Bought for Eighteen Thousand

Hearing that the gift was prepared by the three of them together, a hint of surprise flashed across Chu Lintian's beautiful eyes. Her gaze swept back and forth between Lin Mo and Chu Miaomiao, finally landing on her niece with a bit of curiosity and scrutiny.

Before Chu Miaomiao could speak, Lin Mo beat her to it, generously spreading his hands in a posture that screamed he was broke.

"We had a clear division of labor. I, being penniless, purely contributed my technical skills. Miaomiao acted as the funding boss, and Xie Yuling was the soul designer."

He paused, shifting his tone as a touch of frivolous pride appeared on his face.

"Finally, I, the strongest sculptor in history, personally completed this peerless masterpiece."

With that, Lin Mo flipped his hand like a magician.

A seemingly ordinary box appeared in his grasp.

"Here! Sister Chu, open your ultimate grand prize!"

Chu Lintian was amused by his exaggerated manner. She reached out to take the box, giving him a playful glare.

"Alright, you, stop being so glib. Even if you guys only gave me a grain of rice, I'd still be happy."

"That won't do," Lin Mo immediately replied. "When a woman says something like that, generally not a single word can be trusted."

The atmosphere suddenly quieted down, because other than Lin Mo, the room was full of women.

Lin Mo immediately coughed lightly:

"But don't worry, it definitely won't be a grain of rice, because it might be a carved eggshell."

The smile at the corners of Chu Lintian's mouth deepened. Her fingertips traced the simple wooden box, her tone carrying genuine warmth.

"Even if it's a carved eggshell, it will definitely be the best-looking one in the world."

Saying so, she gently lifted the lid of the box.

The moment the box was opened, a lustrous green light suddenly rose, casting a faint emerald hue upon her fair cheeks.

That's right, it was a light.

Because Lin Mo had added a light inside!

At some point, Lin Mo had pulled out his phone and casually turned on the flashlight, aiming a beam of light precisely into the box.

"This way, the luster looks even better."

Under the light, that touch of green seemed to come alive, so rich it looked as if water might drip from it.

Chu Lintian's breath hitched for a moment.

She looked at the jade bracelet resting quietly on the velvet lining and carefully picked it up.

The bracelet felt warm and smooth to the touch, its texture fine and translucent. That shade of Imperial Green was deep, vibrant, pure, and even, swirling with a soul-stirring brilliance under the light.

It bore flowing cloud-like patterns, yet felt soft and rounded in her hand.

The inner wall was even engraved with the characters Lin Tian.

She stared at it for a long time before finding her voice, a hint of a tremble in her tone.

"How... how did you guys manage to get Imperial Green?!"

The next second, Chu Lintian realized it herself.

With Lin Mo's abilities, getting his hands on Imperial Green jade didn't seem like a difficult task at all.

Beside them, Jiang Yunlu, who came from an extraordinary background and had seen many precious things since childhood, recognized it at a glance and immediately gasped.

"I've seen my aunt with a piece of jewelry like this, but Imperial Green jade... isn't it extremely expensive?"

Lin Mo shook his head with a breezy expression.

"Not expensive, just eighteen thousand."

Even Zheng Yuan couldn't help but lean closer. Looking at the jade bracelet in the box, she clicked her tongue in amazement.

"How could you possibly buy this for eighteen thousand? With this transparency and color, adding two zeros to the end wouldn't even be enough!"

Jiang Yunlu didn't believe it either; she knew luxury prices like the back of her hand.

"Lin Mo, stop joking. For an Imperial Green bracelet of this quality, one point eight million would just be the starting bid, and even then, it's priceless and rarely available on the market."

She was very clear about the value of Imperial Green jade.

Lin Mo shrugged, tossing out the excuse he had prepared long ago.

"If we actually went to buy it, one point eight million definitely wouldn't be enough. But this one... we got it from stone gambling."

In a few words, he described their adventure to the stone gambling city, how they casually picked a few pieces of unwanted scrap, and as a result of a single cut, revealed this top-grade Imperial Green.

"I originally just planned to buy a random piece of jade so I could carve a little trinket by hand. Who knew Miaomiao would have such good luck? She pointed her finger and landed right on a treasure."

Lin Mo didn't forget to share the credit with Chu Miaomiao.

Hearing this, Zheng Yuan and Jiang Yunlu looked at each other in dismay. Although they felt this matter was bizarre to the extreme, the truth was right in front of their eyes.

Other than explaining it with good luck, there didn't seem to be any other possibility.

However, among those present, it was actually only Zheng Yuan who was truly shocked by the value of this Imperial Green.

After all, she really hadn't come into contact with such expensive jewelry before.

Amidst the gasps of admiration, only Chu Lintian held the warm jade bracelet while her gaze bypassed the crowd, landing quietly on Lin Mo's face.

Stone gambling? Luck?

Her heart was as clear as a mirror; this was nothing but an excuse he used to conceal his true abilities.

Xie Yuling simply watched quietly as Lin Mo spun his tales of good luck.

At this moment, Lin Mo also added a word of advice.

"Sister Chu, this is a token of our heartfelt feelings. Don't just go home and shelve this jade bracelet, or our hearts will be broken."

Chu Lintian clearly understood the underlying meaning in Lin Mo's words.

She immediately slipped the jade bracelet onto her wrist.

"How could I? This is my new favorite. Thank you, Lin Mo, thank you, Yuling, and thank you, my darling."

Saying so, Chu Lintian pulled Chu Miaomiao into a tight hug.

A glimmer of tears flashed in the corners of her eyes.

Lin Mo smiled, "I'm hungry, I'll go tell them to get the food ready."

With that, Lin Mo opened the door and left the private room. The dedicated waiter at the door immediately stood up upon seeing the door open.

"How may I help you?"

Lin Mo said calmly, "Everyone is here, you can start serving the dishes."

"Understood, I'll go inform the kitchen right away."

That waiter immediately picked up the walkie-talkie, acting very professionally.

Lin Mo also turned around and returned to the private room, but not before his divine sense swept downstairs.

The guests for the third table had also arrived, except they were dining on the first floor.

It was a large family gathering.

Lin Mo's divine sense then landed on the two people in a private room on the second floor.

Originally, Lin Mo thought these two people had some sort of secret, but after the middle-aged man named Billy sat down, he pulled a few books out from his jacket.

"Returning to the country this time, I brought a lot of books back. The food over there in Britain really isn't fit for human consumption."

Billy complained while relaxing.

Meanwhile, Lao Lu held those books in his hands, carefully flipping through them.

"Outrageous! This is too outrageous! These foreign devils! They don't properly preserve these ancient texts at all. Look at these few, the moth damage is so severe."

Billy waved his hand, "Don't worry, after I got my hands on them, I already treated them quite a bit. I've properly preserved the ones where the binding threads came undone. I'll rest for a few months back here, and then I'll head back again."

Lao Lu gently patted Billy's shoulder.

"Thank you for your hard work. No matter what, you must pay attention to your safety."

"Rest assured, those foreign devils don't care about me at all. I'll just bring our treasures back bit by bit."