I was exposed for adding my female boss to my group of female friends.

Lu Yuanhu grabbed him and asked, "Then how much is the rest of my tea worth?"

Mingcheng looked at him sympathetically and said, "Old Lu, do you want me to tell you the truth?"

"Tell me the truth, I can handle it."

"To be honest, I can tell you that the high value of this tea cake lies mainly in its ease of preservation and collection. Even the shape and quality of the tea cake's pressing are part of its value," Mingcheng said. "Now there's only a little left, so it can only be crushed and sold as loose tea, which means it's not worth that much!"

"How much can we point to now?" Lu Yuanhu asked.

“I already told you, it’s five times the price of gold,” Mingcheng said. “A tea cake weighs 357 grams. If we calculate based on a gold price of 390, then multiply that by 5, and that is…”

He took out his phone and calculated for a while, finally concluding: "696150 yuan. Nearly 70 yuan."

Lu Yuanhu plopped down in the chair.

Mingcheng added insult to injury: "You only have a little over a third left, and we'll have to discount that, which means you only have a little over 20 left."

“This tea cake was worth over 5000 million, but after eating a tea egg, it turned into a loss of over 20…” Lu Yuanhu clutched his head, “I’m innocent!”

Mingcheng then believed that Lu Yuanhu was not just showing off.

He patted Lu Yuanhu on the shoulder and said:

"Old Lu, Old Lu, just think of it as eating a tea egg worth over 5000 million."

Although Lu Yuanhu's family is wealthy and powerful, more than 5000 million is not a small amount for anyone. It would be unbearable for anyone to lose it all for nothing.

Especially since Lu Yuanhu had built his business from scratch and knew how hard it was to make money, the thought of losing tens of millions of yuan so unjustly made his heart bleed.

Sister Huang stood to the side, wanting to escape; she felt like she was suffocating.

She was now terrified that the master and mistress would take their anger out on her, after all, she was the one who had just cooked the meal.

Shi Lingyu asked from the side, "Mr. Ming, do you mean that this tea cake was originally worth more than 50 million?"

Mingcheng said, "Yes."

"How could that be?" Shi Lingyu exclaimed. "This tea cake was a gift from Lu Ruixiang's family. Do you think I don't know what kind of financial situation Lu Ruixiang's family has? How could they possibly afford to give away something like this?"

Lu Yuanhu then remembered this matter and looked up, saying, "Yes, his family can't afford to give such an expensive gift."

Shi Lingyu added, "Besides, don't I know Chen Sheng's personality? If he gave away a piece of tea worth over 50 million, he would have shouted it out in my neighborhood for a month. How could he just leave it there and walk away?"

Lu Yuanhu patted his wife and asked, "Are you sure it was sent by them?"

Shi Lingyu thought for a moment and said, "I asked him, and he said it was his son who earned the money to buy it and sent it to us."

"Son, Chen Hai?" Lu Yuanhu asked.

Shi Lingyu shook her head: "It's not Chen Hai. Chen Hai might actually be able to afford this tea cake. He's talking about his other son, the one he abandoned in the countryside, named Chen Ya."

“Chen Ya…” Lu Yuanhu fell into deep thought.

Mingcheng sat there and said, "I don't know if their family can afford it, but I do know that this tea cake is definitely the one I mentioned. You can see for yourselves."

Lu Yuanhu clenched his fist and said to Shi Lingyu:

"It's true that you, a woman, are short-sighted and underestimate people. They gave you such expensive tea, and you treated it like trash... What about Chen Sheng and his son? Did they just leave like that?"

Shi Lingyu nodded nervously and said, "Let's go."

Lu Yuanhu thought for a moment, stood up and paced back and forth, sighed, and said, "I'll call and apologize."

Shi Lingyu crossed her arms and frowned, saying, "Isn't that unnecessary?"

As a branch of the Lu family, Lu Ruixiang's family had never held a prominent position within the Lu family, and their relationship with Lu Yuanhu was not considered kinship. They would fawn over Lu Yuanhu but would never pay him any attention.

In particular, she married a man from the countryside who was divorced and had a child, so for a long time her family was the laughing stock in the family.

Shi Lingyu felt that suddenly being so humble and apologetic to Chen Sheng was a bit too low-class.

Lu Yuanhu glared at his wife.

This woman has long hair but short brains; she's reached a certain level of being short-sighted.

Since Lu Ruixiang's family can afford tea cakes worth over 5 million, they must have become wealthy. The fact that they bring such an expensive gift over the trip must mean they want something from her.

It's already embarrassing enough that we didn't treat them well, so it's fine if they don't mind; but if they give us a gift and leave without saying a word, then they must be very confident.

If we continue to turn a blind eye and bury our heads in the sand, and continue to disregard their family as before, they might secretly harbor resentment towards our family.

If you suddenly have the power, can't you ask others to do things you can't do yourself?

Lu Yuanhu took out his phone and decisively dialed Lu Ruixiang's number.

However, by this time, Chen Sheng and Chen Ya had already been walking all morning.

……

……

After leaving Lu Yuanhu's house, Chen Sheng sat in the car, staring at Chen Ya.

He secretly blamed Chen Ya in his heart.

Chen Ya tried to pass off inferior tea as superior tea, thinking he could get away with it, but he was exposed and embarrassed.

The two almost lost face at Lu Yuanhu's house.

He originally wanted to scold Chen Ya, but then he thought that his son had been in the countryside for too long and had become so dull and simple-minded that he knew nothing about the intricacies of city life.

We shouldn't blame him unconditionally.

After sighing, Chen Sheng said:

"You can't do that again, understand?"

"What's wrong?" Chen Ya had no idea what he was talking about and looked at him with her eyes.

"What else? Using inferior tea leaves to pass off as superior ones!" Chen Sheng's voice rose a few decibels.

"Oh."

Chen Ya didn't take it to heart at all: "Didn't I already explain it to that maid?"

“Sigh, you don’t understand,” Chen Sheng said with a pained expression. “That Sister Huang will definitely tell Shi Lingyu about this, and Shi Lingyu will definitely tell Lu Yuanhu about it. Who knows what they’ll say about our family in a little while!”

Chen Ya shrugged and asked, "Does Lu Yuanhu want some tea?"

“Drink it,” Chen Sheng frowned. “Why are you asking this?”

“If he were a tea drinker, he wouldn’t be unable to tell the quality of the tea leaves,” Chen Ya said.

Chen Sheng frowned even more deeply: "Why didn't you say so earlier? You knew people could tell, yet you still tried to pass off inferior tea as superior?"

Before Chen Ya could speak, he continued:

"And where did you get that tea? If it were legitimate, that would be one thing, but it doesn't even have a production date. I was in such a hurry that I didn't check it. How can you be so unreliable?"

Chen Ya didn't want to waste any more words, so he fastened his seatbelt and said, "I brought it from the countryside."

Chen Sheng was even more annoyed. Finally, he waved his hand and said, "Alright, alright, just be more careful next time. Now let's go to Second Grandfather's house."

Second Master Lu was Lu Zhankui, the younger brother of Old Master Lu, hence the title Second Master Lu.

After starting the vehicle, he added, "Just a heads up, Second Master lives in Guihe Manor with Old Master Lu and the master of the house. If you go there and meet anyone, no matter who it is, you must greet them with a smile. You can't be as nonchalant as you were just now, understand?"

Chen Ya asked, "Why don't you go directly to see Old Master Lu?"

Chen Shengqi said angrily, "Do you think you can just see Old Master Lu whenever you want?"

After saying that, he realized that his son lacked common sense, so he patiently explained:

"Old Master Lu has a very strange temper. He hates being disturbed by others. We definitely won't be able to see him. In comparison, Second Master Lu is more easygoing. But to be honest, he's a bit more greedy."

He paused for a moment, then added, "So I included a red envelope with 5 yuan in the gifts I prepared for my second great-grandfather. He'll definitely be happy to receive it. He's the kind of person who won't give you a hard time as long as he has money."

Chen Ya nodded: "They're easy to deal with."

Chen Sheng continued, "But Guihe Manor is different from other places. Old Master Lu and Lu Ningna, the head of the family, both live in Guihe Manor. None of the people there are people you can look up to. You must be careful, understand?"

Chen Ya asked, "Does Lu Ningna live there too?"

“Hmm,” Chen Sheng thought for a moment, then added, “Lu Ningna is young, a few years younger than you, but don’t treat her casually just because she’s young. Let me tell you, although the Lu Yuanlong family has fallen on hard times, Lu Ningna has always been the patriarch’s darling. You are not even worth a finger of hers. If you offend her, you’ll be in big trouble.”

Chen Ya sat there lazily, not taking it to heart at all.

But when Lu Ningna was mentioned, he remembered that he had a relationship with her when he was involved in the pursuit of Lu Yuanlong.

They left the girl in the rented room for three days, and the two of them lived together for those three days.

Despite Chen Ya's various attempts to probe indirectly, he failed to find any evidence that Lu Ningna was involved in illegal business competition.

As they spent more time together, he discovered that the girl was actually a very simple and innocent person.

Chen Sheng wanted to describe her as an old witch.

It's not that exaggerated.

Chen Sheng drove the car to the suburbs and soon arrived at Guihe Village.

There were reasons why the four major families—Gu, Lu, Qin, and Xia—were previously listed separately as a distinct category.

Just by looking at Guihe Manor, one can understand the Lu family's profound heritage.

This estate is located in the suburbs of Beijing. Although it is in the suburbs, it covers a large area, equivalent to half of the Old Summer Palace.

Such grandeur is not something every family can possess.

There was an automatic gate at the entrance of the manor. Chen Sheng told the security guard at the gate what he was there for, and the guard made a phone call before raising the gate and letting them in.

Chapter 221 Suffering from Lovesickness

Guihe Manor features a design reminiscent of northern Chinese gardens, exuding grandeur and strict adherence to traditional rules.

The culmination of southern gardens is mainly found in the Jiangnan region, characterized by its elegant style and the emphasis on creating a picturesque scene at every turn. Northern gardens, on the other hand, evolved from imperial gardens, thus featuring fewer charming and delicate sections and more solemn and orderly elements.

As the car entered the gate, a 100-meter-long walkway came into view, lined with sycamore trees on both sides, and lawns on both sides. To the east, there was a pond, and from the pond, one could see a person fishing at the foot of a rockery.

Further in, there was a courtyard house in front, with detached buildings on both sides, and what appeared to be villas at the back. Chen Sheng parked the car a little further away and said to Chen Ya:

"Come in and follow me. Don't look around or ask too many questions. Smile at everyone you see, and don't wander around."

Chen Ya nodded outwardly, but didn't really take it to heart.

He had never been to any of the four great families' manors. Now that he was at the Lu family's Guihe Manor, it would be a waste not to wander around. He could take a look at what the lives of these renowned families were like.

After taking a few more steps forward, Chen Sheng nodded to the person who came up to him and said, "Butler Cheng." Then he tugged at Chen Ya's clothes.

Chen Ya nodded at the man.

The man was thin and had little flesh on his face. He looked to be in his forties. He was dressed in black and didn't look like a butler. His eyes swept over Chen Ya's face with sharpness.

"Is the old master alright?" Chen Sheng asked cautiously.

“Good, how is it bad? He was fishing in the pond today. I told him there are no fish in the pond at all.”

Butler Cheng's tone was monotone and his meaning was incomprehensible.

"How is Great-Grandma?"

"Not good. I just came out of the hospital a while ago; I had a heart attack."

"Oh dear, then we need to be careful," Chen Sheng asked again, "Where is Committee Member Gao?"

"Committee Member Gao is with a distinguished guest and does not have time to see you."

First ask Grandpa Lu, then Grandma Lu, and finally Committee Member Gao. This is the etiquette that Lu Ruixiang taught Chen Sheng.

Anyone entering the manor will inevitably be asked these two questions.

This so-called Committee Member Gao was not a member of the Lu family, but he was more like one than a member of the Lu family. He had always been with Old Master Lu, and he helped raise the latter two of Old Master Lu's three sons, so he had a special status in the Lu family.

Chen Sheng asked again, "Is the old master still not seeing guests?"

"I won't see him," Butler Cheng said coldly, then nodded to Chen Ya, "He's a complete stranger."

Chen Sheng quickly smiled and said, "This is my eldest son, Chen Ya. I came here to introduce him to my relatives and to introduce him to my second grandfather."

"Then go see him. Second Master is in his room."

After saying that, Butler Cheng left.

Chen Ya smiled as he watched the man's retreating figure.

It seems that all people who work for aristocratic families have this kind of temperament.