Chapter 69: Purple Sand Teapot, Golden Buddha and Oil Painting

  Sorry, today's chapter update is late. Today I accompanied my wife out for a stroll and I'm exhausted...

  You Liang was the eldest son of the third generation of the You family and also the son of You Jia's elder brother, You Chao Kui. So he started first, representing their branch, to present birthday gifts to Old Master You.

  Yu Liang held in both hands a sandalwood box with an ancient and simple design, carved with countless beautiful flower patterns. Faintly, there was also a faint, heart-warming fragrance wafting out of the sandalwood box.

  Although Mr. You was old, his eyes were still sharp and he immediately saw that the sandalwood box was a valuable antique. Looking at how carefully You Liang held it, it was clear that there was more to the box than met the eye. This naturally piqued Mr. You's curiosity, and he couldn't wait to find out what other treasures were hidden inside this already precious box.

  Yu Liang walked up slowly, carefully placing the ancient-looking sandalwood box on the table in front of Old Master Yu. He smiled slightly and pressed the brass lock on the box. With a soft "click", the box opened like a blooming flower, its four sides unfolding and extending outward, revealing what was inside to everyone present.

  Inside this sandalwood box are a purple clay teapot with an elegant and classical design, and eight small and exquisite purple clay tea cups.

  You Liang smiled and introduced: "Because I know Grandfather likes to drink tea, my father specially entrusted 'Hu Yi Tai Dou' Chen Yan Zhou to carefully make this Song He Yan Nian Hu for you, wishing Grandfather a fortune as vast as the East Sea and longevity as long as Mount Nan."

  "Zisha teapot? What a great thing!" Old Master Yu laughed so hard that his mouth almost couldn't close, holding the Zisha teapot in his hands and constantly stroking it. He kept saying: "Good, good, good! It's rare for you to have such filial piety, knowing I like drinking tea, preparing such a great gift for me, it really makes me very happy!"

  Yu Jia's second uncle, Yu Chaofu, walked to Yu Chaogui's side and said in a low voice, "Brother, it's really something, you actually invited 'Hua Yi Tai Dou' Chen Yanzhou to personally make this purple sand pot. It must have cost a lot of money?"

  Yu Chaogui said with a smile, "It's okay, it's just over a hundred million. Actually, the price is secondary, as long as the old man likes it." Although the siblings had a good relationship and didn't have any scenes of infighting like those often shown in TV dramas, this didn't mean they weren't competing with each other behind the scenes. The birthday gift for Yu Tianhai naturally became something they competed over.

  While feeling pleased with himself, You Chao Gui also didn't forget to ask his second brother: "What gift have you prepared to give to the old master?"

  "You'll know right away." Yu Chaofu chuckled and didn't answer directly, instead selling a suspense.

  At this moment, You Wen, the son of You Chaofu, had already arrived in front of Old Master You with a golden box adorned with gold and silver foil. After the servant put away the sandalwood box containing the Shuanghe Yannian Hu on the table, he placed this slightly heavy, golden box on the table.

  Mr. You said jokingly: "What's this? It's so luxurious, it's almost dazzling my eyes."

  "Grandpa, my dad knew you liked antiques, so he specially went to Hong Kong last month and attended an antique auction for you. He brought back this gift, hoping you'll like it." Yuwen said as he opened the golden box with a flourish.

  The way this box was opened wasn't as exquisite as the previous one. However, after opening the box and taking out the items inside, the entire living room was suddenly enveloped in a golden glow.

  This is a Maitreya Buddha made of pure gold, with its chest and abdomen exposed, laughing loudly with its mouth open. Its demeanor and facial expression are truly lifelike, making people sincerely admire it.

  Yuwen said: "This pure gold Maitreya Buddha, identified by experts as an antique from the Jiaqing period of the Ming Dynasty, was later lost overseas and finally bought by my father at an auction in Hong Kong. We are giving it to Grandpa as a birthday gift, hoping that he can be like it, with a strong body and always smiling."

  "Not bad, really not bad, it's just a bit luxurious." Old Master Yu also liked this pure gold Maitreya Buddha very much, but compared to the previous purple sand pot, his interest was slightly inferior. This also made Yu Chaogui like a victorious rooster, poking Yu Chaofu with his elbow and saying proudly: "It seems that old master likes my purple sand pot better."

  You Chaofu felt a bit depressed, for this pure gold Maitreya Buddha, he not only spent over 20 million, but also spent a lot of heart and time. But didn't expect that in the end, it would come to this kind of ending. He glanced at his elder brother who was beaming with pride and said: "Don't be too proud, little sister and third brother haven't given their birthday gifts yet, maybe their gifts will please old master more than your purple sand pot."

  Just as Yu Chaogui and Yu Chaofu were whispering to each other, Yu Jia's younger sister-in-law, Yu Chaolin, had already walked up to Old Master Yu with a painting in her hands. According to the Yu family tradition, this kind of gift-giving ceremony should have been handled by someone from the younger generation. However, since Yu Qing, the daughter of Yu Chaolin, was studying abroad in England, Yu Chaolin personally came to present the gift to Old Master Yu.

  You Chao Lin's husband was married into the You family, so their daughter did not follow her father's surname but followed her mother's surname You.

  Yu Chaolin held up the oil painting in her hand and showed it to Old Master Yu, smiling and saying: "Old master, this oil painting was personally bought by Yu Qing in Europe and sent to you. Due to school, she couldn't take time off from England to come back and celebrate your birthday, so she asked me to give you this gift and wish you 'year after year, today is better than yesterday'. How about it, old master? Your little granddaughter is still quite filial, right?"

  "Filial piety, indeed filial piety." Old Master Yu put on his old flower-shaped glasses hanging from his neck and carefully appreciated this oil painting.

  You Chaolin saw the old man looking carefully and couldn't help but feel very happy, asking: "I heard from You Qing that this oil painting was painted by a British female painter named Josephine Wall. How about it, old man? Being used to Chinese paintings, do you still like this foreign thing?"

  "Is this... a butterfly spirit?" Old Master Yu said hesitantly, pointing at the oil painting.

  This oil painting, titled "The Fairy by the Lake", depicts a fairy from Western mythology dancing on the water's surface. The colors used in the painting are quite vivid and diverse, completely different from traditional Chinese paintings. For someone with more traditional thinking like Old Master Yu, it's really hard to accept this kind of fantasy-style oil painting at first glance.

  "Not bad, put it away." Old Master Yu waved his hand at the servant girl, indicating that she should take down this oil painting.

  You Chao Lin didn't notice the old man's displeasure, she smiled and said: "Old master, since you think it's good, let the servant hang it up. Hmm... I think hanging it in that position is quite nice. What do you think?"

  "We'll talk about it later." Old Master Yu replied ambiguously.

  You Chao Lin suddenly realized the old man's true intentions and felt a bit embarrassed. She glanced at her third brother, You Jia's father - You Chao Xiang, out of the corner of her eye. She hastily said: "Hey, third brother, what about the birthday gift you prepared for grandfather? Why haven't you presented it to him yet?"

  Yu Chaoxiang cast his gaze at Yu Jia, originally he should have been the one to prepare this birthday gift, but because of too many trivial matters, he ended up forgetting about it and could only entrust Yu Jia with it last week. It's unknown whether Yu Jia can find a birthday gift that the old man will like in such a short time of less than a week.

  "It seems that this year can only be surpassed by big brother, second brother and little sister." Yu Chaohsiang said with some regret in his heart.

  "The birthday gift for Grandpa is already prepared and placed in my room, I'll go get it now." Yu Jia said, then turned around and headed towards the upstairs room.