Chapter 107: So-Called Friends

Ding Chen had not seen many good things since young, and on the contrary, he could remain calm in front of this piece of jade. He saw that the two appraisers were also staring at the jade silently, so he said, “This is the thing that my sister mentioned that she was going to use as collateral to borrow money from Si Huan. After you identify the price of the jade, we will sign a loan contract with Si Huan.”

Ding Chen’s words broke the silence in the small courtyard. They all shifted their gazes from the jade pendant in the box to Ding Chen.

Mrs. Huo’s face was filled with disbelief. “How could your family have such a thing?”

Her words revealed her contempt for the Ding Family, which made Ding Chen very uncomfortable.

Ding Chen rebutted without giving in, “Why? Which law says that my family can’t have one or two valuable things? If we go a few generations back, my family might be even richer than your Huo Family!”

Mrs. Huo sneered. “Mr. Ding, don’t be dreaming. Our Huo Family has been a great family since the Song Dynasty. Which influential character is your Ding Family from?”

Ding Chen dug his ears and said shamelessly, “If you say you’re from an elite family, then so be it. Do you think I’ll believe you?”

“You! You…”

Ding Chen’s behavior made Mrs. Huo so angry that her face turned red. She pointed at Ding Chen and said “you” repeatedly for a long time, but she could not say a word.

Si Huan tried to smooth things over and said, “Uncle, let’s not argue about these meaningless things anymore. We should hurry up and appraise this jade pendant. I think Uncle Huo and Auntie Huo have been waiting for a long time. The sooner we pay back the debt to them, Uncle Huo and Auntie Huo won’t have to think about this anymore.”

Although Si Huan said this with a smile and his attitude looked polite, Mr. and Mrs. Huo didn’t like what they heard.

Mrs. Huo whispered into Mr. Huo’s ear, “Si Huan is indeed suitable to be with Huo Tian. He doesn’t even have any respect for us. Listen to what he’s saying. Isn’t he secretly mocking our Huo Family for being petty to keep thinking about the 20 million yuan debt?”

Mr. Huo glanced at Si Huan, who was talking to Huo Tian on the other side. Neither of their expressions changed as if they hadn’t heard Mrs. Huo’s words at all. He then felt a little relieved and gave Mrs. Huo a reproachful look. “Don’t speak nonsense.”

Although Huo Tian was a little far from Mr. and Mrs. Huo, her five senses were more sensitive than ordinary people. She still managed to hear Mrs. Huo’s words and whispered them back into Si Huan’s ear.

Huo Tian blinked and looked at Si Huan as if she had just complained to the teacher. She was then like a student who was carefully observing the teacher’s reactions.

To be honest, her straightforward manner of complaining was quite cute. Si Huan helped Huo Tian fix her hair that had been messed up by Ding Chen and said with a smile, “Thank you for telling me that they were talking bad about me. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have known.”

Huo Tian, who was praised, was very proud. She looked up and snorted. “The couple with the surname Huo is very good at putting on an act. You’re so simple and kindhearted, what if they deceive you?”

This was the first time Si Huan was evaluated as being simple and kindhearted. He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He wanted to correct Huo Tian’s understanding of him, but when he saw Huo Tian’s smug expression, he couldn’t bear to break the good impression she had of him.

In the end, Si Huan only smiled helplessly and said, “Thank you for worrying about me.”

Huo Tian patted Si Huan’s shoulder generously. “It’s okay, we’re friends. Moreover, you’re such a loyal person, so I have to treat you better.”

As the two of them were talking, Ding Chen quickly walked over. He listened for a long time and only felt relieved when he did not hear anything out of line.

However, Ding Chen was still unhappy to see Si Huan so close to his niece.

He snorted lightly and said in an eccentric tone, “The two of you have only not seen each other for a few days. Why do you have so much crap to say? They’re almost done with the appraisal of the jade pendant. Why don’t you two look like you care at all?”

Huo Tian didn’t realize that Ding Chen was deliberately separating her from Si Huan. She said frankly, “I don’t know anything about jade pendants, so why should I go over there and cause trouble for the appraisers? Anyway, no matter what the results are, Si Huan will definitely lend us this money, right?”

Huo Tian looked at Si Huan with trust in her eyes. Si Huan didn’t disappoint her either. He nodded and said, “Uncle, don’t worry. After the appraisal results are out, if this jade pendant’s value is less than 20 million, I will still lend you the money based on the value of 20 million. If its value exceeds 20 million, then it’d be collateralized based on its true value. Uncle, do you still not trust me?”

Ding Chen still had a lot of trust in Si Huan’s character. Although he was very disgusted by Si Huan’s tendency to get close to Huo Tian, he could not deny that Si Huan was a sincere and generous good friend.