Chapter 94 His deep voice with a burning breath penetrated her ear canal
She stayed for a while before returning to the store in a melancholy mood. Tang Zhixu saw her absent-minded look and thought that Wang Qiqing was making things difficult for her again.
She didn't want to say more. Just as Tang Zhixu couldn't tell her when the Chunhua Ge Tie would return, it wasn't her place to say whether Director Ming had taken a photo of the Western Zhou chime bells.
She said that her paper was urgent and she had to go back to the library early. After eating a quick meal, she rushed to the library. Tang Zhixu was helpless, but he was also very busy today. Not only today, but he would be very busy recently because of the Chunhua Ge Tie issue. He also had to take time to prepare for the Jiade Autumn Auction. Fortunately, he had lunch with Qin Tian as soon as he got back. As for the confession he had been thinking about, he could only wait and see. It was indeed not a good time recently. No matter what, he had to wait until she had resolved the issue with the National Museum of China.
"The day after tomorrow is the weekend, please make some time. I'll come to see you." He still tried to get it.
As expected, she said with a bitter face, "Boss, where do I find the time? I didn't even have time to see my dad after I came back. And as for the paper, you said, where did I get the bronze data? If I don't get the data out in the next few days, Wang Qiqing will force me to resign. You should just adjust to the jet lag recently. I'll make an appointment with you after I'm done with this busy period."
This was an expected answer. Tang Zhixu paid the bill and walked back to the Shanghai Museum with her.
Qin Tian returned to her office, her chat with Tong Zhongyuan still stuck on the question, "Where are you?" She turned on her computer to continue writing her paper, typed a few words, closed it, and headed to the restoration room.
It was lunchtime, and Tong Zhongyuan was the only one in the restoration room. He sat by the window, a box of Teochew takeout on the table. He turned around when he heard the door open. He wasn't surprised to see her, his expression indifferent.
She glanced at his lunch box. He hadn't taken many bites, so he must have just started eating.
"Did I disturb your meal?"
"No, I'm done." He closed the lunch box, put it in a bag, and threw it into the trash can.
She felt a little sorry for the box of rice that was thrown away after just two bites. She sighed and asked, "Any news from the client?"
"Well, Ming Yuanxing bought the Western Zhou chime bells for 5.3 million Hong Kong dollars."
Qin Tian's heart was shaken. This price wasn't expensive at all, considering the preciousness of the Western Zhou chime bells. She should have been thrilled. But this time was different, and she didn't know whether to be happy or worried.
"Director Ming should be back soon after signing the contract. How's your paper going? Have you added the falsified data?" He was talking about things that were irrelevant.
She was startled by what he said and looked around to make sure there was no one else around. She was so angry that she pulled at his clothes.
"Why are you talking so loudly? Are you afraid others can't hear you?"
He stood up, leaned over to her ear, and whispered in an inaudible voice: "Have you provided the falsified data for your paper?"
His lips were almost touching her ear, his moist breath lingering in her ear canal. Her breath stopped, and she jumped up almost reflexively, her neck pressed against Tong Zhongyuan's lips. The soft, warm touch flowed from her neck like an electric current through her limbs.
He paused. The peach scent of her hair was faint, and the fine hairs on her face trembled slightly with his breath. Her slender neck, like jade, was rapidly becoming warm and hot between his lips.
Qin Tian's face was burning like fire. She finally reacted and took a step back. She didn't know how red her face was, but she could imagine it. She didn't dare to look at him, looking at her toes and said, "I'm going back to the office to write my paper."
Before he could answer, she had already opened the door and walked out. The footsteps echoed in the corridor, getting faster and faster until they turned into running, then became lighter and disappeared.
He stared at the door. His lips still felt warm and soft, her fragrance still lingering in his chest. The haze of earlier dissipated like smoke. Her reaction made his heart feel light, as light as a colorful balloon at Disneyland, swaying and floating in the air, trembling and colliding joyfully in the bright, sunny day, pressing against each other intimately.
News of the Chunhua Collection Tie's return spread. From the calligraphy and painting department to the sculpture department, the archives, and the antique shop, the entire museum was abuzz with rumors that the Chunhua Collection Tie had arrived. Several people close to Tang Zhixu, including Song Suiyang, kept asking him about it. Tang Zhixu, annoyed, ignored all the inquiries. But since he couldn't refuse to respond to the inquiries directly, he said, "Let's wait for the official announcement." The person nodded in understanding. Before the end of the working day, the entire museum knew about it.
At that time, no one knew that such a great event as the return of Chunhua Ge Tie would soon be overshadowed by even bigger news.
The next day, Ming Yuanxing returned to the auction house. After signing the contract at the auction house, he returned to Shanghai that evening. The first thing he did when he entered the auction house was to call Qin Tian to come over.
Qin Tian was surprised and delighted when she received his call. She didn't expect him to come back so soon. She immediately put down her work and went to his office.
"Xiao Qin, I've bought the Western Zhou chime bells. Please contact Sotheby's and follow up on the subsequent handover. Once they arrive, they'll be put into storage and not on display for the time being. Chime bells number 3 and 8 are a bit damaged. Please go and talk to Dai Lihua, the guy in the restoration room, about it. Let him see if he can fix them. If not, forget it, it's not a big deal."
Ming Yuanxing quickly explained everything. He picked up his phone, intending to find the next person to come in. Qin Tian saw that time was running out for her. He quickly spoke and told her about Nan Bo.
After Ming Yuanxing finished listening to her, he only asked one question: "I know about the paper. It's about porcelain, right? Where did you get the data on bronze artifacts? Have you done sample separation before?"
"No." Qin Tian said honestly.
The biggest problem wasn't that the paper hadn't been published, but that she had no reference data. She only had three days, which wasn't enough time for data sampling and analysis. She instructed Yuan Junruo to find a sample of a bronze vessel from the same period and perform radiometric separation on it, using this as a benchmark. If any of the twelve pieces in the National Museum of China didn't meet this standard, she would declare them all to be of uncertain age.
But one set of data wasn't enough to serve as a reference standard; at least 20 sets were needed. So, she falsified 19 sets of data first, so she could use the fake data to get by if Wang Qiqing got angry. Yuan Junruo and she had been expediting the sampling and separation process for the past few days, precisely to complete the data and replace the fake data with the real ones. Fortunately, Wang Qiqing didn't understand and hadn't even looked at the data.
She told him the whole story and looked at Ming Yuanxing nervously.
He stood up from his chair, walked over to her, and said sternly, "As the leader of the appraisal team, you should know the seriousness of falsifying data. If anyone asks one more question, your little trick will be exposed immediately. Your reputation will be ruined, and you'll be given an opportunity to exploit! You should have communicated this matter to me immediately. I'm in the United States, not on the moon. Do you have no phone or internet?"
She lowered her head and said nothing. Director Ming was right, and she had no reason to refute him.
"Besides Xiao Yuan, who else knows about this?"
"Tong Zhongyuan." She said sullenly.
Ming Yuanxing's tone relaxed: "He knows it's okay."
"Forget it, don't be so impulsive again!" He walked back to his desk. "But this time, you did a great job. The National Museum of China should thank you, and so should the Shanghai Museum."
She suddenly raised her head, her eyes suddenly warmed up, and looked at him gratefully.
Ming Yuanxing hated to see this, so he waved his hand and said, "Alright, alright, hurry back and fill in the data. Make the fake real. I'll tell Wang Qiqing about it, so you don't have to worry. I'm busy, go quickly."
Qin Tian felt a sense of relief, as all the stress she had endured over the past week vanished. She bowed to Ming Yuanxing and walked towards the door.
"By the way," Ming Yuanxing stopped her, "your paper was published in a journal last month. Did you see it yourself? The library's response was pretty good. Next, I'll help you get it published in a national journal, but I have to wait until I'm done with this."
She had been incredibly busy these past few days, so how could she know about these things? No one had told her. She briskly walked out of Ming Yuanxing's office and went straight to the library to pick up the journal.
Ming Yuanxing watched her walk out, shaking his head helplessly. He didn't know how many times he'd told her to come to him if she needed help. But she wouldn't listen. She looked straightforward and impulsive, but in reality, she was thoughtful and considerate, and had a very thin skin. He picked up his phone and called Hu Yuntian from the sculpture department to come over.
He hadn't even had time to drink water after entering the museum, so he decided to make a cup of tea. The office door knocked politely twice.
Ming Yuanxing took the water and said loudly, "Come in."
He covered the cup and sat back in his chair. Standing in front of him was a man, not Hu Yuntian, but Tong Zhongyuan.
Qin Tian went all the way to the data room. Chen Yun smiled when she saw her and said, "You're here. I haven't seen you for a long time."
"I'm here to pick up the journal."
Chen Yun took out the collection list and gave it to her: "Your paper is in this issue. I was wondering why you didn't come to pick it up. Even Song Suiyang has come to pick it up."
Qin Tian signed his name on the list.
"She's here too? She's giving me such a face? She never reads journals."
"She said she got it for Teacher Tong."
Tong Zhongyuan? He also knew that her paper was published? Then why didn't he tell her?
Chen Yun handed her a journal. She leaned over the table and flipped to the paper, scanning a few lines. The layout was beautiful, with images of bronze artifacts beside the paper.
As she read, Qin Tian gradually stood up straighter. She closed the journal, hurried back to the office, and retrieved the data for the twelve bronze artifacts from the National Museum of China.
The journal fell off the table and tumbled heavily to the ground. Qin Tian pushed the mouse away and hugged his head.
This was the truth. He must have known it all along. Only she was acting like a fool. She thought she was the savior, doing things that pleased her so much, but it turned out she was the real culprit. She had just been talking so eloquently in front of Director Ming. Director Ming's words, "Well done," echoed in her mind, over and over again, piercing her heart.
She grabbed the mouse and printed out the data for the twelve bronze artifacts. The printer creaked, like the sound of rusting faith. She picked up the journal from the floor and clipped the printout to the page of her paper. She walked toward Ming Yuanxing's office.
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