130: I have to be on guard against you.

Li Mengyao also remembered that when the villa was being renovated, Li Shanhai had indeed mentioned that the stones used for the landscaping on both sides were specially brought in from Northern Myanmar.

But those stones were all rejects that no one even wanted to use to scam people at the gambling stone stalls, so how could there possibly be any jade inside?

"I'm just guessing," Ye Su said without being too absolute. "If you're interested, just have someone cut it open. What if there's a surprise inside?"

Li Mengyao held the stone in her hand up to the landscaping light for a few moments. After finding nothing special about it, she looked at Ye Su suspiciously. "You aren't pulling my leg, are you?"

Ye Su looked speechless. "Do you think I'm so full from eating at your place just now that I'm bored enough to find a random rock just to mess with you?"

Ye Su took the opportunity to reach out. "If you don't believe me, just name a price and sell the stone to me instead."

Seeing Ye Su so confident, and recalling how he had been able to tell the paper quality of the painting was wrong just by looking at it, combined with the assessment of Ye Su by Wan Yuanliang and his son, Li Mengyao instantly pulled her hands back, clutching the stone.

"I suspect you're trying to trick me. There must be something wrong with this stone; it's better if I cut it open myself."

Seeing this, Ye Su could only regretfully withdraw his right hand.

Sigh, if I had known, I should have acted more nonchalant.

Watching Ye Su's regretful expression, for some reason, Li Mengyao felt a sense of relief.

"Alright, stop making that face. For tonight's little act, just name your price, and This Miss will transfer it to you."

"Just give me a million or so, I'm not picky."

"Do you think you're Tony Leung! You haven't even dedicated yourself to the art, yet you dare to ask for a million for one scene!"

Of course, Li Mengyao knew that Ye Su was just joking.

"Forget it then," Ye Su waved his hand generously. "Let's just consider tonight a friendly performance; I won't take your payment."

This time, Ye Su wasn't just being polite; he really didn't intend to take any money from Li Mengyao.

Judging by that meal just now, Li Mengyao's family was quite nice, and throughout the whole time, there wasn't the slightest hint of discrimination against his family background.

Under these circumstances, Ye Su was naturally more than happy to befriend Li Mengyao's family, rather than relying on taking money every time to maintain the relationship.

Upon hearing this, Li Mengyao cradled the stone with both hands, guarding it defensively against her chest. "You don't even want payment? You aren't seriously trying to ship us together, are you? If that's the case, I'm going to have to be on guard against you."

Ye Su hadn't expected that the young miss would have such a playful side.

"That won't be necessary. I'm picky about looks, too."

"What do you mean by that!" Li Mengyao instantly transformed into a tigress, fiercely baring her two fangs. "Are you saying I'm not good-looking!"

"Let's stop here, no need to see me out!"

Ye Su slipped away, leaving behind a sentence and dashing out the gate before Li Mengyao could react.

Watching Ye Su's retreating figure, Li Mengyao, who had just been fierce a moment ago, let out a chuckle. "This person is really interesting."

After saying that, she raised the stone again, turning it around to examine it, and placed it next to other stones to compare.

"Aren't these stones all the same? There's nothing special about this one, is there?"

Unable to see any trick to it, Li Mengyao had to give up and carried the stone back into the villa.

"Didn't I tell you to see Ye Su out? Why are you back?"

"Why are you hugging a rock?"

"He's a grown man, he won't get lost, what's there to see out?"

After answering Wang Lijuan's question first, Li Mengyao handed the stone to Li Shanhai.

"Do you think there's anything special about this stone?"

Li Shanhai looked at the stone, then at his daughter, his eyes filled with confusion.

"Isn't this just one of those stones from the entrance? What could be special about it?"

"Ye Su said it could be cut open, there might be something inside."

"Hmm!"

Upon hearing that it was a hint from Ye Su, Li Shanhai instantly became interested. He took the stone and examined it under the overhead chandelier.

Li Shanhai had been dealing with jewelry and jade for many years, so naturally, he had some understanding of raw stones.

But for several years after the villa renovation was completed, this stone had been left outside in the sun. During all those times going in and out, no one had ever noticed anything unusual, which was proof enough that even with Li Shanhai's discernment, he couldn't see through the mystery inside this stone.

His eyes were getting uncomfortable from the glare of the light, so Li Shanhai had to give up and placed the stone back on the table.

Before Li Mengyao could speak, Wang Lijuan couldn't wait to ask, "How is it? Can you tell if there's anything in it?"

Li Shanhai shook his head. "I can't tell; it feels like just an ordinary stone."

"You've been looking at it for so long and can't tell, yet Ye Su just glanced at it while passing by and could really see there was jade inside?"

Li Shanhai glanced at Li Mengyao crossly. "Are you questioning Ye Su, or are you taking a roundabout way to insult me?"

"Oh, old Li." Li Mengyao sat affectionately on the armrest and hugged Li Shanhai's arm. "I'm your thoughtful little cotton-padded jacket, how could I do such a thing?"

"Go on, go on!"

Li Shanhai pretended to shiver from Li Mengyao's cheesiness, but in reality, he couldn't suppress the smile on his face.

Wang Lijuan also picked up the stone and looked at it for a while, but couldn't make heads or tails of it either.

"Ye Su has a steady personality and doesn't seem like the type to speak without reason. Since he said there's something inside, let's find someone to cut the stone open and see if Ye Su is as knowledgeable about stones as he is about antiques."

Of the three people present, the one who most hoped that jade could be cut from the stone was none other than the "mother-in-law," Wang Lijuan.

The more capable the "son-in-law-to-be" was, the happier she would naturally be.

"Hmm." Li Mengyao took the stone back. "Then I'll take it to be cut tomorrow morning."

"Alright."

After Li Mengyao took the stone back to her room, Li Shanhai called the housekeeper and told him to send the painting to a professional institution for appraisal tomorrow.

...

After leaving Zijing Villa District, Ye Su first took a taxi back to school, then drove his car to Chen Xinyi's residential complex.

"Yo, I thought you were going to accompany a rich lady tonight and wouldn't come to me at all."

As soon as he entered the door, Chen Xinyi greeted Ye Su with sour, sarcastic remarks. Clearly, she wasn't completely indifferent to the fact that Ye Su had gone to pretend to be someone else's boyfriend.

Without a word, Ye Su grabbed Chen Xinyi's arm and started shaking it. "Aiya, I was forced by life, don't be angry anymore."

Chen Xinyi originally wanted to keep a straight face, but being countered by Ye Su using her own tactics, she couldn't hold it for more than a few seconds before breaking down.

"Alright, alright, stop shaking me! If you keep shaking, I'm going to fall apart!"

"So you're not angry anymore?"

"Do whatever you want, I don't have time to be angry with you!"

With a "muah" sound, Ye Su kissed Chen Xinyi directly on the cheek. "I just love women like you who are sensible and capable."

Looking at the grinning Ye Su, Chen Xinyi could only sigh helplessly.

She didn't know if this man had cast some kind of spell on her; why was it that she couldn't do anything about him?

He understood antiques; maybe he really did know something about spells or whatever.