CHAPTER 35: CHAPTER 34: THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF DIAMONDS

At this moment, Su Ziceng was not immersed in the sweetness of campus life like Yan Wuxu was. She stood beneath the boys’ dormitory at Daoquan University, gazing at the shining dormitory lights: all but one room, the one she knew best, was shrouded in darkness, like a missing tooth in a smile. Her heart, too, felt like it was losing air, sinking down relentlessly.

After kicking over three stones and a clump of grass, Su Ziceng gathered all her strength and shouted out a name.

On the first night of the new semester at Daoquan University, Qiu Zhi, who had never caught a girl’s eye from childhood to adulthood, suddenly became a celebrity in the university’s dormitory complex, with even the doorman remembering this ’hidden gem’ of a chubby guy.

When Qiu Zhi came downstairs, his face was as red as a well-cooked piece of pig’s liver. He grumbled, "What’s all this about, don’t you have a pager?" Su Ziceng did not utter a word; her pager was already hot from being smothered in her pocket. She just wanted to scream out loud, or else she wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight out of sheer irritation.

Checking up on him was secondary; what was more important was clarifying another matter. "What is that thing pinned on your cuff?"

In the cafeteria earlier, Su Ziceng was on the brink of exploding. Had it not been for the flash of green on Qiu Zhi’s sleeve, it was uncertain whether she might have turned the dining hall into an armory. Little did she know, her fame was destined to spread throughout Daoquan University—a few more months, and her shining image would be known across the entire academic district. Of course, none of these events were yet known to Su Ziceng or Qiu Zhi at the time.

The cufflinks that Qiu Zhi wore were indeed cufflinks. As leading universities in the country, both Daoquan University and Kelly Women’s College took great care in the making of their school uniforms.

Kelly Women’s College used British rose cufflinks catering to femininity, while Daoquan University employed olive branches as their emblem. Among the new student representatives, Qiu Zhi lost the advantage in appearances and could only put effort into the details.

Anyone paying a bit of attention would notice that the cuffs of his sleeves did not sport Daoquan University’s standard cufflinks. Instead, he wore custom-made platinum cufflinks with olive leaves. On the right side was a cufflink that had a green stone embedded in it.

Before her rebirth, Su Ziceng’s only hobby was collecting various luxury brands and jewelry wines. Since engaging with "Red Love" and "Yellow Love," she became even more attentive to jewelry, especially diamonds. She had only glanced once at the unpretentious green stone but became wary, certain that it was no ordinary jade.

For decades earlier, the Qiu Family had nearly monopolized the jade and jewelry market in Mo City. This situation only changed later when it was challenged by foreign jewelry giants.

"Have you figured it out?" Qiu Zhi didn’t take the reminders from Old Lady Qiu to heart. A hint of mystery emerged on his face, which was softer than a baby’s. Seizing the moment when no one was around, he unfastened his cufflink and took off the seemingly smooth cufflink.

Under the street light, Su Zicen inspected the cufflink and her eyes took on a more solemn look. The green stone’s surface was almost completely flattened, unlike the craftsmanship of diamonds. The stone caught the light, and a luster shone through from the olive leaf.

"Wow," Su Ziceng exerted a bit more force on the olive leaf, and the seemingly half-round green stone actually rotated, like a miniature globe, from the Southern to the Northern Hemisphere. The green stone suddenly transformed into a rare green diamond.

"You’ve actually discovered it," Qiu Zhi had only received the cufflink a month ago. At first, he didn’t notice its secrets until his grandmother explained it to him and he discovered the small mechanism, "So, guess what this thing is called?"

"If I guess it, you have to agree to do something for me," in the night, the green stone shifted colors, sometimes deep, sometimes light.

"Okay," Qiu Zhi thought. Even the appraisers at Qiu Sheng Jewelry, who were several times older than him, almost couldn’t pinpoint the origin of these cufflinks. He had spent a lot of effort, got connected to the international internet, and still found very little information. He then concluded that Su Ziceng, such a young girl, wouldn’t be able to guess it.

"Mussen’s Blessing, Blue... Green Love." When Su Ziceng was still uncertain, the light blue on the green diamond flickered, turning into a sky-blue color, and she finally uttered this name.

This time, it was Qiu Zhi who was stunned. This pair of cufflinks was indeed a modified version of one from Mussen’s Blessing. The originally dazzling green diamond cufflinks, after being passed through the hands of the previous owner – perhaps due to personal preferences – were inlaid in a polished piece of green jade, half-exposed, and when it came into the Qiu Family’s possession, per Mrs. Qiu’s wishes, they were enveloped in a layer of platinum olive leaves and customized into cufflinks suitable for Qiu Zhi’s suit.

"That’s all I know," Su Ziceng saw the look of disappointment on Qiu Zhi’s face. She had never seen Green Love before, but with the experience of Yellow Love, she almost subconsciously recognized Mussen’s Blessing.

Qiu Zhi was also quite childlike, seeing that Su Ziceng didn’t know the details, he switched to an eager expression, "I told you, how could you know? I put a lot of effort into coaxing some information out of the appraiser and the internet."

The appraiser at Qiu Sheng Jewelry had not revealed everything they knew. Su Ziceng suppressed the discomfort in her heart, waiting for Qiu Zhi, with his straightforward nature, to reveal the whole truth, "Mussen’s Blessing, is a masterpiece by a legendary master..."

Qiu Zhi spoke with such enthusiasm, illustrating with his hands, babbling for a good half hour. Su Ziceng, listening on, found that it wasn’t much different from what the appraiser had said the other day. Not wanting to interrupt, she let Qiu Zhi continue, "The most magical part is that every piece of Mussen’s Blessing has its own Diamond Language, for example..." Su Ziceng perked up with interest, this was something she had not known before.

This information was indeed deeper than what the appraiser at Qiu Sheng Jewelry knew, and was something that Qiu Zhi, a computer genius, had collected over a month’s time when the internet was not yet widespread.

"The blessing message of Green Love is ’Independence’." After sharing this, Qiu Zhi carefully retrieved the cufflinks, clipped them back on, and his lengthy monologue came to an end.

"What about the others?" Su Ziceng watched as the cufflinks returned to their usual state on Qiu Zhi’s "chubby hoof." "How many pieces of Mussen’s Blessing are there in total, who owns them, and after you wore the cufflinks, did anything special happen? For example, feeling unwell, your mood..."

"Having a particularly good appetite, does that count? Hehe, actually, I was just rambling. The internet didn’t say anything else, but a while ago, the master craftsman at the jewelry store said that Mussen’s Blessing had appeared on the market, but then the news quickly disappeared," Qiu Zhi said, his mouth dry from talking.

"Why did you buy ’Mussen’s Blessing’?" Su Ziceng was somewhat curious. Qiu Zhi didn’t seem like the type to flaunt wealth, and wearing Mussen’s Blessing was bound to draw too much attention.

"I’ll tell you a secret," Qiu Zhi whispered in Su Ziceng’s ear: "I bought it to propose to Mai Xue. They say women love diamonds, and I heard that Mussen’s Blessing uses only the finest colored carat diamonds."

"Proposal," Su Ziceng thought of something else. If all men thought this way, then according to the timeline, Red Love should be what Su Qingzhang gave to Qiao Chu. Could it mean that Su Qingzhang would know about Red Love’s related matters? Given this, it’s more than just a coincidence that Yellow Love could be auctioned at Subi Auction House.

"Fatty, you’d better give up that idea sooner rather than later," Su Ziceng thought of the Wen family swan at Kelly Women’s College, then looked at Qiu Zhi, who was decidedly an ugly duckling in appearance, "Different matters are different matters. I guessed correctly just now, and you promised to help me with something."

Su Ziceng’s pale face drew close to Qiu Zhi’s ear, and at over nine in the evening, in front of Daoquan University’s male dormitory, a piteous scream was heard. Qiu Zhi’s college life was made colorful by encountering Wen Maixue, and turned gloomy by meeting Su Ziceng.