Chapter 190: The Gift

An Nan deliberately teased him: “Tea leaves are worth a fortune these days. You think you can just drink as you please?”

Gu Zhiyu curled his lips. “I won’t drink for free. I’ll pay for it.”

An Nan scoffed, “Your money is nothing but waste paper in the apocalypse. My tea is worth more than gold.”

Gu Zhiyu replied, “I’ll trade you something else for it.”

An Nan remained unmoved. “Nothing you offer will work.”

Gu Zhiyu lowered his head, pulled out a delicate jewelry box from his pocket, and handed it to An Nan. “Take a look at this. Do you like it?”

An Nan stared at the small, square box in his hand and was startled.

This looks like… a ring box?

What does he mean by this?!

She immediately tried to back away.

Is this guy crazy? Is he actually trying to propose to her now?

Gu Zhiyu saw her reaction and couldn’t help but laugh, half exasperated. “Aren’t you going to open it and see?”

An Nan quickly waved her hands. “No need! I don’t want to look!”

Seeing her insist on backing away, Gu Zhiyu had no choice but to open the box himself.

Inside was a pair of jade cabochon earrings, each about a centimeter in diameter.

An Nan let out a sigh of relief.

This box really did look too much like a ring box—it gave her quite a scare.

Then she couldn’t help but examine the beautiful earrings.

They were genuine jade, no doubt about it. Though not large, they were a rare imperial green.

With this color and quality, they must be worth hundreds of thousands.

If she used them to upgrade her space, she’d make a killing.

An Nan immediately beamed and took the jewelry box.

“Come in and have some tea!”

With imperial green jade, what tea couldn’t she afford? Let him drink!

Seeing how happy she was, Gu Zhiyu’s eyes softened with a smile.

He’d chosen well.

It was worth rummaging through several warehouses to find these.

He couldn’t help but curl his lips.

What a little money-grubber.

Luckily, he had plenty of money.

As she led him inside, An Nan warned, “You can only drink tea—don’t get too close to me! Or I’ll break your arm.”

Gu Zhiyu chuckled, “Alright.”

The three little ones in the house were already very familiar with Gu Zhiyu and all crowded over to greet him.

Gu Zhiyu made himself at home on the sofa and watched An Nan make tea.

The living room was quiet. Sensing his gaze, An Nan felt awkward and quickly searched for a topic.

“How much are these jade earrings worth?”

Gu Zhiyu answered honestly, “Five million.”

An Nan’s hand froze. “How much?”

Gu Zhiyu repeated, “Five million.”

An Nan: …

Did she really underestimate something worth seven figures by a whole digit?

Such a small thing, worth five million… The quality really was exceptional.

As expected, all the best treasures are in the private collections of the rich.

An Nan pursed her lips and said nothing, placing the freshly brewed tea on the table before quietly putting on the earrings.

Before offering them up to her space, she wanted to enjoy them herself for a bit.

Wearing a house’s worth of jade on her ears, An Nan couldn’t help but feel in a great mood. She sipped tea and chatted happily with Gu Zhiyu.

For five million, not only did she patiently chat with him for an hour, but when he left, she even packed up some tea for him to take home.

As Gu Zhiyu stood to say goodbye, he glanced thoughtfully at the tea in his hand.

Wasn’t this the top-grade Maofeng he’d won at a famous tea auction a couple of years ago??

He’d left it in his office on the top floor of the mall.

He smiled and said to An Nan, “This tea is excellent. If you have more like this, I can keep trading you jade for it.”

An Nan’s eyes lit up. “Deal!”

She had plenty of good tea in her space—the supplies from the mountains and the base alone were endless. But good jade was hard to come by; she’d already cleaned out all the jewelry stores in the city.

Gu Zhiyu nodded. “Alright, see you next time.”

An Nan smiled. “See you next time.”

Gu Zhiyu left with a smile at the corner of his eyes and a spring in his step.

After he left, An Nan took off the earrings and stored them in her space.

Instantly, the jade bangle on her wrist changed from high-ice to colorless glass grade.

An Nan was stunned.

Such a huge change in the bangle—how much had her space just upgraded?

She couldn’t wait. She left the apartment complex, found a secluded spot, and started testing.

This time, the range of her space jumped from fifty meters to sixty-five meters!

Sure enough, when it came to upgrades, quality really did trump quantity.

She’d collected so much jade before, and each upgrade was just a few centimeters. Now, with one piece, she’d gained so much—it felt amazing.

Even thinking about the person who’d given her the jade made her feel especially happy.

A few days later, at the mountainside villa.

Long Cong’an hurried into Gu Zhiyu’s villa.

As soon as he entered, he saw his boss standing in front of the mirror, adjusting his appearance.

He didn’t interrupt, just waited quietly to the side.

But even after a long time, President Gu didn’t turn around. He kept facing the mirror, meticulously fixing every detail from his hair to his fingernails, as if he wanted everything to be flawless.

Long Cong’an couldn’t help but twitch his lips.

His usually aloof, dignified boss had never been this… flamboyant before.

Is this what falling in love does? It’s like he’s been possessed!

And his benefactor didn’t seem like the type to judge by appearances. Why was President Gu so obsessed with his looks now?

It wasn’t until Gu Zhiyu was finally ready to leave that Long Cong’an found a chance to speak:

“President Gu, I found the necklace you wanted.”

Gu Zhiyu took the box from him, opened it to check carefully, then put it in a bag, grabbed his car keys, and prepared to leave.

Long Cong’an was surprised. “You’re not taking the helicopter today?”

Gu Zhiyu shook his head. “Too flashy.”

She wouldn’t like that.

He glanced at the Hummer keys in his hand.

Better to use something she preferred.

He took a few steps, then suddenly remembered the Knight XV that had disappeared along with the mall supplies. Gu Zhiyu couldn’t help but smile.

Who knows where that little rascal had hidden it.

Then he remembered that, besides the Knight XV, he’d also bought a pretty good armored vehicle.

He stopped and asked Long Cong’an, “Where’s the Marauder?”

Long Cong’an thought for a moment. “In the southern warehouse.”

Then he asked, “Should I bring it over?”

Gu Zhiyu considered. “No need for now.”

Then he hurried out.

Maple Forest Residences, Building 6, 14th Floor.

An Nan opened the door to the hallway and looked at the man in surprise.

“You’re back again so soon… Can’t stand staying at home?”

Gu Zhiyu replied bluntly, “There’s no one I want to see at home.”

An Nan’s face flushed. “Why are you so shameless these days?”

Gu Zhiyu replied confidently, “A man who cares too much about face will never get a wife.”

An Nan: …

Just as she was at a loss for words, a loud voice rang out from next door—Chu Peipei shouting, “Well said! The persistent man always wins the girl!”

An Nan nearly choked on her own saliva.

Just as she recovered and was about to say something, excited shouts came from outside:

“It’s raining! It’s raining!”

“Oh my god! The disaster is finally over!!”

“Hurry! Get some basins! We can finally drink water to our heart’s content!”

Rain?

An Nan frowned, a sense of foreboding rising in her heart.

She looked at Gu Zhiyu. “Where did you park your car?”"