Chapter 35: Gold-Inlaid Jade Bracelet
Ji Chenxing didn't necessarily want Qi Ziyan to pay for it, he just wanted Ji Xueqing to feel the difference.

Money cannot measure love, but something as abstract and mysterious as "love" sometimes does need the help of material things to be expressed.

In the general's mansion, Ji Xueyao stared at the pair of black pearl earrings with her eyes wide open.

This pair of black pearl earrings is not only small and beautiful, the most beautiful she has ever seen, but also has three diamonds from small to large, shining like stars from top to bottom. The black pearls under the diamonds are round and shiny, and the combination looks very noble and mysterious.

Moreover, unlike the earrings in Ji Xueyao's dressing table that were designed to restrain her posture, this pair of pearl earrings was neither too big nor too small, and was designed entirely for beauty and comfort.

Ji Xueyao was moved.

But this thing is in another world, you can only see it but not touch it, so it’s useless even if you are interested in it.

But when Ji Chenxing asked Qi Ziyan to buy the pair of earrings and give them to Ji Xueqing with just a few words, Ji Xueyao lost her patience.

"Ji Chenxing is obviously my sister. Who the hell is this Ji Xueqing? Why does Ji Chenxing protect her so much?"

Ji Xueyao stamped her feet in anger, "Ji Chenxing is really something, she has only been to that family for a few days and she is so nice to them. I am also her sister... She won't forget me, right?"

On the screen, Ji Xueqing hugged Ji Chenxing's arm, her eyes shining with joy.

Ji Xueyao suddenly felt jealous.

Ji Minghan is young, so over the years, it was Ji Chenxing who followed Ji Zunxing to fight.

Ji Chenxing also took on the responsibilities of both a brother and a sister. Every time he came back from the border, he would bring Ji Xueyao a bunch of good things that were rarely seen in daily life.

Pearls from the Western Regions, fox furs from the northern desert, hairpins from the south of the Yangtze River, and corals from the East China Sea.

Thinking of those glittering things, Ji Xueyao smiled unconsciously. Once upon a time, she was also a little girl who ran to Ji Chenxing and shouted "Thank you, sister".

But now, Ji Xueyao looked at her own hands. Her fingers were slender and well-maintained, like green onions, but only she knew that her hands were stained with blood.

The charity auction was drawing to a close, and the last item to be auctioned was a gold-inlaid jade bracelet.

"This bracelet was donated by a couple and is said to be a family heirloom that has been passed down for more than a thousand years."

As the host was speaking, a staff member brought the bracelet up.

"This bracelet has a unique shape. It is made of three pieces of broken jade. Each piece of broken jade is inlaid with a golden tiger head at both ends and riveted to the jade with two gold nails. The sections are connected by hollow holes and small gold bars are used as plugs inside the holes. It can move freely and is very delicate and interesting."

Ji Chenxing felt inexplicably familiar when listening to this introduction.

In her previous life in the General’s Mansion, Ji Xueyao was young and ignorant, and she accidentally broke her bracelet.

The bracelet was made of top-quality Hetian jade, and Ji Chenxing couldn't bear to see it ruined, so he drew a blueprint, hired a craftsman, and made a few pairs of tiger heads and buckles with gold at the joints.

The golden tiger was majestic, biting the bracelet that was broken into three parts together. It was gentle and heroic, and unexpectedly beautiful.

The old craftsman specifically told her at the time that he used the finest pure gold, and that even after a thousand or eight hundred years, the gold on the jade bracelet would not change color.

At that time, Ji Chenxing didn't believe it, so he picked up a knife and carved a small star pattern on the gold joint on the inner side of the bracelet. He bet with the old craftsman that it would definitely change color in a few years.

Later she died. She had no idea what the bracelet looked like, and she also had no chance to see the old craftsman again to see who had won the bet.

Ji Chenxing had worn the gold and jade bracelet on his wrist for five or six years. These five or six years were enough for Ji Chenxing to remember every detail of the bracelet.

Looking at the bracelet being auctioned in front of her, Ji Chenxing was almost certain that this was the bracelet she had worn before. The stars she carved had rough strokes and were very easy to recognize.

When I came to my senses, the auction was still going on.

Following the host's introduction, the gold-inlaid jade bracelet was brought to the camera by the staff. Under the micro-focus lens, the tiger head made of gold was lifelike; inside the jade bracelet, some scratches could be clearly seen.

"Why is there a little star carved on it? It's so ugly, like a child's doodle."

"Isn't it a family heirloom? How could it be so careless that a child at home accidentally carved this thing."

"I wanted to take a photo, but I decided not to because of this scratch. I feel cheated."

"A family heirloom must be fake. Something that can be traced back more than a thousand years should have been in a museum long ago. How could it appear here?"

"Feel the same."

The auction was filled with the private discussions of business tycoons.

A few minutes later, the host finished introducing everything that needed to be introduced and shouted at the top of his voice, "Gold-inlaid jade bracelet, starting price, 15 million."

This price is not high.

Although the gold-inlaid jade bracelet is finely crafted, it is a family heirloom after all, not unearthed. When the host introduced it, he said "it is said" and no one knows whether it really came from a thousand years ago.

Plus, the gold on the bracelet is so shiny and looks like new that it's a bit false to say it was passed down from thousands of years ago.

"Sixteen million."

Ji Chenxing raised the sign and raised the price by one million.

Ji Xueqing and Qi Ziyan both opened their eyes wide. They didn't expect Ji Chenxing to like this bracelet, and they didn't expect that she would be willing to pay this price for it.

In the hall, there were also people who wanted to give it a try. If this bracelet was really from a thousand years ago, it would be a big profit to buy it for 20 million.

Therefore, not long after Ji Chenxing finished speaking, another voice was heard.

"Seventeen million."

Ji Chenxing bit the bullet tightly and refused to let go. "Eighteen million."

There was a voice that wanted to continue, but Lu Yuzhou stretched out his hand to press down the sign in Ji Chenxing's hand and bid: "Twenty million."

The voice that was trying to follow just now only said "two" and then stopped and became silent.

Ji Chenxing was originally puzzled. The 20 million yuan offered by Lu Yuzhou didn't seem very high, so why didn't the other party follow suit?

On second thought, what is there to argue with Lu Yuzhou? If you lose, you lose, and if you win, you also lose.

After the auction ended and the payment was made, Lu Yuzhou handed the bracelet to Ji Chenxing and asked, "Do you recognize this bracelet?"

"It was all a long time ago." Ji Chenxing nodded, without discussing the matter with Lu Yuzhou in depth, "I owe you a favor, and I'll transfer the 20 million to you later."

Lu Yuzhou smiled, not seeming to care much: "It's up to you."

The charity night ended at 11:30 in the evening. Ji Chenxing and three others left the hall together. Not long after they left the house, they suddenly heard a woman crying at the intersection.

Ji Chenxing's face darkened. She had never heard this voice before, but it felt familiar. After thinking for a long time, she finally realized that this seemed to be the voice of the original owner's adoptive mother.

The original owner and her adoptive mother did not have a good relationship. Ji Chenxing wanted to avoid them to avoid any unnecessary trouble, but the owner of the voice seemed to have seen Ji Chenxing and rushed over howling.

"Chen Xing, my Chen Xing, are you here to return the bracelet to me?"

　The prototype of Ji Chenxing's bracelet is a gold-inlaid jade bracelet from the Tang Dynasty, which is now in the museum.
　　(End of this chapter)