Chapter 42 His only contact name, alone and dim
Qin Tian stepped back a little, took out a bronze coin from his pocket and placed it in front of him.
"Do you remember this coin?"
Qin Yunjie took a look and said casually, "Isn't this the coin you played with when you were a child? Have you asked your master? What did he say?"
The afternoon sun, young and warm, streamed through the window onto his aged face. His eyes, under the strong light, seemed both aged and clear. She gathered up the bronze coins and the amphora, placing them in her backpack. He watched her movements and asked slowly, "Where are you going?"
"Go take a walk around the neighborhood."
"Oh, do you want me to accompany you?"
She shook her head: "I'll be back soon, take care of yourself."
He nodded and watched her leave.
She walked aimlessly on the street, turning left and right randomly when she came across a fork in the road, and finding a place to sit down when she got tired. The sunlight was so dazzling that she covered her eyes. She thought she wouldn't care, since they had nothing to talk about anyway. But why today? She had been working for so many years, and he didn't ask, and he didn't say, as if they were tacitly guarding a secret that no one wanted to break. It was only recently that she wanted to understand him, the land he had set foot on, and the stories of the cultural relics in his memories. Why were he and she like two parallel lines? When he was young, his focus was not on her, and when he was old, he was forgetting her. He didn't even give her a day. How long would she have to wait next time? When he gradually couldn't talk to her anymore, she suddenly found that she had a lot of questions to ask him.
Tang Zhixu hadn't even finished work when she received a message from Qin Tian. She asked if they could go to the movie another day. She was a little tired, so she went home first.
He held the phone until the screen went dark, and finally replied with an "okay" without saying anything else. He was only one step away from finding the identity that would allow him to question her whereabouts, but this step was the other side that he had been unable to reach even after three years of trekking.
When she got home, it was already dark. The small room was piled with Qin Yunjie's diaries and books, which looked like strange little hills in the twilight, separating them from each other. She cut the diary's binding and found the year when her mother fell ill. Her father was always on business trips that year, often away from home for half a year. Her mother raised her alone. The weather gradually became colder, and the lights in the house seemed to dim. Her mother said nothing, but often sat in a chair and looked at her. When she recalled those days, she always felt that she could not see clearly. It was too dark and she could hardly remember her mother's expression at the time.
He flipped through the pages of his diary, past calendars falling one by one. His diary stopped at that page. The paper was wrinkled, having been wet and then dried.
On November 10, I found a He Xiangu Town coin in the second-hand market. It is common, but the collection value is not high. I gave up collecting it.
On November 11, Wenying called to inform me of her illness and asked me to buy a ticket and return home immediately.
On November 12th, I went back to the flea market to buy a He Xiangu coin, which caused me to miss the train. He Xiangu was an ancient healer, known for curing illnesses by placing a coin under her pillow. This folklore, though absurd, persists, so I'd rather believe it. Holding the coin in my arms is like my heartbeat. Wenying, wait for me, don't leave.
She put down the diary, curled up on the bed as if escaping, and covered her face with the pillow.
Hadn't she known the reason long ago? It was superstition that had ruined him, ruined his mother. She had known the reason long ago. She wouldn't forgive him, it wasn't worth forgiving.
"Little girl, you won't understand until you get married."
"Is national honor more important, or is his wife's health? The purpose of a family heirloom is to be able to cash in when he needs it most."
"I'd rather believe it. Wenying, wait for me, don't leave."
"After all, your mother lived five more years."
She hugged the pillow tightly, just as she had hugged Qin Yizhang at nine years old. He cried with her, their tears mingling. She was thirty, already old enough to face the loss of her mother. This was Qin Tian. And Qin Yizhang stood there, forever frozen in time at nine.
At two o'clock in the afternoon, Tong Zhongyuan returned to the hotel to take a nap. He lay in bed for more than half an hour but still couldn't fall asleep. He changed his clothes and went for a walk nearby, but unknowingly approached the bronze building again. He turned around, found the nearest movie theater, and bought a movie ticket. It was an original superhero movie, two hours long, they fought and killed, saved the earth and saved the universe. The light from the screen flickered on his face, and the sound effects became louder and louder. A couple was sitting in the last row, and in their date today, he probably played the role of an annoying NPC. Until the lights in the theater came on, he looked around, there was no one left, only him.
It was still daylight when he left the cinema. Time flies so slowly in the summer. He walked through the park back to his hotel, and along the way, he was stopped by several women. They smiled and asked him how old he was and where he was from. He looked around, seeing colorful umbrellas and signs everywhere.
"Don't come here during the day, you'll be watched."
He remembered her instructions that day, and the corners of his mouth curled up unconsciously. The aunts asked more questions. Where do you work? Where do you live?
"I'm married," he said.
Passing by the Xiaolongbao restaurant, he hesitated for a moment before going in. It was time for dinner. He ordered a few random dishes and came out after finishing his meal.
The long day finally ended. He walked back to the hotel and He Wu called him via video.
"Son, why have you lost weight? Have you been busy lately?"
"It's an illusion."
"Your father told the Empress that you're in Shanghai, and she said she really wants to see you. When can you go visit her? I'll send you her address soon. She's the only relative we have in Shanghai now."
"Why did Dad tell her this? I'm here on a business trip, not to visit relatives."
"Alas, he's a bit of a chatterbox. He's already said it all. Go over when you have time."
"knew."
"Zhongyuan?" He Wu looked carefully at his son on the screen. "Are you really okay? You look listless."
"It's night time, I'm sleepy."
"Okay, I get it. I don't want to talk to your mom anymore. I have no patience at all. I'm hanging up now. Go to bed."
"Wait a minute," he suddenly thought, "Mom, do you know how Uncle Qin left Shangbo?"
"Why are you asking this suddenly? Have you met Qin Yunjie?"
"No. Just asking. I thought he was still working at the Shanghai Museum, but I haven't seen him."
"When his incident happened, we were already in the UK. I remember it was when I first arrived in the UK. A colleague told me that he was in trouble. He said he had secretly hidden a large copper coin and was reported by someone."
"A large copper coin? Very valuable?" He frowned. Qin Yunjie had handled so many cultural relics, why would he do this?
"On the contrary, it's not worth much. It's a folk coin, used to ward off evil spirits. Do you remember? Your sister Yi Zhang's mother has been in poor health. I guess Lao Qin is desperate and wants to try any possible remedy. Even though he knows it's a folk custom, he still wants to try it. Well, I know him, he's not the kind of person who would take advantage of others."
"What happened next?" he said solemnly.
"Later, he was transferred to the Folk Customs Museum. I heard his wife passed away not long after. People at the museum said they didn't know if it was related to handing over the town coins. Lao Qin and his wife had always had a good relationship, so this must have been a huge blow to him. And Yi Zhang, he lost his mother at such a young age. Sigh... I didn't dare to ask him about this after hearing the news. I thought I'd check on him after a while, but I didn't expect to mention it anymore. It dragged on like this for over 20 years, and things faded."
He Wu took off his glasses with a look of sadness. No one had mentioned this past event in many years. It was like a faded old photo, no longer important. But occasionally seeing it would still bring back memories.
"You and Yi Zhang were very close when you were little. If you want to find her, I can ask someone." He Wu put on her glasses and glanced at the screen. Her mother's intuition made her alert. "What's wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell? You haven't been answering the phone lately. Are you feeling unwell and don't want to tell your mother?"
"No." He turned the screen away. "I went to bed. I hung up."
"Wait a minute, Tong Zhongyuan, turn back here."
"I'm really sleepy. Let's contact each other tomorrow." He hung up the phone.
The room was dark and quiet. He could hear his own breathing, which had an uneasy rhythm. He should take a shower and go to bed before ten o'clock.
He Wu was only talking about an event from over 20 years ago. It had nothing to do with him, and to her, it was already in the past. No matter how she got through it, she had gotten through it. Even if he felt a little bit of reluctance and unwillingness at this moment, what help would it have given the 9-year-old girl? Nothing at all.
He stood up to shower. Halfway through, his phone, resting on the sink, lit up. A WeChat message appeared. He emerged from the shower, his head lathered with foam. It was just a notification from a subscription account. The name of his only contact, alone and dim, sat there.
He put down his phone and washed his hair. The water was a bit warm, making his blood boil. The water poured down like a waterfall, and he felt like a practitioner undergoing a test at the foot of the waterfall, a practitioner who had failed. He opened the shower door again and dialed Qin Tian's number. The dial tone continued until it cut off, but no one answered. He pressed redial, but still no one answered. He clicked on her name and typed: Where are you?
Even after he dried his hair and lay down on the bed, she still hadn't replied. He suddenly had the absurd thought: would this be the last WeChat message they exchanged? She would never reply to him again, not since she had fled in a hurry that afternoon. He used reason to forcefully resist the urge to call again. No, never call more than twice, especially to someone who doesn't want to answer your calls.
He silenced his phone, threw it away, turned off the lights, and went to sleep. He didn't know how long it took, but he stared blankly at the dark ceiling with his eyes open. The lights came on, and he retrieved his phone and lit the screen. There was no message. He switched it to vibrate, placed it next to his pillow, and turned off the lights.
Qin Tian was woken early in the morning by her phone. Thinking it was the alarm, she pressed the button for a long time with her eyes closed, but there was no response. Squinting, she struggled to answer the call. A hoarse "Hello" came out.
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