Chapter 143: Not fragrant. I still like you to pick me up

That very day, she told Tong Zhongyuan that they didn't need to call every day, let alone on time. He didn't argue, but continued to do the same every day. If she said she was busy, he would hang up early. It was his freedom to call, and it was her freedom to answer or not.

She had never been in a serious relationship before, so she didn't understand whether his pursuit, or her fear, was itself part of the relationship. Tong Zhongyuan's behavior made her think he was in love. Or perhaps, they were both in love, tacitly embracing a short, temporary relationship.

After arriving home, she sent a message to Tong Zhongyuan. These days, she has not been wasting time, and instead of thinking that he can't do anything, it is better to go through the routine early.

Just seconds after the message was sent, the call invitation rang.

"I'm taking the high-speed train tomorrow at noon, arriving at Hongqiao Station at 3:30 pm. Can you skip work and come pick me up?"

Qin Tian had always found his most amazing quality to be his self-compatibility. He remained calm when ridiculed, confident when making requests, and simply laughed it off when rejected. How could he manage to be completely unconcerned with what others thought, solely focused on saying and doing what he wanted? She was both envious and jealous of this quality of his.

"I don't have a car, why should I come to pick you up? Wouldn't it be better to take a taxi yourself?"

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She rolled her eyes, but couldn't see that the corners of her mouth were turning up, and her fingers unconsciously twirled the strands of hair at her ears.

"Don't you want to fire the kiln on weekends? You don't have two days off in this job, so why did you come to Shanghai?"

Tong Zhongyuan had originally intended to tell her over the phone that the porcelain pieces had been fired, but when he heard her voice, which was full of coquettishness and knowing the answer, his heart was instantly disturbed. He didn't want to talk about business anymore and asked her in a low voice, "Why did you say I came here? Who told you to lie to me all the time? You didn't come once."

Qin Tian's face suddenly became hot. Luckily, it was just a call, and he couldn't see. The worst part was, she actually blushed even when she was talking to him on the phone.

"Send me the shift. I'll see what the situation is. If I can get away, I'll come."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow."

Tong Zhongyuan smiled silently on the other end of the phone. He didn't expect to hear anything nice from her, but he knew she would come.

When the alarm clock rang in the morning, Qin Tian woke up immediately. She washed her hair and blew it dry. She hesitated in front of the closet for a long time and chose a V-neck sweater and a coat. When she looked in the mirror, she thought that Tong Zhongyuan never seemed to wear a down jacket. He probably didn't like clothes made of that material. And it was indeed better to let his hair down to match the coat. When this thought came to her mind, she suddenly woke up again. Who cares what he wears? Is she matching couple outfits with him? She insisted on wearing a down jacket. She took off her coat, put on the black down jacket she bought two years ago, and tied her hair up.

Song Suiyang ran into Qin Tian at the entrance to the Shanghai Museum. After Tong Zhongyuan left, she'd lost the motivation to be on time, and she'd been surprised to find Qin Tian late today, too. She was even more surprised to see him wearing a different look from his usual wardrobe, long hair, a beige short coat, and minimal makeup. No wonder she was late. She waved to him from a distance.

"Do you have field work today?"

Qin Tian hadn't reacted yet, so he answered naturally, "No."

"Are you going to receive an important client?"

"No." Qin Tian was puzzled.

Song Suiyang found it even more strange. Qin Tian was definitely not someone who would dress up for no reason, and Tong Zhongyuan wasn't around. She hadn't even been seen dressing up when Tong Zhongyuan was around. Could it be a weekend blind date? Impossible. Her boyfriend was such a sweet-smelling, handsome man, who would waste their time on a blind date market?

Qin Tian only realized what was happening when she entered the office. Along the way, several familiar colleagues asked her if she had a date today. Even Yuan Junruo gave her a few more looks of surprise.

She closed the office door, took off her coat, and buried her head in her arms. Was her mind really that obvious? She was like a clumsy ostrich, full of flaws, yet she thought no one noticed. Perhaps she should go back and change her clothes at noon.

Her mind was wavering all morning, and Tong Zhongyuan didn't arrive until the afternoon, but he had already made her lose focus on work since the morning. This reminded her of "The Little Prince."

The fox said, "If you come at four o'clock in the afternoon, then from three o'clock I will begin to feel happy. The closer the time gets, the happier I will feel. At four o'clock, I will become restless; I will discover the price of happiness."

She was wavering between anticipation and anxiety. Happiness was like a bud that had already budded, waiting for the spring breeze to blow it open.

At noon, she didn't go to the cafeteria. She didn't want more people asking, "Do you have a date tonight?" So she ordered takeout and ate while browsing the web.

She still remembered the golden Buddha statue incident. When she learned Tong Zhongyuan had taken it into her studio, she was furious and wished he'd been thrown into jail. But now, his every move captivated her, his gentle words captivated her. She wanted to know every detail of his life.

On his studio's official website, she saw his partner was a white, brown-haired man. She vaguely knew him. There weren't many people specializing in thermoluminescence, but he was a prominent figure.

As for Tong Zhongyuan, the photo he posted was of him working on a cultural relic restoration project. His face was mostly obscured by the artifacts, leaving only a pair of intensely focused eyes. She rested her chin on her hand, staring at the photo intently, then right-clicked and saved it. Just from the eyes, she could already imagine the person in the photo was truly handsome.

She scrolled through the official website, taking in every detail. The studio's past success stories amazed her. She knew this guy was into big things, but she hadn't expected him to go this far. Several artifacts he'd handled were worth hundreds of millions.

The mouse scrolled slowly, then suddenly stopped. She recognized the artifact on the page. It was a Tang Dynasty jade wall with dragon patterns, a national treasure from the Tang Dynasty.

Three years ago, upon hearing the news from Hong Kong, Ming Yuanxing immediately flew with her to Hong Kong. Through an introduction, they were able to see the jade wall in person. Upon first sight, Ming Yuanxing immediately paid a deposit of HK$1 million to secure it. They waited until the next day to prepare the contract and sign it. Unexpectedly, the next day, the seller changed his mind and returned the deposit. Ming Yuanxing sternly refused, demanding the other party fulfill the contract. Without hesitation, the other party returned double the deposit and terminated the contract. Ming Yuanxing still refused. Precisely because the artifact was so rare, he was cautious when paying the deposit and handwritten a stipulation: if the other party changed their mind, he would pay 30% of the purchase price as a penalty. The agreed price for the jade wall was HK$12 million, meaning that in addition to the HK$2 million deposit, the other party would also have to pay the Shanghai Museum HK$3.6 million.

As expected, the other party was somewhat bewildered by Ming Yuanxing's assertiveness. A handwritten agreement, after all, was informal, and its legal validity was uncertain. No one would pay 3.6 million Hong Kong dollars for a handwritten note. Ming Yuanxing wasn't after money; he wanted to dissuade him from selling the artifacts elsewhere. Even if this agreement ultimately held no legal weight, it would buy him enough time to negotiate. That was his intention.

At that moment, he received a call. Qin Tian still remembered that day, when he hurried out to answer the phone, and when he returned, he was a completely different person. He readily agreed to pay a total of 4.6 million yuan in compensation. At this point, Mingyuanxing no longer had any means to force him to fulfill his contract, and he had no choice but to miss out on the Tang Dynasty treasure.

Only then did she realize that it was Tong Zhongyuan who had disregarded the rules and snatched the treasure. He eventually acquired the jade wall, which sold for a whopping £5.85 million at the London Spring Auction that year.

Qin Tian let go of the mouse, his eyes unable to leave the familiar Tang Dynasty jade wall.

She remembered. This was Tong Zhongyuan, the Tong Zhongyuan she had first known. From the time he closed his door to restore cultural relics, to the time he secretly hoarded the golden Buddha statue, he had never concealed who he was. His style of doing things was to achieve his desired results by any means necessary, as long as it did not violate the law.

The gentle, passionate, and sexy Tong Zhongyuan was just a side of him that he had tailored for her. He hadn't changed, but the way she looked at him had.

The photo of the restored cultural relic, the obscured face, the bottomless eyes. This face that had mesmerized her half an hour ago now felt vaguely unfamiliar to her.

Until the hospital where Qin Yunjie worked called. The number bounced on her phone, and she stood up like a prisoner and answered the call, accepting her trial.