Gu Xiyan, who originally did not show much change in expression besides a slight gloom in her eyes, and Wen Rou, became somewhat panicked upon hearing Mu Jinyu's words.
Wen Rou hastily waved her hands and said, "I didn't, I'm not, don't talk nonsense..."
Gu Xiyan fiercely glared at Mu Jinyu and said, "Junior Brother, don't listen to your Senior Brother's nonsense. We didn't say that..."
Although they said this, they were insincere, looking at Xiang Mantang beside Mu Jinyu, there was still a hint of expectation in their eyes.
"Of course, I brought gifts for the occasion, I haven't forgotten."
Xiang Mantang nodded to Gu Xiyan and Wen Rou as a greeting, then called Liu Mei over to deliver the gifts he had prepared.
They were several sets of evening gowns and high heels.
The fabric of the evening gowns was not only extremely expensive, but the design was also very lavish and exquisite. Gu Xiyan could see, at a glance, that these gowns were adorned with a significant number of diamonds.
The most extravagant gown had over seven hundred diamonds, totalling 1100 carats. Gu Xiyan roughly estimated that this gown alone was worth at least thirty million dollars.
It must have been custom-made by a well-known designer for one of them.
This was one of the most luxurious and noble evening gowns.
As for the others, although they didn't have as many diamonds as that one, they were each equally breathtaking, with styles that were either graceful or pure, clearly indicating that the designer did not make these with quantity in mind, but tailored them according to their individual temperaments.
So, even though there were fewer diamonds, their value was by no means less than that of the most lavish gown.
The high heels were just as special, with crystal-like surfaces embellished with extremely rare large pink and blue diamonds, and also accented with four flawless white diamonds of 3 carats each.
The pattern of the shoes was an Arab-style jasmine design, and these high heels were made by hundreds of workers who spent several hours sewing with 18-carat gold thread entirely by hand.
"Wow, so beautiful!"
Gu Xiyan, Wen Rou, and Mei Yinxue were all bedazzled by the evening gowns and high heels, their eyes glowing as they stared without being able to look away.
Then, Liu Mei carefully folded these gowns and high heels, placed them into bags, and handed them individually to Mei Yinxue and the others.
The most magnificent and noble one, studded with over seven hundred diamonds, naturally belonged to Mei Yinxue.
Only she could pull off such an imposing and grand evening gown. Others, like Gu Xiyan, Wen Rou, or Lin Qiaoxia, simply couldn't handle it.
If they were to wear such a gown, it would be a humiliation, making them look as if a little girl insisted on wearing her mother's clothes.
The evening gowns tailored for Gu Xiyan and the others reflected their temperaments more appropriately, not overly showy. Although the price did not match up to Mei Yinxue's, they were more to their liking.
"Isn't this a bit expensive?!"
Gu Xiyan estimated that her own set of evening gown and high heels was worth well over two hundred million and felt that giving such an expensive gift for a first meeting, although delightful, seemed somewhat inappropriate.
"There's nothing inappropriate about it. If you don't want it, I'll just give it to someone else," Mu Jinyu retorted, treating Xiang Mantang's gift as if it were his own. Hearing Gu Xiyan's hesitancy and struggle, he almost immediately tried to take it from her to give to someone else.
"You dare!"
Gu Xiyan glared at Mu Jinyu, then hugged her evening gown and high heels tight, not giving Mu Jinyu a chance to take them away.
All the women present, including Jiang Huaimeng, Xu Qingya, and Chen Jiahui, who had originally planned to make a scene, looked at their evening dresses with eyes filled with intense envy.
Xiang Mantang watched Mu Jinyu and Gu Xiyan playing around and smiled, "Sister-in-law, are you satisfied with the dress and high heels?"
It wasn't just a question for Gu Xiyan, but also for Wen Rou and Mei Yinxue.
Mei Yinxue, although she had not met Xiang Mantang before, had heard about him from Mu Jinyu. Hearing Xiang Mantang's words, she also nodded gently, "I like them very much."
Her expression was still calm. After all, she was no longer a little girl, having seen too many storms; the meet-and-greet gift from Xiang Mantang, despite being valuable and to her liking, couldn't elicit too much excitement from her.
After all, she could buy them herself if she wanted to, and the significance wasn't nearly as much as the platinum necklace Mu Jinyu gave her, which was only worth several thousand yuan.
Gu Xiyan and Wen Rou also nodded gently. Seeing Mu Jinyu telling them to accept it, they thanked Xiang Mantang.
"As long as you like them," Xiang Mantang said with a smile and a nod.
The reason he gave gifts like this to Gu Xiyan and the others, rather than villas like the ones Lin Qiaoxia received, was first, not to outshine the hosts, since today was Lin Qiaoxia's birthday party.
Secondly, since they lived with Mu Jinyu, giving them villas also wouldn't make much sense.
And for Lin Qiaoxia and Yu Linglong, who were now not very rich, a villa clearly made a much better gift than dresses and high heels.
After speaking, Xiang Mantang saw Gu Xiyan hinting Mu Jinyu with her eyes and had an idea. He offered his help, "Senior brother, you have been with your sister-in-law for some time now. I don't know what kind of gifts you've given them. It would be good for me to have a reference for their next birthdays."
"Uh..." Mu Jinyu, hearing Xiang Mantang's words, thought about what gifts he had given to Gu Xiyan and the others, but couldn't remember anything noteworthy.
It seemed that he had not given them a single gift, right?
"Senior brother, from the way you look, could it be that you have never given a gift to your sister-in-law?" Xiang Mantang teased him upon seeing his reaction.
He thought to himself, really wondering how such a straight-shooting guy like his senior brother managed to woo so many sisters-in-law.
Mu Jinyu, feeling the reproachful gaze of Gu Xiyan, felt a tingling sensation in his scalp and hurriedly said, "How is that possible? I've tried to give them gifts many times; I just never succeeded in doing so."
"What gift did you give me? I don't recall at all," Gu Xiyan questioned Mu Jinyu's evasion, knowing that she should save his face in front of others, but still couldn't help herself.
Mu Jinyu turned his head away, not daring to look at her, and chuckled, "My child! It's just that the gifts were never successfully given."
"Mu Jinyu, you're looking for trouble!"
Gu Xiyan's cheeks flushed with shame; she stood up and came over to punch Mu Jinyu with her small fists.
Really, this guy was too much, saying such things in front of so many people; she was utterly embarrassed!
"Okay, okay, no more hitting. I will make up for the gift right now." Mu Jinyu raised his hands to fend off Gu Xiyan's punches while taking out two small boxes from his pocket.
He then opened them, revealing platinum necklaces inside, much similar to the one given to Mei Yinxue.
Seeing Mu Jinyu take out the gifts, Gu Xiyan slowly stopped her punches, her eyes lighting up as she stared intently at the necklace in Mu Jinyu's hands.
"How about it, do you like it?"
Mu Jinyu, seeing the look on Gu Xiyan's face, secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, Mei Yinxue had been hinting at him to give her a small gift under the pretense of Gu Xiyan and Wen Rou, so he had bought a few extra items; otherwise, this moment would have been difficult to navigate.