Chapter 26: There is not a single genuine item. All that is here are fakes.
Tang Zhixu walked into his office. On his desk lay a thick stack of materials on calligraphy and painting. He had been compiling a catalog of Song Dynasty calligraphy and painting for several months and had about three weeks left to finish.
Tang Zhixu leaned back dejectedly in his office chair. It couldn't have been Ming Yuanxing who had kept him. He knew the thirteen artifacts from the British Museum had been ready for departure by Saturday morning, with the car already ready. Ming Yuanxing had called to say he wasn't going to the airport yet. If Ming Yuanxing had already reached an agreement with Tong Zhongyuan on Friday, why would he have asked everyone to wait for him on Saturday morning? It was most likely Tong Zhongyuan who had suddenly told Ming Yuanxing he wasn't going back.
Qin Tian said he didn't know why Tong Zhongyuan stayed. But he had a feeling that Tong Zhongyuan stayed because of Qin Tian. She was the only person he had ever met at the Shanghai Museum besides Ming Yuanxing. If he hadn't stayed for Ming Yuanxing, then it could only have been Qin Tian.
Tong Zhongyuan not only volunteered to stay, but also offered to restore the Shanghai Museum's artifacts and even mentor Song Suiyang. This was exactly what Qin Tian had asked of him before—no, it went beyond what Qin Tian had asked of him. He had once thought Qin Tian's comeback impossible, but now, it wasn't just a comeback. Qin Tian, the winner took it all.
He spread out the paper on his desk, concentrated his mind, which was the fastest way for him to calm down when he was upset, and wrote down the first line of poetry that came into his mind.
The storm is coming
Qin Tian returned to the office. On her desk was the farewell gift Tong Zhongyuan had given her on Friday. Who would have thought that she would see him again on Monday before she even opened the gift?
Qin Tian took the gift and unwrapped it. It was an OMEGA women's watch.
Is this the inexpensive watch he was talking about? Qin Tian smiled bitterly. He'd already accepted it, what else could he do? Was this his true spending level, or did he just say it was inexpensive so she wouldn't feel burdened? He still had two months left in China, so it looked like she'd have to redeem some more financial products. He just wondered what he'd give her when he left again. When would this cycle of revenge ever end?
The landline on the table suddenly rang and Qin Tian picked up the call.
"Xiao Qin," it was Ming Yuanxing's voice, "You're in the office, right? Is it convenient for you to come over now?"
Qin Tian hung up the phone, tied her hair back together, and walked out. Before she reached Ming Yuanxing's office, she heard loud voices from far away. Qin Tian stopped. "Is there a guest?" She gently knocked on the door.
"Come in." Ming Yuanxing's voice came.
Sitting on the reception sofa was a middle-aged man wearing a designer T-shirt covered in logos and a large gold chain. Seeing her come in, he looked her up and down unscrupulously.
"Let me introduce him," Ming Yuanxing said. "This is our expert in porcelain appraisal at the Shanghai Museum, Qin Tian."
The man laughed and said, "Wow, you're already an expert at such a young age. And you're also a great beauty."
Ming Yuanxing glanced at Qin Tian and continued calmly, "Xiao Qin, this is Mr. Zhou. Mr. Zhou came all the way from Kongshan City this morning to donate a batch of ancient porcelain to the Shanghai Museum."
"Hello, Mr. Zhou."
Zhou Qiang leaned back on the sofa with a smile and began to introduce himself.
"I was just telling your curator that this batch of my goods came from Xuzhou. That place was the Grand Canal in ancient times. In the past, when a boat capsized, all the valuable items fell into the river. I have so many, but they're useless, so I'm giving 2,000 pieces to the Shanghai Museum!"
Qin Tian frowned: "Did you dig it up? Did you dig it up recently?"
Zhou Qiang's face froze, then he smiled and said, "How is that possible? Why are you digging lately? This is from our ancestors. My grandfather dug it up when he was building a house in Xuzhou. After he unearthed the treasure, he asked someone to take a look. He thought it was a good thing, so he collected a batch and passed it on to my father, and my father passed it on to me. Now, I run a small business. I can't say I'm rich, but I don't lack anything. I thought, why do I have so many antiques at home, right? The national policies are so good that I have the opportunity to make a fortune. So I have to serve the country. The antiques are kept in my house and no one else can see them. I want to take them out and put them in a museum for everyone to see! Originally, I'm from Kongshan, so I should donate my things to my hometown, but you know, cultural relics are not limited by region. The Shanghai Museum is a major museum with international influence. Only when they are in a major museum can more people see them, right? So, I decided to donate my 2,000 antiques to you, the Shanghai Museum, free of charge, not a penny!"
After Zhou Qiang finished speaking, he picked up the teacup and took a sip, then looked at Ming Yuanxing and Qin Tian complacently.
Ming Yuanxing maintained his smile and said calmly, "Thank you, President Zhou, for your recognition of the Shanghai Museum. Well then, Xiao Qin, President Zhou has brought 100 of these precious ancient porcelain pieces to Shanghai. I've had the administration department arrange for them to stay in the China Suite at the Peace Hotel, and the security team is also there. You can go with President Zhou to take a look later."
Qin Tian said yes.
Ming Yuanxing thought for a moment and said, "Bring Xiao Yuan from your group with you when you go."
As Qin Tian left the office, she caught Zhou Qiang's interested gaze following her from the corner of her eye, a chill that sent a chill down her spine. She went to the office to call Yuan Junruo. Yuan Junruo was a new employee who had joined the year before last, assigned to the Scientific Appraisal Group in the Cultural Relics Appraisal Department. He was a cautious and diligent man. Director Ming's intention in asking him to come along was obvious. However, compared to judging artifacts with the naked eye, scientific appraisal methods held the final say, so it made sense to ask Yuan Junruo to come along. Yuan Junruo prepared a sampling kit and joined her in the car.
Zhou Qiang unashamedly occupied most of the back seat. Qin Tian unhesitatingly opened the passenger seat and got in. Yuan Junruo sat next to Zhou Qiang. Only then did Zhou Qiang pull his legs back a little.
After getting out of the car, Zhou Qiang took the lead, walking at the front with his head held high and his chest puffed out, enjoying the polite greetings from the waiters along the way in this century-old hotel built in 1854. Qin Tian and Yuan Junruo followed him silently, like his two followers.
In the Chinese Suite, 100 pieces of porcelain lay neatly arranged in satin boxes on a rich, rich carpet. Zhou Qiang lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, exhaled the smoke into the air, and gestured for her to come in. "Miss Qin, here they are. These are the 100 most representative treasures I've carefully selected."
Qin Tian nodded slightly, put on his gloves, walked over to the first satin box, and squatted down. It was a blue and white plum vase. Before she even put her hands on it, she frowned. There was no need to look at this one. She stood up and turned to the next one, a multicolored elephant leg vase. Her brows furrowed even more tightly.
She looked back at Zhou Qiang, who was looking at her with admiration and complacency. When he saw her looking back, he raised an eyebrow and gave her a teasing look.
Qin Tian quickly turned away, took a deep breath, and suppressed her discomfort. She gathered her thoughts and continued to look at the third and fourth items. After the fifth, she stopped squatting and stood, pacing slowly, her eyes slowly sweeping over each vase.
No,.
It only took her half an hour to finish looking at the hundred pieces of porcelain. She walked back to where she was, took off her gloves, and whispered to Yuan Junruo, "Go and take some samples. You don't have to take all of them, just pick about ten."
Yuan Junruo nodded, put on gloves, and took out a sampler and ten sampling tubes from the toolbox.
Zhou Qiang watched them fiddle with their tools and asked anxiously, "What are they doing? Hasn't Miss Qin finished her review?"
Qin Tian explained, "Mr. Zhou, we need to take samples from the porcelain and bring them back to the Shanghai Museum for thermoluminescence analysis. This method can more scientifically determine the porcelain's firing age. But don't worry, the samples are usually taken from the inside of the bottom edge of the porcelain, which will not damage the porcelain or affect its value."
"How can that be!" Zhou Qiang yelled, "You're almost digging a piece off of it! How is that not destruction?! These are cultural relics! Do you museum people have such little respect for cultural relics?"
"Mr. Zhou," Qin Tian tried to explain, "sampling causes minimal damage, and the sample volume is only the size of a grain of rice. It's like a doctor performing a biopsy on a patient, taking a small piece of polyp for analysis. Besides, we don't sample every piece, we only take ten to look at."
"No!" President Zhou waved his hand. "You're destroying cultural relics! You're ruining the enthusiasm of the donors!"
Qin Tian felt more and more disgusted as he looked at him, but he couldn't show it.
"Then please wait a moment." She walked to the other end of the suite and called Ming Yuanxing.
"Director Ming," she said in a low voice, "I've already checked it. With my naked eye, I've concluded that none of it is genuine. To be on the safe side, I asked Yuan Junruo to take a sample, but Zhou Qiang refused. He was very adamant."
"Then tell him that the Shanghai Museum cannot accept it without taking samples."
"Understood."
Qin Tian returned to her spot, and Zhou Qiang was waiting for her answer. He just couldn't believe that the Shanghai Museum would refuse 2,000 cultural relics that were given to them for free.
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