Yun Mengyan said nothing throughout.
When Zhou Yu handed her the gift box, she did not even want to take it.
If she refused to accept it, the box would not be opened, and the wager between Zhou Yu and the others could not go on.
That would also help Zhou Yu save face.
Yet Zhou Yu completely ignored her hints and shoved the gift box directly into her hands.
Even if she wanted to help him save face now, it would be difficult.
"Come on, campus belle Yun, you can't show favoritism! Everyone is waiting for the result to be revealed, and it was Zhou Yu himself who proposed the bet with me just now! I certainly didn't force him!"
Li Qiang had expected Zhou Yu to produce something decent.
Upon seeing the casually wrapped blue velvet gift box, his heart was filled with mockery.
Just this! And he still wanted to compete with him? Was Zhou Yu determined to be utterly overmatched to the end?
"That's right, campus belle Yun, hurry up and open it! We're all waiting to admire Zhou Yu's luxurious gift!"
Yun Mengyan felt rather awkward.
"Whether a gift is expensive or not cannot represent a person's sincerity! Since I agreed to be his girlfriend, naturally his sincerity as a person is the most precious thing. How can it be measured by money?"
"Campus belle Yun, if you take back your words about being Zhou Yu's girlfriend, I might consider cutting Zhou Yu some slack!"
Li Qiang crossed his legs, looking immensely smug.
"Zhou Yu, stop making a scene! This is my birthday party, and you are not welcome here! Please leave!"
Su Yao's tone was stern, simply wanting to chase Zhou Yu out of the private room.
That way, the bet would be broken.
Zhou Yu, this is the only thing I can do to help you.
Su Yao sighed inwardly.
When Zhou Yu saw Su Yao's self-righteous expression of pity and attempted rescue, he found it utterly nauseating.
Not wanting to look at her any longer, he felt the suspense had been built up enough.
It was time to let these country bumpkins witness what real good stuff looked like.
He turned his head and motioned to Yun Mengyan, "Open it!"
Seeing that Zhou Yu insisted, Yun Mengyan had no way to stall any further, and her slender, delicate fingers slowly lifted the lid of the gift box.
The moment she saw what was inside, she snapped it shut immediately.
She looked at Zhou Yu in shock, unable to believe her eyes.
It was actually the Heart of the Ocean!
How could this be?
It was worth around a million, so how could Zhou Yu have something so expensive?
Fearing she had seen wrong, Yun Mengyan opened it again to confirm.
"Tsk tsk, it seems the gift is so precious that it's left our campus belle Yun too astonished to speak!"
Li Qiang laughed loudly.
Anyone could tell he was being sarcastic.
"Campus belle Yun, hurry up and show it to us! I'm practically itching to lose!"
"Hahaha..."
Most of the people around were waiting to see how miserably Zhou Yu would lose.
Su Yao frowned deeply. She couldn't understand why Zhou Yu hadn't listened to her and simply left.
Why did he insist on competing with Li Qiang?
Didn't he know his own financial standing?
A poor boy trying to measure wealth against a second-generation rich kid—wasn't that just asking for humiliation?
Could it be purely to win a smile from Yun Mengyan?
How pathetic!
Even she could tell that Yun Mengyan hadn't wanted things to be too ugly earlier and had tried to help Zhou Yu preserve his last shred of dignity.
Yet this man still stubbornly went his own way.
Was saving face really that important?
Listening to the mocking laughter in the private room, Yun Mengyan wore an unsightly expression.
She glanced coldly at a few people who were laughing the loudest, and the voices opposite her immediately quieted down.
"Hmph, Zhou Yu just got lucky to be chosen by the campus belle! And campus belle Yun too—of all people to fall for, she picks him!"
"I bet campus belle Yun is just playing with Zhou Yu. Don't worry, she'll definitely dump him in a couple of days! Or dump him the moment they walk out the door!"
"Haha, true!"
"Campus belle Yun, it won't do for you to keep defending Zhou Yu. A man has to keep his word! What do you say, Zhou Yu?"
Holding victory in his grasp, Li Qiang practically envisioned Zhou Yu running off with his tail between his legs.
He burst into hearty laughter!
"Since I proposed the bet, it has to be seen through to the end! Campus belle Yun, open it and let them see!"
Zhou Yu said nothing more.
Yun Mengyan looked at Li Qiang and the others with a strange expression.
She was very much looking forward to seeing their faces slapped by the Heart of the Ocean in a moment.
Her fair, slender fingers picked up the Heart of the Ocean.
First, everyone saw the necklace made of countless tiny diamonds; the craftsmanship of these small diamonds alone was worth a fortune.
When they saw the heavy blue heart-shaped diamond dangling at the end, the private room fell dead silent.
"This is impossible, absolutely impossible!"
Li Qiang was the first to leap to his feet, disbelief written all over his face.
Although he wasn't well-versed in jewelry appreciation, that didn't stop him from having a mother who was a fanatic about jewelry.
Every day, his mother held magazines featuring the Heart of the Ocean, marveling at how such a natural heart-shaped blue diamond could exist in the world, calling it an absolute rarity.
He remembered his mother saying that the Heart of the Ocean had been collected by a mysterious billionaire.
Even when others offered exorbitant sums asking the billionaire to exhibit it, they were ruthlessly refused.
If ordinary people wanted to admire the Heart of the Ocean, they could only do so through photographs.
Therefore, Zhou Yu's piece was definitely a fake!
As if finally finding a suitable excuse for himself, Li Qiang sneered, "Zhou Yu, if you want to win against me, at least use the real deal! Don't you think it's tacky to use a fake?"
Su Yao's infatuated gaze instantly cleared up. Though she desperately wanted to say that even if this Heart of the Ocean was fake—
With craftsmanship so lifelike, even as a fake, she would still love to have it.
That was, after all, a high-imitation piece of the Heart of the Ocean.
Could this be the gift Zhou Yu had prepared for her?
He had certainly put in some effort!
But looking from an LV bag to this high imitation, she decided she still preferred the real thing.
The others also came to a sudden realization: so it was a fake.
Their eyes filled with disdain.
Zhou Yu really would stop at nothing to win.
No wonder he had been so confident earlier about competing with Young Master Li Qiang.
He must have assumed no one present would recognize that it was fake, so he deliberately brought it out to bet with Li Qiang.
Little did he know that Li Qiang was well-traveled and knowledgeable, spotting the fake at a single glance.
"Ha! Zhou Yu, the real Heart of the Ocean is worth a million. May I ask where a poor boy like you got the money to buy this necklace? There's only one explanation: you brought a fake to fool everyone! No wonder you were so confident!"
"It's real!"
Yun Mengyan directly cut off Li Qiang, absolutely certain that this necklace was genuine.
Su Yao widened her eyes. How could that be?
Zhou Yu owned a million-dollar necklace, yet she had never known about it.
If Yun Mengyan wanted to protect Zhou Yu, she at least needed to have some sense of proportion.
"Campus belle Yun, you have to take responsibility for your words! Turning black into white like this is going to ruin Zhou Yu in the end!"
"Do you think I'm as ignorant as you? I say it's real, and naturally I have my reasons!"
Su Yao's face turned alternately green and white from being rebuffed by Yun Mengyan.
Her muscles twitching, she forced herself to say, "Fine, then please explain to everyone how you can prove the Heart of the Ocean is real!"
"The Heart of the Ocean—indeed, many people want to replicate it. But no matter how perfectly a natural object is replicated, it can never be duplicated one hundred percent. On the inside, at a special angle, you can see a tiny blank space that also forms the shape of a heart."
With that, Yun Mengyan pointed it out for the girls sitting nearby to see.
"It really is real! There really is a heart inside!"
After being verified by many people, the atmosphere in the private room turned subtle.
The one who regretted it the most was undoubtedly Su Yao!
That was supposed to have been given to her!