Chapter 185 Extra 9
After she finished speaking, perhaps because the signal wasn't very good, she didn't hear Tong Zhongyuan's voice. She called "Hello" several times into the phone before she heard him say calmly, "Leifeng Pagoda was newly built, there's nothing much to see there. If you really want to see it, I'll come with you next time. It's dinner time now, so you should eat early and return to the hotel. I'll video call you tonight."
Qin Tian held his phone and looked at Mu Yanrui. Tong Zhongyuan was right. It was better to avoid doing anything ambiguous. Besides, she was a professional with many years of experience, and she was so stingy when she met her student in another city. Mu Yanrui had paid the teahouse bill in advance. She might as well treat him to dinner. Only then would she be worthy of the title of teacher.
"Okay then, I'll treat him to a meal and then go back."
Tong Zhongyuan was silent for a moment, then said, "Find Jiagui and tell him that the meal is on me."
"Why should I ask you to treat me? If I have to treat you, I'll treat you."
"Anyway, just get your message across. Send me a message when you get to the restaurant, and let me know after you finish eating."
After hanging up the phone, Mu Yanrui gave her a questioning look.
She smiled at him. "My boyfriend said Leifeng Pagoda is crowded and not fun, so he asked me to treat you to a nice meal. What do you want to eat?"
Mu Yanrui's heart sank and he was stunned.
"Senior, do you have a boyfriend?"
After he reminded her, Qin Tian remembered the first question the students asked her and laughed.
"Well, it wasn't there when you asked the question, but it is now."
Song Suiyang sat down at the table early, his mouth watering at the exquisite cold dishes, yet he couldn't pick up his chopsticks. The table was almost full, but Tong Zhongyuan hadn't arrived yet. He was usually the most punctual person, but today he was so slow even coming downstairs.
She quietly turned the plate and reached for a piece of braised beef with her chopsticks. An old man across from her glared at her disapprovingly. She shuddered, and the beef fell onto the table.
She glared back indignantly and saw that the old man looked very familiar.
"Zheng——" She quickly covered her mouth.
Oh my god, isn't this Zheng Bing?! What are the organizers thinking? They invited Tong Zhongyuan and Zheng Bing, and put them at the same table. Are they thinking this is too little? Everyone knows that Zheng Bing has been diss-ing Tong Zhongyuan for a while now!
She stood up in a rush. Xie Qiongyu was greeting guests and hadn't sat down yet. Song Suiyang walked over and grabbed her.
"I'm asking you! Are you retaliating against Teacher Tong?! Why did you put Zheng Bing and Teacher Tong at the same table?"
Xie Qiongyu felt chest tightness and pulled her aside.
"Who do you think I am? How could I possibly discourage Teacher Tong? Teacher Zheng has been going to the National Museum all this time. How could he not know about the opening ceremony of the Yuan Blue and White Porcelain Special Exhibition? What do you expect the National Museum to do? Teacher Zheng restored so many artifacts for the National Museum in his early years. Can we not invite him this time?"
"Then we can't put Teacher Tong at the same table with him!"
"Sister, Teacher Tong is the main table! Should we ask Teacher Zheng to go to another table?"
Song Suiyang turned off the engine and stopped. She lowered her head to think for a moment, then looked up to see Xie Qiongyu's pupils dilated, revealing a subtle dreamlike hue.
Song Suiyang followed her gaze and saw Tong Zhongyuan walking in from the doorway. He was dressed simply, in a fitted white shirt with rolled-up sleeves and black skinny pants. He looked like any other man, but there was something magical about him that made everyone focus only on him.
Xie Qiongyu stepped forward and took Tong Zhongyuan to the table.
From the moment Tong Zhongyuan walked over, everyone at the table was staring at him. Directors Hua and Zhou of the National Museum of China were both there, chatting with Zheng Bing. When they saw Tong Zhongyuan, they both stood up and shook hands. Director Zhou, in particular, had met Tong Zhongyuan a few times before, and they exchanged a few pleasantries.
Zheng Bing didn't stand up. He was an elder in the restoration field, and given his seniority, Tong Zhongyuan should have come first to pay his respects.
After greeting Director Zhou of the Huaguan, Tong Zhongyuan quietly took a seat at an empty table next to Director Zhou's. Logically, Tong Zhongyuan had come from far away and didn't know anyone at the table. As the host, Director Zhou should have made some introductions. But he arrived late, and the meal had already begun. Especially since Zheng Bing was hungry, he was likely quite angry. It would be better to wait until the meal had begun and the atmosphere had warmed up.
Song Suiyang also sat back down. Tong Zhongyuan's arrival meant that the feast was finally about to begin.
She was the only person here who had spent more than half a year with Tong Zhongyuan. Tong Zhongyuan was smiling faintly, his expression polite and indifferent, giving no sign of being upset. But her animal-like intuition told her that the master was unhappy. Could it be that he was missing his girlfriend again? He had only been here a few hours.
The hot dishes started to be served, and the Peking duck she had been looking forward to the most was also pushed over on a small cart. The chef held a slicing knife in his hand and began to slice the fragrant duck.
Song Suiyang sat on Tong Zhongyuan's right, thinking that when the duck came, she would quickly wrap one for the master, and then she could release it.
On the other side, Zheng Bing and several other experts were also drinking and chatting.
"Mr. Zheng, we are happy today, so let's not talk about these unpleasant things. Come on, have a drink."
Zheng Bing picked up the wine glass and drank it all, then put the empty glass on the table.
An expert filled his glass and fanned the flames.
"In the past, when we were young, we were extremely respectful when we met our seniors. Let alone taking the initiative to greet them, there was no reason for them to even sit at the table."
His voice was quiet, but Director Zhou, being close by, still heard it. Thinking it would be bad if he didn't show up, he smiled and said to Tong Zhongyuan, "Teacher Tong, you've just returned from abroad, and you don't know anyone here. Everyone's eager to meet you. May I introduce you?"
Tong Zhongyuan was worried about Qin Tian and the students having dinner, and just wanted to finish the task quickly and return to his room to make a phone call. But he had to follow the proper etiquette, and since Director Zhou had spoken, he had no choice but to obey.
"Then I'll have to trouble Director Zhou to introduce you."
Director Zhou cleared his throat and said, "Everyone, let me introduce someone to you. You may have noticed this person, Mr. Tong, from the Shanghai Museum. He is the one who restored this Yuan Dynasty blue and white phoenix-head flat pot. Mr. Tong, this person is Director Chen from the Ministry of Culture, and the person next to him is a nationally renowned..."
Tong Zhongyuan followed Director Zhou, greeting and shaking hands one by one until he reached Zheng Bing. Zheng Bing was sitting there with a glass of wine in his hand, showing no intention of standing up.
"Teacher Tong, this is Mr. Zheng, a veteran in the restoration industry. Everyone in our restoration industry knows his name! Mr. Zheng, you're also familiar with this one, Mr. He's son. He's young and promising."
Tong Zhongyuan knew this man wasn't someone he could just reach out and shake hands with, but he wasn't in the habit of toasting. He still extended his hand and said with a smile, "Mr. Zheng is a leading figure in the restoration world, a legendary figure. I'm truly honored to meet him today."
Sure enough, Zheng Bing didn't move at all, treating him as air, let alone shaking hands.
Tong Zhongyuan smiled and withdrew his hand, walked back to his seat as if nothing had happened, picked up his chopsticks and ate a piece of roast duck skin.
Everyone at the table fell silent. Although Zheng Bing had been the first to initiate the discussion, he was highly respected and a generational difference from Tong Zhongyuan, so it was understandable that he refused to shake hands. As the younger generation, shouldn't Tong Zhongyuan have immediately taken a glass and offered a toast to Zheng?! Zheng refused to shake hands, and he actually left like that, even eating.
Song Suiyang covered her mouth with a tissue, afraid to laugh out loud. She had never seen Tong Zhongyuan manipulated by anyone, except Qin Tian. Old Deng wanted to show off in front of him, but there was no way!
Zheng Bing clearly hadn't anticipated this. He'd merely been a bit arrogant and taunting Tong Zhongyuan. He'd never expected Tong Zhongyuan to not only not give him a way out, but even pull the ladder away. And he did it in front of a group of leaders and colleagues. Where could he put his face?
"Director Hua, I've been invited here today by the National Museum to attend a celebration banquet. What are we celebrating? Celebrating the restoration of our national treasure, the Yuan Dynasty blue and white phoenix-head flat pot? Tomorrow, everyone will see this so-called 'repaired' blue and white vase. And now, what are all of us restoration experts and cultural relic preservation specialists doing? We're all sitting here, angry but not saying a word!"
"Mr. Zheng, Mr. Zheng," Director Hua quickly held his hand. "We're just here for a casual meal today, not to discuss this. Come, let me toast you."
Zheng Bing glanced at Tong Zhongyuan from the corner of his eye. He was slowly wrapping a duck pancake for himself, clearly not paying attention to his instructions. He couldn't suppress his anger. He slammed the table and stood up. Not only did everyone at his table freeze in surprise, but people at other tables also looked over.
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