Chapter 67: I send you a gift of jade to ask you to stay with me.

"Let me look for clues in the box," Tong Zhongyuan said. "You look for your father's diary. You're more familiar with his handwriting."

She pulled out a diary and wanted to read it in the bedroom, but she felt a little worried when she heard him rummaging through the boxes in the living room. Although she had packed the boxes herself and there was nothing that could not be seen by outsiders, she still felt that her privacy was being exposed.

She couldn't sit still any longer, so she took a few diaries and sat on the sofa, making sure his movements were within her sight. She saw that he still had the box of old photos opened.

Tong Zhongyuan picked up the picture frame on top and asked, "What is this?"

“My mother carved it.”

She took this down from the wall of Qin Yunjie's house and packed it together with the photo album.

Those 14 characters had been hanging on the wall for as long as she could remember. Perhaps she'd grown accustomed to seeing them, so she didn't find them particularly remarkable. It wasn't until her university days, during a lecture on the origins of the wooden slips, that the teacher read out the poem "Springtime is Beautiful," that everyone in the class was moved. A flood of emotions surged. That semester, she received several love letters, all promising to keep them company. Back then, she had no interest in romance; her sole goal was to get into the Shanghai Museum of Art with top marks in her major.

"So you learned seal carving from your mother."

Tong Zhongyuan put down the frame with understanding, then picked up a stack of photos, looking through them one by one. There were several of her childhood photos there, making her feel embarrassed to see them all before him. She couldn't help but remind him, "I've looked for the photos several times, but I can't find the gilded plate."

"It's different. When you look at a familiar scene yourself, you have blind spots. Someone else can see different information."

She was speechless and actually felt that he was right.

"Just now, why did you guess it was gold and silver from the Western Han Dynasty?" She wouldn't give up until he gave her a reason. She believed her expertise was no less than his, but he seemed to possess some subtle perception, akin to inspiration, a natural talent.

Tong Zhongyuan studied a yellowed group photo. Was this their high school graduation? He could spot her immediately, her fair skin gleaming. The male classmates were truly utterly awful. He put the photo down and casually replied, "Most bronze artifacts have inscriptions and clear provenances, so they won't be a problem for you. Lacquerware isn't as valuable, so you probably won't be interested. Seals have all been documented, so there's no need to bother. You're looking for either jade or gold or silver. I've just mentioned one of these two."

When he did give his reasons, they didn't seem particularly remarkable. This is probably how Sherlock feels about Watson. Watson, isn't the evidence right in front of you? Why can't you see it? That kind of invisible, condescending arrogance.

"Why did you choose gold and silver over jade?" Even though he said it was random, she always felt it wasn't that simple.

He was looking at a photo of her from college, a photo he didn't know who had taken it. She was sitting on her bed in the dormitory, her slender legs hanging over the edge. She looked like she had just woken up, her face dazed, her hair thick as a fuss. She slept on the upper bunk.

"Because..." he explained absentmindedly, "Utensils made of jade are relatively rare, while jade bi disks mostly have inscriptions. As for small items, they are very common. So the possibility of gold or silver is slightly higher, 55% to 45%."

She took the diary and returned to the bedroom, turned on the desk light, and began to read it carefully. She left it to him outside. If even he couldn't find any clues in those boxes, no one else would be able to do it.

Time passed quietly as she finished reading through the five diaries. He had already checked all the photos, finding nothing. He was looking through the two boxes of books, occasionally with Qin Yunjie's reading notes. He took photos and notes if he thought they might be useful.

She found it strange that if Qin Yunjie had searched for so many years, why had he found no clues, not even a single word? Given his habit of keeping a work diary, he would have made a separate note about the large gilded copper plate. Either Qin Yunjie had gathered all the information related to the gilded plate and stored it somewhere, or he had deliberately destroyed all the information about the plate, as a contract between him and Han Wenying, and he didn't want to hand it over to anyone else.

After searching for several hours, she had a feeling they wouldn't find anything tonight. It was almost 11 o'clock, and staying up late was bad for the heart, so she heated up a cup of milk and handed it to him.

"That's all for today. I'll go to the hospital the day after tomorrow and ask my dad if he's kept the information about the Han Dynasty gilded plates somewhere separate."

He was looking at Qin Yunjie's collection of old newspaper clippings. The content on it had nothing to do with the gilded plate, but it was very interesting and had obvious characteristics of the era.

He took the milk and said, "You can wash up first. There are only a few books left in the box. I'll go back to the hotel after I finish reading."

Qin Tian was speechless. How could she have the nerve to take a shower and brush her teeth when he was still there? She walked to the box and took a look. There were indeed only two or three books left. She returned to the room, picked up Qin Yunjie's diary and lay on the bed to read. She opened the door and heard the "rustling" sound of him turning pages. She moved her position and could see a dressing mirror in the living room from this angle. In the mirror, he was sitting on the floor, leaning against the sofa, flipping through newspaper clippings, with a glass of milk beside him. Under the dim light, his profile was gentle and focused, and there was a tranquil atmosphere in the air. Time was so slow at this moment that it almost stopped.

When did they become so familiar with each other, today? She wondered vaguely. And when, when did he...

Tong Zhongyuan finished reading the clippings and looked up. In the mirror, she was sleeping on her side at the foot of the bed, her hair almost falling to the floor. He walked over, placed the diary on the nightstand, and pulled a blanket over her. He knelt quietly, gazing at her sleeping face. After an unknown amount of time, he turned off the light and gently closed the door.

As the sky brightened, the furniture in the room began to take shape. Qin Tian's eyelids fluttered, and the next second she was completely awake. She had actually fallen asleep and slept until dawn. She jumped out of bed and opened the door. The living room was quiet, the boxes had been put back in their places, and sunlight was shining on the sofa. The only evidence that he had been there last night was an empty milk cup on the coffee table.

On the way to the museum, a completely illogical thought occurred to her. She thought, Tong Zhongyuan should be there too. Her pace slowed. He...had come to her yesterday to tell her the Buddha statue remained in China. He'd gone to the airport with her to find out about the plum vase's whereabouts. He'd helped her move because he wanted to know what she was looking for. Was all this because he was a treasure-hungry dragon?

So if he really came to the museum today, why?

She walked slower and slower, but her heartbeat was still as fast as if she were running. She patted her head and said, "Stop daydreaming. Even if you dream, you should consider the person you are dreaming about."

The Shanghai Museum on Saturday was even busier than usual. The moment she arrived at the entrance, she was greeted by a cacophony of voices. She swiped her card and entered the staff passage through a side door. The staff area, starkly different from the visitor area, was unusually quiet, with only the subtle sound of her footsteps on the carpet.

She walked into the thermoluminescence darkroom; it was deserted. She felt both relieved and empty. She took out a sample tube and began separating it. Time flies when one is focused. By the time she had fed the sample into the machine for analysis, she'd finally seen a few messages on her phone.

Tang Zhixu: It has landed and everything is fine.

Wang Yijian: Professor Qin, I'm sorry to have embarrassed you yesterday. I'd also like to know the results of the thermoluminescence analysis after they come out. Is that okay?

She replied to them one by one, put down her phone and wanted to touch the cup, but then she remembered that it was Saturday and the cafe was packed, so she didn't buy anything. It was almost noon, and the staff cafeteria probably didn't have much food, so she might as well order takeout.

She walked out of the darkroom. In the office, Tong Zhongyuan was sitting in Yuan Junruo's seat, reading the past thermoluminescence report. He looked up when he heard the voice.

"Want to have lunch together?" he asked.

"When...did you come?"

"Five minutes ago? If you mean work hours, eight in the morning."

"In the restoration room?"

"Well, my hand is healed now. Let's catch up."

Fortunately, I didn't think much of it. She said, "I just ordered takeout."

"Then I'll order takeout and eat together."

He ordered local cuisine, and she ordered Sichuan cuisine. He thought of the time they had dinner together in London, when she had chosen Shanghainese cuisine. She must have ordered it for him then.

"Thank you for your hard work yesterday," she said. "It seems I was looking in the wrong direction. There shouldn't be any clues to the gilded plate in those boxes."

"Will the identification results of the plum vase be available today?"

"Okay, but it's a little late. Probably after 8 o'clock."

"Then let's have dinner together."

She was slightly surprised and asked, "Are you working overtime too?"

"I want to know the results of the test." He paused, then added, "Are you going to the hospital to see Uncle Qin tomorrow? Is he still not well?"

"Well, he'll have to stay in the hospital for a while, but it's not serious, so just consider it a convalescence."

"I'll go see him with you tomorrow." He said that, and then he noticed that she was looking at him with doubtful eyes. He added, "My mother knows that Uncle Qin is ill, and she asked me to pay more attention to him."

Qin Tian found that Tong Zhongyuan looked independent, but he was actually quite a mama's boy. He would tell his mother everything, big or small, and he listened to her very much. He had been in the UK for so many years, and this didn't seem like a foreigner.

"Thank you for your concern, Mr. He. The hospital is far away, and it's rare for me to have a weekend off, so I won't waste your time. I'll just give you my regards."

Tong Zhongyuan didn't insist. After lunch, he returned to the restoration room and flipped through the photos he had taken on his phone yesterday.

Yesterday, he'd thought: if the gilded plate was her grandfather's relic, then the clue was more likely to be among her mother's belongings. But he couldn't tell her such a theory. Perhaps tomorrow, when she went to see her father, the answer would be revealed. He would ask her again when she returned.

He flipped through the photos one by one until he came across the innocent photo of her in her college dorm room. Last night, he couldn't help but take a photo of this photo while taking the photos for the archive.

This photo isn't very clear, but has the texture of a film print. I don't know if the negative is still available, but with current technology, it would be much better if I developed it again.

Suddenly, he stood up and walked quickly towards the thermoluminescence office.

He stopped at the door, stood there for a while, and then walked back to the restoration room.