Chapter 33 - Water Agarwood

"Mr. Zhong, you're here."

Chen Jia Jun's courage shrivelled upon seeing the old man.

This seventy-year-old man wasn't someone ordinary. He owned at least five jewellery stores in Jiangdu and his net worth was billions of dollars.

Chen Jia Jun's purpose today wasn't just to impress Lin Yi, but he also wanted to get acquainted with a few of Jiangdu's local VIPs.

Chen Jia Jun was a businessman in Jiangdu, so it made sense that he wanted to get on the good side of these VIPs. Although he could do many things using his identity as the grandson of the Chen conglomerate, he wanted to prove his capabilities. After all, he wasn't the only grandson of the Chen family.

"I saw that you were all chatting happily, so I came to join in the fun. You don't mind, right?"

The old man spoke in a monotone. He was already used to being expressionless after years of working in the industry.

"Not at all, you're the most elderly person here. It's our honour to have you grace the banquet with your presence."

"No worries, Xiao Chen. If you have any problems in Jiangdu, just come to see me. By the way, let me see that bracelet in your hand."

"Mr. Zhong, why are you..."

Chen Jia Jun was so confused, what does this old man want to do?

"Don't worry. I just find it quite intriguing so I'd like to have a look at it."

"Oh okay, here you go."

Chen Jia Jun passed the bracelet to him.

Mr. Zhong wasn't quite sure about what he thought about the bracelet, either. He just simply took the bracelet to have a glance at it.

However, his expressions changed as soon as he began to closely inspect the bracelet.

Suddenly, a serious expression appeared on Mr. Zhong's face. Not only this, he carefully caressed the bracelet with his fingers, as though he was caressing a baby.

Mr. Zhong's reaction to the bracelet caught everyone's attention, including Chen Jia Jun's.

Mr. Zhong's expression could only mean that the bracelet that everyone looked down on wasn't something ordinary.

However, nobody knew exactly how much it was worth.

"President Lin, may I ask you something? Are you willing to sell this bracelet?"

All of a sudden, Mr. Zhong turned to Lin Yi and asked.

Truth to be told, it wasn't the right time to ask this question in front such a large crowd. None of the guests at the banquet was short of money. It would be humiliating to sell something in that kind of setting.

However, Mr. Zhong seemed a little shaken, and his voice trembled when he spoke.

Lin Yi had a blank expression until she realized that Mr. Zhong was talking to her.

It was then that she realized that the present Li Tian gave her was not as ordinary as she thought. Even Mr. Zhong, whose net worth was valued at billions of dollars, couldn't resist the temptation to put down his pride and make an offer for the bracelet.

Perhaps ten thousand dollars? Let's not joke around, is Mr. Zhong's pride only worth that little amount of money?

"Mr. Zhong, umm... Actually, it was my husband who gave it to me, and I don't think I have any right to decide whether I can sell it to you."

Lin Yi couldn't say that she didn't want to sell it, so instead, she pushed the responsibility to Li Tian.

"Huh? Mr. Zhong, I gave this bracelet to my wife as a present. It's also the first present I gave her, so of course it can't be sold."

Li Tian thought that he understood Lin Yi's intent, but as soon as he finished his sentence, Lin Yi rolled her eyes at him.

Huh? What's wrong? Did I say anything wrong? Does she want to sell it?

Before Li Tian could speak, Lin Yi said, "Mr. Zhong, I'm really sorry, but this present means a lot to me, so..."

Means a lot? You're kidding me. You didn't even take a look at it when I gave it to you.

Upon hearing Lin Yi finish her sentence, a disappointed expression surfaced on Mr. Zhong's face, but he quickly regained his composure.

"President Lin, this bracelet is of extremely high-quality. I wanted to buy it to display it as the most treasured piece of my store, but since you don't plan to sell it, it's unfortunate that I won't have the chance to do so."

What!? The most treasured piece of his store?

The crowd was dumbfounded upon hearing Mr. Zhong speak. They knew how much his store was worth, and he had jewellery worth tens of millions of dollars. For him to say that he wanted to buy the bracelet to display it as his most treasured piece…...

Chen Jia Jun's expression darkened. He didn't think that an ordinary stone bracelet like this could be so highly praised.

He even began to suspect that Lin Yi and Mr. Zhong had planned this prior to this banquet in an attempt to trick everyone.

"Mr. Zhong, pardon my poor judgment, but aren't these just ordinary stones?"

Chen Jia Jun asked, he thought, if Mr. Zhong couldn't convince the crowd, then he must have been putting on an act.

"Haha, Xiao Chen, it's normal to not recognize this. I almost couldn't recognize it either. Since you want to know, let me tell you a little bit about this bracelet. Have you heard about agarwood?"

"Of course, there are a few pieces at my place. My grandfather once told me that a piece of high-quality agarwood is equivalent to about 50 grams of gold."

Chen Jia Jun immediately responded.

"Not bad. You're right, high-quality agarwood is worth that much."

"Are you saying that this is agarwood? I don't think so. Doesn't agarwood give off a nice scent? Especially when you burn it, the scent will be even stronger. Also, it's usually not this hard."

"Some people consider it as agarwood, and some people don't. It's called water agarwood, and it's a kind of fossil formed when agarwood is soaked for thousands of years. At first glance, it looks just like an ordinary stone bracelet, but the true value of this bracelet cannot be estimated. Even agarwood of the highest quality cannot compare to water agarwood."

"Water agarwood?"

It was Chen Jia Jun's first time hearing that name.

"Mr. Zhong, why have I not heard about water agarwood? It even looks exactly like ordinary stones, how do you know that it's water agarwood?"

Chen Jia Jun tried to sound respectful, his word held a different meaning. You're an old man, are you sure you didn't see it wrongly? How can we trust your words?

Mr. Zhong was an intelligent man, he knew what Chen Jia Jun was trying to say.

"What's the matter, are you saying that my judgment is wrong?"

Mr. Zhong coldly responded.

He felt humiliated that someone significantly younger than him was doubting him in this manner.

"No... I'm not."

"Okay, since you want proof, I'll teach you how to identify water agarwood. First, look at this line here, it's an obvious tree ring, which is also the most obvious characteristic of water agarwood. However, some other stones and wood fossils may also have this kind of pattern, so it's not really the best way to identify water agarwood. Look closely, here's another feature of the water agarwood."

As soon as Mr. Zhong finished speaking, he put the bracelet in his palms and began to rub the bracelet between his hands.