Zhou Xuan was thinking, if ice energy can be refined to such a degree without error, then if one can imagine a scene in one's mind and then miniaturize that scene onto other small objects to make a micro-carving, this should be a pretty good new ability, right?
Zhou Xuan was so excited that he immediately shrunk the image of the five women celebrating his birthday onto the fabric in his pocket. Then, with a transformation and absorption, the image was transferred onto the small piece of fabric in his pocket. He could even feel it, without the slightest error. This was nothing like carving with a knife or other tools, which would be very time-consuming and require a high level of skill to create a masterpiece. But Zhou Xuan's icy aura was more special than any technical ability in the world. What he did didn't require any skill at all; it was completed in an instant.
Zhou Xuan's distraction in doing this made Gu Ailin and Shangguan Mingyue think he was guilty. Gu Ailin sneered, "You came to celebrate my grandfather's birthday? You're probably here to steal something, aren't you?"
Upon hearing Gu Ailin's words, Shangguan Mingyue's face changed color, and she hurriedly said, "Ailin, what are you saying? Mr. Zhou is not that kind of person!"
Because Shangguan Mingyue had a good relationship with Gu Ailin, and because her family had a close relationship with the Gu family's elders, Gu Ailin's words shocked Shangguan Mingyue. If Zhou Xuan was provoked and retaliated against the Gu family, it would cause the Gu family a lot of trouble. As Gu Ailin's best friend, Shangguan Mingyue certainly did not want to see this outcome.
Because although Shangguan Mingyue had fallen in love with Zhou Xuan, Zhou Xuan was completely unaware of it and had never reciprocated her feelings. Shangguan Mingyue's beauty and wealth seemed to hold no attraction for him whatsoever. Therefore, Shangguan Mingyue was not confident that she could prevent Zhou Xuan from getting angry or from retaliating against her.
Gu Ailin scoffed, "Mingyue, wake up! There are plenty of outstanding men in the world, why are you fixated on this one?"
Zhou Xuan looked at Gu Ailin, stared at her for a while, then shook his head and said lightly, "Miss Gu, if you act like this and don't leave yourself a way out, you'll suffer a lot in the future. As a girl, I advise you to be more refined and restrained, otherwise it will be difficult for you to get married!"
"You're talking nonsense!" Gu Ailin roared in anger, abandoning all pretense of being a refined lady, and shouted with her hands on her hips, "What business is it of yours whether I get married or not? Hmph, the men who want to pursue me line up from Hong Kong to Beijing. People like you are just sour grapes!"
"Hehehe!" Zhou Xuan felt a little better when he saw Gu Ailin's exasperated look. He smiled and turned away, ignoring her. But then he saw Gu Yuan waving at him from the villa's hall, saying as she walked, "Little Zhou, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting so long at Grandpa's. But my grandpa heard you were here and insisted on meeting you. Well... Little Zhou, for the sake of our friendship, hehe, why don't you meet my grandpa?"
Zhou Xuan understood the situation at this point and didn't refuse. He smiled and said, "Alright, I was thinking the same thing. Since we're here, it wouldn't be right not to wish the old man a happy birthday!"
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Volume 1, Chapter 291: Micro-carving
Gu Yuan reached out and, smiling, led Zhou Xuan towards the gate. After a few steps, she took a small brocade box from her pocket and secretly slipped it into Zhou Xuan's hand. ()
Zhou Xuan asked in surprise, "What are you doing?"
Gu Yuan said awkwardly in a low voice, "Brother, I'm really sorry. Please give this to my grandfather when you meet him. It's my grandfather's birthday banquet today. If he hadn't seen you, that would have been fine, but something unexpected happened. I mentioned you to my grandfather myself, and he insisted on meeting you. Well... hehe..."
Zhou Xuan smiled, reached out and pushed the brocade box away a little, saying, "Since it's your grandfather's birthday banquet, I naturally prepared a gift as well. You can take this back; I have one!"
Zhou Xuan understood Gu Yuan's meaning. Gu Yuan's intention was for Zhou Xuan to meet his grandfather, since it was his grandfather's birthday banquet today, and having a gift would make things look better.
Seeing that Zhou Xuan had rejected his gift, and hearing that Zhou Xuan had a gift on him, Gu Yuan felt relieved and led Zhou Xuan inside.
Gu Ailin and Shangguan Mingyue, who were behind them, were both stunned!
Gu Ailin was stunned when Gu Yuan pulled Zhou Xuan inside to see his grandfather. This guy hadn't sneaked in; he had been invited by her brother, and her grandfather wanted to see him. What was going on?
Gu Ailin was stunned for a moment. When she saw Gu Yuan pulling Zhou Xuan into the villa's hall, she hurriedly called out, "Brother, second brother, wait for me!" Then she rushed after them.
Zhou Xuan followed Gu Yuan into the hall, and Gu Yuan led him up to the second floor. The villa was very spacious. After passing through several courtyards on the second floor, they arrived at a hall. Zhou Xuan quickly peered into a small living room in the inner part of the hall. There were four people talking quietly in the small living room. Among them was an old man with white hair. Judging from his complexion, he looked to be about seventy years old, but judging from his hair and beard, he looked to be about ten years old!
Zhou Xuan guessed that this person was Gu Jiangang, the shipping magnate and the head of the Gu family in the older generation!
Before entering the small living room, Zhou Xuan suddenly stopped and reached out to Gu Yuan, saying, "Young Master Gu, give me your little brocade box!"
Gu Yuan was taken aback. He had just refused the box he offered, but now the box was being offered to him. Despite his thoughts, he still took out the box and handed it to him.
Zhou Xuan took the small brocade box, opened it, and saw a high-quality diamond inside that was at least seven carats. He smiled, took the diamond out, and handed it back to Gu Yuan, saying, "Young Master Gu, isn't this gift inappropriate? What do you mean by giving your grandfather a diamond as a birthday gift?"
Gu Yuan blushed and chuckled awkwardly, clutching the diamond. It was indeed inappropriate, but in the heat of the moment, there was nothing else to substitute.
Zhou Xuan took the miniature jade carving out of his pocket, put it into the brocade box, and closed the lid.
Gu Yuan noticed that it was a small piece of jade carving. From this, he could tell that the jade was of good quality, but a small jade carving was probably not very appropriate. However, he couldn't say anything about Zhou Xuan's matter. Zhou Xuan was giving a gift to his grandfather, so how could the host say anything about the quality of the gift?
Upon reaching the door, Gu Yuan gently knocked and whispered, "Grandpa, Mr. Zhou is here!"
"Please come in, please come in!" An old voice came from inside the door. Zhou Xuanbing sensed that it was the old man sitting at the head of the table who spoke. It seemed that he was Gu Yuan's grandfather!
Gu Yuan pushed open the door, and the four people in the small living room were the same as those Zhou Xuanbing had detected: an old man and three middle-aged men in their forties and fifties. The old man was Gu Yuan's grandfather, Gu Jiangang, and one of the three middle-aged men was Gu Jiangang's second son, Gu Zhonghuai. The other two were business associates of the Gu family, and all of them were wealthy families with assets worth hundreds of millions.
Gu Yuan quickly stepped forward and introduced, "Grandpa, Second Uncle, Uncle Song, Uncle Wang, this is Mr. Zhou Xuan!"
Today was Gu Jiangang's 90th birthday. Although he wasn't in the best of health, he was still in good spirits. As soon as his grandson Gu Yuan introduced him, he quickly pointed to the sofa in front of him and said, "Little Zhou, hello, hello, please sit down, please sit down. I have rheumatism in my legs, an old problem, and it's not very convenient for me to walk. I can't get up to greet you, please forgive me, Little Zhou!"
Zhou Xuan sat down on the sofa with a smile and replied politely, "Mr. Gu, please don't stand on ceremony. I'm just a young upstart, why should you be so polite?"
"Of course, of course," Gu Jiangang waved his hand and said with a smile. Mr. Wang and Mr. Song next to him were a little puzzled. What kind of status did Gu Jiangang have? Even if it were the head of an administrative district, he would have to give him some face. Why was he being so respectful to Zhou Xuan, a young man in his twenties? Zhou Xuan looked like an Asian, and judging from his tone, he was from the mainland. He wasn't a prince or nobleman from some small country. What was going on with Gu Jiangang?
Of course, none of them knew that in Gu Jiangang's heart, Zhou Xuan was regarded as a prince, especially since Zhou Xuan was of the same status as Wei Haihong. In recent years, the Gu family's business focus has undoubtedly been on cooperation with the mainland. China, the world's most populous country with great potential, has become the Gu family's most important business focus. Gu Jiangang also intends to have his descendants frequently contact important people in the capital. People like Wei Haihong and Zhou Xuan are undoubtedly the people they need most right now!
After sitting down, because there were two outsiders present, surnamed Wang and surnamed Song, Gu Jiangang didn't say anything special to Zhou Xuan.
Zhou Xuan sat up abruptly on the sofa and immediately handed the small brocade box he was holding to Gu Jiangang, smiling slightly as he said, "Mr. Gu, today is a big day for you. I don't have any fancy gifts, so this little thing is just a token of my good wishes!"
"Oh, you're too kind, thank you, thank you!" Gu Jiangang was in a wheelchair and couldn't get up. He reached out and took the small brocade box that Zhou Xuan handed him. He didn't know what gift Zhou Xuan would give him, but he guessed it would be something like ornaments or Buddhist beads. It was unlikely that Zhou Xuan would give gold or silver jewelry to celebrate the birthday of an elderly person like him.
But seeing that this small brocade box was actually a jewelry box from a gold shop, Gu Jiangang was a little puzzled. He opened it and what came into view was a curtain of faint green. He recognized this green color; it was the color of top-grade jadeite. With his status and wealth, such jadeite, although of good quality, was not considered rare for him. However, the jadeite was clearly carved with a pattern, but the jadeite was too small, not much larger than a thumbnail, and Gu Jiangang's old eyes could not see it clearly.
But Gu Jiangang always felt that Zhou Xuan wouldn't give him anything too ordinary. He glanced at it for a moment, then suddenly paused and exclaimed, "Huh?" He then reached out and picked up a pair of reading glasses next to him and put them on. Then he took a magnifying glass, held it in his right hand and the small jade carving in his left, and examined it carefully under the light. The more he looked, the more serious his expression became, and the more solemn his expression became.
After a long pause, Gu Jian sighed, put down the magnifying glass, and then presented the small jade carving back to Zhou Xuan with both hands, saying in a deep voice, "Little Zhou, Mr. Zhou, this gift is too precious for me to accept!"
Gu Jiangang's words immediately stunned Mr. Wang, Mr. Song, Gu Jiangang's son Gu Zhonghuai, and Gu Yuan!
Given Gu Jiangang's status, there are very few things that would make him say they are valuable. Zhou Xuan's item looks like a small jade carving, a jade ornament. Even if it is valuable, it is nothing special. In the international market, a jade item of this size and style would cost no more than 20 million yuan. 20 million yuan is, of course, an unattainable thing for ordinary people, but for Gu Jiangang, it is as trivial as giving a child ten or eight yuan of pocket money. How could such a thing make him say it is valuable?
Zhou Xuan smiled and politely declined, saying, "Mr. Gu, I'm in the jewelry business. This is nothing to me. It's already a gift for you, so how can I take it back? Hehe, it would be disrespectful for you to take it back. Please accept it. You are ninety years old. Things have a price, but life is priceless. As long as you are happy and celebrating your birthday, this small jade piece is nothing!"
Zhou Xuan spoke these words very naturally, and his tone did not seem to take them too seriously. But this very aura was enough to impress Gu Jiangang!
Gu Jiangang understood that, if we only consider the jade itself, although it is of the highest quality old mine glassy texture, it is just a small piece left over after a whole piece of jade was cut. Its size is only this big, and its value based on this alone would not exceed five million. If it were to be carved further to make a ring material, and combined with the ring carving, its value would be at most twenty million, which is already the limit.
At first glance, the carving that Zhou Xuan gave to Gu Jiangang was clearly a small-scale carving, but upon closer inspection, one would discover that the tiny jade carving depicted a delicate figure. However, it was so small that the details were not visible. Fortunately, Gu Jiangang had a magnifying glass with him, as he was old and his eyesight was failing. He would use a magnifying glass to examine things more closely after wearing reading glasses. Unexpectedly, it came in handy at this moment.