113. A Masterstroke

Giving a physical gift would have been more sincere, but Zhao Weidong and his two companions, unsure of what price range would be appropriate, abandoned the idea and unanimously decided to offer cash instead.

"Look at the display table over there! There are so many gifts; we can see what kind of level these presents are at first," He Jiayi said, pointing toward the display stand to the right of the lobby entrance.

"The gifts received by the Great Tycoon Xiao must be incredibly valuable. Let’s go take a look to broaden our horizons before we decide on the cash gift," Gu Weiwei suggested, taking the lead.

"Wait for a second, I’m going to show the followers in my livestream the gifts the tycoon received. This is bound to draw a lot of attention," Sang Qingye said excitedly, hurrying over to get some good shots of the presents.

"There are quite a lot of gifts—at least twenty or thirty. They all look very precious. I’ll film them one by one in detail," Sang Qingye said, full of enthusiasm.

"Wow, look! A solid gold God of Wealth statue! A statue this big must contain at least ten kilograms of gold, right?" He Jiayi exclaimed, pointing at a golden statue on the display stand.

"Where? Where?" He Jiayi’s exclamation immediately drew the attention of the other three.

Following the direction of her finger, they saw a massive golden God of Wealth statue placed toward the back of the center of the display stand.

"That is so extravagant! A golden statue this size must weigh at least ten kilograms—that’s over two million! I wonder who sent this; they certainly are generous," Gu Weiwei said in astonishment.

"There’s writing on the red ribbon; let’s go check it out." Knowing this golden statue would be irresistibly attractive to her livestream viewers, Sang Qingye hurried over to capture it on camera.

The statue shimmered with a brilliant golden luster, appearing freshly crafted. A red ribbon tied around the waist bore a line of text: "Jiuhua Trading respectfully wishes Xunweizhai a prosperous grand opening."

None of them were familiar with Jiuhua Trading, but they were shocked by the company's grand gesture.

Jiuhua Trading was among the first batch of tenants in the original Hanguang Building. Recently, rents in the building had been rising sharply, putting immense pressure on these early tenants. They had originally been quite dissatisfied with the soaring costs and planned to relocate once their leases expired. Although the Taigu Building management had continuously advertised that they had spent a fortune hiring a Feng Shui master to alter the building's layout—promising that tenants would enjoy smooth sailing and thriving businesses—everyone had dismissed it as mere marketing rhetoric.

However, to the surprise of the tenants, the building's claims did not seem to be false. Since the management promoted the Feng Shui adjustments, the tenants had indeed experienced noticeable changes. Recently, everything they handled seemed to proceed more smoothly, and company performance had seen a slight uptick across the board. If it were just one or two companies, it could be a coincidence, but since it was a universal experience, it was worth pondering.

Even Xiao Yao himself hadn't expected the nine-layer talismans to be so powerful! The tenants in the building were reaping the benefits as well. When he first started using ordinary talismans, the effect was far less apparent; not only did the tenants not benefit, but even the performance of the Taigu Building itself hadn't shown any significant growth.

Once the management of Taigu Building confirmed this, they ramped up their publicity. Although some remained skeptical, a small group became true believers. Jiuhua Trading was one of them. To ensure they would be eligible to renew their lease, they had begun taking every opportunity to build rapport, and their gestures were anything but small.

"Look, there’s a golden toad over there. Although it’s slightly smaller than the God of Wealth, it must contain at least five kilograms of gold. That’s another million-plus gesture," Zhao Weidong sighed in amazement again. "The Great Tycoon Xiao certainly commands a lot of respect!"

The group gathered around the wealth-attracting toad to admire it closely. After they were done, Gu Weiwei remarked, "Gold statues aren't necessarily the most expensive gifts. The bosses of the Shuangqing Group and Hanguang Group came in person; their gifts might be even more precious. Let’s start from the beginning."

Having seen the two gold statues, the group was now deeply curious about the other presents. The first gift on the display table was a bronze "Three Goats Bring Prosperity" tripod. Although it appeared well-preserved, patches of rust were still visible.

"The meaning behind this bronze tripod is nice, but isn't its value a bit too ordinary? Could this actually be a valuable antique?" He Jiayi knew nothing about antiques and had even less ability to discern ancient bronzeware.

Gu Weiwei and the others couldn't tell the value either, but that didn't matter; the ribbons on the tripod made it clear. There were two ribbons, one of which read: "Respectfully gifted: A bronze tripod from the Western Han Dynasty."

"It's actually a Western Han bronze tripod? Is it very valuable? Many people in my livestream are asking," Sang Qingye asked, looking to Gu Weiwei for help.

"I'm not entirely sure, but the tripod looks exquisite. It should be worth at least a few million, right?" Gu Weiwei guessed tentatively.

Just then, someone passing by interjected, "Didn't President Wang from Yiyun just say that this Western Han bronze tripod is extremely rare and worth at least 50 million? Didn't you hear?"

"It’s worth that much? That’s terrifying. Antiques really are antiques—not something an ordinary person can play with," Gu Weiwei said, shocked.

Sang Qingye asked casually, "Who is so generous? It’s just a restaurant opening, yet they gave such an expensive gift. Isn't the Great Tycoon Xiao going to make a fortune?"

"This was a gift from President Tang of the Tianhui Group. Given President Tang's status, of course the gift would be precious," the helpful stranger, who looked to be in his thirties, said with a look of envy.

Rarely encountering someone so helpful, Sang Qingye continued, "That Tianhuang stone carving over there looks to be of great quality and is quite large. That must be precious too, right? Which distinguished guest sent that?"