Upon hearing the announcer's declaration, not only were Lin Qiaoxia and Yu Linglong shocked, but even Jiang Huaimeng, Xu Qingya and others who had just given gifts worth dozens of millions to billions, also found it unbelievable.
This kind of birthday gift, given the financial backing of the Xu Family and Jiang Family, wasn't something they couldn't afford, but it was unnecessary.
Because tonight's birthday protagonists, Lin Qiaoxia and Yu Linglong, had no significant ties to Mu Jinyu. Representing their families by giving gifts worth tens of millions to billions was already a huge face-giving gesture to Mu Jinyu.
Giving a gift worth tens of billions was completely unnecessary.
Unless it was Gu Xiyan, Wen Rou, or Mei Yinxue's birthday.
Only then would Xu Tianzheng and Jiang Wangchuan send a costly gift to further their relations with Mu Jinyu.
So, after hearing the announcer's words, they, as well as representatives from other prominent families who came with gifts, all thought to themselves, 'Who is this fool? Thinking that Yu Linglong and Lin Qiaoxia are Mu Jinyu's women too?'
However, having met Xiang Mantang once, Gu Xiyan and Wen Rou, while surprised by the announcer's declaration, did not find it too hard to accept.
After meeting Xiang Mantang, they knew at first glance that he was no ordinary person and were not surprised by his financial power.
Nevertheless, for Xiang Mantang, Mu Jinyu's junior, to give each of them a villa worth seven or eight-hundred million, they were not jealous, but they did feel somewhat envious and slightly sour.
They weren't envious of the gift's value, but of Yu Linglong receiving recognition from Xiang Mantang.
They had met Xiang Mantang, and although he had promised them a meeting gift, he had yet to deliver. They said it wasn't necessary, but seeing that Yu Linglong and others received gifts made them feel rather uncomfortable, thinking that Xiang Mantang did not acknowledge them as his sisters-in-law.
Therefore, they sat there, looking at Mu Jinyu standing in front, and gave him several stern glares, starting to sulk.
Mu Jinyu hadn't noticed these reactions, but was surprised about when Xiang Mantang had arrived. He had not seen Xiang Mantang when he had arrived at the banquet hall and had called him several times to ask when he would return.
The latter had mentioned traffic and that he might be delayed by an hour or two.
After that, the birthday banquet began, and Mu Jinyu put the matter aside and started celebrating the birthdays with Yu Linglong and the others.
Later, he saw some people sneaking into the grand banquet hall trying to freeload and network with his friends; in a fit of irritation, he asked the announcer to declare everyone's gifts to the public.
Seeing this group, still shameless enough to freeload?
Consequently, those who initially wanted to give small, inexpensive gifts and just familiarize themselves with the Xu Family and Jiang Family had no choice but to painfully hand over gifts worth tens to hundreds of thousands!
Seeing these strangers showing expressions of distress, Mu Jinyu felt very pleased.
And then, upon hearing that Xiang Mantang had given a gift of almost two billion worth of mansion, he realized that Xiang Mantang had already arrived.
But where was Xiang Mantang?
Mu Jinyu turned around, searching for Xiang Mantang's figure.
"Senior brother, I'm here, no need to look anymore."
As Mu Jinyu turned around, the clear voice of Xiang Mantang suddenly came from behind him.
Mu Jinyu immediately turned his head and saw the familiar face of Xiang Mantang.
He then went over and punched him, cursing, "You kid showing up so late, I thought you were scared of giving gifts again and deliberately arrived late so I wouldn't receive your gift, and you could save some money, right?"
"Ah..." Mu Jinyu sighed lightly and said, "I thought I was quite stingy myself, but it turns out that you, who used to be quite generous, are getting stingier!"
"Me, stingy?!" Xiang Mantang raised an eyebrow in dissatisfaction when he heard Mu Jinyu's complaint and said, "I've given away two luxury mansions, totaling sixteen billion, and I'm still stingy?"
"Of course." Mu Jinyu shook his head, his expression disappointed, and then pointed to a few people who had originally come to wish Chen Jiahui's grandmother a happy birthday, and said, "Do you see those people? I don't even know them. Looking at their restrained appearance, they probably make just over a hundred thousand a year, right? But they have just given a pair of Jade Ruyis worth over twenty thousand—pretty generous, huh?"
As he spoke, he looked at Xiang Mantang with a dissatisfied expression and said, "And you, making a few hundred billion a year, not to mention giving it all away, but giving a hundred and eighty billion should be expected, and yet you only gave a dozen billion, isn't that stingy?!"
"Ah, if they had that fortune, they would definitely give me ten contiguous villas!"
Mu Jinyu had no idea that the Jade Ruyis and other gifts they were giving were not meant for Yu Linglong and the others; they were meant for someone's grandmother's grand sixty-sixth birthday, otherwise they wouldn't have agonized over preparing such expensive gifts.
But he misunderstood them as being generous.
Who knows whether they would cry or laugh if they knew that this was Mu Jinyu's impression of them.
When Xiang Mantang heard what Mu Jinyu said, he was so upset he almost spat blood, glaring at Mu Jinyu irritably and saying, "I'm telling you, big brother, aren't you being too greedy? I don't make that much money in a year, and you expect me to always give such generous gifts? After giving some to my future sisters-in-law, wouldn't I be working just to give you gifts?"
"Isn't that expected?" Mu Jinyu said with a light laugh.
As he spoke, something seemed to come to his mind, and he said, "Eh, these two mansions you gave, why do they sound familiar?"
"Of course you've heard of it," Xiang Mantang said somewhat speechlessly, "because the SeaView Garden Number One Building King, worth over ten billion, is in your hands!"
"Oh, right." Reminded, Mu Jinyu suddenly recalled the Building King he had gotten from Wang Zhengbiao a month ago.
He hardly ever went there, so he even forgot the name of the villa area.
"So, are you saying there was a deeper meaning in giving them these two mansions?"
Mu Jinyu pondered and asked Xiang Mantang.
Xiang Mantang nodded slightly, saying meaningfully, "Yes, they are only potential sisters-in-law now, right? I specially gave them these two mansions so they could be your neighbors and you could hide your beauty in the golden house."
Mu Jinyu said, "But you just blurted out the name of the villa area, how can I hide my beauty in the golden house now?"
Xiang Mantang shrugged and said, "That's something you need to consider, big brother. It has nothing to do with me."
At this moment, the waiter also brought down the keys to the villas and the property deeds, handing them to Yu Linglong and Lin Qiaoxia.
But they dared not accept them, as they were too valuable.
Seeing this, Mu Jinyu had no choice but to take them himself and then stuffed the keys and property deeds into their purses.
Ignoring the girls' resistance, Mu Jinyu noticed the upset expressions of Gu Xiyan and Wen Rou, and an idea struck him. He turned to Xiang Mantang and said, "Hey Ah-Xiang, have you seen the expressions on your two future sisters-in-law? Aren't you going to bring out the gifts you owe?"