Martin set down his chopsticks and opened the beautifully packaged box that Max had given him.
When he saw what was inside the box, Martin’s eyes lit up, and he exclaimed, “This is a monochrome glazed porcelain cup from the 1000 years ago. It’s a fantastic piece!”
Max had a proud expression on his face. “Uncle, I know you love antiques, so I went to several places to finally find it for you.”
With the antique in his hands, all the frustration in Martin’s heart vanished. The color, texture, and patterns of the monochrome glazed porcelain cup were undoubtedly genuine. Holding it in his hand, he could even feel the traces left by history. For Martin, who was obsessed with antiques and jade, the temptation was immense.
“Max, you’re really thoughtful. I feel bad that you spent so much money on this. How much was it? Let me pay you,” Martin offered.
“Brother, this is a birthday gift for you. How can I accept your money? Besides, it’s not expensive. Isn’t that right, Max?” Lillian signaled Max with her eyes.
Max smiled and replied, “It’s not expensive, just a little over four million. As long as you like it, Uncle.”
“Over four million?!” Merry’s son almost spewed out his tea. After managing to swallow it down, he looked at Max with admiration and said, “Max, you’re really rich. The deputy general manager in our company makes just over four hundred thousand a year. It would take ten years without eating or drinking to save up over four million.”
Upon hearing this, Max’s smug expression grew stronger. He couldn’t pass up this opportunity to mock Leo, so he shifted the focus to him.
“Leo, do you only know how to eat? It’s your father-in-law’s birthday. Did you prepare a birthday gift for him?” Max asked, with the Henley family relatives’ eyes now on Leo, who was eating with his head down.
Leo glanced at Max and then continued eating, as if he hadn’t heard Max speaking to him at all.
Max’s face turned dark, and he sneered, “Oh right, I forgot you’re mute. You’re an in-law of the Henley family and a mute at that. You must be unable to find a job and, naturally, have no money to buy a birthday gift for Uncle.”
Saying that, Max looked around and continued, “Sophia is supporting you alone. It’s not easy. I suddenly remembered that our company needs a janitor. The monthly salary is two thousand dollars. How about I recommend you for the job?”
“Hey, if you can’t speak, then don’t glare at me. I don’t understand your meaning when you do that. Just nod or shake your head,” Max taunted.
At this point, Jessica and Martin’s faces had turned extremely unpleasant. They couldn’t believe that the elder sister’s son-in-law went so far.
If they had known, they wouldn’t have brought Leo along.
That was Jessica’s inner thought.
Tina was simply playing with her phone, pretending that everything happening around her had nothing to do with her.
Disparaging Leo like this was too much for Sophia to bear. She wanted to retort, but she didn’t know how to respond at the moment.
Sophia felt even more frustrated as she glanced at Leo.
Just eating, that’s all he knows. Even when he’s humiliated to dust, he doesn’t know how to fight back. He’s still worthless.
“I naturally bought a gift for Dad. It’s a water jadeite horse, which is still on Antique Street. I’ll pick it up tomorrow,” Leo calmly replied.
“A water jadeite horse? Stop boasting… Wait! You can speak!”
Only now did the Henley family relatives realize that it had been said that this son-in-law had become mute three years ago. How could he suddenly start speaking?
After a momentary surprise, Merry looked at Leo with disdain and said, “Your son-in-law really doesn’t know what’s appropriate. He’s pretending to be mute in front of his own family.”
Huh, family. When they were degrading and attacking me, why didn’t they think that I’m family too?
Leo sneered inwardly.
“Leo, you need to understand one thing. Your money comes from Sophia, so you can’t say that you bought the jade. Understand?” Lillian lectured him with the tone of an elder.
Leo had already filled his stomach, so he put down his fork, looked at Max, and a meaningful smile appeared on his face. “Before we talk about the jadeite, do you think it’s appropriate to give a fake gift?”
Max was initially stunned, but then he angrily exclaimed, “Leo, what are you insinuating? Are you doubting that the antique I gave Uncle is fake?!”
Leo nodded.
“Damn it! I bought that for four million five hundred thousand at an auction!” Max slammed the table, stood up, and pointed at Leo’s nose.
“Leo, you can eat however you want, but you can’t speak recklessly. What do you mean by accusing Max like this? Can you be at ease with yourself?” Lillian took on the role of educating a naive child.
“Do you have an invoice?” Leo smiled.
Max was taken aback and explained, “Who would carry an invoice for a gift? Don’t you have common sense? It’s ridiculous.”
“In that case, it must be fake,” Leo said.
Leo had already activated his spiritual power and used his eyes to observe the porcelain cup. There were obvious signs of modern processing on the inner layer, and a faint black aura surrounded the cup. This aura made Leo feel uneasy, so he was certain that the cup was a counterfeit. It seemed that after the cup was made, it had been buried in a tomb for several years, acquiring that black aura. It was definitely the work of a professional counterfeiter, something that ordinary people wouldn’t be able to detect. If it weren’t for Leo’s special ability, Max would have successfully fooled everyone tonight.
Originally, Leo had intended to turn a blind eye to it, seeing through but not revealing. However, Max had gone too far with belittling him.
“Leo, you’re just spouting nonsense. Just because you say it’s fake, doesn’t mean it is. How can you prove that it’s fake?” After his anger subsided, Max calmed down. He had been too worked up earlier, arguing with a useless person.
But on second thought, Leo was actually right. The porcelain cup was indeed a fake. Max had bought it for forty thousand as a high-quality imitation. The seller guaranteed that even some professionals wouldn’t be able to tell it was a fake.
He had only recently been promoted to a minor official. How could he afford to spend over four million on a porcelain cup as a gift?
“What if I could prove that it’s fake?” Leo looked at Max with arrogance.
“Leo, that’s enough!” Martin shouted in displeasure. In his opinion, this monochrome glazed porcelain cup was undoubtedly genuine. He couldn’t understand why his son-in-law insisted it was fake.
“Leo, apologize to Max right now!” Merry chimed in.
But Leo just looked at Martin and said slowly, “Dad, have you ever considered this situation? You take this porcelain cup back home and let your friends appreciate it, but they find out it’s a fake…”