Chapter 29: For so many years, Qin Tian has never suffered any loss as long as he is within his sight.
Qin Yunjie was silent for a moment and said, "Come on, come in and take a look."
Qin Tian covered his face and ignored him. He urged her again, and she had no choice but to stand up and follow him into the study. All the books in the bookcase had been taken out and placed in bundles on the floor. There was a pile on the desk, also tied into several dozen.
Qin Yunjie picked up the notebook and said to her, "This is my work diary from the past 20 years at the Shanghai Museum. I know you're doing well without my help, but if you want to take a look, there might be something useful in it."
He picked up a separate red notebook. "This is my address book. I used to travel all over the country, and I met a lot of antique dealers and brokers everywhere. When you came to the Shanghai Museum, I thought you were a recent graduate and didn't want to deal with all kinds of people, so I didn't give it to you. Actually, after so many years, most of these numbers are no longer useful. You can handle it yourself. If you need to contact someone, it's best to do so when a male colleague is around."
"The remaining books are mine. If you find them useful, you can take them away. If not, I will donate them to the community library."
He left the study, not knowing where to go. Qin Tian looked at the books scattered across the table and floor. It wasn't that she didn't remember it. Since she was little, her father had always been away on business, and when he was home, he'd be working at his desk at night. Perhaps because she was so used to seeing that scene, she had never thought it had anything to do with her current job.
Qin Yunjie walked in again with a box in his hand.
"I've already dealt with your mother's belongings. This is the only thing I haven't given you."
He opened the box and took out a bronze coin and gave it to her.
"I've never found its origin. Your mother said I would never find it, and she was right. From now on, I won't be able to find it either." He smiled.
"Okay, that's all. Let's see when you can come move in the next couple of days."
Song Suiyang arrived early lately because Tong Zhongyuan arrived early every day. He'd start the repair work the moment he arrived, and if she couldn't keep up with him, she'd miss a lot of steps. But today she came in ten minutes late. Actually, she'd arrived on time, running into Xiao Fang and Xiao Liu from the administration department at the entrance. They were chatting animatedly, and she, curious about gossip, joined in.
Xiao Fang said that she went to the Peace Hotel to check out yesterday, and Director Ming was there. Director Ming politely told the donor that the Shanghai Museum could not accept the porcelain and repeatedly thanked him for his kindness. But Zhou Qiang refused to give in and insisted that the museum accept it. In the end, he even started to yell, asking if it was Qin Tian's fault. Who was he being so arrogant to? He just glanced at her a few times and she was missing out on a piece of meat. Director Ming's face suddenly changed. He had never seen him so upset before. Director Ming asked her to check out, called back the security team, said goodbye to Zhou Qiang stiffly, and left.
Song Suiyang arrived at the restoration room, fuming with rage. He just wanted to find someone to join him in scolding Zhou Qiang. But Tong Zhongyuan was the only one in the room at that hour, and there was no way he was going to join her in scolding. He didn't even want to discuss it. Seeing her throw her bag on a chair, he simply said, "Good morning."
She sent a message asking if Tang Zhixu had arrived at the museum. Tang Zhixu didn't reply. She had no choice but to change her clothes and come watch Tong Zhongyuan's restoration. Tong Zhongyuan remained as quiet as ever, and she couldn't help but ask, "Teacher Tong, why would someone force a donation? What's he trying to achieve? To bring honor to his family?"
Tong Zhongyuan stopped and asked, "Who forced the donation?"
Seeing that he had actually connected with him, Song Suiyang hurriedly said, "That builder Zhou Qiang, yesterday Director Ming said that the Shanghai Museum couldn't accept his stuff, and he got furious and insisted on donating it."
Tong Zhongyuan remained silent. This meant Director Ming had already rejected him, and they would have no further interactions. Businessmen chase profit, and seemingly abnormal behavior must have hidden reasons behind it.
Seeing that he stopped talking, Song Suiyang felt a little discouraged: "Director Ming, you're the same. Why don't you just tell him that your stuff is fake? Make him lose face."
Tong Zhongyuan wiped the porcelain fragments that had been cleaned with ultrasound and placed them on the main body for final comparison.
A significant portion of the Shanghai Museum's collection of artifacts is donated by various sources. If fakes were donated, people would be humiliated. Who would dare donate to the Shanghai Museum in the future? After all, most donors aren't professionals; they simply have money.
"Director Ming has his own stance." He added indifferently.
Song Suiyang was unconvinced and said, "But Zhou Qiang said such dirty words, what kind of position do you want? If I want, I will slap him in the face. Oh, forget it, I'm not Director Ming, I'll go wash the cups."
She just turned around when Tong Zhongyuan's voice sounded behind her.
"What did he say?"
Qin Tian arrived a little late. As she entered the building, she didn't know if she was being overly sensitive, but she felt as if a few of her colleagues were looking at her with a strange look in their eyes. But it was only for a moment, and she didn't care. She had too much on her mind to speculate.
She wanted to ask Tang Zhixu if he needed a car today, as she planned to go to Qin Yunjie's place to move some things after work. She went to the calligraphy and painting department but couldn't find anyone there, but she saw him at the door of her office.
"You've come just in time," she walked over, "Let me use the car today."
"It's in the garage. You can drive away after get off work." Tang Zhixu put the coffee in his hand on her office desk.
He'd heard gossip about her early this morning. When Director Ming had partnered with Qin Tian, it was ostensibly for business, but in reality, it was to keep her safe. He wouldn't say he'd done a good job, but... They'd both matured and branched out into their own fields. It was impossible to bundle them together like before. He sometimes wondered if they were still as inseparable as before, they might already be together.
"Qin Tian," he said, "Director Ming has already declined the donation. I don't think you have anything else important to do?"
Qin Tian took the coffee and breathed a sigh of relief. Great, I don't have to deal with Zhou Qiang anymore.
"Well, nothing much lately. I just haven't done anything about the ethnic minorities yet."
Tang Zhixu took in every subtle expression on her face and said, "Then let's leave next week. I'll go and file a report later, and I'll go too."
Next week. Qin Tian held on. While work wasn't a big deal, there were so many things to do at home. Qin Yunjie was going to a nursing home, and she had to help him rent a house. He had a pile of books and journals that needed to be sorted out after they were brought to her house. And that bronze coin. It was the reason she was late today. She'd been looking through the materials until midnight last night, but couldn't find its origin. She also planned to go to the library's reference room today to check.
"Probably not next week, let's wait a little longer."
For a moment, he wanted to ask her, was it because of Tong Zhongyuan? Was it because he was there that she couldn't leave? He leaned back in his chair, his fingers subconsciously covering his mouth.
She continued, "A lot has been going on in my family lately, and I can't leave right now."
He lowered his hands and leaned on the office desk.
"What happened to your family? Your dad?"
She hadn't told anyone that Qin Yunjie had Alzheimer's, nor did she want to tell anyone. But Tang Zhixu was no stranger, and since they were close, he would eventually notice.
"My dad is not in good health and needs someone to take care of him. He plans to live in a nursing home. I was packing up his things yesterday. Once everything is cleared out, I will help him rent a house next week."
Tang Zhixu was a little annoyed, annoyed at himself and at the little thoughts that he couldn't express.
"Are you going to use the car to move things today?"
"Well, the trunk is still empty, right?"
Tang Zhixu stood up and walked towards the door.
"I'll go with you after work, and I'll come over on weekends too. Let's go see the real estate agency together."
She called out "Hello" a few times to his back, but he left without even looking back, leaving her no chance to refuse. But she wasn't going to refuse, she just wanted him to come earlier so he wouldn't sleep until noon, like last time, making her wait the entire morning in vain.
At noon, Song Suiyang asked her to have lunch together, again outside. Before the meal even started, she had already cursed Zhou Qiang's entire family. She finally understood why the atmosphere had been so strange this morning. And Tang Zhixu, he'd obviously come to see her about this, but he'd been talking about a business trip. Didn't he understand her? A few glances and a few gossips wouldn't have mattered to her.
"Oh right," Song Suiyang said, "I told Tong Zhongyuan about this this morning, and guess what? His face turned so ugly right after he heard it. It scared me."
Qin Tian was speechless. This wasn't something to be proud of, so what was there to say?
Song Suiyang was still talking there: "I thought our teacher Tong was always that flower on the mountain top, not concerned with worldly affairs. I didn't expect that he also has such a sense of justice."
She recalled Tong Zhongyuan's face, and what it looked like when he looked so gloomy. No matter how uglier it was, it couldn't be uglier than when he gave her the cold shoulder at the Shanghai Tower last time.
When she and Tang Zhixu left the museum after work, they happened to see Tong Zhongyuan. Tong Zhongyuan looked at her from a distance, very calmly and normally, staying there for a few seconds before turning his gaze away.
When Tang Zhixu saw Tong Zhongyuan, he subconsciously glanced at Qin Tian. Qin Tian nodded politely in Tong Zhongyuan's direction, but Tong Zhongyuan didn't seem to notice and walked in another direction.
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