Rebirth: The Time-locked Girl
Chapter 99 - 099 Losing everything to pay the debt [1 more update]

Chapter 99: 099 Losing everything to pay the debt [1 more update]

She hadn’t gone to settle accounts with Nie Shuangyi first, yet Nie Shuangyi’s people had taken the initiative to seek her out?

Then she won’t hold back or be polite when she tears off the pretense!

"No problem, your necklace is only 180,000." Cheng Qingli was calm and composed, "I thought it was a high-order custom jewelry from FE or from their high-end line. Seems it’s not much after all."

The cheapest necklace from the FE family, with only one pearl set in it, is priced at fifteen thousand.

High-end line jewelry also includes pieces that are priced over a million, and high-order custom jewelry even reaches eight or even nine digits.

However, given Yeh Jialing’s status in the entertainment industry, she didn’t qualify to wear FE’s current-season high custom styles; she could only borrow out-of-season ones.

Pulling the Sky Company is planning to develop a jewelry line and, as the general manager appointed by Ye Wanlan, Cheng Qingli naturally had already comprehensively researched all future competing products.

"Only 180,000?" Yeh Jialing laughed in anger, she abruptly stood up, looking down at Cheng Qingli with her high heels giving her added height, "Do you know FE’s status internationally? What is your niche brand, daring to say such words?"

Cheng Qingli was not annoyed, but instead handed over the price list and product book with a smile, "Since you have bravely claimed there’s no problem and you can pay for it, go ahead and compensate first."

Yeh Jialing scoffed and took it over, "Of course I can pay, but it’s just—"

Her words stopped abruptly, blocked in her throat.

The materials list contained a series of luxurious elements: Gold, Dragon Stone Type Jade, Red Diamond...

These materials combined, the price approached thirty million.

Most important was the labor charge in the fourth column, which was as high as six million!

Yeh Jialing screamed, "Sister Xu, throw her out, she dares to make up prices to deceive me!"

How could the necklace be so expensive when it was merely exquisite?

Thirty-six million?

She doesn’t even have that much in savings now!

And Dragon Stone Type Jade? It was obviously glass.

Dragon Stone Type Jade is very rare, and its supply chains have long been tightly controlled by a few powers; they are not open to the public at all.

The agent also got a shock when she saw the price list, and was even more angry, "We can’t possibly pay for false pricing!"

Now Cheng Qingli was angry, "You were the ones who said there was no problem, and you are the ones who say you won’t pay. You’ve said all there is, and now you can’t pay, putting on a brave front? Not paying, is that right? We’ll see you in court then!"

After taking the price list from Yeh Jialing’s hand, Cheng Qingli left the dressing room with large strides.

"Sister Lan, this is too much." Cheng Qingli, fuming with anger, recounted what had just happened, then she lowered her head, "I didn’t handle things well."

"No, you did very well." Ye Wanlan patted her head and cracked a slight smile, "Everything is proceeding exactly as I have planned."

Cheng Qingli was stunned, completely taken aback, "Does Sister Lan mean, you anticipated that she would accuse us of fraud?"

"Given Yeh Jialing’s understanding of our Shenzhou ancient jewelry, she can’t recognize those ancient techniques, so she will accuse you of fraud," Ye Wanlan said indifferently, "but she doesn’t understand that many others will. With her arrogant nature, pushing her this way will cause her to continue speaking out online, further increasing the buzz. Just wait and see."

Cheng Qingli scratched her head and continued to watch Qingli’s Weibo.

Sure enough, after some time, Yeh Jialing posted another Weibo.

[ @YehJialingV: Encountered a scam artist today, almost got scammed, I accidentally broke a necklace; they asked me to pay thirty-six million. ]

[ What kind of necklace is so expensive? Made by immortals? ]

[ Jialing’s necklace is also broken, wouldn’t it be because they were annoyed and embarrassed at not getting the money that they did this? ]

[ Jialing is still with the Annus Mirabilis crew, just wait, I will definitely expose this person! ]

After Yeh Jialing posted two Weibo messages about the necklace affair, and as she was a popular young star, #YehJialingNecklace had already climbed into the top ten trending search results.

"Sister Lan, you are a god!" Cheng Qingli was very excited, "How did you calculate this? You don’t really have the power to see the future, do you?"

"No, it’s not divination; it’s human psychology," Ye Wanlan said lightly, "Know why top psychologists can tell what you’re thinking after just one glance? Because your micro-expressions have already given away all your thoughts."

Cheng Qingli immediately covered her face, "Then I must wear a mask the next time I go see a psychologist!"

Ye Wanlan looked at her and smiled lightly, "Just one more east wind and the fire will be hot enough to flare up."

Calculating the time, the curator of Yunjing Museum should have arrived by now.

**

"Xiao Yan, you must absolutely not lie to me," the old master wore sunglasses and was dressed in a floral short-sleeve shirt and shorts, "Are you saying your friend’s company has developed ancient-method jewelry, craftmanship identical to what was used a thousand years ago? I don’t believe it, not one bit."

"When have I ever lied to Curator Xiang?" Yan Tingfeng strolled leisurely, "You’ll see when you get there."

"Hehe, kid, you’ve never lied to me, but I really don’t believe it," Curator Xiang rubbed his hands together, "In our Shenzhou, too many crafts have been lost. It’s not because there aren’t successors skilled in these crafts; they’re just too rare, rare to the point that culture and art can’t return to their former glory."

At this, he also looked very dejected.

Yan Tingfeng chuckled lightly, "It may have been impossible in the past, but the future is sure to have a hundred percent success rate."

As they were talking, they had reached the pavilion.

Ye Wanlan was sitting in the pavilion waiting, and upon hearing the steps, she stood up, first making eye contact with Yan Tingfeng before greeting, "Good day, Curator."

"All good, I’m very good," Curator Xiang said without any pretense, "The jewelry that Xiao Yan mentioned? Let me have a look."

Ye Wanlan handed over the last necklace that Nie Shuangyi had worn.

Just a glance was all it took for Curator Xiang’s gaze to freeze.

He could even hear himself swallowing, and his hand involuntarily reached out.

Yan Tingfeng: "Curator Xiang."

"Ah? Oh, oh, it is indeed the work of ancient techniques!" Curator Xiang came back to his senses and exclaimed repeatedly, "This phoenix is crafted so beautifully, even the big gold shops I’ve visited cannot match this level of craftsmanship."

Ye Wanlan nodded, then offered a photo: "This one is just the basic model, and there’s another for your review."

"Just the basic model?" Curator Xiang was shocked, hurriedly taking it and then gasping the next second, "My heavens!"

There had been too many art thefts in Shenzhou, and he had visited the Starman Federal Empire Museum, where many pieces of jewelry used by royalty and nobility were kept, so exquisitely made they were beyond description.

He had also always regretted that these ancient techniques had not been completely passed down.

"Where is the actual item? Where is it?" Curator Xiang asked urgently, "Quick, quick, take me to see it, please."

Yan Tingfeng spoke unhurriedly, "It was destroyed."

Curator Xiang’s smile froze instantly, and a second later he leaped up, "What?!"

This piece of art that was worthy of being in a museum, had it really been destroyed?!

"Who is it? Which blind dog dared to destroy such a masterpiece of art?" Curator Xiang was extremely angry.

"Curator, don’t get agitated, we have the skills but lack the popularity," Ye Wanlan said, "This necklace was directly targeted at the high-end market; we will continue producing it."

Curator Xiang stuttered, "Can... can it still be produced?"

He looked blankly at Yan Tingfeng.

How did this youngster come to know such a formidable person?

He was deeply envious!

"We will also need the curator’s assistance when the time comes," Ye Wanlan said with a smile emerging, "Once it’s successful, I will specially donate a set of ancient-style jewelry to the museum."

"No problem!" Curator Xiang agreed without hesitation, "Whatever help you need, I’m at your service."

"I’ll take him to the hotel first," Yan Tingfeng said with a slight wink, "Miss Ye, see you in a bit."

**

Returning to the lounge, Ye Wanlan powered up her computer.

At that moment, there was a knock on the door.

"Miss Ye, the surveillance you requested has arrived! It captured the process of Yeh Jialing forcibly tearing off Miss Nie Shuangyi’s necklace," Bing He hurried over, presenting a USB drive, "This time it’s in 1080p HD!"

He had already berated the tech department of Bureau 723 last time, and as a result, Bureau 723 specifically got in touch with the International Strategic Studies Institute to bring in a batch of new equipment.

After a period of effort, they had finally managed to significantly improve their technology and were now able to restore video resolution to 1080p HD.

Bing He was extremely cautious because he truly feared that this mysterious and unpredictable Miss Ye might pull out a 4K 60fps restored surveillance video the next second.

"Oh?" Ye Wanlan raised her eyebrows, "You knew I needed the surveillance?"

Bing He was embarrassed: "It wasn’t me, it was the gentleman’s orders."

Ye Wanlan responded with a hum, "Your gentleman is always thoughtful."

Having known Tingfeng for a month, she found that the unfathomable aspects of him were only increasing.

A worthy opponent in life is a good thing.

After inserting the USB drive into the computer, Ye Wanlan brought up the surveillance video, narrowed her eyes slightly, and sent the video to the company’s publicity department.

At that moment, netizens were still in heated debate.

And marketing accounts had also sprung into action, elevating the necklace incident to new heights.

[Gossip alert—reports claim that Nie Shuangyi and Yeh Jialing are at odds, with Nie tearing Yeh’s necklace and shamelessly claiming her own necklace was damaged by Yeh.]

[Nie Shuangyi has no shame! Not famous but full of temperament, and tries to ride on others’ coattails. Without Jialing, she couldn’t even get into the cast.]

Ye Wanlan was monitoring the situation closely, and when she saw that the entry had reached the top position, she hit the enter key.

[That will do.]

The publicity department acted swiftly and decisively.

[@PullingTheSkyV: We specially commissioned a group of Shenzhou’s intangible heritage craftsmen to design an ancient-style necklace, selecting the rarest Dragon Stone Type of jade as the main material and embellishing it with gold and red diamonds, priced at 36 million.

Unfortunately, this necklace was destroyed by @YehJialing. We have filed a police report—you will pay for it, even if it costs you everything.]

Three seconds later, Yunjing Museum Center retweeted this post.