Chapter 7 The goal is to keep him in the dark
Installation of the 2,000 Years of Chinese Treasures exhibition is nearing completion. After consulting with the curatorial team, Lily Brown decided that, since Qin Tian had come so far, she deserved a brief speech on behalf of the Shanghai Museum at the opening ceremony. She formally sent her an invitation, emblazoned with the British Museum's coat of arms, inviting her to speak on opening day next week. She then went on to express her intense excitement at seeing her elegantly dressed in formal attire. It would be a perfect day, with the dazzling Pearl of the Orient and the most captivating spokesperson the British Museum has ever seen.
Qin Tian's hair stood on end after reading the invitation. The most terrifying thing in this line of work had just happened. He had to speak, even in formal attire, representing the Shanghai Museum, and speaking in English.
After a moment's thought, she replied with regret that due to work needs at the Shanghai Museum, she would be returning home early the day after the exhibition was completed this weekend and would not be able to attend the opening ceremony. She also wished her all the best.
This was not something she came up with on the spur of the moment. She had already rescheduled her return flight before receiving the invitation.
That day, she contacted sultan1966, explaining that she ran an antiques business. She would pay the asking price upfront, and the items would be appraised upon arrival. The final price would be determined by the buyer's stated intent, with a premium ranging from £1,000 to £5,000 per item. sultan1966 agreed, and the next day, he sent her nine of the items she had purchased. Qin Tian visually inspected the items and determined they were all authentic Roman and Egyptian artifacts.
There were two other pieces that sultan1966 had said would take three weeks to ship. Qin Tian, suspecting he was stealing again before he even got the goods, immediately refused. She had only come to London to pick up the goods and was leaving soon. Perhaps her generosity piqued sultan1966's greed, so he sent her two pictures and asked if she was interested. His antique shop assistant said they still had the two pieces in stock, but it would take some time to sort through the inventory.
Qin Tian had already typed her refusal into the dialog box before he finished speaking, but when she saw the two pictures, her hands stopped typing.
A dragon-patterned jade pendant and an enameled rouge box. These two items are Chinese cultural relics. She had seen them in the catalog of unexhibited collections.
Qin Tian asked him when the goods could be shipped. sultan1966 said two weeks later. Qin Tian thought about it in agony. She didn't have anyone to discuss this matter with, not even Tang Zhixu.
Including the ancient Roman bronze coin from last time, eleven artifacts now shared this small hotel with her every day. She felt like a child in a busy city carrying a treasure; every moment of staying was a risk. She couldn't postpone her return for another two weeks. Besides, the treasure exhibition opened next week, so what excuse could she have to stay here for the remaining week?
But the two dragon-patterned jade pendants and the enamel rouge box—Chinese artifacts—were suddenly presented to her, as if possessed by spirits, waiting for her to take them away. She couldn't possibly give Sultan1966 her Chinese address; he was just greedy, not stupid. Nor could she mail the eleven artifacts back to China; the risk was too great.
She couldn't sleep all night, and finally thought of asking that person for help, and it could only be him.
This was her first time shopping in London. After a stroll down Oxford Street, she realized she had no idea what to buy. She knew nothing about men's products, and had no idea what Tong Zhongyuan liked, used, wore, or even wore. She was dazzled by the selection in a men's clothing store; all the shirts and ties looked great, but she couldn't imagine Tong Zhongyuan wearing the clothes she picked. He seemed to have his own logic for dressing, and he looked great in them. If she gave him a gift that didn't suit his taste, he would undoubtedly give her that cold, thank-you-but-I-don't-want-to-accept smile, which would choke her next request.
She wasted four hours walking from one end of the street to the other but found nothing. She returned to the hotel in frustration, lay down on the bed, her eyes fell on the handbag containing shoes. The next second, she sat up and took the shoe box out of the handbag. Tang Zhixu said that this was a rare edition shoe of the Nike Air Jordan collaboration. She didn't understand the point of buying such shoes, but this pair of shoes did look good. Tang Zhixu and Tong Zhongyuan were about the same age. Since they liked the same car, maybe they would also like the same pair of shoes? Qin Tian thought absurdly, although the two people had very different temperaments, maybe their aesthetics were similar? Besides, he liked running.
She cheered up and tried to recall Tong Zhongyuan's shoe size. But she only remembered his face and never paid attention to his feet. Of course, this was easy to solve. She could pay attention to his feet when returning the catalog book. Her eye for antiques made her very accurate in judging the size of objects. Estimating his shoe size was not a problem. The only problem was the price, which was beyond her budget. There was no way she could get the money for buying his shoes reimbursed. Could it be that she had to pay for the business trip herself? That was too much of a loss.
She thought for a moment, then compromised between running around looking for an unknown gift and easily ordering a pair of shoes on eBay. While it was a bit of a loss, Tong Zhongyuan wasn't a stranger after all. After all, he'd played with her for years when she was little, treated her to imported chocolate and special Coke. Now, asking him for a favor was incredibly unkind.
She wanted his address. She wanted him to collect the two cultural relics on her behalf, take them out of Britain and send them back to China with an entourage when the exhibition was over.
He was a staff member at the British Museum, specifically responsible for the Chinese section. If he were discovered, it would be difficult for him to clear his name, and he might even be charged with embezzlement. She knew the stakes, but she had no choice. There was no one more suitable than him.
If the worst really happened, she would fly to London immediately to bear all the consequences. She would come to tell everyone that he was innocent and that she had kept him in the dark.
Qin Tian clutched his head, trying to suppress the growing guilt. Kept in the dark, that's right. She was about to keep him in the dark while she secured these two Chinese artifacts. She actually had the nerve to consider whether her gift was too expensive. Compared to the risk he was taking, the price of a pair of shoes was nothing.
The next day, Qin Tian made an appointment with Tong Zhongyuan to return the documents. As she expected, when she arrived with her suitcase, Tong Zhongyuan was already waiting at the door, as usual. As she handed the suitcase to him, she looked down at his feet, mentally measuring them.
"What are you looking for? Did you drop something?" Tong Zhongyuan's voice came from above her head.
"No." She looked up. He was wearing size 43.
"I heard from Brown that you will return to China this week?" Tong Zhongyuan asked.
"Yes. The exhibition will be finished on Friday, and my flight is on Saturday." Qin Tian said, "Are you free on Friday night? I'd like to treat you to dinner."
Tong Zhongyuan paused for a moment. A client had invited him to a private dinner on Friday night, but he had promised Qin Tian they'd have dinner together before she left. He said without hesitation, "I'm free. What would you like to eat? I'll make a reservation."
Qin Tian thought for a moment and said, "Chinese food, Shanghainese food, is there any?"
"Are you sure you want Chinese food?" He confirmed again. Wouldn't it be possible to eat Shanghainese food when they return to Shanghai on Saturday? She couldn't wait a day, could she?
"Yeah." Qin Tian nodded. She actually remembered that his favorite food when he was a child was sweet and sour pork ribs.
"Okay, I'll pick you up on Friday." Tong Zhongyuan put his hands on the suitcase and slowly pushed it up.
Qin Tian knew that he was about to end the conversation, so he quickly said, "No need, just send me the time and place, and I'll go there myself."
"No problem, see you on Friday." Tong Zhongyuan nodded and walked in pushing the suitcase.
Qin Tian hurried back to the hotel and found the seller from last time. She asked if he had any more of the size 43 shoes she'd bought. She was worried they were sold out, so she worried they'd be gone. The seller quickly replied that they still had one pair. She then asked if they could be shipped today, and he replied in the affirmative.
Tong Zhongyuan quickly sent the address and time. It was a Shanghainese restaurant very close to the British Museum, and an easy walk from the hotel.
On Friday, Qin Tian visited the exhibition of treasures. The dating was accurate, the lighting was excellent, and the artifacts were well-categorized. The explanations were a bit simplistic, though. That's understandable; foreigners don't have the patience to hear all about Chinese history. So far, her work was done.
Lily Brown hugged her, saying her greatest joy this year was meeting such a brilliant, professional, charming, and youthful woman. Qin Tian said she wasn't young anymore; she was 30. Brown lip-synced with surprise, then complained with relief, "Asians favored by time. Tony's 30, too. I'm sure he needs to show ID every time he goes to a bar, and my 18-year-old son looks like the gardener's firstborn son who grew up with Lord Tony at Downton Abbey."
Qin Tian suspected that she really wanted to do something for her son, and wondered whether he should remind Tong Zhongyuan.
"Tony is not in the library today. Do you need me to say goodbye to him for you?" Brown asked considerately.
Qin Tian didn't dare tell Tong Zhongyuan that he was going to have dinner with him in the evening, for fear that the romantic story of Romeo and Juliet would spread in the British Museum the next day. He just laughed and said that he would say goodbye to him over the phone.
Lily Brown bid her farewell again and walked her to the door. Qin Tian kept smiling, and only relaxed after turning the corner. She had been mistaken. It seemed that Lily was not a person.
Qin Tian spent the entire afternoon packing. Aside from buying some souvenirs for her colleagues in London, the only major item she bought was a new suitcase to carry the eleven artifacts, Tang Zhixu's shoes, and comics.
By the time she was done, she was sweating profusely. After taking a shower and drying her hair, she habitually took out a hair tie and wanted to tie a ponytail. Looking in the mirror, she saw that her hair was as thick as a waterfall. This was also the reason why she didn't like to let her hair down, because it was too heavy and too troublesome. But tonight might be the last time she would see Tong Zhongyuan in her life. In those years, they played and ran in the Shanghai Museum, carefree. Her mother was still alive and would do different hairstyles for her every day. Before Tong Zhongyuan went to the UK, he asked her if he could give him the red hairpin she always wore. She felt that separation made him sentimental, but she still took the hairpin off her hair and gave it to him. Tong Zhongyuan said with disdain that the hairpin was too ugly and asked her not to wear it in the future. He held her head and examined it, and said that it was much better this way. You should let your hair down.
Qin Tian shook her hair. The feeling of her hair against her neck was really sticky. She grabbed the hairband and tied a neat ponytail.
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