When she returned home after meticulously dressing up, the members of the Lin Family's eyes all lit up.
They had originally thought she would become depressed after her divorce from Gu Yuan, but they never expected her to pull herself together so quickly and dive back into her career.
"My daughter is just so pretty!" Li Xiuqin said with a smile, taking her hand. "In this world, whoever gets to marry my daughter is blessed beyond measure!"
"Indeed, Sister, you are one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen," Lin Lei praised sincerely.
Lin Xiangyu couldn't help chuckling and teased, "Then who is the greatest beauty in the world?"
"Hehe, of course it was the time last—" Lin Lei almost blurted it out, suddenly remembering the actress Gu Yuan had brought along.
That girl was indeed astonishingly beautiful, looking as if she had stepped right out of a painting, truly captivating.
Midway through his sentence, however, he suddenly noticed the expressions on his mother and sister's faces turn extraordinarily grim, like the heavy sky before a storm.
Although Li Xiuqin admitted in her heart that the woman by Gu Yuan's side was indeed exceptional, she would never acknowledge it in front of Lin Xiangyu.
"Pretty, so what? Can it be eaten as a meal?" Li Xiuqin forced down the turmoil in her heart and said sharply, "That good-for-nothing Gu Yuan, who knows where he dug up that silly girl? Her looks aren't bad, but instead of looking for a good job, she insists on getting mixed up with a convict like him. Compared to you in her career, she is nothing at all."
The rest of the Lin family chimed in, showering Lin Xiangyu with praise for her achievements: "Our Lin Xiangyu is a powerhouse in the workplace and doesn't need to rely on others. That woman is nothing more than a fraud; how could she possibly compare to Lin Xiangyu?"
"Lin Lei, you should learn from your sister and not bring shame upon the Lin family," the elders lectured.
Looking a bit embarrassed, Lin Lei immediately agreed, "Right, Second Uncle is right. Sister, don't pay any attention to those people. Young Master Gao is going to introduce you to the Four Great Families, and by then our Lin Family will definitely rise to even greater heights."
"That's right, by then that loser Gu Yuan will only be able to envy us." The Lin family continued to find fault with Gu Yuan, as if merely mentioning him could deflect their internal family conflicts.
Yet, little did they know that every time they brought up Gu Yuan, it pushed him one step further away from the Lin family—especially for Lin Xiangyu, this only solidified her determination to get a divorce.
"Forget it, Mom. Today I bought a Cartier necklace for the Qian Family's bride. She's bound to love it," Lin Xiangyu said, displaying an exquisite jewelry box that drew gasps of admiration from the entire family.
"How much did it cost?" Li Xiuqin asked curiously.
"Not expensive, only one hundred thirty-eight thousand yuan."
Hearing this figure, Li Xiuqin felt a sharp pang of heartache, feeling that this sum was far too extravagant. "Xiaoyu, isn't a gift this expensive going a bit overboard? Something costing tens of thousands should be enough."
"Mom, you don't understand. How could a necklace worth a few thousand yuan ever catch their eye? If we want to build a connection with the Qian Family, this bit of investment is necessary," Lin Xiangyu explained.
"If we can manage to latch onto the Qian Family and Young Master Gao's family, our Lin Family might even become the Fifth Great Family," the Lin family members agreed after hearing this, deciding it was worth it despite the exorbitant price.
Just as the Lin family was feeling the pinch over this necklace worth one hundred thirty-eight thousand yuan, a coincidence occurred.
The wedding gift Gu Yuan prepared for Qian Ruixue turned out to be a necklace as well.
Although as a live-in son-in-law, all the expenses of the wedding were covered by the Qian Family, in Gu Yuan's heart, Qian Ruixue would be his wife after the wedding, and giving her a special gift was of utmost importance.
Gu Yuan was a generous man, and this time was no exception. From his own company, he selected a yellow gemstone necklace crafted by Levy Company.
This necklace was no ordinary piece; it was embedded with the largest yellow gemstone in history. Not only had this gemstone received the highest rating for colored gemstones, but it was also the only gemstone necklace Levy Company had ever produced to date.
A year ago, at an auction, this mysterious businessman from the East had acquired this necklace for a hefty price of fourteen million US dollars.
Now, the new owner of this necklace was Qian Ruixue, even though it might have been bought with different intentions initially.
When Gu Yuan's bodyguard Chen Qing carefully delivered this priceless necklace to the hotel, Gu Yuan inspected it to make sure everything was correct, then gently patted Chen Qing's shoulder in gratitude.
Chen Qing responded politely, wishing his boss a happy wedding.
Considering that Chen Qing had made a special trip, Gu Yuan decided to buy him a drink after the wedding concluded.
Thus, Chen Qing stayed to attend this joyous occasion that should have been surrounded by family, but the reality was that he was the only one in attendance.
Just as Gu Yuan was about to turn back to Qian Ruixue, he ran into a woman who looked somewhat similar to her. Her name was Qian Luoyao, and she was Qian Ruixue's cousin.
The two came from different branches of the family, and due to family property issues, there was friction between the two households.
Qian Ruixue surpassed Qian Luoyao in every aspect, which kept the latter living in her shadow.
Yet now, with the change in Qian Ruixue's health and her marriage to Gu Yuan—who was considered inadequate—the situation seemed to have changed.
Seeing the jewelry box in Gu Yuan's hands, Qian Luoyao sneered, "What kind of gift are you giving Qian Ruixue? Don't tell me it's some plastic trinket worth a few bucks?"
Clearly, she had no idea of the necklace's value.
Gu Yuan frowned; obviously, no one would believe that an ordinary person like him could afford such a luxurious yellow gemstone necklace.
Besides, the person receiving this gift was herself a person of high status and great power.
Even Gu Yuan had never seen a yellow gemstone this large before, and bringing it out now as a gift looked like bragging no matter how you looked at it.
He looked at Qian Luoyao with pity, feeling as though she simply didn't understand these high-society matters—after all, not everyone had the opportunity to come into contact with such luxuries.
However, Qian Luoyao did not notice the sympathy in Gu Yuan's eyes. She merely glanced at him contemptuously, then pulled a small box from her pocket and handed it to him.
"What is this?" Gu Yuan asked, full of confusion.
"A diamond ring! Grandfather asked me to give it to you. He knows you can't afford this sort of thing, but the wedding requires this step, so he didn't want you to make a fool of yourself. Don't go pulling out some fake and making everyone laugh their heads off," Qian Luoyao said mockingly.
Upon hearing this, Gu Yuan was almost angered to laughter. Because he had indeed planned to present that necklace to Qian Ruixue at this very moment, and never expected that in Qian Luoyao's eyes, it would be dismissed as "cheap plastic."
Considering that she was here to help, Gu Yuan suppressed his anger and simply uttered a word of thanks.
With her arms crossed, Qian Luoyao turned around arrogantly and said, "If you want to thank someone, you should thank me. Because Grandfather insisted on marrying Qian Ruixue off to you, hehe...
I always thought he favored Qian Ruixue the most, but now I finally understand—he must despise her to have chosen someone like you as his granddaughter-in-law."
Hearing this, Gu Yuan was utterly furious.