A Birthday Banquet Gift: The Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea Worth a Billion

The original Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea?

Lu Yuan took out his phone and searched Baidu. The results showed that a single one of these things would be valued at least a billion yuan today.

At that value, it would be just right as a gift, more than enough to show his sincerity and give him face.

Soon, the day of Lu Yuan's grandfather's birthday banquet arrived.

Luxury cars filled the area outside the Lu Family residence in Magic City. People from every walk of life had made time to travel from home especially for Lu Yuan's grandfather's birthday banquet.

Just then, a flashy Maserati pulled up beside Lu Yuan's family. A slightly plump woman with green hair stepped out. She was Lu Yuan's older cousin, Lu Bingbing.

"Little cousin! Go park my car, and while you're at it, get the things out of the trunk and carry them inside for me." Lu Bingbing took out a car key and tossed it into Lu Yuan's hand.

Lu Yuan said unhappily, "It's not like you don't have hands and feet. Why should I do what you tell me?"

At that, Lu Bingbing's mother took offense and looked at Lu Yuan's parents. "Is this how you usually raise your child? He really doesn't know how to speak. Children from these humble little households are just ill-mannered."

The other cousins chimed in:

"Lu Yuan, it's your good fortune that your cousin asked you to help her park and unload her car. Don't you know how poor your family is? You're poor and you still don't know how to act. Your family deserves to be a bunch of paupers for life!"

"Yeah, he can't read the room at all. He's destined to be poor his whole life."

His cousin Lu Bingbing smugly waved her wallet and bragged to Lu Yuan, "Little cousin! I'm Director Yang's woman now, over at Yida Shopping Mall. I've got plenty of money. Serve me well, and it's not like I won't give you a tip."

Heh, the woman of a Yida Shopping Mall director? My subordinate's woman was showing off in front of me? Lu Yuan badly wanted to laugh, but his expression remained utterly calm. "Heh! I don't need the few measly scraps of money you're offering."

Lu Bingbing's face instantly fell. "Heh! Fine, Lu Yuan, you've got a backbone. What a waste of your cousin's good intentions. I only wanted to help you, but you just won't make anything of yourself!"

The Lu Family relatives also began bombarding Lu Yuan's parents. "Second Brother! This is the child you raised? If he has no sense at all, why bring him here? Did you bring him here to disgrace himself and let everyone laugh at our Lu Family?"

Lu Yuan's father looked somewhat helpless as he explained, "Lu Yuan isn't the same as he used to be. He's made something of himself too!"

Just then, a sleazy man beside his cousin Lu Bingbing sneered. "I heard Bingbing say your Lu Yuan didn't even finish middle school, did he? With barely any schooling, how much could he possibly have made of himself?"

The sleazy man was the current director of Yida Shopping Mall. However, before Yida Shopping Mall became Lu Yuan's property, he had been on leave, honeymooning with Lu Bingbing, and did not know that Lu Yuan was the current chairman.

Lu Yuan's younger sister, Lu Shishi, was furious. "Heh, you've had so much schooling. Is that where you learned to look down on people for their education?"

Lu Yuan tugged at his sister Lu Shishi and said, "Enough, Shishi. Let's not bother with this dog for now. Once the birthday banquet is over, I'll deal with him."

"Who the fuck are you calling a dog?" The sleazy man was furious and wanted to teach Lu Yuan a lesson on the spot.

His cousin Lu Bingbing tugged at the sleazy man. "Come on, honey, why lower yourself to a good-for-nothing's level? We're here for my maternal grandfather's birthday banquet today. Don't let this good-for-nothing spoil the old man's mood."

Only then did the sleazy man let it go. "Fine! I'm only letting him off for Grandfather's sake."

The group entered the Lu Family mansion and found their seats.

The guests from all sides began presenting their birthday gifts:

"The Jin Family of Magic City presents a pair of golden turtles, wishing Old Master Lu boundless longevity and vigor in his old age."

"The Yu Family of Magic City presents a gift of one million yuan!"

"The Zhao Family of Magic City presents a set of calligraphy works worth twenty million yuan..."

After the people from all walks of life had finished presenting their gifts, it was the Lu Family's turn. Lu Yuan's older cousin Lu Zhiqiang presented a gift box with both hands. "Grandpa, I present you with a century-old wild ginseng root. May you live to a hundred and grow younger with every passing year."

The director beside his cousin Lu Bingbing also offered a bank card. "The two of us present Grandpa with ninety-nine million nine hundred and ninety thousand yuan. May your blessings be as vast as the Eastern Sea and your life as long as the Southern Mountain."

After his older cousins presented their gifts, the assembled guests immediately broke into applause and praise:

"Old Master Lu's grandson and granddaughter are each more filial than the last. They really make old folks like us envious, haha!"

"Old Master Lu's granddaughter is truly outstanding. She actually married a director of Yida Shopping Mall, and the director of Yida Shopping Mall is a fine-looking man too!"

After this chorus of flattery and ingratiation, Lu Bingbing looked toward Lu Yuan. "Little cousin, it's Grandpa's birthday today. What are you planning to give him? Don't tell me you didn't prepare a gift?"

Seeing that Lu Yuan was empty-handed, the sleazy man joined in the attack. "Lu Yuan, even if you're poor, you should still keep Grandpa in your heart, shouldn't you?"

The old man in the seat of honor also looked at Lu Yuan with displeasure. The offspring his second son had fathered with that poor, lowly woman had only come to disgrace him.

If he hadn't been afraid of losing face, the old man would have very much liked to tell Lu Yuan's family to leave.

Lu Yuan took the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea, which he had prepared long ago, out of his pocket and slowly unrolled it. As the painting opened, the scent of ink and the distinctive aroma of aged paper made everyone feel as though they had returned to an ancient academy.

Every stroke in the painting was lifelike and remarkably expressive.

Lu Yuan snorted coldly. "Who said I didn't prepare a gift?"

Many prominent figures were present at the birthday banquet, and there was no shortage of people with a discerning eye and broad knowledge. They cried out in astonishment, "Th-this is actually the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea!"

The guests at the scene asked curiously, "Is it worth a lot?"

"Of course it's valuable. This painting was carved from tiger bone by a famous ancient master carver and presented to the venerable Empress Dowager Cixi as a birthday gift. It used seventy-three pieces of tiger bone in all, and Cixi herself happened to die at seventy-three. It even has the power of prophecy. Today, it could be called a priceless treasure!"

Hearing the history of the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea, the Lu Family's old master began swallowing hard. He stared longingly at the painting, wanting to get his hands on it later and admire it at leisure.

Lu Bingbing frowned and looked at Lu Yuan. "You make fifty thousand a month. Where did you get the money to buy something so expensive on that little salary?"

Lu Yuan was just about to speak when the sleazy director scoffed. "Bingbing, he definitely couldn't afford it, so he bought a fake to fool the old man. He simply has no regard for the old man at all."

The sleazy man snatched the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea, tore it in half down the middle, and threw it on the ground. "How dare you deceive Grandfather? Grandfather won't accept this kind of junk."

After quietly watching the sleazy man's performance, Lu Yuan said to him calmly, "You tore my painting. You're in trouble now, big trouble!"