Chen Nan felt like crying.
Faced with such a shockingly outspoken old man, anyone would struggle to respond.
"Chen Nan, Grandpa has accepted your gift. No need for more words. Remember to visit us often in the future!" Old Master Jian said, his face flushed with joy.
Although the jade cicada was a burial artifact, he knew that Chen Nan had transformed decay into the miraculous.
After all, this was an extraordinary man of the present age.
"It would be fine if you lived in Jizhou, but you insist on living in your old home in the countryside. How can he have the time to visit you there?" Jian Ning's tone held a hint of complaint.
"Is that even a problem? As the saying goes, as long as your thinking doesn't slip, there will always be more solutions than difficulties." Old Master Jian chuckled. "Can't I just move to Jizhou to live?"
Upon hearing this, Jian Ning and her father looked ecstatic.
They had always wanted the old master to come and live in the city.
In contrast, Jian Jianjun looked reluctant.
"Alright, alright. Eldest and second sons, accompany me back to pack. We'll move to Jizhou City to live today." Old Master Jian laughed heartily. "Ning'er, we don't have a single penny for consultation fees on us. You stay behind to treat Chen Nan to a meal as thanks for saving my life!"
Jian Jianjun said, "Dad, I have money."
Old Master Jian directly shot him a cold glare. "No, you don't. You have nothing. Even if you did, it would be worthless!"
Jian Jianjun quickly retracted his neck.
"Grandson-in-law, remember to visit us often!"
After getting into the car, Old Master Jian still waved towards Chen Nan.
It was as if Chen Nan had already become his grandson-in-law.
After the car drove away, Old Master Jian's face immediately turned serious, and he admonished his eldest son, "From now on, refuse anyone who tries to set up Ning'er with a suitor. Reject all toads with improper intentions towards her. You must do everything in your power to foster her relationship with Chen Nan!"
Jian Jianjun said awkwardly, "Dad, I don't think Chen Nan has any intentions towards Ning'er. Otherwise, he wouldn't have stood by and watched yesterday when my elder brother was in trouble."
Old Master Jian snorted coldly. "If he had no good feelings for Ning'er, why would he have given her a protective charm? Such a treasure is extremely valuable even within the Xuanmen, being priceless and unavailable on the market!"
Jian Jianjun asked curiously, "Dad, what is Xuanmen?"
"Xuanmen belongs to the martial world, yet it transcends it," Old Master Jian said, a look of reminiscence on his face.
"In my younger days, when I traveled all over, I had dealings with people from Xuanmen."
"Those people possessed extraordinary abilities, capable of anything, and were beings who cultivated immortality and sought enlightenment."
"It's no exaggeration to say they were superior to all sentient beings."
Old Master Jian had endured much hardship in his younger years.
He had constantly traveled far and wide.
Eventually, he got into the jade business.
Because he had accumulated quite a network, his jade business did reasonably well.
As he grew older and Jian Jianjun proved to be capable, he handed over the company to him.
After that, he returned to his rural home to live a leisurely life.
The brothers gasped in unison, "Are there really immortals in the world?"
Old Master Jian shook his head. "Whether there are immortals, I don't know. That is a question for cultivators to explore."
"So, Chen Nan is a cultivator?" Jian Jianjun felt a tingling sensation all over his scalp.
Recalling their conversation from yesterday, he wished he could slap himself.
A cultivator, who was so high and mighty, was treated as a toad by him?
Let alone Chen Nan standing by and watching.
The fact that he didn't kill him on the spot was already due to his daughter's sake.
"He definitely is!" Old Master Jian stated with certainty. "Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to purify this jade cicada in an instant."
"Therefore, the only way to change the fortune of our Jian family is to be bound to Chen Nan."
"If Chen Nan can become our Jian family's son-in-law, the fortune of our Jian family will surely reach its peak."
"Our ancestors' graves might even smoke with prosperity!"
Jian Jianhua nervously raised his hand. "Dad, may I interject?"
"Speak."
Jian Jianhua said awkwardly, "Actually, Chen Nan isn't as omnipotent as you think."
"Just based on what I know, yesterday I gave him two hundred thousand to leave Ning'er, but instead, he spent the two hundred thousand to buy a painting from a middle-aged woman in the market."
Old Master Jian frowned. "And then?"
Jian Jianhua said as a matter of course, "It must be fake!"
"Are you splitting hairs?" Old Master Jian was furious. "How can you be so sure it's fake? What if it's a genuine piece?"
Jian Jianhua chuckled. "There are many men and women dressed like villagers in the market who sell their items at high prices by fabricating stories. You, old man, are more aware of this than I am, aren't you?"
Old Master Jian's eyes blazed with anger. "What if it's real?"
Jian Jianhua laughed. "I heard Chen Nan went to Old Qi at Mo Xuan Pavilion after buying the painting. If it's real, we can just call Old Qi and ask him, right?"
"You lost face in front of Chen Nan today, so you're deliberately trying to find something to bring him down, aren't you?" Knowing his son well, Old Master Jian sneered.
"You must be thinking that, because you don't want to admit Chen Nan's excellence."
"No, you don't want to admit you're blind!"
"Am I wrong to argue about this point?" Jian Jianhua also became angry. "Because of Chen Nan, my daughter and I had a huge argument. And you, old man, made a match without my consent."
"I tolerated all of this because I couldn't change the final decision! But you, old man, can't deprive me of the right to question his abilities, can you?"
Jian Jianhua knew that all of this was his own doing. He also knew Chen Nan was an extraordinary person. But he just couldn't accept that Chen Nan was good at everything.
Old Master Jian sighed. "No one is perfect. That's normal. There's no need to argue about him being swindled out of twenty thousand yuan."
"So, you admit that he also has shortcomings?" For the first time in an argument with his father, Jian Jianhua felt quite pleased.
"But even if you admit it, it's useless. We have to call Old Qi personally to ask about the authenticity of that painting and see how much it's worth."
Jian Jianhua became more and more excited. "If Chen Nan really becomes my son-in-law, wouldn't I need to hold some leverage over him to control him?"
"I can't let him ride roughshod over me, can I?"
Saying this, he picked up his phone, intending to call Old Qi at Mo Xuan Pavilion.
However.
Before he could even make the call, Old Qi rang him.
"Speak of the devil, and he shall appear!" Jian Jianhua smiled and answered the phone. "Old Qi, I was just about to call you..."
"I'll speak first, I'll speak first." Old Qi said excitedly. "Jianhua, I've booked the Jade Hall at Dongpeng Hotel. Come over tonight. I'm treating you to a meal."
Jian Jianhua: "Oh, why are you treating people to a meal out of the blue? Is there any good news at home?"
Old Qi smiled. "No major good news, just that yesterday I acquired a masterpiece. Ah, it's a painting by Liu Gongquan, a replica of the 'Sending Off the Son of Heaven' by the painting sage Wu Daozi."
Jian Jianhua gasped. "Holy crap, is it genuine?"
Old Qi: "What do you think I do for a living? Could it be fake?"
Jian Jianhua gulped. "From whom did you acquire this painting? Did it cost a lot?"
Old Qi: "I spent ten million yuan to buy it from a young man named Chen Nan."
"Let me tell you, this guy is no ordinary fellow."
"Can you imagine that he found that 'Sending Off the Son of Heaven' painting for twenty thousand yuan?"
"Twenty thousand for ten million, can you handle that?"