The Tycoon's Enchanted Mermaid-Chapter 84 - : You’re Not Serious, Are You?

Chapter 84 -84: You’re Not Serious, Are You?

“I don’t believe it,” Ah Dai immediately sat up straight, her cheeks soft and tender as if they could be pinched to squeeze out water, her annoyance so endearing that it made one want to comfort her.

Wei Lan couldn’t help but burst into hearty laughter.

Startled by his sudden laughter, Ah Dai turned her head in confusion and asked Qin Yu, “What’s he laughing at?”

“It’s nothing; his brain is inherently flawed, and he forgot to take his medicine when he left the house,” Qin Yu reassured her with a deadpan expression.

Wei Lan: “…”

The servants brought in the meal one after another, and tonight it was all new dishes that Ah Dai had never seen before. She stared dumbfounded at the large red pincers brought before her, clenching her fist loosely to compare it, finding the pincer to be more than three times the size of her fist.

...

With two large pincers, a shell-covered body, and a tail, complete with two long feelers protruding from its mouth, Ah Dai felt she had seen this creature somewhere before but couldn’t quite place it.

“What are you staring at?” asked Qin Yu, noticing the girl beside him fixated on the lobster, blinking not even once.

Ah Dai glanced up at him, said nothing, and reached for the chopsticks on the table. She picked up a piece of meat fried to a crispy golden brown, tender and juicy inside, with a delicate, flaky outer layer, snow-white in meatiness.

Seeing a trace of grease at the corner of her mouth, Qin Yu reached for a tissue paper and wiped it away for her with a natural motion.

This back-and-forth interaction between the two left Wei Lan, sitting across the table, so shocked that his jaw nearly dropped. Third Young Master was actually waiting on someone voluntarily—was he seeing things?

Throughout the dinner, Ah Dai ate with complete satisfaction, while Qin Yu also seemed content. Only Wei Lan sat silently drinking his juice the entire time, not touching the food in front of him as he pondered silently.

After dinner, Ah Dai mentioned she wanted to take a walk by the lake, rubbing her belly, and Qin Yu instructed Song Ma to accompany her.

Watching the little girl, her braids swinging as she ran out, Wei Lan sat next to Qin Yu and blurted out inexplicably, “Third Young Master, you’re not serious, are you?”

Leaned back on the sofa, his eyes half-closed in a lounging pose, Qin Yu considered having a smoke but, thinking Ah Dai might dislike the smell of smoke on him, restrained himself, his voice low and husky.

“What?”

“I mean that little girl. Do you really like her?”

Wei Lan had never imagined Qin Yu liking anyone. When he first arrived, he had thought Qin Yu was just coming to his senses, indulging in a whim of primal passion, but who knew it would all feel so wrong as time went on.

Qin Yu was too indulgent with her; Wei Lan couldn’t forget the sight of Qin Yu wiping the young girl’s mouth at the dinner table, finding it horrifying. Wei Lan even suspected that Qin Yu had been possessed.

Qin Yu looked up, liking her?

He hadn’t thought about it seriously; with Ah Dai, he had always acted on impulse.

Seeing Wei Lan fall silent, he felt convinced; he hadn’t expected someone like Qin Yu to fancy this type of girl. It wasn’t that it was impossible, only that there was a vast difference between them.

This difference wasn’t about status, capital, or social standing, but rather the aura each exuded. If Wei Lan had to make a comparison, he thought of it as a Demon King and a maiden.

One supremely powerful, the other extremely frail.

Completely two extremes.

Of course, Wei Lan wouldn’t dare to say any of this to Qin Yu’s face, even if he had a thousand times the courage.

Wei Lan’s thoughts ran wild, but in the end, he kept them all to himself.

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Forget it, it’s rare for Qin Yu to have someone by his side. In a person’s life, happiness is the most important thing, all that talk about being a good match is bullshit.

“This dinner has already been eaten, and we still don’t know the young lady’s name. I, well, am truly a bit of a failure.”

Wei Lan stretched out his arms and leaned back on the sofa, sighing leisurely.

Qin Yu coldly glanced at him, “As soon as you finish eating, get to work.”

Wei Lan knew he wouldn’t fall for it. Third Young Master was Third Young Master indeed, “Alright, alright, where’s the item?”

Just as he finished speaking, a servant brought down the Green Jade Incense Burner from upstairs, including the certificate Tang Bufan initially brought with it.

Wei Lan put on white gloves, took the certificate, and examined it. It listed the incense burner’s origins and the name of the era. Purchased from the hands of Dong Jikai, the second son of the famous collector Dong Zhongxiang, it was denoted as a Green and White Jade Incense Burner with the Wanrong Auction House as the signing authority.

“Dong Jikai? This incense burner was actually in his collection, no wonder there’s no information about it on the market.”

Qin Yu knew of him, a master very famous in antique collection and appraisal.

“Is there a problem?”

Wei Lan smiled, “There is, but also not really. Dong Jikai, well, that man is eccentric. Once something enters his hands, it typically doesn’t appear on the market again. I’ve heard he never sold any of his collections in his lifetime. My granny said he was obsessed with old items. When he was young, he was originally a talented history professor at a university, and then who knows what happened, he suddenly resigned and started researching antiques, traveled north and south, toured various countries, and spent all his savings before he eventually returned to settle in Capital City.”

“Anyway, people in the circle describe him as a very stubborn, very odd man. It’s said that his children were on bad terms with him and had major objections to his obsession with antiques. Not long after he died, they directly sold all his collections, and it looks like this incense burner was one of them.”

Qin Yu didn’t speak, listening attentively.

“Master Dong often helped others appraise treasures gratuitously during his lifetime, yet he protected his own treasures very well, almost as if he didn’t want to share them with others. So, determining the earlier origins of the incense burner before it belonged to him is tough, unless he left some information behind. As for the dynasty of the incense burner, I think the Wanrong Auction might have been a bit… too casual.”

“It’s strange because it’s definitely not a modern craft, the green and white carving looks naturally formed. The overall quality of the jade is better than any I’ve ever seen. In ancient times, it would have been invaluable, and the craftsmanship of the one who carved it is also superb, especially the openwork carving of the platter and the scales and hair of the mermaid—visually intricate, certainly a royal item.”

Wei Lan picked up the incense burner to examine it, endlessly praising it as the actual item was more stunning than in photos. Feeling bumps on the bottom, he turned it over and saw a character imprinted there—Ling.

“Ling? Why is it Ling?”

Wei Lan’s fingertips traced the character on the bottom, his brow furrowed deeply, “If the ancient people deliberately inscribed characters on jade or porcelain, there are many reasons—for example, to indicate the origin, such as dynasty, year, whether it’s from official kilns or folk crafts; or to denote usage, a symbol of status, like titles or names, usually reserved for someone of high rank or for the royal family.”

“In layman’s terms, it’s a custom-made piece. This Green Jade Incense Burner is of superior jade quality, and there’s a mountain carved with dragons and dragon patterns, clearly meant for royal use only.”

“Unfortunately, there’s too little information on the incense burner itself. The meanings of the inscriptions are too wide-ranging. As for Ling? The Ling Dynasty? Which emperor named his dynasty Ling?”

“Royal tombs… Could it be a burial custom piece?”

As Qin Yu listened to his relentless chatter, his dark eyes fixed on him, “So, the result is that you can’t figure it out?”

Wei Lan, holding the incense burner, suddenly felt as if an arrow had pierced his heart, chilling him to the core. Heaven knows how fatal a single question can be to a professional in the field of treasure appraisal.

But this time, Wei Lan conceded.

He slowly placed the incense burner back in its original position and sighed, “I’ve found nothing on it that could really prove its age and origin. I’m puzzled about how it managed to stay in such pristine condition for so long—such a beautiful piece of jade, so ancient.”

Facing Qin Yu’s skeptical gaze, Wei Lan hurriedly said,

“Hey, hey, hey, don’t look at me with that kind of eyesight. My history knowledge is very good, and appraisal is my forte; my professional level is definitely at the top of the pyramid. The problem is definitely not with me, it’s with the incense burner!”

“It’s definitely strange!”

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