Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“This is mine and I can gift it to whoever I want. What does deserving it or not have anything to do with it?” Gu Yanran looked at Gu Nianzhi with an amused face, her happiness unparalleled. Just seeing the admiration and desire in Gu Nianzhi’s eyes made Gu Yanran feel that this gift was worth giving…
Everyone in the hall witnessed this and whispered quietly to each other.
“That pink diamond crown looks pretty expensive…”
“Right, it must be a famous object. I also have a few pieces of pink diamond jewelry but their color is no comparison to this.”
Everyone in the room had refined taste. Since Gu Yanran had given such a huge gift, it was no wonder that the Prime Minister’s family was being friendly with her.
Gu Nianzhi chuckled. Cocking her head to study the pink diamond on Tan Guiren’s head, she said, “Is that so? Did Father really give it to you? But I think this pink diamond crown is a high-end replica, so why would Father give a replica to you?”
High-end replica? The faces of all the people in the hall fell when they heard this. Some people even believed it right away since the Tans had a history of wearing high-end replicas… In the case of Tan Guiren’s mother, Cai Songyin, one of her past charges was related to acquiring a high-end replica of trademarked jewelry. Although Gu Yanran got involved afterward to purchase the trademark rights, a fake was still a fake. Wearing a fake was considered taboo in their social circle. Though the people in the hall didn’t speak loudly, they didn’t attempt to suppress their voice either. She instantly became furious and her face fell as she said to Gu Nianzhi, “Little Sister, you just told me to not say things without evidence to back up them up, so why are you spouting nonsense now?”
“Since Sister is saying that, does that prove that you were spouting nonsense and slandering me earlier?” Gu Nianzhi broke into a smile, her plump lips curving into a pleasant shape. Her lips were pearly and glowing, and her entire person seemed to be submerged in the ethereal moonlight. “And I never spouted nonsense. Sister, how would you prove that this pink diamond crown is authentic and not a high-end replica?”
Gu Yanran sneered at her. “Why do I need to prove it to you? Also, high-end replica–do you even know what this is? High-end replica, what nonsense!”
“Of course I know what this is.” Gu Nianzhi walked around Tan Guiren, her voice suddenly becoming so crisp and loud that the entire hall could hear her clearly. “This pink diamond crown’s style is the exact same pink diamond crown that belonged to Catherine the Great.”
“Catherine the Great’s crown?! That’s a royal crown!” The people in the hall began to grow excited and some people even picked up their phones to take photos of the pink diamond crown on Tan Guiren’s head.
“Hmm? I didn’t think you would be so knowledgeable.” Gu Yanran raised a brow. “To tell you the truth, this was a gift from my father especially bought from Christie’s Auctions on my birthday. I still have the invoice from Christie’s at home. High-end replica? Why would the Gu household wear replicas?”
“Haha, so what if you have an invoice? Can’t invoices be faked?” Gu Nianzhi raised a finger to shake as she said nonchalantly, “I once saw a case of full-service fakery. I know for a fact that not only the invoice but even a receipt from the top tier American department store Neiman Marcus can be fabricated!”
“You keep going on and on, but you’re just angry that I gave this crown to Little Darling.” Gu Yanran smiled triumphantly when she spied Gu Nianzhi’s look of desire. She mimicked Gu Nianzhi by shaking her finger. “Little Sister, I know you like this crown, but I didn’t think you deserved it, so I gave it to someone who does.”
“Really? So it’s not because you think you don’t deserve it that you don’t dare to wear it? And you could only give it to someone else to curry favor?” Gu Nianzhi was unperturbed. Folding her hands behind her back, she stared at Tan Guiren. “There’s a simple way to prove if this was something purchased from Christie’s Auctions. We can just look at the serial number. If the pink diamond crown is an authentic item purchased from Christie’s Auctions, there must be a serial number on it.”
Gu Yanran began to hesitate when she heard this. She had never seen any serial numbers on the pink diamond crown before… Could it be fake? Impossible! How could Father buy a fake?!
Gu Nianzhi saw that Gu Yanran had stopped speaking, so she turned to Tan Guiren. “Miss Tan, can you let me take a look at your pink diamond crown? I’ll determine if it’s real or not. With all these people watching us, you don’t have to worry about it being damaged at all.”
Tan Guiren liked the pink diamond crown a lot and she also didn’t believe an affluent family like the Gus would buy a high-end replica, so she graciously took it off her head to pass to Gu Nianzhi. “Have a look at it. I think it’s real. This center diamond’s clarity and color are too wonderful, I don’t think it could possibly be a high-end replica.”
When Gu Nianzhi accepted the pink diamond crown from Tan Guiren, she felt her heart nearly stop. Her breathing halted as she carefully cradled the pink diamond crown in her hands. At that moment, she could almost feel her parent’s caring smiles and their gentle, loving hearts. It pierced through the clouds of time and enveloped her, warm and caring. In the bustling throngs of people in the crowd, the noisy voices all vanished and the only thing left in the world was this pink diamond tiara. It was magnified endlessly in her eyes. This was a gift from Father… Gu Nianzhi’s delicate fingers rested on the pink diamond crown, so pale they were nearly transparent.
“Stunned from looking?” Gu Yanran smirked. “You must’ve never seen authentic good things if you think such a wonderful piece is a high-end replica.”
Gu Nianzhi composed herself, quickly glancing at Gu Yanran before lifting up the pink diamond crown to look at its inside edge. The inside of the crown glittered and was nearly transparent… there was no engraving at all! She couldn’t even see the serial number! Gu Nianzhi’s heart sank. Could this pink diamond crown really be a high-end replica?! She clearly remembered that the backdoor records on Christies’ website noted that the buyer had once requested a diamond engraver to engrave a message on it! If she couldn’t find that engraving, then there was no way she could reclaim this pink diamond crown! At that moment, Gu Nianhzhi’s fiercely brainstormed a way to solve the mystery.
“Serial numbers for Christie’s Auctions aren’t on the actual auctioned item, but the invoice.” Gu Yanran had played with the thing for so many years now and naturally knew where the serial was located. “See, it’s this one.” She even took out her phone to display the invoice she saved. She had also printed a copy of the invoice when she gave Tan Guiren the gift as evidence. Ever since Cai Songyin had received high-end replica jewelry as a gift, she had a newfound appreciation for knowing the source of a gift. Prime Minister Tan had examined the evidence of purchase to ensure there would be no legal problems before allowing Tan Guiren to accept the gift. She never thought she could take it out as evidence, so Gu Yanran’s low spirits finally improved.
Gu Nianzhi only took one glance at Gu Yanan’s phone to memorize the 18-digit serial number. It was indeed the same one she saw on the record on the Christie’s Auction website. This meant that the pink diamond crown was a rare treasure that Gu Xiangwen bought from Christie’s Auctions 18 years ago. But why couldn’t she see the serial number and engraving? In a moment of panic, Gu Nianzhi felt her heart tremble when she recalled how Huo Shaoheng had used some free time to teach her methods of reading invisible handwriting. These methods were largely used in espionage work, but he also mentioned that auction houses would engrave unique serial numbers when they sold one-of-a-kind treasures. In order to not damage the appearance of these treasures, the auction houses would use a type of invisible engraving art that could not be seen by the naked eye. Only by using special lighting and shining on it from a certain angle could the serial number be revealed. Gu Nianzhi had an idea and turned to Tan Guiren. “Miss Tan, can I borrow your projector for a moment?”
“Projector? Oh? I don’t know if there is one here…” Tan Guiren said awkwardly and looked towards Gu Yanran. Gu Yanran had been like a housekeeper of the Prime Minister’s Office for two weeks now so she clearly knew things that even Tan Gurien didn’t.
But before waiting for Gu Yanran to reply, Gu Nianzhi had already called out to the female staff member pushing the cable cart and asked, “Can I borrow the projector?” There was a projector in the Prime Minister’s official residence and Gu Nianzhi had even seen Prime Minister Dou’s family play a video of Dou Qingyan studying abroad on it the last time she was here.
The female staff member glanced at Tan Gurien. Tan Guiren sighed and replied permissively, “If there is one, please give it to Miss Gu.”
The female staff member nodded and took out a radio to call a staff member and tell them to bring the projector over and set it up. Soon after, the projector was set up. A large white screen lowered from one wall in the hall and faced the projector. Gu Nianzhi adjusted the projector and turned on the light before placing the pink diamond crown in front of it, slowly adjusting the angle. On the white screen, a brilliant pink diamond crown appeared and began to turn continuously.
Frowning, Gu Tanran said unhappily, “Little Sister, what are you doing? Careful not to damage the crown. I already gave it away, so if you break it you’ll have to pay for it.”
Gu Nianzhi ignored her so she could focus on adjusting the angle of the crown under the projector’s light. When she turned it to a certain position, blurry lettering appeared on the inside of the pink diamond crown on the screen! Then the words slowly focused so that each number could be clearly seen, and then flowery script also appeared! Sharp gasps were heard inside the hall and even Gu Yanran was shocked by the sight. On the white screen, an 18-digit serial appeared on the inside of the greatly magnified pink diamond crown. This was the pink diamond crown’s serial number. Right after the numbers appeared, a sentence in a floral script could be seen. It said, “To Cereus, my little darling.” The record she saw online finally materialized physically before her eyes and Gu Nainzhi’s eyes turned red. Her crisp voice had a harsh edge to it, “Sister, everyone knows my English name is Cereus and yours is Jasmine. There are records of this on identification like passports. What right do you have to claim that this pink diamond crown was gifted to you by Father?!”
