Ma Lan was ecstatic!


The gifts from Zhenbao Pavilion were worth a fortune!


She didn’t know how much the antique vases were worth, but she knew about top-tier Moutai Feitian—a single bottle cost 30,000–40,000 yuan, and this was a case of twenty bottles! That alone was worth hundreds of thousands!


And the limited-edition Yellow Crane Tower cigarettes? A carton cost 5,000 yuan, and there were 50 cartons in this case—worth over 200,000 yuan!


Just these two items alone were worth over a million yuan!


Free gifts? Of course, she was keeping them!


Not to mention, those two VIP cards—they were a status symbol she could flaunt in front of her friends!


Xiao Churan saw Ma Lan’s greedy expression and sighed—


“Mom…”


Ma Lan glared at her.


“What? They’re giving us gifts, and I can’t accept them?”


Xiao Churan tried to reason—


“I just mean… we shouldn’t accept such expensive gifts without knowing the full story.”


Before Ma Lan could snap back, Ye Chen calmly interjected—


“It’s an apology gift. We should accept it.”


The Zhenbao Pavilion manager immediately let out a sigh of relief.


Before coming here, the Pavilion Master had told him—if Ye Chen refused the gifts, he might as well not come back.


Ye Chen glanced back at Ma Lan, who was already grinning ear to ear, happily dragging the cigarettes and liquor inside. She was examining the antique vases under the light, rubbing them like a miser counting gold coins.


Ye Chen could only shake his head.


He turned to the manager and said—


“Alright, you can leave now.”


“Understood, Mr. Ye. I won’t disturb you any further.”


As soon as Ye Chen closed the door and turned around, he froze.


The three people in the living room—Xiao Churan, Ma Lan, and Xiao Changkun—were all staring at him.


Six eyes, all locked onto him.


Ma Lan cleared her throat, forced a fake smile, and asked—


“Ye Chen… since when did you have connections at Zhenbao Pavilion? How did you get them to come over with such valuable gifts?”


Ye Chen shook his head.


“Mom, you’re mistaken. I don’t have any special connections with them. They apologized because of a mistake their staff made. The Pavilion Master values his reputation, so he sent these gifts to make amends.”


Ma Lan immediately deflated.


Her face dropped as she muttered—


“Tch… I thought you’d finally made something of yourself, like, got in with some big shots. Turns out it was just ‘good customer service’…”


Xiao Churan, however, remained skeptical.


Would Zhenbao Pavilion really give away such lavish gifts just to ‘make amends’ for a minor service issue?


But, since they had already accepted the gifts, there was no point in overthinking.


For now, at least Ma Lan was happy and wasn’t causing trouble for Ye Chen.


A Call from Qin Gang—Ye Chen’s Mysterious Warning Comes True


After dinner, Ye Chen was washing dishes in the kitchen when his phone rang.


The caller was Qin Gang, a wealthy businessman Ye Chen had met twice and helped before.


Qin Gang had even gifted Ye Chen a jade bracelet as thanks.


As soon as Ye Chen answered, Qin Gang’s voice was full of reverence—


“Master Ye!”


Ye Chen’s tone was calm—


“What is it?”


Qin Gang hurriedly said—


“Thanks to your guidance, my family’s luck has improved significantly these past few days! I can’t thank you enough—if it weren’t for you, my family would’ve faced disaster!”


Ye Chen chuckled lightly—


“Oh? Then why are you calling me now? If everything was smooth sailing, you wouldn’t be on the phone with me, would you?”


Qin Gang froze, then let out a nervous laugh—


“Master Ye, truly nothing escapes your insight…”


Ye Chen remained silent.


Qin Gang hesitated for a moment, then tremblingly pleaded—


“Master Ye, please save my family again! If you do, I—Qin Gang—will be eternally grateful!”


His voice trembled with genuine fear, as if he were facing an imminent catastrophe.


Ye Chen’s eyes narrowed.


“The jade piece shattered, didn’t it?”


Qin Gang gasped in shock.


“Master Ye, your abilities are truly divine! You got it exactly right!”


His voice was filled with absolute awe as he explained—


“Originally, I followed your instructions to the letter. I placed the jade piece on the family altar and ordered everyone in the household to abstain from eating meat for seven days, avoiding bloodshed at all costs.”


“But my idiot nephew, Qin Aodong, secretly ate pigeon soup and accidentally spilled pigeon blood onto the jade piece… The moment the blood touched it, the jade shattered into pieces!”


“I was furious! I beat him and locked him up at home, but since then, strange things have been happening!”


Ye Chen frowned.


“What kind of strange things?”


“Last night, during a fierce thunderstorm, a massive bolt of lightning struck the hundred-year-old osmanthus tree in our courtyard, completely charring it.”


“As if that wasn’t enough, our ancestral tablets in the shrine inexplicably fell to the ground and broke in half!”


“Master Ye, I know this is a catastrophic omen! Please help us!”


Ye Chen’s expression darkened.


According to feng shui principles, an osmanthus tree in the courtyard symbolizes prosperity and fortune.


If it’s struck by lightning and destroyed, it foretells the ruin of the family.


Even worse, the ancestral tablets breaking signified total destruction—a clear warning that the Qin family was facing extinction.


Qin Gang’s voice trembled even more—


“Master Ye, the Qin family has never done evil. We have always conducted business ethically… Please, have mercy and save us!”


Ye Chen sighed slightly.


“Qin Gang, it’s not that I don’t want to help you. But the jade’s evil energy is too strong. Your nephew carried it for years, allowing the malevolent energy to seep into your home. Now that the jade has shattered, the suppressed evil energy has erupted—ordinary talismans can’t contain it anymore.”


Qin Gang wailed in despair—


“Then what do we do? My nephew has doomed our entire family!”


Ye Chen calmly said—


“Since the jade’s curse was activated by hot pigeon blood, its evil energy has grown extremely volatile. The only way to suppress it now is by using a powerful natural artifact—one of the rarest treasures in existence.”


Qin Gang gritted his teeth—


“Master Ye, whatever it is, I’ll get it! Even if I have to sell everything I own!”


Ye Chen thought for a moment, then said—


“I’ll be attending Zhenbao Pavilion’s upcoming auction tomorrow. I’ll see if there’s any suitable spiritual artifact for you. But whether I find one or not… that depends on your luck.”


Qin Gang immediately agreed—


“Master Ye, I will send you a black card first thing tomorrow! Whatever you need, just use it!”


Ye Chen nodded.


Since he was helping Qin Gang, it was only fair that Qin Gang foot the bill.


Before ending the call, he warned—


“Be mentally prepared. Natural artifacts are extremely rare. Whether we find one depends entirely on fate.”


Qin Gang kept thanking him repeatedly, treating Ye Chen like a divine savior.


Ye Chen sighed.


Qin Gang was actually a decent man.


But his nephew—Qin Aodong—was a walking disaster.


If Ye Chen didn’t intervene, within a year, the entire Qin family would be wiped out.


Not just Qin Gang and Qin Aodong… but even Qin Aoxue, that beautiful, fiery woman, would also perish.