Chapter 164 Every minute and every second you stay here, day and night
It was an unusually busy Monday for Qin Tian. In the morning, she accompanied Ming Yuanxing to a national gathering of porcelain experts, conducting a visual appraisal of the 矅变天目 (Ten-Eye) porcelain. Lunch was the inevitable dinner, which lasted until 2:30 p.m. After returning to the museum, Ming Yuanxing stopped her to discuss the press conference for the 矅变天目 (Ten-Eye) porcelain.
Ming Yuanxing waved his finger. "In addition to the press release and the Q&A session, you also need to prepare a speech, similar to an acceptance speech."
"Why?"
"I've applied to the city for your Outstanding Contribution Award, and I expect it to be approved before the press conference. However, this award is only given out once a year, and waiting for the process is too slow. As soon as the award is approved, we'll announce it on the day of the press conference. That way, when the professional title evaluation is held after the Spring Festival, we can legitimately promote you."
“But I just wrote a paper.”
"That's not important. What's important is your contribution to the Shanghai Museum. I was thinking of nominating Xiaotong for the Magnolia Honorary Award, which is reserved for foreigners. But on second thought, I decided not to. He'd probably just feel embarrassed. So I'll leave him alone. You can thank him privately. How's the discussion going on regarding the treasure exhibition acceptance?"
Qin Tian's eyes dimmed. The transformation of her celestial eye, the award ceremony, and the evaluation of her professional title—these were all things that should have made her excited and happy, but now she wasn't happy at all. Tong Zhongyuan's face in the darkness of that night was etched in her mind, lingering.
It was almost time to get off work when she left Ming Yuanxing's office. She walked down the long corridor to the lobby, where visitors were emerging from the various exhibition halls, converging and flowing toward the exit. A familiar figure emerged from the crowd toward her.
Tang Zhixu walked up to her, stopped, and smiled.
"What's wrong? Didn't you sleep well? Your eye circles look like Nezha."
A beam of sunlight streamed down from the glass dome, illuminating his warm smile and making her heart sour and sad. She tilted her head back and pulled out an ungainly smile. Tang Zhixu's smile widened even further, the long winter melting away. Looking at his smile, she finally smiled too, a genuine, relieved smile.
"When do you want to have dinner together?" He walked back to the office with her.
"I've been a bit busy these past few days. A few more experts are coming tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, and I'll be in charge of their reception. After they issue their appraisal reports, I'll host the reporters."
"Then wait until you're done. Treat me to dinner, I have something for you."
"What is it?"
"The things you left with me."
.
At nine o'clock in the evening, the lights in the Shanghai Museum's restoration room were still on. Holding his breath, Tong Zhongyuan concentrated intently as he inserted the missing piece from the Jingdezhen porcelain into the gap. The white glue at the fracture held onto the bottle, seamlessly becoming part of this seven-hundred-year-old blue and white porcelain.
Tong Zhongyuan removed his glasses, tossing them on the table and rubbing the bridge of his nose. These past few days, the continuous repairs, exceeding 12 hours a day, had challenged both his stamina and his concentration. The good thing was that he could fall asleep as soon as he got home. Compared to the restlessness and uncontrolled wandering thoughts that kept him awake, at least work could distract him.
He hadn't seen Qin Tian in days. They worked in the same place, their homes were so close, yet they didn't even have time to see each other. They say that when distance is far, the heart is far. But even though the distance was close, the heart wasn't close. He told himself that she was incredibly busy. That excuse wasn't self-deception. Becoming as busy as she was the only way he could get on the same wavelength as her.
He put the USB flash drive that Tang Zhixu gave him in an envelope and asked Song Suiyang to return it.
As he suspected, Wang Qiqing was the collection manager at the West China National Museum. He had just started working there and achieved such remarkable success. His rise from a third-tier museum in Henan to the Shanghai Museum was likely closely linked to Zhuang Xiangyan's transfer to a high-ranking position in Shanghai.
Zhuang Beiyao and Wang Qiqing had a close relationship. After discovering Qin Yunjie's search for the gilded plate, he became increasingly anxious. He speculated that Wang Qiqing, then deputy director, likely knew about this. Therefore, in the case of the Hexiangu coin, he dismissed Qin Yunjie from the Shanghai Museum, despite opposition, to prevent future trouble.
The jigsaw puzzle of the past revealed decades of truth. That was only Wang Qiqing's past; he had no basis to infer that Qin Tian's paper leak was also linked to him. Wang Qiqing was nearing retirement; there was no need for him to take any more risks. But power breeds money, and when power is about to disappear, the desire to hold onto it only intensifies.
Tang Zhixu knew Wang Qiqing better than he did. He still owed Tang Zhixu a meal; a conversation with him about Wang Qiqing would be immensely helpful in unraveling this whole story. And Tang Zhixu probably understood the saying, "A cup of wine releases military power." He should have shared intelligence with Tang Zhixu, both emotionally and logically. But he couldn't.
He had always thought he was emotionally stable and kept his public and private lives separate. In reality, he wasn't as graceful or magnanimous as he thought. He didn't want to see Tang Zhixu at all, and even gave the USB drive to Song Suiyang to return. He had been certain that the reason Qin Tian and Tang Zhixu didn't end up together was because they knew each other too well, so well that she had lost her feelings for him. But now, he wasn't so sure.
Paintings of ladies, portraits, sketches. No matter the style, she was the protagonist. The painting depicted the time they spent together, a grand, unrepentant love he had no regrets about. But flowers bloom and fade in due course. Tang Zhixu took the scrolls off the wall, rolled them up one by one, and boxed them up.
His phone rang twice. Tang Zhixu picked it up, glanced at it, and slowly sat down on the sofa. The girl he'd been dating, nicknamed Ann, had recently started messaging him again after a period of silence. He'd thought he'd be blocked after posting, "I drew this thinking of my secret crush."
"Hi, how's your crush going lately?"
He stroked his chin and looked at the words, thought for a moment, and replied, "That's it."
The other party is typing...
"Just like that, does that mean you're still secretly in love with me?"
"About the same."
"Why don't you confess? Maybe she's waiting for you to confess."
"How do you know it's her and not him?"
"Hahahahahahahaha. Okay, my gay da is out of whack."
Tang Zhixu didn't reply, put his phone aside, and went out to take out the trash. When he came back, he found that she had added another message below the one he hadn't replied to.
"Whether it's her or him, confess your feelings quickly. Tell me the result."
Her profile picture was a corgi. Recalling their only meeting, he couldn't quite remember what she looked like. He only remembered that she wasn't dressed like she was going to a dinner, but rather like she was going to a concert. She looked like someone from a completely different world from his unkempt appearance. Speaking of which, the same thing happened with Qin Tian and Tong Zhongyuan; perhaps it was the difference that made them more attractive.
Tong Zhongyuan had done what he had asked. He had thought Wang Qiqing would come to see him after reading his profile, but he hadn't even shown up. He looked listless the last time he saw him, a stark contrast to his previous high spirits. Could it be that things weren't going well between him and Qin Tian?
He shoved his fingers through his hair. Never mind. It had nothing to do with him. Even if things didn't work out, Qin Tian wouldn't accept him. He stood up, found a large shopping bag in the cabinet, and put the boxed paintings in it. He'd return them to their original owners at the weekend.
Saturday was Qin Tian's only day off recently. After brunch, she'd been tidying up the second bedroom. The second bedroom in the house she'd bought wasn't very large, usually used for storage. Now that it needed to be cleared out, the question arose of what to do with all those boxes. She'd been sorting for four hours, her back barely straightened, and she was only halfway done. With no more strength, she piled the remaining half of the boxes in the corner. The space was big enough for a single bed. She could wait until Qin Yunjie arrived and sort through the remaining half.
She went to the kitchen to wash her hands. This window faced his bedroom. He had been coming home late every day this week. The light often came on after eleven and remained on until one. In the dark kitchen, she gazed at the stars. Staying up late was bad for the heart, and he had stayed up late again.
Song Suiyang said he had been working overtime every day recently. She asked vaguely, "Did you have a fight? Teacher Tong looks very upset."
They'd argued so many times since Tong Zhongyuan came to her that she couldn't even count them. She looked up at the sky outside the window and smiled silently. How had they ended up together? They were clearly the most unsuitable couple in the world. For the past six months, she had brought Tong Zhongyuan the sandstorms of Niya, the threat of Christmas Eve, and endless disappointment and arguments. Even so, she couldn't stop him from moving towards her. After a brief overlap, they would go their separate ways.
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