Chapter 102: Two Birds with One Stone

Chen Jianguo saw his daughter helping Su Zheng speak up for him and instantly grew furious, unable to finish his breakfast. Grabbing his bag, he stormed out while scolding Su Zheng.

“I tell you, stop feeding my daughter any nonsense. Don’t you dare go to Chen Muxue’s company. Do you hear me? If I find out you sneaked off to meet her, I won’t spare you!”

With that, he left the house, bag in hand, and slammed the door behind him.

“Remember to come to the company this afternoon.” Chen Muxue watched her father depart, then gave Su Zheng a quick wink and whispered something before turning to leave as well.

Su Zheng found her secretive manner amusing and didn’t stay at home long. Instead, he drove to the driving school to continue practicing.

At noon, after completing his lesson, Su Zheng arrived at the office building where Hao Yuan Trading was located.

The new cosmetics company was still under construction, with no separate premises or staff yet, so Chen Muxue was still working there.

They had just finished lunch in the cafeteria when Lü Hongmei called.

“Muxue, you need to hurry to your dad’s shop right now. He’s in trouble!”

Her voice was frantic and edged with panic.

Chen Muxue was stunned, unsure what had happened to her father, and Lü Hongmei could only urge her to come immediately to help.

“I’ll go with you!” Su Zheng said firmly, and they rushed over in his car to the shop where Chen Jianguo was.

Just outside the door, they heard the heated argument inside.

“Jianguo, I’m not saying this to blame you, but how could you be so careless?!”

“Qingyuan brought the family heirloom antiques he’s treasured for decades to sell in your shop, yet you accidentally chipped a tiny piece. What were you thinking?!”

“This is a genuine Song Dynasty celadon double-eared vase. A perfectly preserved antique like this should be worth at least tens of millions, shouldn’t it?!”

...

“Haha… let me add this: our Feng family has records of this piece. It was given to my Feng family by a prime minister during his official days in the imperial court. Based on that alone, its value should be doubled!”

...

“Boss, it wasn’t me who damaged it. I only held it in my hands to look at it, and I didn’t knock it against anything hard. This… this definitely wasn’t me who broke it!”

...

“You think I’m framing you? Look at that chip; it’s fresh. We had the item intact when we brought it. Who else could have touched it besides you?!”

...

“Boss, I don’t have that kind of money. No, no, it wasn’t me who damaged it. Really, it wasn’t!”

...

Su Zheng frowned deeply outside the shop door. He recognized the voices as Chen Xiong and Feng Qingyuan arguing with his father-in-law Chen Jianguo.

“Let’s go in and see what’s happening!” He took Chen Muxue’s hand and entered the store.

“Well, well, Muxue has arrived. Haha… perfect timing. Hurry and think of a way to pay for the damages to your father.”

Chen Xiong spotted Chen Muxue entering and offered a faint smile, his eyes repeatedly glancing toward her wrist.

Ever since learning at the Li family banquet that the bracelet on her wrist was worth millions, he had been scheming to claim it for himself.

Coincidentally, the night before, his daughter had returned home with an odd expression. After questioning her, he learned that her vanity had led her to beg Feng Qingyuan to sneak her into the family collection room to take photos.

The phone had accidentally fallen onto this celadon double-eared vase, chipping a small piece. This had pained Feng Qingyuan and Su Wenli deeply, and they feared repercussions from Feng Qingyuan’s father, causing their own quarrel.

Hearing this, Chen Xiong’s eyes lit up. He quickly had Su Wenli call Feng Qingyuan, and the two of them hatched a plan to kill two birds with one stone.

They would frame Chen Jianguo for the damage and, in doing so, blackmail Chen Muxue for a fortune. Once that happened, the million-dollar bracelet on her wrist would transfer to him!

Now that Chen Muxue had arrived, Chen Xiong felt everything was proceeding exactly as planned, filled with boundless glee and excitement. His greedy gaze swept repeatedly over the bracelet on her wrist.

“Uncle, what’s going on here? Why should my father pay you?”

Chen Muxue asked with a cold frown.

“Haha… It’s quite obvious, isn’t it? Qingyuan brought the antiques from home to consign them in your father’s shop. As it turned out, your father accidentally damaged the item. According to the rules, shouldn’t he compensate at full price?”

Chen Xiong explained calmly and unhurriedly.

“No! That’s not right. The double-eared vase you brought really wasn’t damaged by my father!”

Chen Jianguo, seeing his daughter, hastily defended himself again.

At this moment, he was completely at a loss, his face pale with panic and anxiety, sweat beading on his forehead. He had never imagined something like this would happen.

According to the shop’s rules, any antique consigned for sale would be personally appraised by him to confirm its authenticity and value before cooperation.

This time, as usual, after checking with gloves and confirming it was genuine, Chen Xiong angrily pointed to a fresh chip on the vase, insisting it was his fault.

This left Chen Jianguo as if struck by lightning, his mind frozen, ears ringing.

A Song Dynasty double-eared vase was worth at least millions; how could he afford to pay?

“Jianguo, admit your mistake when it’s wrong. You’ve lived so long; don’t you know the rules?”

Chen Xiong scolded coldly, then pretended to be hurt: “I saw you handling the items sloppily earlier and wanted to remind you. For such valuable antiques, you should check for damage first before handling them. Ah, I don’t know how you became shop manager. Maybe you got the job through connections?”

“Dad… I…”

Chen Jianguo was so scolded he didn’t know what to say.

He knew the rules, but Chen Xiong had rushed him to appraise it quickly, and since it was family, he had handled it directly.

Who knew this would happen?

Looking at the fresh chip on the vase, Chen Jianguo was full of regret, wishing he could slap himself twice, but he knew it was too late now.

“Haha… Muxue, it’s a saying that a father’s debt is a son’s. Your dad has no son, and Su Zheng is useless, so it seems we’ll have to ask you to settle this.”

Chen Xiong looked at Chen Muxue with a smile, his heart filled with joy and triumph.