chapter 7 Father-in-law’s birthday

Entering the living room, Irene poured water for Frederic. Seeing a person from a prominent family like Frederic, Irene inevitably seemed a little reserved.
At the same time, she was also happy for Ashburn. Being able to get to know a noble person like Frederic. Although she didn't fancy some benefits, it would at least be helpful to Ashburn's life in the future.
"Ashburn, you take care of our guest, and I'll go out to buy some for dinner." Irene went out again carrying the vegetable basket.
At this time, Frederic took out a delicate object from his pocket, put it on the table, and said with a smile, "Although you don't want to take advantage of me, I couldn't be ungrateful. You may just lift a finger, but to me, it means life-saving. My life is still worth some money. Nothing special, I just like to collect some interesting items. Take it, don't feel burdened. "
"Mr. Taylor, this is..."
Frederic made a serious face, "You must take it, or you look down on me."
Ashburn was a little speechless. The old guy's temper was stubborn. As the chairman of Scenic Group, who dared to look down on him?
The Taylor family was considered a second-tier family in Narada.
Ashburn couldn't help but accept his gift.
A folding fan with a fan cover with double-sided embroidery and tassels on the outside. The materials and workmanship were exquisite.
There were several longevity peaches painted on the folding fan. Ashburn didn't know much about literature, but he inherited the spiritual consciousness of The Five Techniques of Taoism, among which the Physiognomy Character Scriptures were divided into branches such as astrology, physiography, metoposcopy, and antique appraisals.
Antique appraisals were the method of identifying objects.
An important method of physiognomy was to look at the Qi. The deeper the spiritual cultivation one had, the clearer the Qi can be seen. Some Qi was colored and some Qi was colorless. It needed to rely on experience with spiritual cultivation.
The spiritual consciousness in his mind was the condensed lifetime knowledge of Taoist predecessors, which had given Ashburn enough experience. What he lacks now was spiritual cultivation.
Anyway, Ashburn was able to estimate that this folding fan had a history of about a hundred years.
Looking down at the signature stamp, he was surprised, "Recluse Baishi?"
"Several old friends in the collection industry know that I like Baishi Qi's paintings and often collect them for me. This folding fan is not worth much, just keep it for fun." Frederic was proud and told Ashburn about a bunch of anecdotes about this ancient artist even including the way to appreciate his paintings.
Unfortunately, Ashburn was a person with no artistic taste. Apart from the fact that Baishi Qi's paintings were very expensive, he knew nothing about the rest. He smiled and said, "Mr. Taylor, It is too expensive, I can't accept it."
"You boy really treats me like a stranger!" Frederic showed a dissatisfied look, "It's just my sincerity to make friends with you. Besides, I want you to do me a favor..."
At this point, it would appear to be pretentious of Ashburn if he continued to refuse, so he said, "Okay, Mr. Taylor, just put it to me."
Frederic looked at him mysteriously and said with a smile, "I don't believe you had never studied medicine. Tell me honestly, who did you learn your medical skills from?"
Ashburn knew he wouldn't believe it. He glanced at his grandfather's memorial tablet on the shrine and said casually, "Actually, I learned it from my grandfather when I was young. I only have a superficial understanding of it."
"Then your grandpa..."Frederic hesitated for a moment, but finally said, "Did he leave you any... recipes for improving a man's sexual abilities?"
Ashburn was secretly speechless. The old guy was really not afraid of death. He was about to be fucked with his young girlfriend to sexual shock but was still thinking about such a thing.
"Mr. Taylor, you'd better take care of your body health first, and then I'll make a prescription for you."
"Hey, kid, don't coax me, it's a deal!"
Ashburn nodded, not knowing what to say.
After sitting for a while, Frederic stood up and left.
Ashburn sent him out and was about to find Gina by chance she was calling.
"Hey, Gina."
"Today is my dad's birthday, you didn't forget it, right?"
Ashburn slapped his forehead. He had been busy these days because of Irene's illness and rarely went to Willow's house. He almost forgot his father-in-law's birthday, but he still said, "Yes, I remember it."
"At 3 p.m., Lotus Hotel, private room No. 9. Many relatives and friends will be there by then. Watch out for your appearance and don't embarrass me!" Gina commanded and hung up the phone.
Ashburn felt afraid and nervous. Every time participated in this kind of party, he was the target of making a fool of. Not only did Gina feel embarrassed, but he also felt ashamed.
The Willows were an extremely snobbish family, so he definitely couldn't attend empty-handed. If the gift was too common, others would make fun of him.
His eyes couldn't help but fall on the folding fan that Frederic had just given.
The folding fan was painted with longevity peaches, so it was appropriate to send it to people who would celebrate his birthday.
After a while, Irene came back from shopping. She originally wanted to keep Frederic for dinner, so she bought a lot of fish and meat and asked, "Where is Mr. Taylor?"
"He's left."
"I just remembered, today is your father-in-law's birthday, right?" Irene knew that it was difficult to be a live-in son-in-law, and Ashburn was a forgetful person, so she remembered these important dates for him so as not to embarrass him in the Willow family.
"Yes, I had prepared the gifts."
Irene sighed, "Don't be too shabby and make the Willows laugh."
"Okay, Mom, I'll keep these in mind."
Because it was his father-in-law's birthday, Ashburn did not give the amulet to Gina right away. It would not be too late to give her the amulet at the birthday party in the afternoon.
…
At 2 p.m., Ashburn changed into clean clothes, put on the folding fan, and set off.
Lotus Hotel, private room No. 9.
His mother-in-law, Hebe Yandell, who was greeting guests at the door of the private room, saw Ashburn coming, and the smile on her face suddenly dropped, "Hey, you arrive so quickly for a freeloading dinner. I don't usually see you working so hard!"
Ashburn didn't want to argue with Hebe. She was the elder. No matter who was right, it turned out to be his fault, so he entered the private room without saying anything.
There were already many guests in the private room, most of them were relatives of the Willow family and some were business partners.
Gina was talking to several seniors. When she saw Ashburn come in, she stood up and walked to him, scolding him in a low voice, "Didn't I remind you to dress up? Look at you, far from decent!"
After Ashburn became the live-in son-in-law of the Willow family, he brought all his clothes there. He didn't leave one piece of decent clothes at his own home. Now he was wearing a pilling T-shirt with a pair of ripped jeans.
"It's clean..."
"Clean is a basic requirement but it's not up to par!"
Gina frowned, but she knew it was useless to talk to a careless person like Ashburn. It was too late to take him to change clothes, so she could only take him to see her father Hyman Willow.
"Dad," Ashburn called.
"Here you come." Hyman nodded without any extra words.
Next to Hyman sat his youngest daughter Katrina Willow, who was three years younger than Gina. She looked at Ashburn with a hint of sarcasm in her eyes, "Ashburn, what gift you've prepared? Don't take it out if it is a health product the same as that of the last year!"