Song Lili could no longer be considered the same naive and sweet Song Lili as before.
Wang Yun had timed the switch perfectly, and after finishing, she said that it had gone very smoothly.
Although the Nanshan White Jade wasn’t brought out, it was hidden in a corner of the room, out of sight. Even once Lili’s birthday gift charade was over, finding the Nanshan White Jade wouldn’t make much of a difference.
Song Xiangqiao didn’t really agree with the idea of swapping Lili’s birthday gift. Mainly, Wang Yun couldn’t stand Lili’s arrogance in front of her.
Once Wang Yun had made up her mind to proceed, Xiangqiao went along with it.
Little did they know that things weren’t unfolding as they had anticipated.
"Xiangqiao, everyone is waiting,"
After hesitating for a moment, Lili urged her on, making Xiangqiao feel even more uneasy.
Lili’s birthday gift didn’t have any problems. Judging from her expression and her urging, it seemed as though she was leisurely waiting for something...
She... she knew that it was her and Wang Yun who had switched her birthday gift!
Xiangqiao became certain that if she were Lili and discovered that her birthday gift had been swapped, what followed would be... swapping the birthday gift back to make them suffer the consequences of their own actions.
Was it her or Wang Yun...
"What’s the matter? Xiangqiao, everyone is waiting,"
Another prompt came, and Lili’s gaze casually fell upon Xiangqiao while... a hint of... cunning appeared in her eyes.
Her birthday gift had been switched.
"What Nanshan White Jade? I just want to make her embarrass herself in front of everyone, holding a pile of dirt, a dead branch. What do you think the Old President would feel when he sees it?"
"Does it imply that he, dead branch, should have long been laid to rest? Hahaha!"
Wang Yun’s pride at having come up with this idea rang in her ears.
To give an elder mud and a dead branch, no matter how eloquent one is, they couldn’t make flowers bloom from that dead wood.
Xiangqiao looked up at Lili, took a deep breath, then turned her gaze to the Old President, saying,
"The gift I’m giving is quite special. I hope Grandpa Wen can view it in private."
Wen Liangyu raised an eyebrow, "Oh?"
Hearing Xiangqiao say this, Wang Yun roughly understood. Lili must have switched Xiangqiao’s birthday gift, and Xiangqiao had realized this, hence her reluctance to display the birthday gift.
Xiangqiao is truly clever.
Wang Yun felt her heart pounding. If it were her in this situation, she wouldn’t know what to do.
As Wang Yun silently praised Xiangqiao’s cleverness, Lili laughed and said,
"If you show this gift to Elder Wen in private, wouldn’t that leave me out?"
After saying this, Lili had already squatted down to open Xiangqiao’s gift box—
Xiangqiao cried out in alarm, and at the same time, Lili had already opened Xiangqiao’s gift box.
"Nanshan White Jade, East Sea Pearl, are the sincerest blessings from our father to Old Mr. Wen,"
Lili told Wen Liangyu.
Xiangqiao, utterly astonished, looked at the gift box she had brought. Inside, the night pearl, about the size of a ball, was right there.
No one knew the turmoil Xiangqiao’s heart had gone through in that minute. As Lili went to open her gift box, her heart was on the verge of stopping.
Yet, in the end... the result was once again beyond her expectations.
"May your fortune be as vast as the East Sea, and your life as enduring as the Nanshan mountains... Please thank your father on my behalf when you return."
"Elder Wen, I will convey your words."
"Xiangqiao, what’s wrong with you? You’re sweating from your forehead..."