Chapter 138 The Letter Disappeared
Gu Qiuyue's fingertips were cold, and the cloud-patterned copper buckle seemed to carry the body temperature of the peeper from last night, making her feel uneasy. Xie Shiyu carefully checked the doors and windows, and coaxed the children to sleep before returning to her.
"Don't be afraid," he put his broad palm on her shoulder, "I'll go to the security department tomorrow morning and give them this button. Then I'll ask for leave and accompany you to the cultural center."
Gu Qiuyue leaned on his shoulder and responded softly. The light bulb above her head emitted a warm yellow light, casting her uneasy silhouette on the wall.
The next morning, Xie Shiyu hurried to the security department. After Gu Qiuyue sent the children to kindergarten, she did not go home directly. She rode her bicycle and turned towards the town middle school.
"Teacher Gu, you don't have classes today, right? Why are you here?" The security guard, Old Zhang, greeted with a smile.
"Let's check some information." Gu Qiuyue parked the car and walked straight to the library.
The middle school library in the 1980s was not big. The bookshelves were mostly filled with political reading materials and teaching reference books. The air was filled with the faint musty smell unique to old book pages. The sunlight slanted in from the tall windows, illuminating the flying dust.
Gu Qiuyue found Mr. Zhou, the teacher in charge of the library, a gray-haired old teacher who had worked in the school for more than 30 years.
"Teacher Zhou, I want to ask you about someone." Gu Qiuyue handed over a cigarette. "Have you heard of Master Qin, a master embroiderer? I heard her work is currently on display at the county cultural center."
Teacher Zhou pushed his reading glasses up, looking thoughtful. "Master Qin...you mean Master Qin Yulian? Oh, she was a famous embroiderer here. When she was young, she even embroidered gifts for foreign guests! But she passed away three or four years ago. What a pity that such a great skill was lost."
"Does she have any apprentices or successors?" Gu Qiuyue asked.
"Apprentice?" Teacher Zhou shook his head. "Back in the day, these were all feudal dregs. She herself didn't even dare to pick up a needle, let alone take on an apprentice. But a few days ago..." He suddenly lowered his voice, "someone came to inquire about Master Qin, and asked very detailed questions."
Gu Qiuyue's heart tightened: "Who is it?"
"He was a stranger, wearing glasses. He said he was from the Cultural Center, but I didn't think he was. He asked if Master Qin had left any embroidery patterns or anything like that." Teacher Zhou leaned closer. "What was odd was, he was holding a notebook with 'Xinhua Bookstore' printed on the cover."
Gu Qiuyue's heart skipped a beat. Xinhua Bookstore? Could it be the provincial Xinhua Bookstore that invited her to translate a book? The amiable face of Manager Cheng from the provincial branch flashed through her mind, but then she shook her head, finding it unlikely.
When he returned home at noon, Xie Shiyu had already prepared dinner and was waiting at the table with his two children. The security department accepted the copper buckle and said they would increase patrols, but they didn't have many clues. Xie Shiyu served a bowl of cabbage stewed with vermicelli and placed it in front of Gu Qiuyue. "They promised to investigate secretly, but it will take time."
"I'll go to the Cultural Center with you this afternoon." Xie Shiyu said as he took care of Huahua and Shuangshuang while they ate. "The Security Department said they'll keep an eye out for new faces in the compound, so don't worry too much."
Gu Qiuyue nodded and told him what she had learned from the school.
Xie Shiyu's brows furrowed more and more tightly. "People from Xinhua Bookstore are asking about the embroiderer? This is not a simple matter."
After dinner, the two sent their children back to kindergarten and boarded the bus to the county town. Poplar trees rustled on both sides of the dusty dirt road. Gu Qiuyue looked at the scenery outside the window that was constantly receding, her heart in turmoil.
The county cultural center is a two-story building, its walls still stained with mottled slogans. The exhibition hall is sparsely populated, and Master Qin's embroidery occupies a single wall. "It's this layered embroidery technique," Gu Qiuyue pointed at the peony painting. "It's the same one I found in the school library, with three layers of shading."
Xie Shiyu didn't know much about embroidery, but he could see the fine stitching and elegant color matching: "It's indeed exquisite."
The staff member, a girl wearing glasses, heard they were asking about Master Qin and enthusiastically fetched the registration book. "The exhibition started a month ago, and quite a few people came to see it, but..." she flipped through the records, "Not many people specifically asked about Master Qin's life."
Gu Qiuyue took the opportunity to ask, "I heard that someone in your museum went to the military compound to collect embroidery patterns?"
The girl was stunned for a moment. "No! We've been busy with the exhibition lately, and no one has gone to the countryside to collect embroidery patterns." She thought for a moment and said, "But a few days ago, a man and a woman came to see the exhibition. They asked a lot of questions about Master Qin's technique and inheritance, and took detailed notes. They didn't seem like ordinary people, but more like researchers."
Gu Qiuyue and Xie Shiyu looked at each other: "What do they look like?"
"The man was probably in his thirties, wearing glasses, and the woman was younger, with short hair." The girl suddenly remembered something. "Oh, and there seemed to be 'Xinhua Bookstore' printed on the man's notebook."
On the bus back, the two of them were silent all the way. The setting sun shone through the window, casting long shadows in the car.
Gu Qiuyue leaned on Xie Shiyu's shoulder and closed her eyes wearily. She had received so much information that day that she felt overwhelmed. The person impersonating the cultural center, the notebook from the Xinhua Bookstore, the mystery of Master Qin's inheritance...it all felt like a tangled mess, tangled in her mind.
"They pretended to be from the Cultural Center to go to Li Caifeng, and then pretended to be from the Xinhua Bookstore to inquire about her." Gu Qiuyue lowered her voice. "What exactly do they want to do?"
Xie Shiyu's eyes were calm. "It seems they've set their sights on the embroidery techniques you found. Perhaps they want to steal them, or perhaps..." He didn't finish, but Gu Qiuyue understood what he meant—perhaps they want to take them for themselves. "Whatever their purpose is," Xie Shiyu squeezed her hand, "we will get to the bottom of it."
When she returned home in the evening, Gu Qiuyue sat at the desk, spread out the manuscript paper but could not write a single word. Under the dim light, she opened the drawer to take another look, but the anonymous letter was gone!
The translation and design drawings were all in the drawer, but the letter was missing. Her heart stopped beating. She searched again, but it was indeed gone. Her fingers trembled slightly as she carefully recalled every detail of the day. She had clearly locked the door before leaving the house, and the door lock was intact when she returned home. How could the letter disappear?
"Shi Yu!" Her voice trembled, "The letter is gone!"
Xie Shiyu came over quickly and carefully checked the drawers and desk: "Who was here during the day?"
"No... I locked the door before I left." Gu Qiuyue suddenly felt a chill on her back, "Someone came in."
Xie Shiyu checked the doors and windows and found no signs of prying. The other party was obviously well prepared and had a clear purpose of stealing the warning letter.
The night wind blew the curtains, bringing the rustling sound of leaves in the distance. Gu Qiuyue stood in front of the desk and felt a chill rising from the soles of her feet - all their actions were under the surveillance of others. She subconsciously hugged her arms, and suddenly felt that this once warm and safe home was now full of unease.
At this moment, in the shadow of the old locust tree outside the window, a figure quietly left, and a familiar cloud pattern flashed on the corner of his clothes.
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