Lin Chen came to the center of the hall, "Ladies and gentlemen, I made a bet with this young master Zhou Da. We have each appraised a bracelet, and whoever's is of higher value gets to slap the other across the face based on the difference in their value. I hope everyone can be a witness."

People in Huaxia enjoy a bustling scene the most. Hearing Lin Chen's words, quite a few people crowded around.

"Betting is fun, but the brother speaking seems to be dressed pretty shabbily!"

"Zhou Bin, this guy actually dared to bet against the Zhou family's Zhou Bin. He's quite bold!"

"The Zhou family is loaded with money. Isn't this guy looking for a beating by betting against Zhou Bin?"

Whispers swirled through the crowd.

Zhou Bin had not expected Lin Chen to announce their bet in public, but he wasn't worried. In his eyes, there was no suspense in this gamble.

At this moment, a staff member came out holding the appraised bracelets.

"Who does bracelet number 25 belong to?" the staff member asked.

Lin Chen answered with a chuckle, "Mine."

The staff member glanced at Lin Chen. "Your bracelet is made of silver beads and has aged significantly. It's worth at most fifty yuan."

"Hahaha!"

Hearing what the staff member said, Zhou Bin almost laughed himself into a fit.

"Kid, didn't you just say your bracelet is worth several hundred thousand? To claim that something worth fifty yuan is worth that much, I really admire your courage."

"Haha, a pauper will always be a pauper. He must be crazy for money."

"Kid, wait to be slapped into a pig's head by our young master Zhou!"

A few cronies laughed heartily, and the onlookers shook their heads. Bringing such a defective product for appraisal was simply ridiculous.

Then the staff member asked, "Who does bracelet number 26 belong to?"

Zhou Bin stood up pompously, "Mine. Is it worth several hundred thousand?"

The staff member looked at Zhou Bin as if he saw a monster, "Several hundred thousand? In your dreams! Yours is about the same as his, made of a composite adhesive, also worth at most fifty."

"What!"

Zhou Bin was instantly dumbfounded. The ruby bracelet he'd spent a hundred thousand yuan on was actually worth only fifty yuan.

"You must have made a mistake. This is a chicken blood ruby," Zhou Bin said, still in disbelief.

"No mistake. We use machines for testing. Here's the report; see for yourself," the staff said impatiently.

At this time, Lin Chen said with a smile, "Young master Zhou Da really is rich, spending a hundred thousand on a bracelet worth just fifty. The saying 'a fool and his money are soon parted' must be about you!"

Zhou Bin knew he had been duped. His face turned ashen with anger, but he scoffed, "What are you so proud of? Isn't your bracelet just scrap metal?"

The people gathered around to enjoy the spectacle couldn't help but shake their heads. They had thought a good show was coming, but it turned out both appraisals yielded nothing but junk.

Lin Chen smiled faintly. "Who said mine is scrap metal?" As he spoke, Lin Chen took out a small knife and gently scraped off the silver paint from the beads of the bracelet.

The crowd that was about to disperse now looked on at Lin Chen with curiosity.

As layer after layer of silver paint was scraped off, a series of red beads began to emerge before everyone.

"Such pure red!" Exclamations of shock came from the crowd.

Zhou Bin was also taken aback, staring blankly at the bracelet in Lin Chen's hand.

Lin Chen scraped off all the silver paint from the beads and handed them back to the staff, "Please help me test it again."

The staff member was also taken aback, having only tested the surface of the beads before, not suspecting that there was something amiss underneath.

"Alright, I'll take it for testing right away," the staff member nodded and hurried into the workroom.

Everyone was curious and gathered around to see what Lin Chen's strand of beads was really made of.

Over ten minutes later, a manager dressed in a suit emerged with the employee from before.

The bracelet was now encased in an exquisite little box, which the manager carefully held as he walked out, "Congratulations, sir, you've really stumbled upon a treasure. Each bead on this bracelet is a top-grade red ruby, conservatively estimated to be worth over five hundred thousand."

The entire hall fell silent.

Everyone had just heard from the chatter that Lin Chen had purchased the bracelet for a mere two hundred dollars, yet the final appraisal was half a million, and that was a conservative estimate.

The manager continued, "The quality and size of each bead match perfectly. What I mentioned is simply the minimum value, if taken to an auction, it could fetch at least a million dollars."

Boom!

The hall erupted into turmoil once again. A million dollars! My God, that kid is so lucky.

Why don't I ever get that lucky!

Surrounding Lin Chen were bursts of astonished murmurs and envious gazes.

At this moment, Zhou Bin's face was ashen. He had spent a hundred thousand on something worth mere tens, while another spent two hundred to obtain a bracelet with red rubies worth a million.

Just a moment ago, he had been calling Lin Chen a fool, but now it was clear who the real fool was without need for words.

Just then, Lin Chen approached Zhou Bin with a chuckle, "Young Master Zhou, it seems you've lost our bet. Half a million, that's fifty slaps. Are you ready?"

Lin Chen harbored deep hatred for the Zhou family, so he naturally wouldn't miss any chance for revenge.

Upon hearing Lin Chen's words, Zhou Bin shuddered, "You, you can't hit me, I am a member of the Zhou family."

"A member of the Zhou family? It's precisely one of you that I am slapping," Lin Chen said with a faint smile.

"Do you know the consequences if you dare hit me?" Zhou Bin said, his gaze icy as he stared at Lin Chen.

"The consequences? Of course, I know." No sooner had he spoken than Lin Chen's hand was already raised.

"Slap!" A heavy slap landed squarely on Zhou Bin's face.

"Ah!" You bastard, you dare to strike me!

Zhou Bin hadn't anticipated Lin Chen to be bold enough to strike him, knowing he was a member of the Zhou family, so he was wholly unprepared.

"The wager was proposed by you, and since you lost, why shouldn't I hit you?" Lin Chen said calmly.

The onlookers nodded in agreement since they had already been given a heads up; even the security guards just stood by, watching the excitement.

"You lot, go cripple him," Zhou Bin ordered his lackeys, holding his swollen face.

Several lackeys, with vicious expressions, started to encircle Lin Chen.

"Yo, thinking of reneging on the bet? I particularly despise such dishonest dogs," said Lin Chen, the corner of his mouth curving into a smile as he approached the lackeys.

"Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap!"

Accompanied by four crisp sounds, Zhou Bin was completely dumbfounded.

The four lackeys he had brought, all slapped away by Lin Chen.

How could this be possible!

Zhou Bin's lackeys were all martial arts majors; though called lackeys, they were effectively his bodyguards, having retired from special military forces.

Zhou Bin had seen these four men in action before; they had once jointly vanquished dozens of thugs.

Yet, this ferocious quartet was effortlessly sent flying by Lin Chen.

Only now did Zhou Bin realize the kind of fearsome character he had provoked.

Lin Chen advanced towards Zhou Bin step by step, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, "Your turn!"

(Thank you all for your support; the next update will be at six in the evening!)