Chapter 339 This is Fake!
They brought many gifts, and as they sat down, they realized that Phillipe and the Allen family were also there, exchanging pleasantries.
"Calla, you haven't presented your gift to Grandma yet…" Mr. Allen reminded with a smile.
Calla took out an exquisite gift box from her bag and offered it with both hands,
"Grandma, I'm so glad you are awake. This is the birthday present I wanted to give you a long time ago, but then something happened to you... Today, I finally have the chance to give it to you in person... You must accept it!"
"How can I accept a younger family member's gift, especially since it's not even my birthday…" Madam Bourbon waved away, smiling, without accepting the gift.
But Calla kept holding out the gift, "Grandma, please open it and have a look, I’m sure you’ll like it."
Mrs. Wentworth, curious, encouraged, “Madam, since the young lady is so thoughtful, why not just have a glance at it!”
"Yes, let us see what wonderful item it is!" Mrs. Talbot, who had always been on good terms with the Allen family, was keen to support them.
Madam Bourbon thought, since the gift was offered, she would take a look and then return it, which would keep the younger family member from losing face...
With Mr. Bourbon's assistance, she opened it to find a set of high-grade chess pieces and a luminous, transparent chessboard!
"It’s a jade Go set!" Calla explained.
"This is truly a top-notch item!!"
Mrs. Wentworth and Mrs. Talbot exclaimed with surprise, not expecting such generosity from a member of the younger generation...
Nor did they expect that someone so young would have the means to purchase such an item...
Such high-level jade is incredibly rare; with flaws, uneven color, cracks, or too small a size, these imperfections would render the material unsuitable for carving...
It was said that just selecting the material for these chess pieces took three years.
Then, carving the 361 pieces took another three years, all handcrafted...
Each piece valued at two hundred thousand dollars!!
What’s more, once this Go set was made public, it caused a frenzy among Go collectors, and eventually, it was famously purchased by Mr. Wodehouse for the price of 180 million dollars, and he has held it ever since...
It was unavailable for purchase by anyone else...
Unable to contain her curiosity, Mrs. Wentworth asked, “Calla, how did you acquire it?”
Madam Bourbon looked at the Go board before her with incredulity. It was unimaginable that Calla could have purchased this board from Mr. Wodehouse...
Just then, Abella returned, finding two additional guests in the living room.
Mrs. Wentworth and Mrs. Talbot were also taken aback; they never expected another girl to emerge in River Park, especially one whom they had never seen before!
"Is Abella back?" Madam Bourbon introduced with a smile, "Let me introduce her to you; this is my granddaughter-in-law, Abella..."
Granddaughter-in-law? Mrs. Wentworth and Mrs. Talbot found it even harder to believe.
Where had this little girl come from, and how had she replaced Lola as the granddaughter-in-law of the Bourbon family?
Surely, her strategy was nothing short of formidable.
And with Calla still there, it was previously thought, since Phillipe showed no interest in Lola, that Calla had the best shot...
Unexpectedly...
"Abella, this is Mrs. Wentworth, and this is Mrs. Talbot," Madam Bourbon continued with a warm introduction.
Abella nodded at them and smiled slightly, "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Wentworth; Mrs. Talbot."
"Hello, hello..." Mrs. Wentworth noticed that ever since Abella had returned, Phillipe had wrapped his arms around her waist, seemingly very affectionate towards the girl.
Mrs. Talbot even spotted Phillipe leaning towards Abella to whisper something in her ear, to which Abella responded in a soft murmur.
They appeared just like a couple deeply in love!
No one expected that the granddaughter-in-law of the Bourbon family would change so suddenly...
To rapidly win over the old master and his wife, and even Phillipe, who was the most difficult to please...
This girl's tact could no longer be merely described as formidable...
"To be the granddaughter-in-law of the Bourbon family, you must be exceptional! Why don't you take a look at this set of Go pieces... what do you think of the craftsmanship? Attractive or not?"
Mrs. Wentworth proposed, seizing the opportunity to probe the girl's family background.
If she was from a well-to-do family, she would surely recognize the origin and value of the Go set...
If she was from a poor background, she would undoubtedly fail to see its worth...
Abella glanced at it only once before calmly stating, "It's quite ordinary, nothing special."
Her words struck like a thunderbolt, leaving everyone in shock! How could she call such a priceless Go set ordinary, with nothing special about it?!
She must indeed come from poverty! Completely unexposed to the finer things!
Calla was nearly driven to laughter by irritation, "It seems Miss Medici is unaware of the value of this Go set."
"This is the renowned He Jade Go set, once purchased by a collector for the sum of 180 million U.S. dollars…" Mrs. Wentworth couldn't help but interject in an attempt to diffuse the tension.
"Considering your youth, you probably haven't had much exposure to the world of Go…" Mrs. Talbot said indifferently.
"This isn't a jade Go set," Abella stated coolly. "Not the one you're referring to atleast."
Her words stunned everyone present...
What did she say??
It isn't jade??
Impossible!!!
How can she be so sure??
They all questioned Abella’s assessment of the Go set.
"The jade of a Go set should be translucent and dazzlingly lustrous. Clearly, this is a forgery." Abella stated with confidence.
Mr. Allen felt his face burning with indignation at her words, shooting her a reproachful glance, "Nonsense!" he said with his voice slightly raised.
If it weren't for the presence of Mr. and Madam Bourbon, he might have slammed the table in anger!
To declare in front of all these people that the item Calla purchased was a fake was completely embarrassing to the Allen family name.
Utterly preposterous!
Was she relying on her future status as a granddaughter-in-law of the Bourbon family to spew such nonsense?
Was she taking herself too seriously?!
Hearing Abella's claim, Calla was livid too, but she maintained her composure, smiling as she asked, "Miss Medici, can you discern its authenticity just by eyeing it?"
Abella lifted her gaze, assertively speaking out, "I can tell it's not genuine just by hearing about it, not by listening to the chess pieces themselves, or any further analysis."
Calla, pushed to the brink of anger, could only laugh, "You make such interesting claims, Miss Medici. These chess pieces don't move, so how can you listen? With your heart?"
Upon hearing this, Mrs. Wentworth and Mrs. Talbot couldn't contain their amusement, and snickered ever so slightly.
This young girl, attempting to impress Mr. and Madam Bourbon, surely wasn't going about it in the right way!
The audacity to claim she could discern the authenticity of chess pieces by listening to them?!
“Then, by all means, do 'listen' and show everyone!” Calla retorted.
"What I mean by listening," Abella responded, looking Calla in the eye with unflinching candor,
"Is listening to you speak, not the chess pieces. It was Mrs. Wentworth who asked for my opinion of the Go set. I merely told the truth. If Miss Allen feels offended, that wasn't my intention."
Calla had never encountered such a presumptuous girl.
"You say it's real, then do you have any evidence?" Abella asked.
Evidence? Indeed, she had some, it would just take a little time to gather. So, Calla chose a counter argument instead.
"You claim the chess set is fake; how did you come to that conclusion?" Calla asked defiantly, "Merely based on the color you mentioned?"
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