Chapter 59: Self-Indulgence in Decline

In the car, Song Wanting’s expression remained cold and detached.

For her, having a traitor in the family was already infuriating enough, but what was even more outrageous was that Uncle Qi actually tried to set her up in front of so many outsiders.

If she had fallen for today’s scheme, given him money, and then he had slipped away, discovering later that she had been deceived would not only ruin her reputation but also tarnish the entire Song family’s image!

Fortunately, Ye Chen was present, promptly pointing out the trickery and preventing her and her family from suffering losses.

Thus, she took a bank card from the glove compartment of the car and handed it to Ye Chen, saying, “Mr. Ye, this card has one million yuan in it. The password is six eights. It’s a small token of my appreciation; I hope you accept it.”

As she spoke, she couldn’t help but marvel at Ye Chen. He seemed to possess genuine talent and skills; she wondered why he chose to marry into a small family. If he ventured out to do antique appraisal on his own, he could accumulate quite a fortune in just a few years.

Ye Chen looked at the card in her hand, feeling a bit hesitant.

One million wasn’t a small amount, but to the Song family, it was merely a drop in the bucket.

Ye Chen originally thought little of this one million; after all, he had nearly ten billion yuan in his account, making this sum seem trivial.

What was the point of accepting it?

However, upon further reflection, he realized that he wasn’t a billionaire but rather a son-in-law of the Xiao family.

If a son-in-law showed disinterest in one million, it would surely raise suspicions in Song Wanting’s mind. So, he directly accepted the card, saying, “Thank you, Miss Song.”

Song Wanting smiled slightly, “You’re too polite, Mr. Ye.”

After that, she asked, “Where are you headed next, Mr. Ye?”

Ye Chen replied with a smile, “Take me to the market; I need to buy some groceries to cook dinner.”

Song Wanting was taken aback and couldn’t help but say, “I’ve heard about your situation, and to be honest, with your abilities, there’s no need for you to be burdened by the identity of a son-in-law. Why not come work as the chief appraiser at my Jiqingtang? I can offer you a base salary of one million a year. What do you think?”

Ye Chen waved his hand and chuckled, “I’m not good with my teeth; I’m used to living off others.”

Song Wanting was momentarily stunned, then sighed.

It seemed the rumors were indeed true; this Ye Chen was just a son-in-law living off others.

Previously, she thought he was merely useless, and it was understandable for a useless person to rely on others.

But now it seemed he wasn’t just useless; he had willingly chosen to be a useless person.

That was something she found hard to accept.

Consequently, her attitude toward Ye Chen began to shift slightly.

Ye Chen knew she would look down on him a bit, but that was actually best for him. If everyone misjudged him, he would be the one laughing in the end.

…

After passing the market, Ye Chen got out of the car and bid farewell to Song Wanting, then bought some groceries to take home.

As soon as he entered the house, he heard his father-in-law laughing heartily and calling out.

“Hahaha… Come, come, come! Quickly look at the treasure I found!”

Xiao Churan had also just finished work and was sitting on the sofa looking at documents. She couldn’t help but stand up and said to the beaming Xiao Changkun, “Dad, you almost scared me to death.”

“Quick, take a look at this.” Xiao Changkun, oblivious to Xiao Churan’s expression, excitedly held up a pair of palm-sized celadon cups, proudly presenting them, “These are the chicken gourd blue-and-white cups I found at the antique market. I heard they were dug out from the coffin of the old Emperor Qian, worth over five hundred thousand!”

“Over five hundred thousand?” Xiao Churan stood up in shock, exclaiming, “Dad, where did you get so much money?”

Ye Chen felt utterly helpless. He had just broken the jade vase in the morning, and while he was out, this old man had gone to the antique street again?

This was a classic case of forgetting the pain after the wound had healed.

Xiao Changkun laughed heartily, saying mysteriously, “I said these cups are worth five hundred thousand. Guess how much I bought them for?”

Xiao Churan hesitated for a moment and tentatively said, “Three hundred thousand?”

“Wrong! Guess again!” Xiao Changkun waved his hand.

“Twenty thousand?”

“Still wrong!”

Ye Chen glanced at the celadon cups and instantly recognized them as fakes, thinking to himself that they might not even be worth a hundred yuan.

At that moment, Xiao Changkun stopped teasing and laughed, “Hahaha, I bought them for three hundred yuan! Isn’t that impressive?”

Xiao Changkun laughed heartily, unable to contain his joy.

Xiao Churan’s eyes widened in disbelief, “No way, did you really only spend three hundred yuan on these cups?”

Her mother-in-law, Ma Lan, heard the commotion and came out of the kitchen, looking delighted, “Are these cups really that valuable? They can’t be fake, right?”

Xiao Changkun patted his chest, “Don’t worry, the seller didn’t understand the market. I had someone check for me, and they said these are genuine!”

“Is that so?” Ma Lan cautiously picked up a cup, examining it closely, smiling broadly.

Ye Chen stood by, merely smiling in agreement, his expression calm.

He had long seen that these two cups were replicas, but since his father-in-law was so happy, he chose not to burst his bubble.

Xiao Changkun was over the moon, looking like a cat that had stolen fish, and said excitedly, “These cups aren’t even a complete set yet. The owner said he’d bring the missing part tomorrow, and I’ll go take a look then! I’ll try to buy the whole set! If that happens, their value could multiply several times! If luck is on my side, I might even pay off that six hundred thousand debt!”

Ye Chen frowned and immediately intervened, “Dad, when it comes to collecting antiques, one must avoid greed. Buying these two cups is enough; besides…”

Xiao Changkun shot him a glare and scolded, “What else do you have to say? You’re lecturing me now?”

Ye Chen quickly replied, “No, no, as long as you like it, that’s fine.”

After saying that, he didn’t bother to meddle further.

After all, even if his father-in-law got scammed, it wasn’t his money.

Xiao Churan also said, “Dad, why do you want to buy so many? These two cups can’t be eaten or drunk from, and the price difference is so vast. Whether they’re real or fake still needs to be verified.”

She didn’t believe in free lunches; if one could buy a treasure worth five hundred thousand for three hundred yuan, wouldn’t everyone be rich?

Xiao Changkun was in high spirits and, seeing that the others were pouring cold water on his excitement, disdainfully said, “You don’t understand! This is an antique; it relies on a discerning eye to find the gems!”

As he spoke, he admired the celadon cups while telling Xiao Churan, “You don’t need to worry about this. There are several people trying to snatch them from me. I might not even be able to buy them tomorrow.”

Ma Lan quickly added, “If they’re really that valuable, you must find a way to buy them!”

Seeing the two elders busy admiring the chicken gourd cups, Xiao Churan quietly pulled Ye Chen aside.

“I don’t think this is very reliable; it feels like a scam. Dad will definitely go again tomorrow, so you should go with him to the antique street to prevent him from getting cheated.”

Ye Chen nodded. If Xiao Churan hadn’t said anything, he wouldn’t have bothered, but since his wife had spoken, he naturally couldn’t stand by idly!