chapter 32 My father-in-law was deceived

"How did you know?" Anja Fang turned around, her phoenix eyes glanced at Noah Jiang with interest. Noah Jiang smiled and said, "Traditional Chinese Medicine emphasizes observation, listening, questioning, and pulse diagnosis." "So you deduced it. However, I've heard that the doctors from Jiang Clinic are quacks!" Anja Fang chuckled. The reputation of Jiang Clinic on Traditional Chinese Medicine Street was something anyone could easily find out. Noah Jiang just shrugged without rebutting and sat down without saying another word. "He isn't a quack," Ruth Chen retorted to Anja Fang. Anja Fang smiled alluringly, looking at the silent Noah Jiang with interest, and asked, "How much for this beauty-enhancing herbal tea?" "One hundred yuan a cup!" Ruth Chen pouted. Noah Jiang was stunned. Anja Fang promptly took out three hundred yuan and laughed, "Pack three cups for me." "Okay." Ruth Chen unhesitatingly accepted the three hundred yuan and prepared three cups of beauty-enhancing herbal tea for Anja Fang. Noah Jiang stood up, took the three hundred yuan from Ruth Chen, then handed back fifty-five yuan in change to Anja Fang, saying, "Fifteen yuan a cup." Anja Fang gave a flirty smile and took the money from Noah Jiang. Wendy, her secretary, collected the three cups of packed tea and said, "If it works, I'll come back for more." "Thank you, take care." Noah Jiang nodded and watched as Anja Fang and her group left. Only then did he sit back down and resumed playing with his phone. Ruth Chen pouted, "Brother Noah, why did you do that? She doesn't believe in you anyway, might as well make some money off her." Noah Jiang chuckled, "Alright, go back to your work." "Ms. Fang, are you really going to drink it?" After strolling around Traditional Chinese Medicine Street and getting back to the car, Anja Fang looked at the beauty-enhancing herbal tea in her hand. Wendy looked anxious, "I suggest you don't drink it, Ms. Fang. I've never heard of herbal tea that enhances beauty." "It is indeed peculiar." Anja Fang's eyes narrowed as she stared at the herbal tea, "But Traditional Chinese Medicine is vast and profound. Maybe there really is a beautifying effect. At worst, it won't kill me." "But..." Before Wendy could finish, Anja Fang started drinking. After finishing, she smiled seductively, "The taste is not bad. It has the flavours of lotus and liquorice flower. It seems he made this with care, suitable for girls to drink." Wendy sighed, shook her head, and smiled bitterly, "I just hope there won't be any issues after drinking." For the entire afternoon, Noah Jiang stood by his tea stall. Aside from a few curious passers-by, no one inquired about his beauty-enhancing herbal tea or his body-strengthening tea. At 5 p.m., Noah Jiang packed up his stall. Luckily, he brewed only a small batch, and since the medicine couldn't be kept overnight, the leftovers had to be discarded. It was somewhat regrettable. After closing the doors to Jiang Clinic, Noah Jiang rode his electric scooter to the vegetable market. After selling the vegetables, he went straight back to his villa, where he saw Leo Zhang sitting in the garden pavilion, drinking tea, and admiring an antique painting he had just purchased from Xiguan Antique City. "Dad, isn't Mom home?" Noah Jiang, carrying vegetables, asked Leo Zhang, who was in the pavilion. "Your mother went out to play mahjong. We don't need her to prepare dinner. Oh, Noah, come and see this painting. What do you think?" Leo Zhang beckoned Noah Jiang over, eager to share his new acquisition, "This is an antique painting I got from Xiguan Antique City this afternoon. Although it's not from a renowned artist, from the technique and style, it's worth collecting." Noah Jiang approached and examined the painting on the tea table. It was a typical splash-ink landscape painting, and at first glance, it did seem impressive. "Dad, how much did you pay for this painting?" Noah Jiang inquired. "Hmm, 1.2 million yuan. What do you think? Worth it, right?" Leo Zhang grinned. However, Noah Jiang shook his head, pointing at the canvas, "This is a modern art canvas, and the carving on the painting scroll is modern craftsmanship. This must be a modern reproduction designed to look antique." "What? A fake?" Leo Zhang bulged his eyes in disbelief, looking at Noah Jiang. "Um, it's worth a few tens of thousands," Noah Jiang nodded, smiling at Leo Zhang. "Wait, you can appraise paintings?" Leo Zhang looked at Noah Jiang suspiciously. Noah Jiang shrugged, smiling, "If you don't believe me, you can have someone else take a look for you. I'm going to go cook." Watching Noah Jiang carry groceries back to the villa kitchen, Leo Zhang stood dumbfounded and immediately packed up the ancient painting and hurriedly drove away. He had no appetite for dinner now; he needed to rush to find a good friend to confirm whether the painting was a forgery. Watching Leo Zhang rush out, Noah Jiang shook his head and smiled. His father-in-law knew a bit about ink but liked to collect ancient paintings and antiques, yet he wasn't even an amateur. Most of the stuff he picked up outside was fake. Noah Jiang hadn't been able to tell before, but now he could clearly see the age and authenticity of these antiques. Antiques themselves carry a sense of time and history. By sensing the aura of antiquity on them, Noah Jiang could discern whether they were genuine. With Leo Zhang out, his mother-in-law playing mahjong, and Cindy not off work, Noah ended up eating dinner alone, enjoying the peace. After dinner, he took a medical book to the tea pavilion in the yard and began to re-study some formulas for herbal tea while sipping a cup of tea. With his current financial ability, he couldn't afford to use good ingredients for the herbal tea, or else the beauty effects would be better. "You wasteful thing, spending 1.2 million to bring back a fake painting," Junko Ye's scolding voice was heard before she was seen. Leo Zhang, holding the ancient painting, came back with a sullen face, full of bitterness. "I didn't expect that Fatty Wang would sell me a counterfeit." He had just taken the painting to a friend for appraisal, and just as Noah Jiang said, the painting was a modern forgery with no collectible value. Leo Zhang was both ashamed and angry. 1.2 million wasn't a large sum for him, but being scammed didn't feel good. "Hmph, I will go with you tomorrow. We must return this painting, or I won't spare you." Junko Ye glared at Leo Zhang but spotted Noah Jiang leisurely drinking tea in the pavilion and immediately shouted, "What are you looking at? Go cook some chicken leg meat for my dog." Seeing his mother-in-law holding the Teddy dog, he sighed slightly. This dog lived more comfortably than he did. It wasn't until ten o'clock in the evening that Cindy returned alone, driving a Mercedes, looking tired. Junko Ye asked, "Cindy, why do you look so bad?" "It's nothing, just tired from working overtime. I'm going to take a bath, Mom." Cindy didn't want to bring her work troubles home and went straight upstairs, not even looking at Noah Jiang, who was feeding the dog. However, seeing Cindy's pale and tired face, Noah Jiang didn't pay much attention, knowing she was busy with the New Century City development in the Lindong Area and had worked overtime until now. The next morning, like usual, Noah Jiang prepared breakfast. Cindy came downstairs wearing a pink shirt with a light blue skirt, her fair, beautiful legs as straight and tempting as ivory, tapping down in a pair of delicate high heels. Noah Jiang turned his head to look at her and found her face a bit pale and her spirit lacking. He asked, "Didn't sleep well last night?" Cindy, lacking energy, gave Noah Jiang a lazy glance, didn't talk to him, and sat down to eat breakfast. Noah Jiang served her a bowl of porridge, smiling, "No matter how busy you are with work, you have to take care of your health." "Like you? Spending all day in that broken clinic of yours, doing nothing?" Cindy glared slightly, snorting coldly at Noah Jiang. Noah Jiang was taken aback, smiled, and said no more. "I'm not eating." Cindy got up, took her bag and car keys, and left. Watching her drive away, Noah Jiang smiled helplessly, accustomed to Cindy's cold attitude, thinking he was just an incompetent, ambitionless loser.