Chapter 20 How can you pay me back what you owe me?

In the summer, it gets dark late, and looking out the floor-to-ceiling windows, you can see the afterglow of the setting sun. The boundless sky is purple, pink, and golden, and the clouds are flowing for thousands of miles. Unfortunately, their seats are not by the window. Qin Tian raised his head and looked out the window frequently. When the first main course was served, the "Reserved" sign for the window seat was taken away. Tong Zhongyuan stopped the waiter and whispered to him, and soon the waiter moved them to a window seat.

Qin Tian stared out the window excitedly, a little regretful that she'd dressed so poorly today. She didn't know why, but lately, her style had been bothering her. Perhaps she was getting too old to run around in a T-shirt and sneakers. Tong Zhongyuan, on the other hand, seemed to blend seamlessly into the atmosphere of the place. Sitting across from him made her feel like she had no business negotiating with him, a projection of unequal relations.

Tong Zhongyuan was waiting. He knew Qin Tian had something to say to him, and he knew what she wanted to say. He was ready.

After the desserts arrived, the sky outside the window had already darkened, and the lights were on, with thousands of flowers blooming and stars like rain. The night view was even better than dusk.

Qin Tian had already prepared a speech in his mind in the afternoon. He drank some water to moisten his lips and then spoke.

"Actually, I asked you out today to discuss something with you."

Tong Zhongyuan didn't answer, but just looked at her, waiting for her to continue.

"You are now in the restoration department, so you should know everyone's strengths. Song Suiyang is the most talented, but she is young and doesn't have a good master to guide her. She has always admired your mother, Mr. He Wu. After Mr. He left the Shanghai Museum, the museum had no one to handle restoration. I was wondering if the British Museum hadn't smashed the rotating vase, you wouldn't have come here. Now that you are here and have inherited Mr. He's legacy, could you guide Song Suiyang while she is doing the restoration? My request is not for her, but for the Shanghai Museum, and for the cultural relics in the Shanghai Museum's warehouse awaiting restoration."

Qin Tian finished, and she felt that she had said it well. Someone like Tong Zhongyuan, who cared deeply about his image, could politely decline lunch with everyone, could politely decline socializing, but he couldn't refuse such a reasonable and sincere request, otherwise he would appear petty and selfish. His image would collapse.

"Sorry, no." Tong Zhongyuan's voice rang out.

Qin Tian looked at him in shock. If she remembered correctly, this was the first time she had heard such a decisive and ruthless rejection from Tong Zhongyuan. He had only said these four words and that was it.

She waited and waited, but he started eating dessert. He didn't even bother to explain.

"Why?" Qin Tian finally couldn't help but ask him.

Tong Zhongyuan put down the dessert spoon and said calmly, "No reason, I don't want to."

Qin Tian was speechless again. His rejection was too thorough, leaving her speechless. But she couldn't do it. She had to know the reason. He had to give her a reason!

She asked him again persistently: "Why no why?"

Tong Zhongyuan looked at her surprised and disappointed eyes, her stubborn expression. This was something he hadn't expected. He'd thought a flat rejection was enough. Why? He hadn't considered asking such a question. She insisted on talking to him, even though he'd clearly refused. This wasn't a conversation; it was interrogation.

He raised his hand to get the waiter's attention.

"Pay the bill," he said to the waiter.

The waiter whispered to him, "WeChat Pay?"

Qin Tian suddenly pressed down the bill and said word by word, "You are not allowed to pay with WeChat."

Tong Zhongyuan and the waiter were stunned. The waiter looked at her bewilderedly.

Qin Tian didn't know why she did such a thing, especially in such a restaurant. But she was really furious. The man in front of her had her relative card installed on his phone, and her bank card linked to his WeChat account. She received SMS notifications from the bank every day. Just the day before yesterday, she was afraid that he wouldn't have enough money, so she gritted her teeth and redeemed 20,000 yuan in financial products and transferred it to this card. She actually thought he was a person who was afraid of owing favors. He ate her food and used her things every day, but flatly refused when she sincerely pleaded, and now ignored her questions. Why! Why should she help him, why should she let him use her card and treat her to a meal.

Tong Zhongyuan saw Qin Tian's expression and probably knew what she was thinking. He took out his credit card from his wallet and asked the waiter, "Can I pay with VISA?"

"Sure." The waiter took the credit card respectfully.

Luckily, he'd ordered French food at the Shanghai Center. He thought helplessly. He didn't know what Qin Tian was up to. She was probably furious, determined to embarrass him. Even if he couldn't pay with his card today, he wouldn't be embarrassed. Someone had to pay, either him or her. She was even more childish than he'd thought.

He took the card and stood up from his seat.

"Let's go. Want to go to the riverside?"

Qin Tian didn't look at him as she strode out of the restaurant. It occurred to her then that this wasn't the first time he'd shown his cold, heartless side. That day, when the news of the Heart-Transforming Bottle shattered, he'd called her overseas and said, "I'm sorry, I'm the one to tell you this." That one sentence, just one sentence, was enough to make the whole thing clear. All that gentleness, elegance, and demeanor—it was all fake. He wasn't even the Tong Zhongyuan she'd known as a child. He was simply a deeply cold, selfish, and narcissistic person.

Tong Zhongyuan saw that she was walking around aimlessly and not heading towards the elevator, so he had no choice but to follow her and grab her wrist.

"The elevator is over there."

Qin Tian shook off his hand and remained where he was.

Tong Zhongyuan looked at his hand being thrown away in astonishment. What was she doing? He turned his head and sneered at himself. Her current attitude made him feel like he was acting in a bad love movie. He didn't want to say too much to her. They had different ideas, and she wouldn't understand even if he said it. But now, he couldn't just abandon her and leave, nor could he stand here with her and act out a romance drama. He walked into her sight as she turned her head away and said honestly:

"Qin Tian, ​​you have to understand that I owe you a favor, not the Shanghai Museum. If you need me to express my gratitude, I can send you flowers, treat you to a meal, and buy you a gift. I can help you when you are in trouble. I will pay you back the money I owe you, and I will also repay the favor I owe you. But you asked me to help Song Suiyang and the cultural relics of the Shanghai Museum. I'm sorry, I don't want to help. You said my mother owed the Shanghai Museum. Well, even if she really owed the Shanghai Museum, that person was not me. The Shanghai Museum is just a part of my current work, and I will do my best to complete this work. That's all. To me, the Shanghai Museum is the Shanghai Museum, Song Suiyang is Song Suiyang, He Wu is He Wu, and you are you. You are all independent and have no connection with each other. Simply put, I don't want to confuse work and life. I hope you can also distinguish the difference."

"How come you don't owe the Shanghai Museum?" Qin Tian argued. "We sent the Rotating Heart Bottle to the British Museum, and it broke after only two weeks! I know you can repair it, but no matter how well you repair it, it won't be a complete bottle anymore. Is it that difficult for you to teach Song Suiyang while you're repairing it? Compared to the damage you've done to the Rotating Heart Bottle, this is just a small compensation."

Tong Zhongyuan smiled bitterly at the sky. He knew she wouldn't understand, but he still said so much. In the end, she really didn't understand at all. What was the point of arguing any further? In the past, he would have walked away long ago. But no, as he had just said, he remembered the favor he owed Qin Tian. He couldn't treat her like this and leave her here alone.

"Shall we go out first?" he asked her in the gentlest tone.

Qin Tian snorted inwardly. He had put on that mask again, the one of gentleness and elegance, the one that would never be rude in front of others. But she would never trust him again. When he called her, she had already planned how to retaliate. But she was so astonished by his repair skills that she forgot to argue with him. And now, she was filled with frustration and anger, but he remained calm and composed, like an emotionless monster. Her evil thoughts had nowhere to go at this moment, and she wanted only to tear his perfect disguise apart!

"Tong Zhongyuan," she said, trying to make her voice sound calm, "Do you know what the package I sent to your house is?"

Tong Zhongyuan was stunned. There was a spark of revenge in her eyes, and a storm was gathering in her eyes.

She said lightly, "They are two artifacts from the Chinese Gallery of the British Museum. I bought them on eBay."