Chapter 35 I don’t want yesterday to be my only chance to see you
Tong Zhongyuan took it, carefully examining both sides. He then walked to the bathroom and threw it on the floor tiles. The bronze coin made a dull knocking sound. He walked back and asked, "Where did you get it?"
"My dad gave it to me. He said it was something my mom had when she was little. What do you think it is?"
"Han Dynasty characteristics. Not legal tender, nor coin."
"Right," Qin Tian said, "I checked all the information on Han Dynasty coins in the Shanghai Museum, but I couldn't find it."
Tong Zhongyuan picked up the bronze coin again and looked at it: "Do you suspect it's from a tomb?"
"Yes, and it's a large tomb that has never been mined."
Tong Zhongyuan put the bronze coin back into the small box and pushed it in front of her.
"That's not a reason for you to go looking for grave robbers."
"I'm not looking for tomb robbers," she said helplessly. "My father gave me this contact book. There are brokers, but they're not tomb robbers. I just want to ask him if he has seen the same coin."
"This was 20 years ago. He was already a broker 20 years ago. How can you tell whether he is a human or a ghost now? Besides, the person you found may not be this person at all. If he could see the light, why would he ask you to come over so late at night?" Tong Zhongyuan's voice was not loud, but she could hear the hidden anger in him.
Qin Tian stared at him, and she was speechless again. She knew she was full of loopholes in this matter, but she had no other better choice.
"If you must find him, please contact me in front of me, the time and place, and I will go with you."
"What are you looking for?" Qin Tian lowered his head. "I called him countless times yesterday, but he didn't answer. Maybe yesterday was the only chance to see him."
"That just proves it's right not to go." Tong Zhongyuan said calmly.
Qin Tian's heart skipped a beat. She raised her head and saw Tong Zhongyuan with his eyes lowered, so her expression could not be seen clearly.
The ringing of a cell phone pierced the silence in the room. Qin Tian took a look, his face changed, and he immediately stood up and walked out. But Tong Zhongyuan reacted faster, reaching out and taking her phone away.
"Answer it here, on speakerphone."
Qin Tian glanced at his expression and knew there was no room for negotiation. She nodded. Tong Zhongyuan swiped to answer the call, turned on speakerphone, and placed the phone on the table.
"Ms. Qin." The voice sounded again.
"I'm sorry I couldn't come yesterday. I tried to explain later, but the call never went through."
"It's okay. I wasn't thoughtful enough. It's normal that you didn't dare to come so late. I called you today to ask you, are you still planning to look for me?"
"Yes." Qin Tian looked at Tong Zhongyuan and hesitated for a second, "But not now. In fact, I am not alone in Xi'an. I have a friend here. He is sick. If you like, can I come to see you next week?"
The other party was silent for a moment, then sighed, "You really are Lao Qin's daughter. Then next Saturday at 8 o'clock. Still the same address."
The phone was hung up. Qin Tian wondered what sentence made him think that he and Qin Yunjie were father and daughter?
This week, Qin Tian resumed her thesis writing routine. The day after the phone call, Tong Zhongyuan handed her a USB drive. Curious, she opened it and discovered it contained thermoluminescence data from ancient ceramics, sampling 124 artifacts from the Tang to the Qing dynasties.
She didn't know whether to be grateful or depressed. She had clearly said she didn't want it, so why did he have to hit her like this?
Tong Zhongyuan said: "It's not me who did the measurement, it's data from my friend's studio."
"It's a friend's?" Qin Tian raised his head. "It wasn't you who did it?"
"Hmm. I only know the basics of thermoluminescence. Here are only data, no analysis. See if it can be of use to your paper."
Qin Tian breathed a sigh of relief. So that's why she was wondering how he could be so energetic and focus on three fields. So he wasn't that outrageous after all. A question suddenly occurred to her: "Did your friend agree to release this data?"
Tong Zhongyuan choked. How could he say he disagreed? This was data from the studio he and his partner had opened, so theoretically, he could use it.
"He didn't object," he said.
On Friday, she accompanied Tong Zhongyuan to the hospital for a follow-up checkup. The doctor looked at his test results and sighed again, "You are still young after all." But he still reminded him to take good care of himself and rest for at least three months.
Qin Tian was a little hesitant. Tong Zhongyuan was still a patient, and would it be too exciting for her to go see Lao Yu with her tomorrow? She couldn't help but express this idea.
He was eating and said without looking up: "Letting you go alone will stimulate me."
Qin Tian's ears felt a little hot. She touched her earlobe and thought that this illness might have brought out Tong Zhongyuan's second attribute.
At five o'clock on Saturday afternoon, she and Tong Zhongyuan had already arrived at this urban village on the outskirts of Xi'an. The address Old Yu had given was a small shop, its shutter door drawn and locked to the ground with a U-shaped lock. The loess road in front of the door was bumpy, and on either side were a snack shop and a hardware store.
The two of them sat in a Pao Mo shop separated by two houses, ordered two bowls of Pao Mo and a few pancakes, and observed the small shop from the side. Qin Tian was afraid that the shop owner would kick her out if she sat too long, so she planned to add orders from time to time. Later, she found out that she was worrying too much. There was a little girl in the shop who kept coming in and out, hanging in front of them, and sent two bottles of soda over, saying that they were free and it was their treat. Qin Tian knew that she was not treating them, but Tong Zhongyuan. After she left, she whispered to Tong Zhongyuan: "This girl likes you."
Tong Zhongyuan glanced at her and said indifferently, "Really?"
When the girl came over again, Tong Zhongyuan suddenly smiled at her. The girl's face flushed immediately, and she smiled at him hesitantly. Tong Zhongyuan said, "Can I ask you something?"
The little girl nodded quickly.
"What kind of business does that store run?" Tong Zhongyuan pointed in the direction of the rolling door. "Why isn't the door open?"
"That shop sells handicrafts and souvenirs. Business isn't very good, so they're not open every day. They usually close early, too."
"What kind of person is the boss? What's his last name? Does he have any hired help?"
"The boss is about 50 years old. His surname should be Yu. I heard someone call him Boss Yu. He has a waiter named Ahuang. Ahuang is 27 or 28 years old and often comes to our house for dinner." The little girl told her everything she knew.
"Business is bad, yet they're still hiring people. Are Huang and the boss related?"
"They seem to be distant relatives." She could tell that Tong Zhongyuan was very interested in these two people, and she racked her brains to find some useful information to tell him.
"They hardly ever see customers during the day. But a few times when I closed late at night, I saw people coming in and out, and I couldn't tell if they were there to buy anything. Oh, and Huang has a weird van, too. I've never seen him unloading or loading anything, and the windows are papered over. I asked him what was wrong, and he said the glass was broken and he wasn't willing to fix it, so he glued it down first. It's rare to have both sides of the glass broken."
"Do you remember the license plate?" Tong Zhongyuan asked.
The girl tilted her head and thought for a while, then suddenly took out her phone and flipped through her photo album. She found a photo and pointed at it and said, "Last time I took a picture of the kitten at the door, and I included the car in the picture too."
Tong Zhongyuan took out his phone, and the girl's eyes lit up: "Add WeChat, I'll send it to you."
Tong Zhongyuan smiled at her again, turned on the camera, took a picture of her phone screen, and said "Thank you".
The young girl couldn't hide her disappointment, but she was reluctant to leave now, so she just stood there, not knowing what to say next.
Tong Zhongyuan asked, "Do you have any cooking at home?"
The little girl hesitated for a moment. There was no stir-fry on her menu, but she didn't want to spoil Tong Zhongyuan's fun, so she asked, "What do you like to eat? I'll make it for you."
"Pick what you're good at."
The girl agreed and went to the kitchen.
Tong Zhongyuan sent the photo to Qin Tian on his phone: "Send the photo to someone you trust and tell him to call the police if he still can't contact you by nine o'clock."
Qin Tian looked at him speechlessly. This little girl was fooled by him. How could she have thought he was a gentleman in the first place? This man was too mean.
Qin Tian opened her phone. Who could she send this photo to? Tang Zhixu was the person she trusted the most, but would it scare him? As soon as she sent it to him, he would call her immediately and she would have to explain herself for a long time. She thought about it and sent the photo to Yuan Junruo and called him to give him some instructions. Although Yuan Junruo was a little panicked, he agreed obediently and didn't dare to ask any more questions.
Tong Zhongyuan looked at Qin Tian silently. He thought she would send it to Tang Zhixu, but he didn't expect her to find someone else.
When the girl came out with the food, the table was empty. There were a few pink RMB notes under the bowl.
A black sedan was parked at the corner. Qin Tian and Tong Zhongyuan were inside, the car they had rented for the day. Tong Zhongyuan was typing an email on his phone. Qin Tian looked at his profile and couldn't help but complain. While it was understandable, he was truly heartless. He always paid off his debts with money, living a carefree life. She had taken care of him while he was sick this time, and she wondered what kind of gift he would give her in return.
A few minutes before eight o'clock, a young man slowly walked over, unlocked the U-shaped lock of the rolling door, pulled the door up a little, got in, and closed the door again.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
