Chapter 66 Back on Earth, Sang Zhitao from the base's bed...
When Sang Zhitao woke up in bed at the base, she seemed to still carry the salty, damp smell that only the pirate world had.
"She's back!" Zhang Su, who had been waiting here, was the first to notice Sang Zhitao's return.
"Is this what you brought back this time?" Zhang Su was taken aback when she saw the wooden box she was holding.
"Hmm." Sang Zhitao put the wooden box aside before looking at Li Mingguo on the large screen next to her. "Uncle Li?"
Seemingly knowing what Sang Zhitao was going to ask, Li Mingguo explained with a smile, "I'm currently in a meeting in the capital, so I had them install a large screen so I can stay informed about the situation at any time."
Seeing this, Sang Zhitao nodded before speaking, "Uncle Li, the pirate world cannot establish a trade channel with us."
Upon hearing this, Li Mingguo's relaxed expression immediately turned serious: "Will this affect you?"
Hearing that his first thought was to show concern for her, Sang Zhitao felt a surge of warmth in her heart and slowly shook her head: "No, although I don't know the reason, I feel that this is a good thing."
Li Mingguo breathed a sigh of relief and earnestly instructed, "Just take care of yourself, everything else is fine. We've already gained a lot of benefits."
Too much of a good thing is bad.
These were words that Li Mingguo never uttered, but they truly reflected the thoughts of him, or rather, all those in the upper echelons of Dongguo who knew of Sang Zhitao's existence.
It's like someone who's been starving for a long time can't believe that a pie will fall from the sky.
The East has a history of five thousand years, and its rich historical experience tells the people of the East that there is no such thing as a free lunch, and every benefit comes with a price tag.
They felt honored to have such an opportunity as Sang Zhitao, but they were also uneasy. What if it was harmful to Dongguo? What if it was harmful to Sang Zhitao?
It was this very concern that made them extremely cautious about Sang Zhitao's every time she traveled back in time.
Sang Zhitao understood Li Mingguo's concerns and the worries of those above her, but she didn't know how to tell them that there was no need to worry, because she herself hadn't figured everything out yet.
“Based on our previous predictions, it will probably be another month or so before you travel through time again. You’ve been in that world for too long, so why don’t you go out and have some fun?” Li Mingguo looked at Sang Zhitao in her medieval attire, sighed, and a hint of heartache and shame flashed in his eyes.
"Huh? Is it okay now?" Sang Zhitao asked, her face full of surprise.
Staying at the base in her current capacity is best for her, which is why she hasn't left since handing over her information.
"Hahaha, don't worry, with the AI from Machine Star, Dongguo is now connected to the entire Skynet. To exaggerate a bit, we can even detect a mouse hole." Li Mingguo's face flashed with pride as he thought about the changes in Dongguo.
"Wow~ That's great! I'll apply to leave the base tomorrow!" Sang Zhitao's face lit up with surprise, and her raised hand showed her excitement.
"Okay, okay, I'll have someone arrange two bodyguards for you then." Li Mingguo nodded repeatedly in agreement.
Seeing this, Sang Zhitao nodded emphatically in agreement. After exchanging a few more words with Li Mingguo, she saw him glance at the wooden box she had brought as he was about to hang up the video call: "Uncle Li, I also brought a gift this time!"
"Okay, okay, Tao Tao, have the base staff sort out the statistics first, and I'll arrange it when I get back." Li Mingguo smiled so much that the wrinkles on his face smoothed out.
After the two hung up the video call, Zhang Su stepped forward to help Sang Zhitao draw blood.
Sang Zhitao glanced down and caught sight of a pendant around Zhang Su's neck. She instantly understood, and a mischievous smile spread across her face: "Sister Zhang, your pendant is so pretty!"
Zhang Su's face visibly flushed red.
She coughed lightly, quickly finished drawing blood, then tapped Sang Zhitao's forehead and said irritably, "You little devil!"
"I'm very well-behaved!" Sang Zhitao snorted lightly, then her eyes darted around, deliberately raising her voice, "Sister-in-law... Sister-in-law~"
Zhang Su's face was beyond red; it looked like it could cook an egg.
"You come back and start bullying people?" Sang Lezhi said irritably as she rushed over from outside the door.
"Sister!" Sang Zhitao was so excited that she rushed into her sister's arms, not expecting to see her sister this time.
"Didn't you say you'd become much more mature and composed since you came back? Why do you seem so spoiled to me now? Hmm~ My little Peach~" Sang Lezhi first carefully looked her up and down before gently tugging at her little face.
"Because I have my older sister~" Sang Zhitao said coquettishly, clinging to her arm. Just then, seeing Zhang Su packing up to leave, she deliberately added, "And my sister-in-law~"
Zhang Su rolled her eyes at her before leaving, her face flushed.
"You're not afraid of scaring your sister-in-law away," Sang Lezhi said reproachfully after the person left.
"No way, I really believe in my brother's charm~"
As she spoke, Sang Zhitao pulled her brother to sit on the newly added sofa and chatted carefully about her experiences over the past few days. When she got excited, she even stood up and started gesturing wildly.
She wasn't wary of the busy people around her, since her every word and action would be recorded, especially her experiences in the other world. Now she could tell her sister about it here and have them record it, saving her the trouble of communicating with the recording team again.
"What's in this wooden box?" Sang Lezhi hadn't been back to the base for a long time and really didn't know what Sang Zhitao had told Li Mingguo before.
“It’s some paintings, calligraphy and jewelry.” Sang Zhitao thought for a moment and continued, “I saw some paintings that looked very familiar, so I suspect that these are famous works that have disappeared from Western history.”
“I see…” Sang Lezhi nodded thoughtfully.
“When I was working before, I went to a place that specializes in making reproductions of famous paintings. The owner there mentioned that once a foreign painter came to order a batch of reproductions. One of them was said to have been lost from a museum and had never been found. But I saw it in the dark vortex, so I simply collected them all.”
Hearing her sister's explanation, Sang Lezhi suddenly understood, and then asked curiously, "So how do you plan to arrange these things?"
Sang Zhitao raised an eyebrow, a smug look on her face: "I want to open a museum, and the theme will be called Lost Civilizations. I want to display all these things and let the whole world see them."
"Huh?" Sang Lezhi looked at her blankly.
"Sister, what do you think would happen if these words were proven true and those Western countries found out?" Sang Zhitao leaned on her shoulder, her face full of slyness.
"You, you." Sang Lezhi suddenly realized what she meant and couldn't help but laugh and pat her. Then she couldn't help but laugh at the scene she had imagined. "I'm afraid it'll all be a mess over fighting over these things."
"Yes, then we'll trade one for one!" Sang Zhitao waved her hand, displaying a confident and bold spirit.
"One for one?" Sang Lezhi didn't understand what her sister meant.
“Yes, one for one!” Sang Zhitao stood up and looked at her sister with a serious expression. “I want to use their things to exchange for all the treasures and cultural relics that were stolen from us!”
Sang Lezhi froze for a moment, and the busy people around her also stopped what they were doing and turned to look at her.
Sang Zhitao looked around, a ruthless glint in her eyes that only existed in the pirate world: "If this is not enough, one day I will return to the pirate world. I refuse to believe that the things of an entire world cannot be exchanged for our cultural relics. I will not leave them even a single needle or thread!"
These words struck everyone's heart like a heavy hammer.
The scene suddenly fell silent until Su Guoxi, who was adjusting equipment in the corner, was stunned and dropped the wrench on the ground, the crisp sound bringing everyone back to their senses.
"Great!" Wang Le exclaimed loudly, clapping his hands repeatedly until his palms turned red.
"Yes! We must make those robbers return our things!" Zhang Fan also waved his clenched fist.
For a time, besides the passionate speeches of the young people, there were also elderly people like Su Guoxi silently wiping the fog off their glasses.
That century of humiliation is a pain in the heart of every East Asian, a pain that is unbearable to be mentioned at any time.
A powerful, beautiful, and gentle nation was thus wantonly trampled upon by a group of bandits, nearly leading to its extinction.
Although they have stood up after seventy years, and although they have taken off again from the ruins after seventy years, the treasures from their ancestors, which are not cherished in foreign museums, are still in the hands of robbers and cannot return.
Today, there are 1.67 million artifacts in more than 200 museums in 47 countries around the world. Not to mention those looted by the soldiers of the Eight-Nation Alliance and not put into museums, the number is more than ten times the number of museum collections. Each one is a knife stuck in the heart of the people of East Asia.
“Those people know how much we value cultural relics. Whenever our cultural relics are auctioned, they deliberately find people to drive up the prices, forcing us officials and enthusiastic people to pay several times or even ten times the price to snatch back one or two pieces!” Su Guoxi wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes while wiping his eyes.
“So one for one isn’t enough! We need to trade one for many!” Sang Zhitao pursed her lips, then suddenly shook her head. “No! We only have four hundred items right now. We need to maximize our profits!”
As she spoke, Sang Zhitao glanced at the silent surveillance camera in the corner.
The recording team, who were watching the surveillance footage, silently looked at her delicate face and nodded in response.
That evening, the news was delivered to Li Mingguo and others as quickly as possible.
"This is Tao Tao's suggestion, what do you guys do?" Li Mingguo passed the information to the others.
Now, thanks to the technology of the Machine Star, they have achieved remote work and no longer have to worry about being spied on by that powerful foreign country. They also have time to leave the base and attend to other matters.
“I’ve heard Ming Guo mention it before; it’s a good idea.” Professor Zeng, who was always easygoing, was no exception.
"Good girl! That's the kind of spirit you should have!" Old Qian, always a forthright man, couldn't help but laugh and applaud Sang Zhitao.
“In that case, let’s have the Ming Kingdom report the news and invite our national champions to the capital for discussion.” Professor Zeng made the decision directly after seeing that no one objected.
"Let's add a few more people who understand foreign art," Professor Qian, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up.
“That’s true.” Professor Zeng nodded, then thought for a moment before adding, “Ming Kingdom, don’t forget to instruct your people to check their identities.”
"Understood!" Li Mingguo nodded in agreement.
Sang Zhitao was surprised that the observation team acted so quickly, and she was also surprised that everyone trusted her so much that they directly chose her idea. At this moment, she was happily pulling her sister and Zhang Su to choose clothes for going out.
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Author's Note: I'm adjusting my mindset for a while, so updates might not be as regular. I'm truly sorry.
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