It was a check!

1,314,520!

Although that number played on the Chinese homonym of ‘I’ll love you for the rest of my life’ [1], his gift was a little unconventional, especially when it was a sum of more than one million!

"Granny, I’d like to propose to Elsa today. I’ve admired her for a very long time," Zachary said clearly.

Gasp! Everyone's attention converged on Elsa in an instant!

At that moment, she was in the midst of a discussion with Darryl about the jadeite, and the two of them were seated close to each other.

Zachary could not hold himself. He had proposed marriage to Elsa but she was chatting away with Darryl in full swing! So be it if she chatted with someone else, but Darryl was a well-known loser!

"Stay away from Elsa!" An infuriated Zachary pointed to Darryl and bellowed.

Darryl responded with a faint smile. Before he could speak, Elsa stood up. "Granny, I’ll have to give this marriage proposal some thought."

Far too many people were present there and Elsa could not just reject Zachary outright. He may have a shrewd mind and excelled at doing business, but he was narrow-minded and was not her type.

The old woman understood her at once and said with a smile, "Our two families can discuss your proposal when the banquet is over."

Zachary glared at Darryl with reddened eyes.

It was love at first sight when Zachary first saw Elsa.

She was the aloof kind of woman who was hardly seen conversing with someone of the opposite gender. It was inevitable that Zachary would get angry at the sight of her chatting away happily with Darryl.

"Granny, Ashton is here!" Someone said.

Everyone looked toward the door!

Dressed in a suit with his hair slicked back, Ashton seemed to be brimming with energy. He held a long box in his hand and walked over quickly.

"Ashton," the old lady greeted with a smile.

Rumors had it that Ashton had prepared an amazing gift and wanted to propose to Lily.

Everyone stared at his box without blinking, their curiosity having been aroused some time ago. It was said that his gift would appeal greatly to Grandmother Lyndon, so the question was, what gift could give him such confidence?

Ashton bowed slightly. He looked glamorous and suave, but the truth of the matter, which only he was privy to, was that he had reached the end of his road. The Darby clan had stripped him of his livelihood and chased him out of the company.

He had used up whatever remaining funds to buy a good suit and attend the birthday banquet. He could only succeed today!

"Granny, I have something to say and I’d like to be straightforward about it," Ashton slowly began. "I fell in love with Lily at first sight, but she married a loser! Even after three years of marriage, Donghai City continues to treat this marriage as a joke! She’s already endured enough and I can’t bear to see her suffer anymore! No matter what happens today, I’d have to express my thoughts."

Ashton took a deep breath. "I want to marry Lily!"

Whoa!

The crowd burst into a heated discussion as soon as he said that!

Was it not a bit too direct, though? He did not even show the slightest bit of respect toward Darryl!

Then again, why was there even a need to respect a piece of trash like Darryl? It was not like anyone was afraid to offend him.

"In the past few years, the only person I’ve been thinking about was Lilybud," Ashton continued. "I’m willing to give up everything for her. For so many years, I’ve only managed to amass thirty million worth in assets with my effort, but because of my love for Lilybud, I sold my company and bought her The Worship of Crystal!"

What?!

Shocked, everyone turned to look at Lily's feet.

A pair of noble and elegant high heels became the crowd’s focus! The perfectly streamlined and regal quality of those heels dazzled everyone! Its beauty was unparalleled and it was a perfect match for a beautiful woman!

"This is The Worship of Crystal that is worth thirty million. How amazing..."

"Yeah, there are only ninety-nine pairs in the world. You can’t buy it even if you have the money. You must have connections."

"I’m so jealous! If I have these heels, I might even wear them to sleep... "

The women began chattering away about The Worship of Crystal. Any woman who claimed not to be envious of it was a big fat liar!

For a moment, the women around Ashton were all staring at him starry-eyed.

Samantha and Wentworth nodded repeatedly. They had a pleased expression as they looked at Ashton.

Darryl frowned instantly. Was there something wrong with that damn Ashton? How shameless and thick-faced was he to claim that he was the one who bought those shoes. Has he gone mad?

At that point, Ashton bowed yet again. "Since today is your birthday, Granny, it’s only right that I pay tribute to you after proposing marriage. Here’s my gift!"

Ashton opened the box as he made that statement!

Wow!

In a flash, everyone went up gasping in exclamations!

"This... This is... "

Everyone was stupefied! Even the old lady stood up unconsciously and walked over to Ashton!

There was a scroll inside the box!

Ashton unfurled it and said proudly, "This scroll is from Wang Xizhi's Ping’an Tie. I bought it at a high price after having to beg a friend. I know that Granny likes antiques, so this scroll is a sign of my utmost respect."

What?!

Darryl immediately stood up from his chair too.

Wang Xizhi’s Ping’an Tie?

The gift from Samson and the gang was the exact same Ping’an Tie, right?

It stood to reason that Samson, Wayne, and the others, would never dare to give him a fake! Therefore, if the genuine article was in his possession, then that one...

"This... This... I'm not hallucinating, am I?" The White family patriarch, Claude White, walked over with his mouth agape!

As the White family’s patriarch, Claude could be described as a knowledgeable person, though his heart was beating wildly at that point! It was a calligraphic piece by Wang Xizhi, the Sage of Calligraphy! An opus of that sort could not possibly be worth less than 20 million!

Translator’s note:

[1] A Chinese romantic cliché, 1,314,510 (一三一四五二零) – sounds like 一生一世我爱你, which can be interpreted as ‘I’ll love you for the rest of my life’.