Chapter 103 Is this what you want to tell me?
His stomach churned, and Tang Zhixu quickly left the table and rushed to the bathroom. He vomited everything, then held onto the cubicle door and went to the sink to rinse his mouth.
The commotion in the private room rang out. Wang Anji's face appeared at the restroom door, and he immediately smiled when he saw him.
"Are you okay, Teacher Tang?"
"It's okay." Tang Zhixu said with a smile.
Wang Anji gave him a thumbs-up: "I'm not saying anything, people from Shanghai can't drink much. Teacher Tang, you're the best I've ever seen!"
Another person poked his head out of the restroom door and called out, "Xiao Wang? Teacher Tang? Teacher Xu is about to start writing calligraphy. Come along."
Wang Anji agreed casually and walked out.
A dim wall lamp, an ornate decorative mirror. Tang Zhixu stared at himself in the mirror. His face remained youthful; he was only thirty. Today, he received his ticket, the ticket to fame. He sat at the table, where every face symbolized fame, status, and wealth. He would share in the feast with all present.
However, he didn't feel the excitement and joy he'd imagined. He hadn't won the ticket, but the name that had won it: An Siyuan. They didn't see how good his paintings were, but who he had painted for. There's an idiom that describes him: a fox borrowing the power of a tiger.
Someone at the door called out again, "Where's Tang Zhixu? Where's he been? Tell him to show off his skills. An Siyuan, the Godfather of Antiques. Today we want to experience the Godfather's vision too. Come on, come on, someone go find him."
Tang Zhixu in the mirror held the basin and raised his head, his face covered with water droplets, his damp hair hanging down by his ears. He stared at himself in the mirror for a moment, threw away the paper towel, opened the door and walked out.
The Disneyland park's colorful lights lit up, shimmering with color. The music was cheerful and dreamy, making it feel even more like a fairytale than during the day. Qin Tian and Tong Zhongyuan stood in the VIP area for the fireworks viewing. From the side, Tong Zhongyuan's lips curled up. She thought of the same smile he wore when he landed at Pudong Airport and emerged from the VIP channel. Back then, she had only thought his smile disgusted her. Tong Zhongyuan knew she was looking at him. Now was the time. There couldn't be a better time to confess his love than under the fireworks.
Deafening music blared, and fireworks exploded in the sky around the castle with a whistling sound. But neither of them looked at the fireworks; they looked at each other. The fireworks cast flickering colors on their faces.
"Tong Zhongyuan."
"Qin Tian."
They spoke at the same time, calling each other's names.
Tong Zhongyuan laughed. For the first time, Qin Tian noticed that his smile was actually a bit childish. Was it because he liked him that he could see the childish side of it?
"You speak first." His eyes were gentle.
The top pillars of the castle spewed out pillars of fire in an exciting rhythm, and the heat waves hit her face, making it feel a little hot.
"If...if you're not in a hurry to return to England," she looked at him, "could you stay in China for a while longer?"
Joy exploded like fireworks. His heartbeat was as loud as the music, pounding with the beat of the drums, making his eardrums throb. Wasn't anyone there to hear? How could she not hear?
"Okay, how long do you want me to stay?"
"Half a year." She stared at him, her voice still clearly heard amid the huge explosion of fireworks. "The National Museum of China invites you to repair national treasures. Can you agree?"
Another row of fireworks bloomed in the night sky, lighting up the entire night.
Tong Zhongyuan silently looked up at the fireworks, listening to the silent echoes of the night sky. After a long moment, his deep eyes returned to her face, and his voice was even more hollow than the fireworks.
""
She suddenly had a bad feeling. Had she said something wrong? His mission at the Shanghai Museum had been completed, and she had no excuse for him to stay. If he went to the National Museum, Shanghai to Beijing was only a two-hour flight away. In the next six months, restoring Yuan blue and white porcelain would make him famous, and he would gain a ticket to the hall of masters. And she would be able to see him often. Six months was enough. No one knew what the future would hold, but she had no regrets about being in love with him for six months.
"Director Ming said this morning that the Shanghai Museum has a lot of information about your mother's past restoration work, which might be helpful to you. I was thinking that even though the Shanghai Museum has a lot of artifacts, they wouldn't be difficult for you to handle, and something as precious as Yuan blue and white porcelain..."
He didn't hear what she said. He sank to the bottom of the lake, the sounds around him cut off by the water, unable to reach him. She asked him to leave her and go to Beijing for six months to restore cultural relics. This was her request, this was her answer. He quit his job, he closed his studio, he threw away the crown. This was her answer, her answer.
Her voice gradually faded, then faded. She could tell Tong Zhongyuan wasn't listening. He stood blankly at the foot of the castle, his gaze fixed on the distance, past the crowd. She looked back in his direction, but there was nothing special there. Only couples cuddled together, hugging each other, watching the fireworks, the fireworks casting a halo of love on their faces.
The passionate and moving music played its last powerful note, and the sky above the castle blazed with endless brilliant fireworks for the last time, blocking out the entire night sky of Disney. He stood in the colorful and dazzling light, looking at her against the light.
"In your heart, I have always been just a tool."
"Beep!" The door card was swiped open. Tang Zhixu stumbled into the hotel room. Before he reached the bed, he lay down on the floor, looking up at the blank ceiling.
That day, Qin Tian handed him a piece of paper.
"What's this?"
"You asked me to save you, didn't you? This is just an excuse I came up with to help you avoid drinking."
He took the paper and began to read it, one line at a time. He laughed so hard as he read. She couldn't stand it any longer and snatched the paper away.
"If you don't want to use it, don't use it!" she said dissatisfiedly.
"No, that's ridiculous. Listen, is this just a made-up excuse? My family runs a bad liver. My third uncle got cirrhosis last year. And this, I'm having a colonoscopy under general anesthesia tomorrow. Is this like telling people I'm going to get anally raped? Hahahaha!"
He laughed again, and she was so angry that she tore up the paper and yelled at him, "Drink it! Don't come to me again!"
He grabbed her and said, "Why are you angry? I was just joking."
"Why should I be angry? The body is yours, I just don't think it's worth wasting it on socializing."
Tonight, he had no excuses. Drinking in such an occasion was nothing. But at this moment, he missed her especially. There was a man who believed that his health was more important than success.
He took out his cell phone and dialed. He wanted to tell her that he had entered Jiade. He wanted her to hear how drunk he was, to make her worry, and to be scolded by her.
He dialed again and again, but no one answered.
He threw his phone onto the bed, pulled himself up, and faltered to the bathroom to wash up. He picked up the wash cup to fill it with water, but his hand slipped and the glass fell from his hand. The moment it hit the ground, the cup shattered into pieces, and the glass flew in all directions like a meteor.
He stared at the cup, and then he remembered everything.
They had just started working together. They were either on a business trip or on their way. He didn't consider himself particularly bright, and Qin Tian was so single-minded that he felt like cursing. He could tell she didn't particularly like him. They worked together during the day, but back at the hotel, each went their own way, not even eating together. Apart from work, they had no interactions.
That day, the cultural relics collection effort was coming to a close, and the organizers were planning a celebration banquet. They were just small-timers, and such a good thing wasn't their cup of tea. Just as he was packing his bag, he saw an old man named Dai running over to talk to Qin Tian. The old man was an expert invited by the organizers, and he'd been talking to Qin Tian constantly for the past few days. Qin Tian, a simpleton, respectfully addressed him as Teacher Dai. Although he'd just graduated, he was a man, and he understood what the old man was up to. But he figured it was only a few days away, and when the event was over, he'd be gone, so there was no need to remind her.
He saw the old man leave with a smile and asked her what he said. Qin Tian said that Teacher Dai asked her to attend the celebration banquet. That night, he also went to the celebration banquet uninvited and added a chair for himself.
At the celebration banquet, an old man came to toast Qin Tian and said a lot of nice things. Qin Tian really thought the old man was a good person and drank a few glasses. He knew that Qin Tian could drink well and didn't need him to interfere. But he didn't expect that after the old man, all the men came to toast Qin Tian for no apparent reason. Qin Tian was just a girl who had just graduated and didn't know how to deal with it. She would drink whatever was toasted to her, without even mixing it with water. He could see that Qin Tian was almost at her limit. At this time, two middle-aged men came. They smiled and said that everyone was toasting the beautiful woman, so we couldn't be left behind. Everyone at the table stood up and raised their glasses.
He stood up too, but he didn't take the glass. He blocked the man's glass.
"She can't drink anymore," he said.
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