Chapter 64: He didn't even recognize me, but he started to attack me

When Zhou Qiang saw her, his face suddenly changed, as if he had seen a ghost. He yelled, "What are you doing? I'm going abroad to discuss business. Hundreds of millions of dollars! You won't let me board the plane, you're ruining my business. Can you afford to pay for it?"

"Take the items out for Teacher Qin to examine. If everything is fine, I'll book you a flight right away. The next flight is in an hour, so it won't delay you."

Zhou Qiang's expression grew increasingly grim, but he maintained his bluffing tone. "You said there would be no delay, so there won't be any! You know shit. Do you know how much a minute of my life is worth? An hour? I've lost tens of millions in an hour. Can you afford to pay for it?"

Qin Tian didn't want to listen to his rambling and said impatiently, "If you don't want to delay, hurry up. It's just one bottle, and it will be quick to check it. The plane hasn't left yet. You can board the plane after the inspection, there will be no delay."

Zhou Qiang was furious: "Fuck you, I just looked at you a few times, what? You fell in love with me and chased me to the airport? You said you want to test me? I brought my fucking test report with me! That doesn't count? Only your test counts?"

He pulled out a report from his bag and arrogantly threw it in front of Qin Tian, ​​almost hitting her in the face.

"See?! I have a report! It's written by an expert! This bottle is a replica!"

Suddenly, with a "snap," his hand was flung out, and the report flew to the ground. He covered his arm, stumbled a step, and looked at the person who opened his hand in disbelief.

The man in front of him was handsome but had a cruel expression. He looked at him with disgust as if he were looking at a cockroach, without any concealment at all.

"His report is false," Tong Zhongyuan said to the civil aviation police standing beside him. His voice was as cold as ice.

Zhou Qiang came back to his senses and was furious: "Who the hell are you? The person who did the appraisal for me is a nationally renowned expert!"

Tong Zhongyuan didn't even look at him. He handed the phone to the civil aviation police. On it was an old news item from the TIMES official website.

"In the spring auction of 2022, a Yuan Dynasty blue and white Han Xin plum vase was sold for 3.17 million pounds. This plum vase is a pair, and the other one is in his suitcase." He said coldly.

The civil aviation police read the news and returned the phone to Zhou Qiang. They said, "Sir, according to the Aviation Administration Law of the People's Republic of China, please cooperate with our luggage inspection."

Zhou Qiang was about to throw a tantrum, but the civil aviation police were already approaching him. Seeing the tide turning, he complained repeatedly, claiming he was wronged, that Qin Tian had a grudge against him and was deliberately targeting him. He also said the Terracotta Warriors were a business partner trying to trip him up. And this man, shouldn't he be arrested for using violence?

The civil aviation police ignored him and took his hand luggage to a small dark room for inspection. Under the coercion of the civil aviation police, Zhou Qiang held out for more than ten minutes before finally entering the password and opening the suitcase.

Tong Zhongyuan took a look and had no more doubts in his heart. He raised his eyes and saw Qin Tian's eyes looking at him. He gave her a reassuring look.

Qin Tian opened his toolbox and began examining the plum vase. The ultraviolet light shone over the vase. Tong Zhongyuan was right. This was a complete, authentic Yuan Dynasty vase. Compared to the one Tong Zhongyuan had repaired, this one was invaluable.

"It's a genuine Yuan Dynasty artifact." She put away her tools and said to the civil aviation police.

Zhou Qiang jumped up and shouted anxiously, "What nonsense are you talking about! Just take a look at it, and if you say it's true, it must be true!"

Qin Tian ignored him. She opened the second layer of the toolbox and took out a sampling tube. She told the civil aviation police, "In addition to visual identification, we can also analyze the specific age of the porcelain by taking samples. The report will be issued in the name of the Shanghai Museum and is an officially recognized scientific identification method."

The civil aviation police nodded in approval.

Qin Tian said: "If the report is expedited, it will take about two days to get it out. Please don't let him leave the country during these two days."

"Don't worry about that. This is within our scope of responsibility."

Qin Tian carefully took a sample from the bottom of the bottle and placed it in a test tube, then returned the plum vase to the civil aviation police for safekeeping. Zhou Qiang looked as if his soul had been sucked out of him, his face pale.

Unable to contain his inner excitement, Wang Yijian bowed to Qin Tian and Tong Zhongyuan and took a few small steps, wanting to do something, but not knowing what to do. Coming out of the small dark room, he knelt in the empty terminal hall and let out a deafening roar.

People passing through the airport looked curiously at the kneeling terracotta warrior, pulling out their phones to record the video. A girl sprinted from the entrance, slowing down as she approached. Wang Yijian spotted her and tried to stand up, but his armor was too heavy, and he failed. Just as Qin Tian was about to step forward to help her, the girl had already walked over, knelt on the ground, and hugged him tightly.

Wang Yijian held her face and kissed her as if no one was around.

The sight of the Terracotta Warriors kissing a girl at the airport was enough to make it onto social media charts. People at the airport stopped and gathered around them to take videos.

Qin Tian couldn't help but curl her lips. She had wanted to know the whole story, but it seemed she couldn't ask today. She would ask another day.

Tong Zhongyuan looked down at her beside him. She raised her head and asked him softly, "Shall we go?"

He took the toolbox from her hand and left with her.

After all this hassle, it was already afternoon. They grabbed burgers at the airport fast food restaurant to fill their stomachs. Qin Tian checked the navigation and realized it would be almost closing time by the time they got back to the museum. It wasn't necessary to have Yuan Junruo work overtime on a weekend night. It would be better if she could go to the museum to do the appraisal herself tomorrow. It would be quiet and undisturbed, and she might even be able to produce a report in a day.

"Are you going back to the museum?" Qin Tian asked after getting in the car.

"And you?"

"I'm not going back. I'm going straight back."

"Are you going to the museum for thermoluminescence testing tomorrow?"

"Um."

She had originally planned to go to the rental house tomorrow to move things and spend the whole day searching for clues. But now, she had no choice but to go today and move in tonight. She sent a message to the tenant asking if she could move tonight, and the girl quickly replied, "Okay."

"Then shall I take you back to the hotel?" She drove the car out of the garage.

He thought for a moment and said, "Okay."

The drive back was a completely different experience; time seemed to slow down and leisurely. She suddenly remembered that Tong Zhongyuan must have come to see her today because of something.

"Do you have anything to do with me today?"

He gazed out the car window at the boundless blue sky, wondering how to answer her. He'd been a bit upset when he'd received the contract for the Buddha statue that morning, and he'd wanted to find her immediately to clear things up, to untie the knot that had been weighing on his mind for a while. But now, as she casually asked him what was going on while driving, he felt it would be beneath him to bring up the old story and explain it to her. She hadn't mentioned it at all in the past few days, even though they both knew the statue was the root of their current disagreement.

"Let's talk about it at the hotel."

Qin Tian glanced at him curiously. He was always decisive, so what was making him so hesitant? She'd planned to move his things after dropping him off. Was he asking her to park the car and go to the hotel lobby for a drink and talk? She didn't want to go to that lobby again. The thought of the shock he'd given her that day weighed on her.

When she drove to the downstairs of the hotel, he said "go to the garage", and she thought, okay, she actually guessed it right.

After parking the car, they took the elevator to the hotel lobby. When the elevator door opened, she walked towards the lobby bar, and Tong Zhongyuan pulled her.

"here."

He swiped the key card and got into another elevator leading to the guest rooms. She was stunned. Was he asking her to go to his room to discuss something?

He was alone in the elevator, pressing the button to open the door, staring at her without blinking. His upturned eyes and high nose bridge cast an unfathomable shadow.

She got into the elevator. It wasn't that she had any problem with going to his hotel room, but she just couldn't figure out what he was going to say to her.

Tong Zhongyuan swiped his card to open the door, opened the freezer and asked her, "What would you like to drink?"

"No."

She looked around the hotel room. He had been living here for almost two months. She found a sofa and sat down, quietly waiting for him to speak.

He actually hadn't figured out a natural opening line, so after thinking for a while, he said, "I won the bet I just made."

Qin Tian recalled. Bet? What bet? She never bets.

Tong Zhongyuan was annoyed when he saw her expression. What was he talking about? It would have been better if he hadn't said anything.

Qin Tian almost remembered. Was it about the Yuan blue and white porcelain? Who had made the bet? He'd said something about him losing and returning the Buddha statue to her. He was bringing up something irrelevant. She was busy going to the airport and hadn't argued with him, but he, just in case she hadn't remembered, was reminding her again. He even confidently claimed he'd won. Did he mean the Buddha statue didn't need to be returned? Could he have actually returned the Buddha statue from abroad after losing?

Her face darkened as she thought about it. "Who said you won? The thermoluminescence report hasn't come out yet. Don't bet on something you can't do."

"I can do it." He looked into her angry eyes.

He picked up his phone and pressed a few buttons. Her phone rang. He gestured for her to look. She managed to look away and open the email he had sent.

As she read the email, she slowly stood up from the sofa. Why was it that she knew every single word in Chinese, yet couldn't understand it when put together? She looked up at him, confused.