The young man was a total stranger to Brucille, and he had no impression of him too. However, Sabrina called out instead, “Tommy, you’re here!”
“Aunt, I’m here for Brucille. Hey you! Did that crash mess with your brain? I’m Tommy Lu.”
Brucille smiled awkwardly, “Yeah, I think. I have only recovered, so there’s indeed a little memory loss.”
Tommy didn’t take it to heart and took Brucille’s words for it. After all, Brucille really did injure his head, and Tommy came intending to take him out to get some fresh air.
So, he turned around and said, “Brucille, there’s a jade exhibition in the afternoon, and I can’t find anyone to go with me. Will you come with me? It’ll do good for you to go out and take a walk.”
“That’s a good idea.”
Brucille could tell that Tommy had a good relationship with him. Otherwise, Tommy wouldn’t have regarded him as a brother. The fact that the original host, who was a coward, somehow still had a friend, had really moved him, even though the Ching family didn’t treat him well.
Tommy took Brucille to Fortune Jewelry, a store which his family owned. When they entered, the female staff exclaimed with excitement, “Hi, Mr. Lu.”
“Where’s my dad? Didn’t he say he will be here today for an inspection?” Tommy asked.
“The chairman had already left, and he reminded you to go easy in the afternoon,” said a female staff member.
Tommy scoffed, “He just doesn’t believe in my taste.”
It took Brucille a minute to figure out their relationship. It turned out that Tommy was the son of the Fortune Jewelry owner.
Tommy said very generously, “Brucille, jade is believed to bring you good luck. Since you have survived the accident, pick something as a gift from me. Don’t be bothered with the money for we are brothers.”
Brucille scratched his head and wondered why they had such a good relationship. Perhaps they were childhood friends.
Evan, Brucille’s uncle from the previous life, was a master of arts. Instruments, painting, antiques, flowers and birds, you named it; he knew it. He was like an encyclopedia.
Brucille had stayed with Evan for several years, and he learned the medical skills of the Yip family-especially the traditional acupuncture skills-and some other divination skills from Evan.
As he was very used to precious stones, he could tell from appearances alone that the jade and jewelry in Fortune Jewelry were all exquisite. He examined them.
Meanwhile, the staff who was polite to Tommy a while ago was unfriendly to Brucille.
Looking at Brucille, the girl whispered to another shop assistant, “I really don’t know what Mr. Lu sees in him. This guy is the poorest among Mr. Lu’s friends. He’s also a coward who lives off a woman.”
“That’s right. He obviously knows nothing, but he’s still pretending to look around.”
“Now, you’re too naïve. Didn’t you hear that Mr. Lu asked him to pick a gift for himself? Surely he’s looking for the most expensive one!”
“I’ve never seen such a shameless man before. He’s disgusting. Does he think that just because Mr. Lu is his best friend, he owns the shop as well? What a joke!”
As they talked, Tommy was standing right at the back of the door, and he overheard their conversation.
His face fell, and he interrupted the girls, “Tracy, maybe I should tell you the reason I have such a good relationship with Brucille.”
Brucille had also heard the conversation between the two staff, but he didn’t want to pick a fight with them. So, when he heard Tommy’s voice, he looked up immediately in surprise.
Tommy was livid, “It was four years ago. One night, I was drunk and got involved in a severe car accident. I almost died at the scene, but Brucille saw me on his way back from visiting his father. He carried me on his back and walked for over twenty kilometers just to send me to the hospital. To put it bluntly, I owe him my f*cking life.”
As Tommy said the last sentence, he slammed his fist onto the glass counter, and it shattered to the ground.
All the shop assistants were dumbfounded. They had never seen Tommy so angry before, and no one knew he had a life-threatening car accident four years ago.
Brucille was also shocked. But he finally realized why Tommy stayed as the original host’s friend even though he was a good-for-nothing. to him. The two of them had been through life and death together.
Brucille walked over to Tommy and made peace, “It’s okay. It’s all in the past, and they didn’t know our friendship. Plus, everyone makes a mistake at least once in life.”
However, Tommy wasn’t going to let it go. He bellowed, “Get lost! Go to Madam Chang for your payment and get out of here! Don’t ever think of coming back!”
“Mr. Lu, I’m sorry. I didn’t know-” Tracy begged with tears in her eyes.
“Get lost!”
The two ladies left the counter in tears while Tommy walked over to give Brucille a hug, “I’m sorry. You saved my life, but my employees insulted you. All of you, open your f*cking eyes wide and take a good look. He’s my brother, disrespecting him is disrespecting me. Got it?”
After such a big commotion, no one in the Fortune Jewelry wouldn’t know why Tommy was so kind to Brucille.
No one would dare to do such a stupid thing again in the future.
Brucille rubbed his nose. Although he didn’t expect the spineless original host to have such a glorious past, he felt a little comforted to know that.
Of course, Brucille was treated to a feast that afternoon. Tommy wanted to celebrate Brucille’s recovery with it.
As the young master of Fortune Jewelry, Tommy owned many stores and had billions worth of family properties.
After the meal, Tommy drove Brucille and himself to the jade exhibition located in the suburbs. Trading raw stones weren’t as mess-free and appealing as trading jewelry in stores; it was dusty. The market was only a site around a few thousand square meters, temporarily built for trading purposes.
Because jade trading in Spring River City had expanded, the association decided to organize an exhibition, featuring fine jade and precious stones from home and abroad.
Tommy put his arm around Brucille’s shoulder and said with a smile, “Help me out here. If I make a profit today, my dad will let me manage the branch store. If it’s a loss, he’ll ground me for three years.”
Brucille thought to himself, “I used to live in seclusion for seven years. What’s the big deal with only three years?”
But Tommy’s situation was different than Brucille. Tommy had multi millions family fortune for him to splurge. So, Brucille smiled and said, “Of course I’ll help you. But at least you have to tell me how much money you have with you.”
Tommy said shyly, “Well, how should I put it? You should know that although I’m a general manager, my dad is still the one in power. This time, he gave me three million. So, I must make my move carefully.”
Three million was just a peanut in the raw stone trading market. Any stone which was more than 1. 5 meter tall and seemed good in quality would easily worth more than three million.
Nevertheless, Brucille had already promised to help Tommy. “Alright, let’s take a look first.”
As Brucille and Tommy walked past by the first booth, someone was already negotiating the price with the seller. It was a middle-aged man with a pair of thick glasses, and he said to the seller, “9. 5 million is a little too expensive. I’ll take it if it’s eight million.”