Chapter 76

Chapter 76: Grandmother Green Necklace

The footage wasn’t clear. It was rough, trembling at the edges, reduced to shades of gray.

And yet it couldn’t stop the imagination.

“This necklace has been lost outside for a full 100 years…”

“Now, let us welcome its return…”

An elderly man carried a red tray onto the stage, stepping carefully, each footfall heavy with age.

Collectors from the Capital, appraisers from every circle—anyone with eyes recognized him immediately.

Vice Chairperson of the Capital Appraisal Association.

Master Quan.

He set the tray down, and the cameras zoomed in as his hands lifted the red cloth.

A grandmother green necklace lay revealed.

The color was deeper than jadeite, richer, more saturated—so vivid it felt like it held light inside it. Grandmother green belonged to a single large mineral particle, its hardness higher than jadeite, its rarity bordering on mythical.

Any true jade expert could tell its value in a glance.

And that was before considering the necklace’s history.

“Miss Ji,” someone in the crowd called, doubt cutting through excitement, “how can you be sure this is from the last century?”

No one denied the necklace was real—a true grandmother green gemstone. But to claim it was a century-old piece…

Master Quan’s gaze swept across the hall.

Then it stopped.

In a quiet corner sat a woman with her head propped on one hand, watching the stage with a half-smile—silent, still, beautiful in a way that made the noise around her feel distant.

For a heartbeat, Master Quan looked as if he’d crossed time itself, glimpsing someone who didn’t belong to this era at all.

He blinked, shook his head, and pulled his focus back to the present.

The cameras zoomed in tighter as he indicated two details.

On one of the five-pronged settings, there was a distinct mark.

And on the back of a pendant ornament, an intricate pattern had been carved—complex, precise, the kind of work that could not be imitated without betraying its age.

Both matched the documentary perfectly.

“Especially this mark,” Master Quan said, voice deep, resonant. “It cannot be forged.”

“And this carving—if it were newly made, appraisers like us would be able to tell at a glance.”

He lifted his eyes to the crowd. “Any more doubts?”

No one spoke again.

“Starting bid,” Ji Qiang Wei announced, “50 million.”

The moment the number hit the air, paddles rose like reeds in a storm.

“60 million!”

“70 million!”

“75 million!”

In the audience, Ji Chang An and Madam Ji exchanged a look, understanding passing between them without words.

“It’s her,” Madam Ji said softly.

Ji Chang An nodded. “Yes. I saw her wearing it back then. I was going to ask her about it after the banquet, but I didn’t expect…”

She hadn’t kept it.

She’d donated it.

Madam Ji let out a breath that sounded like surrender. “Looks like we really underestimated her.”

Before, they’d worried she couldn’t afford the bid and would be embarrassed. They’d wanted to help her.

Instead, she’d placed something worth far more onto the donation stage without hesitation.

The elderly man beside them stared hard at the necklace on the model’s neck, then turned to Ji Chang An.

“You know the donor.”

Ji Chang An didn’t hide it. “She’s the young girl I gave my business card to.”

The old man’s surprise broke into laughter.

That little girl really was extraordinary.

The bids climbed higher and higher, numbers stacking on numbers.

It leapt from 80 million to 180 million in a blink.

And it didn’t look like it was slowing down.