Old Liu smiled and waved his hand, indicating that there was no need for that. Liu Qinshu then said with a beaming smile, "Achen, take a look at the gift I prepared for you."
"Okay."
With Old Liu's gift setting the bar, Chu Chen was also curious about Liu Qinshu's present. When he opened the box, he saw a jade ornament inside.
The ornament had been made from Hetian white jade seed material. The jade looked warm and lustrous, with a firm texture, pure and flawless, untouched by even a speck of dust. It could be called top-grade jade, and based on that alone, the piece could not be worth little.
Of course, good jade material also needed good carving. The jade ornament had been skillfully carved into red dates and longans using the jade's natural skin, while the remaining portion depicted peanuts and lotus seeds. The fruits looked incredibly lifelike. If not for the slight difference in color from reality, they would have been indistinguishable from the real things. This showed just how exquisite the artist's skill was.
Generally speaking, Chinese weddings had a traditional custom of placing red dates, peanuts, longans, and lotus seeds on the wedding bed—"dates, peanuts, longans, and lotus seeds"—symbolizing "early," "birth," "wealth," and "children" through homophones, in hopes of good fortune. This jade ornament clearly carried the same meaning.
"Achen, I wish you children soon!" Liu Qinshu said with a teasing smile.
"Ahem!" Chu Chen coughed lightly and nodded solemnly. "Certainly, certainly!"
Seeing Chu Chen's serious expression, Liu Qinshu teased him a few more times. Unable to fend her off, Chu Chen could only laugh awkwardly and draw everyone's attention to the other Suanni statue.
After Old Liu examined the statue, he also felt that it was a great pity. The statue could still