Chapter 4: Is this book only for me, or does every sister who comes here get one?
Tony pointed his finger at the double peach and tilted his head to say to her, "This area used to be split into four pieces, especially the leaves, which are damaged."
She looked at the spot where he pointed, the spot where Tong Zhongyuan and Qin Yizhang had once mocked her, calling it a broken butt. Tony didn't know what he was thinking of, a faint smile playing in his eyes, and the mole at the corner of his eye became even more gentle.
Qin Tian stared at him intently. She had to look up to see him now. After not seeing him for over twenty years, he had grown taller, his personality had changed a lot. On this island, over ten thousand kilometers away from home, there was no Tong Zhongyuan and Qin Yizhang, only Tony and Qin Tian.
She raised her coffee to her lips and took a sip. She lowered her eyes and said, "So your mother was Professor He Wu. Although she left the Shanghai Museum twenty years ago, her legend lives on. This Nine-Peach Vase, even with a magnifying glass, shows no signs of repair."
"This is the last artifact she restored at the Shanghai Museum. I had hoped that this bottle would never be repaired." Tony picked up the Nine Peaches Bottle and gently put it back into the box.
"Why?" Qin Tian blurted out.
Tony raised his eyelids, finally moving his gaze away from the memories. He said casually, "It's just a child's impulsive behavior. He thinks this way he won't have to face a new beginning."
Tony adjusted his glasses, tightened his gloves, walked to the Spring and Autumn Annals Zi Zhong Jiang plate, and bent down to look at it.
"What happened next?" Qin Tian's voice floated from behind him.
Tony gently pushed the water bird on the plate, and it slowly turned. This bronze artifact, nearly 3,000 years old, was made with extremely high craftsmanship.
"What happened next?" Tony asked nonchalantly.
"A new beginning," Qin Tian said slowly, searching for the right words in his mind, "Is it going well?"
The spinning water bird settled into a new position, counter to the clockwise arrangement of the other aquatic creatures on the plate. Tony stood up straight, walked away from this piece, and walked towards the Jade God. He replied absentmindedly, "It will always work out. Children are the most adaptable."
Qin Tian silently put down her coffee cup. The conversation was over; memories from twenty years ago were unimportant to a brief encounter. She put on her gloves again, picked up her magnifying glass, and returned to the Qing Dynasty Mansheng-inscribed handle-handled purple clay teapot to continue her inspection.
"But there's one thing that took me a long time to get used to." Tony's voice sounded again, "For a long time, I couldn't react when people called me Tony.
Qin Tian's hand holding the purple clay teapot stopped in the air and turned around.
"My name." Tony had already put down the Jade God and was looking at her calmly, indifferently, from a distance.
"My Chinese name is Tong Zhongyuan."
By 5 p.m., they had examined more than 80 artifacts. Tong Zhongyuan offered to take her back to the hotel, but she declined, saying she wanted to walk around on her own.
Before leaving, Tong Zhongyuan asked her, "Do you need me to pick you up at the hotel tomorrow?"
Qin Tian smiled and shook his head: "I can come by myself."
If they were kids, she would have patted him on the head and said, "Stop pretending! You clearly don't want to send me off, so you're asking if I need you." If they were kids, he wouldn't have asked her that. He would have simply said, "Come by yourself tomorrow."
Qin Tian opened Google Maps and walked along the Thames back to the hotel, picking up fish and chips for dinner. As she ate the fries, she was reminded of Tong Zhongyuan's childhood, when he had a Chinese stomach and disliked McDonald's, let alone fries. She wondered what he'd been eating all those years.
Before the twilight faded, she realized that even a thin coat could not keep out the cold of the high latitudes. She took a taxi and hurriedly ended her walk along the river.
It took a total of three days to complete the inspection of 225 cultural relics. Probably because he had completed the reception task on the first day, Tong Zhongyuan felt that there was no need to be so restrained, and he started working with headphones on the next day. Fortunately, she didn't know what to talk to him about, so she also put on headphones. Although the two worked in the same space, they communicated through sign language. She made an OK gesture after checking each one, and he nodded and replied OK, without any obstacles at all. On the third day, Tong Zhongyuan felt that there was no need to wear a shirt, so he changed into a T-shirt. She also gave up her ponytail and tied her hair in the most comfortable half-tied low bun as usual. In short, on the first day, the two looked like experts in rescuing cultural relics, and on the third day, they looked like two dock workers.
Tong Zhongyuan put down his Sunlight Mirror and checked the last box on his list. He removed his headphones and spoke to the staff. They busied themselves packing the artifacts back into boxes, affixing British Museum seals and applying wax seals.
Qin Tian put away her tools and put them in her backpack. Tong Zhongyuan walked over to her and handed her a book.
"The inspection and acceptance work is complete. The artifacts from the Shanghai Museum will be shipped to the British Museum tonight, and the exhibition will begin tomorrow. Lily Brown will continue to oversee the exhibition, and she will contact you if you have any questions. There are many fun places near London that you can visit. The weather in June is very nice."
Setting up an exhibition is an engineering job, and there is really no need to go to the site every day to supervise it. Qin Tian took the book and looked at the cover. It was a British travel book. Qin Tian quickly flipped through the book and saw that Tong Zhongyuan had marked several unfamiliar place names and tips in Chinese. Qin Tian couldn't help but lower her head and smile. She didn't expect that this naughty boy who had secretly taken her to explore the tower without telling the adults would grow up to be such a meticulous person. I just want to ask
Tong Zhongyuan saw her smiling as she flipped through the book and thought he'd made some Chinese mistakes that were making people laugh. He glanced at it secretly, only to find it was just some ordinary place names, nothing wrong. He was puzzled, but he couldn't ask why.
Qin Tian put the book away and looked up and said, "Thank you for the book. I will return it to you after I use it."
Tong Zhongyuan put on his coat and took off his glasses. "You're welcome. Here's a gift for you. When you come back, I'll treat you to dinner. What do you want? I'll make a reservation."
Qin Tian had already packed his backpack and put it aside, then tied up his loose hair with his backhand. He replied, "Is this your courtesy? Do you think it's unreasonable not to treat me to a meal after I came all the way from Shanghai Museum, where your mother worked?"
Tong Zhongyuan was a little embarrassed. She was right, he did think so. She was from his home country and had connections with the Shanghai Museum, so it was only right for him to be her tour guide for a few days. But he chose a more convenient way, giving her a travel book and a meal as compensation. What surprised him was that this should have been a tacit courtesy, but she took it out and spread it out in the sun. She said it so frankly that he didn't know what to say to her for a moment. After a long while, he forced a smile and replied: "Can't this excuse treat you to dinner?"
Qin Tian didn't notice his embarrassment and picked up his bag. "I just think you don't need to be so overly thoughtful. Work is a matter of business. Since Shangbo is your mother's family, we are family. Family members should be more polite. Let's have a meal together before I go back."
Tong Zhongyuan was silent for a moment, then said, "If you have any questions in the UK, you can call me."
Qin Tian gave him a sincere smile and turned to leave. The large backpack didn't match her slender figure, but it didn't slow her down at all. She walked quickly and reached the sidewalk in just a few steps. She glanced left and right at the road conditions and crossed the street without hesitation, entering the subway station.
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