Chapter 63: Conspiracy

The man with the mustache turned and left. But his disturbance ruined the good banquet.

Zhao Xiaowei sighed and tried to comfort everyone, "Old Miao is also an artist, but he has a bit of a strange temper and is very stubborn. I'll go and explain to him tomorrow. It's really hard to imagine such a misunderstanding. This is also my fault. I put all the works fired in the kiln together because I couldn't move them apart. I made him think too much."

"It's okay, it's not your fault. There's nothing wrong with people caring about their own creations. If anyone wants to explain, it's our turn to do it." Hang Liumei comforted Zhao Xiaowei.

Qi Xiuchun glared at the direction the man left. "What's there to explain? He thinks you're a thief, so whatever you do, he thinks you're stealing. Does he seem like he's listening to reason? I think it's better to forget it. It's ridiculous. He can design a broken cup rim, but no one else can? And he's still a perfect match. He's missing a leg. At worst, he can sue!"

Hang Liumei tugged at Qi Xiuchun's arm, signaling her to stop adding fuel to the fire. Everyone returned to the table to eat, but the charcoal was cold and the meat was burnt. The atmosphere was completely gone, and the meal ended in a bad mood.

At night, after sleeping for a long time, there was a noise outside the room. Qi Xiuchun turned over in a daze and asked, half awake and half in a dream, "What's that noise?"

Hang Liumei answered very clearly: "The old crows are calling in the tree."

Qi Xiuchun looked at Hang Liumei's face in the moonlight. Her eyes were wide open. Qi Xiuchun pulled Hang Liumei's arm and said, "I've already woken up from a nap. You haven't been awake all this time, have you?"

Hang Liumei turned around and said, "Go to sleep. I'm thinking about something."

Qi Xiuchun knew she wouldn't be able to sleep tonight. She pulled the towel up and said, "What are you thinking about? That little mustache guy? Don't worry about him. We've seen a lot of people like him in business. They're all paper tigers. Let's send the stuff to the competition tomorrow morning. Once this is settled, you can go to Japan quickly. The rest has nothing to do with you."

Hang Liumei shook her head. "I'm not thinking about that person, I just think this isn't a good omen. So what if we finish this cup and send it to the competition? Will it really be useful to the grotto later? Will anyone notice this mural in the future?"

"Then what else can you do?" Qi Xiuchun yawned and said vaguely, "I love this place too, and I don't want to leave, but we are already in our seventies and eighties. Do we have to be like the young people and just keep fighting like this..."

Hang Liumei didn't answer, but watched the old crow flap its wings and fly back to its nest in the tall tree.

Qi Xiuchun fell asleep again, snoring in her ear. She had barely slept that night. At dawn, Hang Liumei planned to go to the porcelain factory. She sat in the living room, while everyone else was still asleep, undecided about whether to just ride her son's motorcycle and leave. Pu Zhihe opened the bedroom door and came out, rubbing her eyes.

She was startled by Hang Liumei: "Grandma Hang, why are you up so early?" Then she was caught by Hang Liumei, who asked her to go back and change her clothes and drive out together.

As Pu Zhihe was reversing, Hang Liumei circled her son's motorcycle, arms folded, thinking, "What's so good about this? He's been riding it for over twenty years, and he still loves it." She sat on it, intending to just strike a pose, but something happened, and the motorcycle whirred as if it was about to crash.

Dad Mai jumped out of bed in his shorts and rushed out the door: "Who stole my car?!"

Because of the commotion, everyone was woken up, and by the time they arrived at the place, it was already daybreak.

Zhao Xiaowei was there too.

His hair was messy and his face was greasy. His originally fair and round face seemed to have grown wrinkles overnight. Two prominent nasolabial folds extended all the way to the corners of his drooping mouth. His usually smiling face now looked bitter.

Seeing the sudden appearance of the crowd, he was also surprised: "Teacher Hang, why are you here so early? Have you also been found?"

No one was confused. Zhao Xiaowei looked as if he wanted to say something but hesitated. Dad Mai pulled him inside quickly. After they took two steps ahead, Zhao Xiaowei stopped and turned around and said, "Let's just go in first, Teacher Hang, Teacher Qi. Why don't the rest of you wait outside?"

Just from his words, they knew something was wrong. No one agreed to wait outside, and as soon as they rushed into the warehouse, they were shocked by the scene before them. Several workers were gathered around the shelves of porcelain, discussing something, and a large area of broken porcelain was on the ground.

Zhao Xiaowei said that the newly produced cups from yesterday, along with all the previous test pieces, were all smashed. The workers on duty heard the noise in the early hours of the morning, and by the time they arrived, the perpetrators had already fled.

The rest of the porcelain was all in good condition, only theirs failed.

After shock, anger followed. Everyone blamed the mustache man, chattering about things like "Call the police," "Redo it," and "Find someone." Hang Liumei remained silent. The moment she entered the room, she knew her things were gone. Her heart sank, as if the thing she'd been waiting for had finally happened, freeing her from all worries and anxieties. She wasn't sad, but rather felt a sense of relief.

"Mom, don't worry, I won't let him go! Auntie, Xiao Pu, you stay! Xiaomai, Xiao Wei, let's go! There really is no law!"

Just as Father Mai was about to drag the two of them out, Hang Liumei said, "No need. There's no point in arguing with him. We still have business to attend to."

Dad Mai took out a cigarette from his pocket and put it in his mouth. He couldn't find a lighter, so he took it off with his fingertips. He thought Hang Liumei was afraid of causing trouble, so he comforted her mother: "Mom, don't worry about it. I will solve this matter for you. It can't end like this."

She tugged at her son's wrist and shook her head, "Smash it! Smash it! We don't want this cup anymore! I don't think it's interesting to keep it. He said we copied his idea, but I don't even think that's right! I make porcelain not for the sake of porcelain, but for murals. But now everyone is making fuss over porcelain, and that's not what I want. Smash it! Only by smashing the old can we get the new!"

But time was running out. Others had thought of this, but no one dared to remind him.

After leaving the porcelain factory, Hang Liumei refused to allow anyone to settle the accounts. She insisted on going home, feeling relieved and falling asleep. She slept until the afternoon, when she heard a commotion in the living room. She opened the bedroom door and came out. It was Mai Sui.

It turned out that Xiaomai was worried about her grandmother and told Mai Sui the whole story, which is why Mai Sui showed up early. The next day, Hang Liumei and Qi Xiuchun were sullen in their room and refused to come out. They sat at their desks all morning thinking about their new work. Mai Sui was worried that they were getting stuck in a rut, so she asked them to help her figure out how to celebrate Mai's father's birthday the next day, and then she asked them to leave.

"Mom, Aunt Qi, how's this place?" Mai Sui opened her arms after getting out of the car. Behind her, a cluster of tents lay neatly arranged in the desert. She led Hang Liumei and Qi Xiuchun through the tents, to the sparsely populated large tents at the back. She walked right into one, laid on her back on the large bed, and asked, "If I let you spend the night here, would you be willing?"

Hang Liumei sat down on the bed. The sheets looked clean, but in fact, they had been covered with a layer of sand. She knew her daughter-in-law too well: "Sui Sui, have you decided on this place?"

"Yes, Mom, don't worry. We're just here to enjoy the atmosphere and watch the sunset. We'll go back to sleep at night. I know you won't be used to living here."

Qi Xiuchun picked up the blanket on the bed and felt the material with her index finger and thumb: "It's really unbearable to live in. It will become a steamer at night!"

"It's all young people camping here, so we might as well follow the trend."

There were screams outside, so they went out to see someone playing with a sand scooter. The occupants were shouting and laughing, not even caring about their hats falling off. Hang Liumei knew her son and daughter-in-law loved these things. So much had happened recently, so it would be nice to relax.

Dad Mai went out quietly in the morning. He still wanted to settle the score with the man with a little mustache, but the man had already packed up and slipped away. He returned home in disappointment, but there was no one in the house. Puzzled, he walked out and ran into Pu Zhihe and Xiaomai who were coming back from buying groceries. Only then did he learn from his son that Mai Sui had taken the two old people out.

"That's perfect. You two come with me and help me choose a place to propose."

"It's booked? It was still available when I called this morning, but it's already booked this afternoon?" Dad Mai asked the attendant at the camping center in disbelief. "I'm talking about the biggest tent at the back. We have a lot of people here, so I want a spacious one. I need it tomorrow. Do you have any other options?"

The other party repeatedly confirmed with him that it was the one that had just been booked. There were other options, but they were farther away and a little smaller, but the rides and dinner were the same.

"Okay, okay, let's do this. Please note Mr. Jiang and ask him to reserve it for me!" Dad Mai paid the money hurriedly, breathed a sigh of relief, and was glad that he didn't delay tomorrow's important event.

The two groups bumped into each other at the courtyard gate and pretended to be calm as they walked in. Mai Sui first asked his father, "What did you take them for?"

Dad Mai twirled his car keys in his hand and replied, "Buying groceries. The food this afternoon wasn't very good, so I didn't buy anything. How about you guys?"

"We're pretty much the same. Do you have anything to do tomorrow?"

This question startled Mai Dad: "It's okay, I'm just here by myself. What's wrong with you?"

"I'm fine too. I'm just accompanying Mom."

Hang Liumei and Qi Xiuchun hid in the bedroom, peeking out the window at the two people standing outside. Qi Xiuchun asked anxiously, "My hearing is not good now, can you hear? What are they talking about?"

"How could I have heard that?" Hang Liumei covered half of her body with the curtains. "Oh, I'm so stupid. I should have called Xiaomai and Xiaopu in and asked them what they were doing."

Pu Zhihe thought Hang Liumei was looking for her because there was new progress on her work. She hurried over and only then remembered that she had forgotten to take her notebook. Just as she was about to turn back, Hang Liumei stopped her and said, "Call Xiaomai. Xiaomai runs fast. Let's talk business first."

Xiaomai pushed open the door to Pu Zhihe's room. The notebook was on the table. He could have taken it and left, but he happened to see the book at the bottom of the pile next to it—Inoue Yasushi's "Dunhuang." He knew he shouldn't touch Pu Zhihe's things, but he didn't know why he picked it up. The love letter was still inside. Everything was exactly as it had been when he gave it to Pu Zhihe, except for the tiny, conspicuous bloodstain where the signature was.

She has seen it.

Xiaomai, his heart in turmoil, took the notebook back to his grandmother's room. Just as he looked at Pu Zhihe, Hang Liumei blocked his way and said, "Why does it take you so long to get a notebook? This is no longer useful. Your parents have a big event tomorrow!"