Chapter 3 I still remember the mole at the corner of his eye
Seeing that she didn't answer, Tony thought she was thinking about procedural matters, so he added another sentence.
"I will only inspect the artifacts you've already examined. As the recipient, the British Museum must also go through the inspection process before signing for them. Is that okay?"
"Oh," Qin Tian said, although he didn't know what the other party's work process was, he said, "Yes, of course, please go ahead."
Tony politely curled his lips in thanks, then removed his suit, donned his glasses, and opened his suitcase. Qin Tian couldn't help but glance at his suitcase. It was filled with professional tools for cultural relic inspection. Ultraviolet inspection lamps, microscopes, magnifying glasses, and other tools were neatly arranged. Tony's calm gaze swept over the artifacts awaiting inspection, and he calmly put on his white gloves. With his pure black shirt, he looked like he was about to embark on a grand magic show.
Tony walked toward the first piece she was examining, a Yaozhou kiln celadon-glazed plum vase from the Northern Song Dynasty. Qin Tian, ​​forgetting his own work, followed him with his gaze. He gently lifted the vase and examined it. After turning it a circle, he shone a UV lamp on the tiny cracks, then gently returned it to its original place after a few seconds. He took out his phone to take a photo, marked it on the artifact list, and then moved on to the next piece, a Northern Qi Dynasty stone statue of Sakyamuni Buddha.
Aside from the slight noises Tony made while examining the artifacts, the entire room remained silent. No one questioned why the British Museum had an interpreter inspect the artifacts. Furthermore, he was so professional he didn't even look like an interpreter.
Qin Tian looked back blankly at Lily Brown and the staff. From their calm expressions, she finally realized that Tony had never said that he was a translator at the British Museum.
Seeing her look back, Lily approached her gently and asked if she needed any help. Qin Tian quickly waved his hand, indicating that everything was fine. She would never tell her about this blunder. Lily smiled and chatted with her casually, "I was also surprised and felt very sorry when I first saw him working."
"Pity?"
"It's a pity that I got married twenty years ago."
Qin Tian was speechless; her English wasn't good enough to handle such British humor. Lily looked at Tony's focused profile, took a sip of coffee, and continued, "But my son will be an adult next year, so it's time to introduce them to each other."
Qin Tian nearly spit out a mouthful of coffee. She coughed several times and looked around for a tissue. Lily quickly handed her a tissue and said with an apologetic smile, "I was just kidding."
Qin Tian panted and nodded: "I know, of course."
Tony heard Qin Tian cough and cast a questioning look his way. Though they'd only known each other for a few hours, Qin Tian knew he was being incredibly polite and quickly gave him an OK sign. Tony nodded calmly and moved on to the next piece, a Southern Song Dynasty Zhuangyao Nine Peach Vase. He took the vase out and placed it on the table. With one hand, he shone a UV lamp on it, while with the other, he took out a magnifying glass and skillfully traced the rim of the vase.
Qin Tian put down his coffee cup and gazed at him from afar. His movements were incredibly practiced. No, practice alone couldn't explain it. He knew, he clearly knew what the bottle had been through. Qin Tian couldn't help but walk over. Tony's gaze lingered on the double peach pattern. He subconsciously lowered the UV lamp and gently stroked the bottle, his eyes flickering. Qin Tian also stared at the double peach pattern. There was a secret there, one she had seen as a child. Now she knew who he looked like.
"I saw it when I was a kid," Tony murmured, his voice like the shimmering, calm flow of a river. "It's a national treasure that my mother, He Wu, repaired during her heyday."
Qin Tian slowly raised his head and moved his gaze from the Nine Peaches Bottle to his face. The mole at the corner of his eye was still there.
He looks like her childhood playmate, Tong Zhongyuan.
"Tong Zhongyuan!"
Qin Yizhang couldn't help but scream. She had searched the entire exhibition hall, but still couldn't find him. They had agreed not to leave the sculpture hall during hide-and-seek. She suspected he had slipped away long ago, tricking her into searching here alone.
She called out his name, but only a solitary echo echoed. She walked halfway around the statue, then suddenly turned and sprinted, trying to find his hiding place. But there was no sign of him. It wasn't even opening time yet, and they were the only two in the sculpture hall. The silence throughout the exhibition hall frightened her.
"Tong Zhongyuan! I will be angry if you don't come out." She shouted at the air again.
"It's so boring. You get angry when you can't find it. It's like this every time." Tong Zhongyuan's voice came from behind the stone statue of Laojun.
Qin Yizhang hurried towards the source of the sound, and Tong Zhongyuan had already come out with a sour face. Qin Yizhang leaned over to look. She had clearly searched this place just now, so how could she not find him?
"Have you been hiding here?" Qin Yizhang asked.
"Yes, I saw you coming." Tong Zhongyuan answered fluently.
"Then why didn't I see you?" Qin Yizhang looked at him suspiciously.
Tong Zhongyuan said confidently: "You have poor eyesight, so you wear glasses."
Qin Yizhang choked. He always found her weak spot, but she was the same way. She raised her head and walked over to his side, quietly standing on tiptoe. She said proudly, "I know why I can't find you. It's because you're short, so you can shrink under Laojun's feet, so I can't see you clearly."
Tong Zhongyuan was furious. He shouted angrily, "What nonsense are you talking about! Who is short? I am in the top three in our class."
"Ha~ Then the people in your class are quite short." Qin Yizhang said proudly.
Tong Zhongyuan was so frustrated that he couldn't retort. Furious and helpless, he dragged her behind the Laojun statue. There was a raised angle there, invisible from the outside. Whenever they played hide-and-seek, he would hide in this angle, watching Qin Yizhang search for him. Rather than suffer the humiliation of his height, he chose to expose this perfect hiding spot.
"No wonder I can't find you every time!" Qin Yizhang yelled dissatisfiedly, "This is cheating!"
"You won't be unable to find me in the future." Tong Zhongyuan said bitterly.
She did find him again; that was the last time they played hide-and-seek. Her glorious childhood came to an abrupt end when she wasn't ready.
Tong Zhongyuan was going to England. When he told her, the mole at the end of his eye turned a little red. She asked him if he had cried. He flatly denied it, saying she had seen it wrong. She asked expectantly, "Can I write to you? I have never sent a letter abroad."
He looked into her gleaming eyes and for the first time in his life realized that human joys and sorrows were not shared. He was silent for a moment and said, "I don't know the address yet. I'll give it to you when I get there."
He Wu came over with a camera and said he wanted to take a picture of them as a souvenir. Tong Zhongyuan was reluctant, saying that he was not going to come back, so what was the point of asking for a souvenir? He Wu looked at his stubborn little face and hesitated to speak. Qin Yizhang was not a very sensitive child, but for some reason she understood He Wu's expression at that moment. She took Tong Zhongyuan's arm and said to the camera, "Auntie, please take a picture for us."
She saw Tong Zhongyuan quietly stand on tiptoe, trying to appear taller than her. She opened her mouth but said nothing, only a standard happy smile, and leaned her head against the unhappy Tong Zhongyuan. The shutter sounded, freezing this moment.
The second week after Tong Zhongyuan left, she followed her father out of the Shanghai Museum. Qin Yunjie was holding a cardboard box containing his personal belongings from the years he had worked there. There was a fake blue and white porcelain cup without a lid, a few pens, and a cultural relic inspection toolbox with a worn and peeling shell. He walked with his head down, like a prisoner on punishment. The road from the office to the exit was long and muddy. Along the way, she saw several familiar uncles and aunts, all of whom were colleagues of her father and had given her candy and balloons before, but this time none of them came up and took a long detour. She had the illusion of being in a dream. This building that she was most familiar with turned into a foggy castle that could never be reached. When she passed the sculpture hall, she looked back. The corners of the Buddha's mouth were the same as before, and their half-closed eyes had seen every hiding place and carefree childhood that had passed by in the blink of an eye.
She hadn't lost him, she had simply stopped looking for him. They were two lines that had intersected by chance, and after a brief intersection, they returned to their own predetermined paths, stretching infinitely into the future, gradually drifting further and further apart.
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