As soon as Zhou Xuan spoke, the few rich young men who had been shouting stared at him for a while. One of them chuckled and said, "What do you have to brag about? Look at your pathetic appearance. You have no talent, no money. You should get lost. This place isn't for people like you. I just don't understand how this guy even got in!"
Such a lavish banquet requires special invitations, and this is a hillside area, the most famous wealthy neighborhood, with security facilities more than ten times tighter than ordinary residential areas. There's no way to sneak in.
Zhou Xuan certainly didn't sneak in, but Gu Yuan was busy somewhere at the moment, and Zhou Xuan didn't want to embarrass himself, so he didn't bother to explain himself to these people. Anyway, he didn't care about saving face in front of these people, what use was such a fake face? He also had no intention of saving face in front of Shangguan Mingyue and Gu Ailin and their group of girls, so he let them make a fuss.
Gu Ailin squinted, feeling smug as she looked at the people around her who had stood up for her. But when she saw the red wine stain on her chest, she couldn't help but feel annoyed. This was the latest model she had just brought back from Italy for HK$560,000, and it was a one-of-a-kind, limited-edition design. She never expected that this guy would smear it with wine so soon after she wore it. If she wore another one, it wouldn't have the same outstanding effect as her. How could she not be angry?
"Will you kneel or not? Will you admit your mistake?" Gu Ailin wanted to make Zhou Xuan look utterly foolish, to let Shangguan Mingyue see Zhou Xuan's true colors. She had this idea, but wasn't in a hurry.
Gang Gecun came and lifted Zhou Fu up and kicked him out. Then he said that the expensive gift of the corpse was "stained with wine, which made me really angry!"
Zhou Xuan said calmly, "What do you mean by 'kneel'? It's just a dress, I'll pay for it. If you want to be unreasonable, fine, but if you want me to kneel down and apologize, then just pretend I never said that!"
Gu Ailin was furious. Zhou Xuan was so rude. She couldn't help but swing her hand. Zhou Xuan reached out and grabbed her hand, forcefully throwing it to the side. Gu Ailin stumbled and almost fell!
Zhou Xuan said coldly, "Miss Gu, things shouldn't be repeated twice. If it's about compensation or something, that's fine. But if you want to use force, I advise you not to resort to violence. It would be beneath your dignity. Besides, let's talk about it."
Zhou Xuan snorted and sneered, "Besides, the responsibility for this wine stain isn't solely mine, is it? But I don't care. It's just a dress. It's just a few hundred thousand Hong Kong dollars. I can afford it. If you don't believe my check, then come with me to the bank right now, and I'll withdraw cash for you. In your words, a few hundred thousand is just a drop in the ocean, no need to make a fuss!"
Gu Ailin was really furious!
The young masters and rich kids who had been eager to try their luck nearby also started shouting, with one of them yelling the loudest. The first young man to step forward jumped out and reached out to grab Zhou Xuan's chest.
Zhou Xuan dodged the grab, then stepped back, but someone blocked his path from behind. Seeing the person in front reaching for him again, Zhou Xuan noticed a huge gemstone ring on the man's finger. He immediately channeled his icy energy, transforming and engulfing the ring, creating two cracks. Before the hand could even reach Zhou Xuan, the ring jingled and fell to the ground.
The young man exclaimed "Ouch!" and quickly withdrew his hand, bending down to pick up the ring from the ground.
But the ring band was broken at the bezel setting where the diamonds were joined; a large portion of the platinum band was broken off. The young man picked up the broken platinum ring, his eyes practically glowing with greed!
This was a huge embarrassment for him. He'd spent four million Hong Kong dollars on that diamond ring, which he always flaunted as a status symbol. Everyone in his circle knew it; it was a product of one of the most famous international jewelers, handcrafted, and uniquely designed. The store claimed that without external interference, its quality would remain unchanged for fifty years. And now, less than two years later, it was supposed to last fifty years? He'd completely lost face!
Zhou Xuan, seeing him staring blankly at the diamond ring and broken band, said calmly, "What can you rich young masters do besides squander your ancestors' fortunes? This ring of yours must have cost at least two million, right? Let me tell you, you've been ripped off. The diamond in this ring is a defective one. Don't be fooled by its large size and excellent luster and quality. The back is cracked, so the bezel setting is a dead setting. This hides the diamond's flaw. Considering the value of a defective diamond and a platinum bezel setting, it's worth at most one hundred thousand!"
Zhou Xuan wasn't usually one to show off, but surrounded by these wealthy young men, he felt compelled to do so. He needed to win them over, otherwise he'd embarrass himself and be unable to save face. Right now, he was facing the aggressive Gu Ailin and her guards!
In fact, the diamond in the young man's ring wasn't a defective diamond; it was a top-quality diamond with exceptional color and texture. However, Zhou Xuan used his icy energy to transform and absorb a portion of the diamond. The transformative power of icy energy can be used at will, so the back of the diamond, the part within the bezel setting, was transformed and absorbed by the icy energy into irregularly shaped fragments. Even if disassembled and examined with the most advanced technology, the result would only be that the diamond was broken in half due to forces during its formation, and it could not possibly be due to human intervention.
If that young man were to deal with this world-renowned jeweler, he'd be in for a lot of trouble, unless he took the diamond ring in-house for their own technicians to open it. Because the setting has markings and markings, any modifications or maintenance must be done by their in-house technicians. If he opened it himself, the jeweler wouldn't accept the repairs—Zhou Xuan knew this. After all, he was the owner of a fairly large jewelry company in China; he understood the basics!
But Zhou Xuan certainly wouldn't tell him. What he wanted now was to provoke this guy, to make him open the bezel himself, discover the faulty diamond, and then be unable to seek compensation from the jewelry company. Large companies like this were extremely particular about quality and reputation. Without concrete evidence, no matter how capable you were, you couldn't do anything to them. International corporations weren't like ordinary people, where they could be manipulated at will!
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Volume 1, Chapter 289: Magic
The young man Zhou Xuan transformed and devoured, who had broken the diamond ring, was named Zhao Jiaming. He was the third-generation descendant of the Zhao family conglomerate in Hong Kong and a typical playboy. He was good at nothing but eating, drinking, having fun, acting cool, and picking up girls. Zhou Xuan's words just now undoubtedly made him furious!
For someone like Zhao Jiaming, saving face is the most important thing. Zhou Xuan's words literally ripped his face off. What's even more unbearable is that this happened in front of beauties like Shangguan Mingyue and Gu Ailin. How could he possibly tolerate this?
"You bastard, what are you yelling about?" Zhao Jiaming immediately shouted angrily, his face red and his neck thick. "I...I..." He couldn't finish his sentence because he was holding the broken ring in his hand. Regardless of whether the diamond was as Zhou Xuan said, that it was a flawed one, the ring had at least broken in front of everyone. At least now people were suspecting that his ring was cheap or fake!
"Whether it's a bad diamond or not, you'll know once you open it up and take a look," Zhou Xuan said with a nonchalant sneer. "Don't you dare open the bezel of your diamond ring? How about this, I'll make a bet with you. If you open the bezel and the diamond is intact, then I'll pay you back the original price of the ring. If, as I said, the back is damaged, then you're responsible for it yourself. So, I guess I'm right!"
Zhao Jiaming's face flushed red: "You...you...what did you say? I don't dare? What...what don't I dare? Fine...fine, I'll bet with you. If my diamond is good, I'll make you pay up and crawl out of here!"
Zhao Jiaming was originally about to curse and say "I am the father" in his anger, but then he suddenly remembered that he would lose face if he lost his composure in front of so many beautiful women, so he swallowed the words "I am the father" back down.
Enraged, Zhao Jiaming slammed the diamond ring he was holding onto the table. Looking around, he spotted a small, sharp fruit knife in the fruit bowl. He strode over, grabbed the knife, and returned to Zhou Xuan. Using the knife, he began to pry open the ring. The ring's setting was exquisitely crafted and normally difficult to open, but Zhou Xuan, wary of his skill, had used ice to create a small crack in the setting. This crack was hidden inside and invisible from the outside; with just a little force, it would open.
Zhao Jiaming had only moved the tip of his knife twice on the diamond bezel when the bezel cracked instantly!
From this point of view, Zhao Jiaming was furious. It was obviously a quality problem with the diamond ring. Since he had spent so much money, given the company's reputation and brand, it shouldn't be fake, and the diamond should be intact. However, the setting and band of the diamond ring definitely had quality issues. Just because of this, Zhao Jiaming had the urge to go directly to the jewelry company and make a scene!
Zhao Jiaming put down the fruit knife, glanced at the countless eyes staring at him, snorted, and then gently pried open the bezel. The diamond was then fully revealed in the cracked platinum bezel, sparkling brilliantly under the light.
Zhou Xuan naturally knew what was going on and looked at Zhao Jiaming with an ambiguous expression.
Zhao Jiaming looked dejected. Diamonds have the highest hardness of all materials on Earth. Although the tip of a fruit knife is sharp, it cannot damage a diamond in the slightest.
Zhao Jiaming gently pinched the diamond, then turned it over in front of everyone, with the bottom facing up. The other side of the diamond was like a piece of crushed stone, without any of the regular edges and corners of a diamond.
Although Zhao Jiaming and his group didn't understand the composition of diamonds very well, they still had some basic knowledge. They had a lot of contact with diamonds and were familiar with common diamond facts. The other side of this diamond, the side covered by the bezel setting, was obviously defective!
Zhao Jiaming was utterly astonished!
He glanced around at his cronies, as well as the beauties like Gu Ailin and Shangguan Mingyue, his eyes filled with suspicion and disbelief!
Zhao Jiaming understood this expression, but it didn't mean he suspected Zhao Jiaming of being deceived. Rather, it meant that Zhao Jiaming himself already knew that he had only bought a cheap product to show off!
Zhao Jiaming was stunned for a moment, and when he came to his senses, he was immediately furious. He had made a fool of himself in front of the beautiful woman he loved to show off!
In a fit of rage, Zhao Jiaming kicked Zhou Xuan. He was the one who caused all of this. Although the diamond ring had nothing to do with him, if it weren't for him, he wouldn't have made such a fool of himself.
Zhou Xuan had been on guard against this guy getting angry and making a move, so he immediately dodged and then took a step back. However, someone was blocking his way from behind. He managed to dodge Zhao Jiaming's kick, but he couldn't get out of the circle.
But at that moment, Zhou Xuan secretly used his icy energy to absorb and transform the vital parts of Zhao Jiaming's pants, belt, suit jacket, and shirt underneath. Only the shirt remained hanging down around his neck, so his internal problems were not visible from the outside.
Enraged, Zhao Jiaming was determined to kick Zhou Xuan and humiliate him. He wouldn't stop until he got the kick. As soon as Zhou Xuan dodged, he rushed forward two steps and kicked Zhou Xuan hard again. This time, the kick was very powerful.
But just as he kicked out with all his might, he suddenly tripped over something on his ankle and tumbled to the ground. This was clearly an unexpected turn of events.
Without a second thought, Zhao Jiaming immediately got up, ready to attack Zhou Xuan again, but just as he got up, the people around him burst into laughter.
Shangguan Mingyue and Gu Ailin blushed and turned away, while the others stared at Zhao Jiaming and laughed heartily, almost unable to straighten up!
Zhao Jiaming then looked down at himself, and upon seeing it, he immediately blushed and felt embarrassed!
It turned out that his pants had broken because the belt had come off and several key parts of the waistband had also torn, rendering them unable to hold him in place. The pants had fallen down to his ankles, which tripped him and caused him to fall!