Chapter 36 It has waited for so long, its owner finally came

Tong Zhongyuan and Qin Tian got out of the car and walked to the rolling door.

"Is anyone there?" Qin Tian asked.

The young man just now came out again, glanced at them, and didn't say much.

"Come in."

Qin Tian and Tong Zhongyuan went inside. It was indeed a handicraft and souvenir shop. There were replicas of terracotta warriors, glass ornaments from the Bell and Drum Tower, and so many other things filling the entire room.

"Where is Lao Yu?" Qin Tian asked.

"He'll be here soon. You guys sit down for a while." After saying that, the young man came out again and lowered the rolling shutter.

Qin Tian was a little nervous, listening intently to see if he had locked the door. Tong Zhongyuan looked around. He had just had Qin Tian drive around the row of houses a few times to estimate the store's size. Judging from the estimated area, the one they were currently in only occupied one-third at most, so the remaining two-thirds should be hidden.

The shutter door creaked again. The young man returned, accompanied by a man in his sixties. He had an ordinary appearance, but his eyes were quite sharp.

"Come on, sit down," he said to them. The young man poured them two glasses of water.

"Hello." Qin Tian's heartbeat was fast. She wanted to know how Tong Zhongyuan was doing. If his heartbeat was also fast, would it harm him? She glanced at Tong Zhongyuan, but she could not see any emotion on his face.

"This is... my friend," she explained.

The man nodded and turned to Tong Zhongyuan: "Are you well?"

"Thanks to you." Tong Zhongyuan replied.

"That's good. Miss Qin, what can I do for you?"

"Are you Lao Yu?"

The man smiled. "Yes. I've known Lao Qin for 30 years. How's he doing lately? Has he retired from the Shanghai Museum?"

Qin Tian was silent for a second: "He left Shanghai Museum 20 years ago."

Old Yu understood: "No wonder, no wonder I can't get in touch with you."

Qin Tian took out a bronze coin from his pocket and handed it to Lao Yu.

"I want to ask you, have you ever seen this?"

Lao Yu took it and took a look: "It's from the Han Dynasty. I've never seen this style before."

Qin Tian was a little disappointed, but she felt that Lao Yu was not watching seriously, so she tried to remind him.

"It's not listed in existing numismatic records. I came here to ask you, have you seen it elsewhere over the years?"

Old Yu understood. He picked up his teacup and took a sip. "Your father told you that, didn't he? You came here for Ba Ling this time, right?"

Qin Tian remained silent. Over 20 years earlier, the pottery figurines from the Ba Mausoleum had been discovered, and tomb robbers had found traces of the Ba Mausoleum before archaeological experts. She suspected that Qin Yunjie had seen the pottery figurines from Lao Yu, and that, in conjunction with his research on Emperor Wen of Han, he had guessed the location of the Ba Mausoleum.

"In our line of work, we only inspect the goods, never question their provenance," Lao Yu said. "If I had the guts, I wouldn't have stuck with this shop all these years. I got the pottery figurine after it passed through several hands. Lao Qin came to see it several times, but he ultimately hesitated to buy. We'd been friends for years, and I remember him mentioning that the source of this company's goods was a bit shady. After that, I didn't dare take any more goods from them. A few years later, the owner of a business he was doing business with went to jail. It was Lao Qin who saved me, after all."

Tong Zhongyuan felt a little relieved after hearing this.

Old Yu stood up and said, "You mean to ask me if I've ever seen this coin in an unmined tomb? You think too highly of me. But since you're here, I can't let you make a wasted trip."

Lao Yu walked behind the counter and fiddled with it for a bit. Ah Huang came forward to help him, and together they pulled the counter apart, revealing a secret room. Lao Yu waved at them, "Come on, come in and take a look."

The inner room was much larger than the outer one, and at a glance, it was filled with unearthed objects. Small, delicate items were placed on shelves, while larger items were placed on the floor. Old Yu stood in front of a Buddha statue, holding a thermos cup. He said, "This is all the goods I have. Take your time to look around. If you like anything, let me know. I'll sell it to you if I can."

Qin Tian walked to the corner and began to look clockwise. She paced slowly, occasionally stopping to examine it, but never touching it. After about ten minutes, she returned to her original position.

"I can't afford these things of yours."

Old Yu looked at him and said slowly, "You don't like any of them?"

Qin Tian pointed to an inconspicuous brush washer on the shelf and said, "This Qing Ding kiln brush washer is quite cute."

Old Yu clapped his hands and laughed: "As expected of Old Qin's daughter, she has good judgment."

He put down the thermos and pushed the Buddha statue aside, revealing a wooden door on the ground. Huang opened the door, revealing a steep staircase leading underground.

Qin Tian glanced at Tong Zhongyuan, and he nodded slightly to her. The two entered the basement. The layout of the basement was similar to the one above. Qin Tian looked around, the difference was that everything here was genuine. This time she was much slower. Xi'an has the advantage of terrain, and there are many cultural relics from the Qin, Han and early Tang dynasties, but after looking around, she had a judgment in her mind. Lao Yu was not modest, she really overestimated him. Although the things here are all genuine, there are no rare items. There are no suspected tomb robbers that have never been seen before. Only a Han Dynasty double-handled lacquer cup interested her. She took out gloves from her pocket and put them on, holding the cup in her palm to look at it. Although this ear cup has obvious Han Dynasty characteristics, the pattern is not from the Han Dynasty. It has obvious Western characteristics and does not look like it was unearthed in Xi'an. She had never seen it before.

Old Yu had been observing her, and seeing that she had no interest in anything else but the ear cup, he couldn't help but sigh. This is what fate is all about. Even cultural relics have their own place.

Lao Yu picked up a box and handed it to Qin Tian: "Take it away."

Qin Tian was stunned. Interest was interest, but she had no intention of taking it back to the Shanghai Museum.

"This is your father's stuff, now it's yours."

Qin Tian's expression changed slightly. Was it Qin Yunjie's? Qin Yunjie was so bold as to secretly hide the cultural relics he bought at the broker's place? If so, then she really had never understood him.

"Did my father leave this ear cup with you?" she asked in a deep voice.

Old Yu took the cup and looked at it for a while, then said with emotion, "It's been with me for 15 years. I thought I'd never be able to fulfill my promise to Dr. Lu. I never thought that one day, it would wait for Old Qin's daughter."

Thirty years ago, Qin Yunjie was searching for valuable cultural relics in Shaanxi Province when he came across an old man buying an antique inkstone. The seller claimed it was a Ming Dynasty treasure and offered 800 yuan. The old man hesitated for a long time before unbuckling his worn belt and counting out the 800 yuan.

Qin Yunjie couldn't bear it any longer and reminded the old man that the inkstone was fake. The old man left with great gratitude, but Qin Yunjie was followed and beaten by someone, who accused him of breaking the rules. Injured, Qin Yunjie had to go to the hospital to get his wounds bandaged, but he didn't expect the old man to be a doctor. Dr. Lu treated Qin Yunjie and took him home.

Dr. Lu has no other hobbies but collecting antiques, and his collection fills his entire house. Qin Yunjie, seeing that all his collection is fake, can't bear to tell him the truth and tries to find an excuse to leave. Seeing his expression, Dr. Lu knows what's going on, and he tells Qin Yunjie that he has no wife or children and only loves antiques. He spends all his money on antiques, just for his own enjoyment. Even though they're all fake, they hold meaning for him.

Dr. Lu then produced a Han Dynasty double-handled cup and asked if it was genuine. Qin Yunjie examined it carefully but couldn't quite decide. The cup's handles were characteristic of the Han Dynasty, but the patterns had Western influences. Qin Yunjie told him that further testing would be necessary to confirm the authenticity of the cup.

Dr. Lu said that this was a gift from one of his patients after he was discharged from the hospital. He wanted to give this ear cup to Qin Yunjie, saying that whether it was real or not, it would be meaningless to keep it in his hands, so it would be better to give it to someone who was destined to be with him.

Qin Yunjie declined, telling him that the piece was likely genuine and worth a lot of money. He then introduced Lao Yu to him, saying that if he liked antiques, Lao Yu's goods were quite reliable. Qin Yunjie left his contact information and said goodbye.

Dr. Lu often patronized Old Yu's business, investing everything he had. Fifteen years ago, Dr. Lu, aging and ill, donated his collection of antiques to the nation before his death, leaving behind only this one. He tried unsuccessfully to contact Qin Yunjie, so he asked Old Yu to give the two-handled cup to Qin Yunjie if they were ever lucky enough.

For years, Old Yu had not only enjoyed Dr. Lu's patronage, but also benefited from his care when his family members were ill. He had made a promise to him and put the two-handled cup away. Many customers had taken a fancy to it over the years, but he had refused to sell it. When he died, the fate of the two-handled cup would have nothing to do with him. But unexpectedly, Qin Yunjie's daughter arrived.

Lao Yu put the double-handled cup into the box and handed it to Qin Tian.

"Take it. I can finally put one thing to rest."

Tong Zhongyuan checked the time and signaled Qin Tian to go upstairs. Qin Tian came to his senses, took the box, and thanked him. The two returned to the room they had just started in. Ah Huang opened the rolling door, and after they left, he closed it again.

Back in the car, Tong Zhongyuan immediately turned on his phone and canceled the scheduled email. He had just sent the address to his email and set it to send a text message to the police alarm platform at 9:00.

Qin Tian also sent a message to Yuan Junruo, saying that there was no need to call the police. Only then did she realize that her phone had a lot of messages popping up. There was no signal underground just now, so she didn't receive anything. She was about to read these messages when Tang Zhixu called. She picked up the phone and said "Hello". Tang Zhixu was silent for a moment, and said coldly: "Our Laura is back? What new discoveries have been made in the ancient tomb?"

As soon as Qin Tian heard his tone, he knew that he knew.

"Did Yuan Junruo tell you? I was just in case. How could he be so incapable of handling things?"

"That's right," Tang Zhixu said, "Who else can take on the responsibility like you? No one else dares, only you do."

Qin Tian knew that he would have a lot of trouble playing tricks on her this time, so he didn't talk to her any more and changed the subject.

"What do you want to eat? I'll bring you some tomorrow."

Although Tang Zhixu was filled with anger, he knew he couldn't let it out, so he held back his sarcasm and replied, "Just come back. You don't need to bring anything. Let me know when the high-speed train arrives."

Qin Tian hung up the phone and started the car. She turned her head and said to Tong Zhongyuan, "Let's go back." But Tong Zhongyuan didn't reply. He was looking out the window and didn't seem to hear her.