"Little Shen, I apologize for making a spectacle of myself just now."
After the explanation, Chu Yingqiu looked at Shen Lang with embarrassment and said, "I couldn't help it. You resemble an old friend of mine so much that I got overly emotional. I'm sorry."
After sitting down, Chu Yingqiu apologized to Shen Lang again.
"Auntie, please don't dwell on such a minor matter. It's the smallest of small things."
Facing Chu Yingqiu's apology, Shen Lang smiled and said.
"Alright, then I won't apologize anymore."
Chu Yingqiu, like Song Qingyi, was a refined lady from a prominent family, well-educated and cultured. She smiled at Shen Lang and said, "You and Shishi are boyfriend and girlfriend, right? Good, the young man is spirited, and I like him. I don't object to your relationship in the future."
"Auntie, actually, we..."
Seeing that both Ye Rudao and Chu Yingqiu mistook him for Ye Shishi's boyfriend, Shen Lang was about to explain, but before he could finish, Ye Shishi's hand fiercely pinched his back. Shen Lang's face twitched in pain.
"Auntie, please don't worry. I will take good care of Shishi and will never let her be wronged."
Shen Lang knew this was Ye Shishi's warning. He immediately swallowed the words he was about to say and then, against his conscience, uttered a sentence.
"Haha, good, that's good."
Chu Yingqiu was very pleased with Shen Lang's attitude and said with a smile, "Shishi has been spoiled by your Uncle Ye and me since she was a child, so she can be a bit arrogant and doesn't always think things through. You'll have to be more understanding. I'm sorry to put you through this."
"Mom, don't say that about me. I come from a scholarly family, how could I be such a barbaric woman?"
Ye Shishi heard this and unhappily said to her mother.
As she spoke, Ye Shishi began to boast to her mother, "Mom, don't just look at Shen Lang's tall build and think he's simple-minded and strong. I'm telling you, this guy is the smartest person in the world, bar none."
Saying this, Ye Shishi pointed to the antique collection shelf and said, "See all the dazzling treasures on the shelf? Shen Lang took one look and recognized them all as fakes."
"What?"
Upon hearing Ye Shishi's words, Chu Yingqiu looked shocked and said, "How can they be fakes? Your father and I meticulously selected them one by one. We spent over ten million yuan!"
"My dear, they are indeed fakes. Although Shen Lang only pointed out one of them, I know that Shen Lang's standards are absolutely top-notch. His judgment won't be wrong."
"However..."
At this point, Ye Rudao's tone clearly paused, and he said to Chu Yingqiu, "Although those twenty-nine collectibles are all fakes, Shen Lang instantly recognized that our family's ancestral black jade Ruyi is the rare treasure, the Blood Ruyi."
Saying this, Ye Rudao handed the lustrous Blood Ruyi to Chu Yingqiu and said, "This is the true appearance hidden beneath that black jade Ruyi, a treasured item of Empress Wu Zetian during her lifetime."
"What?"
When Chu Yingqiu took the Blood Ruyi, she was shocked. "I've heard people say that blood stone is priceless. Such a large Blood Ruyi, and it belonged to Wu Zetian? How much is it worth?"
"I don't know. It would fetch billions at any auction, I suppose."
Ye Rudao smiled and said.
"However, our family is not short of money. This Blood Ruyi cannot be sold. Let it be passed down from generation to generation. After all, this is a rare treasure left to us by our ancestors. We cannot lose it on my watch."
For a scholarly family like Ye Rudao's, inheritance was paramount, not just in culture but also in ancestral artifacts, ensuring civilization continued.
Throughout history, despite wars, culture had never been broken, precisely because of people like them.
"Yes, we absolutely cannot sell it. We must pass it down from generation to generation. Selling it would make us unfilial descendants."
Chu Yingqiu agreed with Ye Rudao's words one hundred percent and said, "Old Ye, find a box to store it. Don't take it out to show others easily in the future. You know, an innocent person is guilty when possessing a treasure. Many disasters in this world stem from showing off."
"Don't worry, I understand this principle better than anyone. After all, I've been tricked once."
Ye Rudao solemnly promised, like a victim.
"Dad, how were you tricked?"
Ye Shishi asked with curiosity upon hearing this.
"It's nothing, really. It's all in the past. But there's no harm in telling you."
Ye Rudao began, "When I was young, I met Qin Yanluo in Longdu, known as the Ghost Doctor. We hit it off immediately and quickly became close friends. So, one night when we were drunk, I took out a Nine Dragon Pendant, worth seven million yuan, to show him."
"As a result, that day, I rode my bicycle home after drinking. Halfway there, someone hit me on the back with a club, knocked me unconscious, and then stole the Nine Dragon Pendant I had on me."
"Back then, I was riding a dilapidated 'Er Ba Da Gang Gan' bicycle and wearing clothes worth next to nothing. Logically, no one would rob me. Yet, the attacker did, and precisely stole the Nine Dragon Pendant I had hidden."
"Afterwards, when I questioned Qin Yanluo, he adamantly denied everything. In anger, I severed ties with him."
Ye Rudao was still very angry recalling the incident, saying, "This incident taught me two lessons. First, choose your friends wisely. Second, don't show off your treasures to others casually. Many disasters happen because of showing off."
"Qin Yanluo?"
Hearing the name, Shen Lang was inwardly shocked. "This old bastard was this wicked even when he was young?"
Shen Lang had dealt with Qin Yanluo and knew what kind of person he was – someone without a bottom line, as evident from his schemes against Zhao Min's family. Shen Lang never imagined that the young Qin Yanluo would be so unscrupulous.
Now it seemed, it wasn't that the old had become bad, but that the bad had grown old.
"This old fellow, I'll make him pay back everything he took, and more, sooner or later."
Upon hearing Ye Rudao's words, Ye Shishi said indignantly.
"Shishi, forget it. Consider it tuition, a lesson learned."
Ye Rudao smiled and said, "Qin Yanluo is known as the Ghost Doctor and is one of the top medical experts in Long Country. If we fall out with him, and one of us falls ill in the future, we'd have to beg for his help."
"Dad, we have Shen Lang. Why would we beg any Ghost Doctor?"
Ye Shishi pointed to Shen Lang and introduced him to Ye Rudao, "The gentleman before you has medical skills that can rank among the top three in the world."
"Really?"
Hearing Ye Shishi's words, Ye Rudao was surprised and said.
Shen Lang, upon hearing this, narrowed his eyes as he looked at Ye Rudao and said, "Uncle, you are sick, and you need treatment."