Chapter 44 Apologize
She was speechless. She was driving, and the traffic during the morning rush hour was treacherous. Forget it. Tang Zhixu was probably fine. He'd call her if he did.
She shook her head and said no. He said "oh" and put her phone back on the central control, opened a package of small cakes he had bought earlier, put them on her phone and started eating.
She couldn't help but ask, "Didn't you have breakfast?"
"Yeah. Do you want to eat?"
She then remembered that she hadn't had breakfast either and had left in such a hurry. His reminder instantly made her feel hungry too.
"Give me one."
He picked one up and put it to her mouth. She was startled and tried to reach out to take it, but he moved away.
"Eat it directly," he said softly, "Don't drive with one hand."
She thought about it and decided it made sense. She stopped being so pretentious and took a bite of the cake from his hand, switching lanes. She didn't notice the faint smile on his face.
The car computer lit up with Tang Zhixu's call again. She mumbled, cake in her mouth, "Help me switch to my phone."
He didn't respond. She glanced at him briefly in her busy schedule. He held a cake in one hand and an open milk carton in the other, looking at her calmly. Her phone was also covered by the remaining cake box.
She sighed inwardly and reluctantly answered the call on the car computer.
"Where have you been? Borrowed Yuan Junruo's car?" Tang Zhixu's voice filled the entire car.
"I'm going to Kongshan City and will be back in the evening."
"He told me about Kongbo. You're here for this, right? But he's driving a tram, and you're not used to driving it. Why didn't you tell me and wait for me to go over together?"
"What do you think? How many days do you go to work on time? Can I see you before 10 o'clock? I can't wait."
There was a moment of silence on the other side: "Okay, then be careful. Call me if you have any problems."
"Well, don't worry." She wanted to reach out and hang up the phone.
"Qin Tian," he obviously didn't intend to end the topic, "Yesterday, were you okay?"
She froze. He thought she was driving alone, was he planning to chat? Her eyes flashed to Tong Zhongyuan, who was staring at the cake in his hand with his eyelashes drooping, without making a sound.
"It's okay..." She stammered, "Then I'll hang up."
"Well, drive carefully. Let me know when you get back to Shanghai."
"good."
She hung up and breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, he didn't say anything else. But she wondered vaguely, what was she worried about? What could there be between them that she didn't want Tong Zhongyuan to know? What was she feeling guilty about?
The road gradually opened up, and she had already left the downtown area. Tong Zhongyuan quietly passed the remaining cake to her mouth. She took a bite, and he asked, "Would you like some water?" He then unscrewed a bottle and offered it to her as well.
She quickly shook her head. She was driving, not paralyzed. Instead of letting him feed her, she might as well drink at a rest stop. He screwed the lid back on.
After passing the highway exit, he asked her to pull over so he could drive. She thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll take over at the next rest stop."
She sat in the passenger seat, finally able to eat to her heart's content. The cake she had just eaten left a lump in her throat. He saw her relaxed expression from the corner of his eye, and couldn't help but smile.
The weather was beautiful. Beyond the city, the mountains stretched out in a continuous line, the wind was clear and the clouds were high. He turned on some music. It seemed that they were not rushing to save a local museum that was about to fall into disaster, but embarking on a journey of freedom and boundlessness.
"Oh, did you see that?" she said happily, looking out the window. "There was a cow on the road just now."
"sorry."
"Huh?" She turned to look at him. He stared straight ahead, his hands steady on the steering wheel, not glancing at her.
"Yesterday, I went too far."
She stared at him blankly, waiting for him to continue. The window darkened, and they entered the cave. The light from the cave quickly flickered across his face, the stark contrast making him look even more distant. She knew he often said "sorry," but he never truly felt sorry. And was this unkind face just apologizing to her?
The car exited the tunnel, and he had no intention of speaking further. And indeed, he had already said so, so why would she still expect him to say anything more? She was the one who should have said something.
"Nothing," she said. Her mood was like passing through a dark tunnel and now shining brightly in the sunshine.
"Nothing," she repeated, leaning back in her seat and laughing.
His eyes lingered on her smile, and his heartbeat quickened. The aftereffects of myocarditis seemed to be returning.
They passed several rest stops along the way, but Tong Zhongyuan said there was no need to change seats. He drove all the way into Kongshan City before returning to the passenger seat.
This was Qin Tian's first time at Kongbo. Before this, she didn't even know there was such a museum. She followed the navigation and drove to the entrance of Kongbo and parked the car.
The boxy museum looked more like an old municipal building than anything else. They walked into the lobby, which was nearly empty. An elderly staff member, speaking broken Mandarin, told her the museum was closed for the day because the special exhibition opening was tomorrow and they were making final adjustments.
Qin Tian showed him his work ID and asked if he could meet the director of Kongbo. He was a little confused and kept saying the director was away. Qin Tian was a little helpless: "Then besides the director, is there anyone else I can talk to? For example, the director's assistant?"
He finally understood, said, "Wait a moment," and walked into the work area. After a while, a young man came out of the work area. He was very young, with a handsome and fresh face. Although he was wearing a formal shirt, he looked like a recent college graduate.
"Hello," he walked up and shook hands with them, "I am the assistant director, my name is Wang Yijian.
He is the protagonist of the Bronze King series of novels
. He is also the curator of this exhibition.”
"I'm Qin Tian, an appraiser of ancient cultural relics at the Shanghai Asia Museum, and this is Tong Zhongyuan, an ancient cultural relic restorer." Qin Tian gave a brief introduction.
Wang Yijian's eyes flashed with admiration. The Shanghai Asia Museum was a leading museum in China, particularly renowned for its international presence. For a small, local museum like theirs, it was simply unattainable.
"Welcome, welcome. Are you here to attend the opening ceremony tomorrow? The director is not here right now, so you can tell me any questions. Have you booked a hotel?" He tried his best to appear mature and worldly-wise, not wanting to reveal that he was just a graduate.
Qin Tian took out his cell phone and turned to the photo album to show him.
"A month ago, a builder named Zhou Qiang wanted to donate 2,000 pieces of ancient porcelain to the Shanghai Museum. However, our appraisal revealed that all 100 of the 'treasures' he brought were fakes. The Shanghai Museum rejected the donation. Here are the photos taken at the time. Take a look and see if they are the same porcelain you received this time."
Wang Yijian was startled and quickly grabbed his phone to check. The photo was indeed identical, but he was just a fresh graduate in cultural relics and museum science, a rookie with a wealth of theoretical knowledge, and he had no ability to authenticate a cultural relic. He was terrified and considered calling Kongbo's appraiser, Lao Mo. Then he thought, Lao Mo had caused such a big mess last time, he might not be able to handle it. He gathered his thoughts and sorted out the clues.
"Please follow me, both of you."
He hurriedly led the two into the special exhibition hall. The exhibition was complete, ready for the opening tomorrow. For this special exhibition, Director Chen had contacted the media and mobilized all his connections, inviting numerous experts and museum leaders. To put it bluntly, Kongbo's survival depended on this exhibition; absolutely no mistakes were allowed.
"Here are all the Ming and Qing porcelains that will be on display tomorrow," Wang Yijian said. "Please take a look and see if they match the donations the Shanghai Museum has received."
Qin Tian's heart sank at the mere glance. She recognized many of the pieces; they were the very same porcelain she had seen at the Peace Hotel that day. Tong Zhongyuan looked around. Of all the cultural relics, porcelain was his foremost expertise. Although he hadn't seen that batch of porcelain that day, it was undoubtedly not antique porcelain, nor even the finest imitations. It was easy to identify them with the naked eye.
While current national policies and public awareness present an excellent opportunity for the development of cultural and museum institutions, not all museums are capitalizing on this momentum. Ever since arriving at Kongbo, Qin Tian had realized how difficult it was for a local museum of Kongbo's size to survive. The building was old, the equipment was outdated, and even the lighting wasn't up to par with professional standards. If she'd told him the truth, it would undoubtedly have meant that Kongbo had significant problems with its appraisal capabilities.
Wang Yijian saw Qin Tian frowning and remaining silent, and he had a bad feeling. But he still held out hope. Kongbo's appraisal capabilities were weak, and he knew that Lao Mo was unreliable. He had repeatedly recommended that Director Chen invite outside experts to appraise the donated artifacts. Thinking of this, he felt a little relieved.
Qin Tian carefully considered and asked, "Can I examine the cultural relics up close?"
Wang Yijian hesitated for a few seconds before decisively saying, "Okay."
He quickly took the key, opened the base, and pulled out the glass cover. He stepped aside and said to Qin Tian, "Please."
Qin Tian nodded, put on her gloves, and gently took out a plum vase. Her fingers brushed the bottom, feeling a small indentation. With a long sigh, she turned the vase upside down. There was a sampling hole the size of a grain of rice on the inner edge of the bottom.
She looked at Wang Yijian's young face and had to tell him the worst news.
"I left this sampling hole three weeks ago."
She put the plum vase back, took out the thermoluminescence report on the plum vase from her backpack and handed it to Wang Yijian.
"This is its scientific identification report. It was last fired within 50 years and is modern porcelain."
Wang Yijian held the report, his mind going blank.
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