22 family members
◎“Do you miss me?”◎
After hanging up the phone, Qi Yanzhou leaned back in his chair, gazing at the empty night outside the window without saying a word for a long time.
Qi Zhannan vaguely saw a glint in his eyes, and immediately, as if he had just discovered a new continent, he leaned over from the passenger seat and asked, "Second Uncle, are you crying?"
Qi Yanzhou turned to look at him.
His deep eyes were clear, the shimmering light merely a reflection of the light, revealing no emotion whatsoever. Qi Zhannan was greatly disappointed. "I thought you were crying."
Qi Yanzhou looked at him quietly, then suddenly pinched his ear, "So eager to see me make a fool of myself?"
"No, no—ah!" Whether Qi Yanzhou cried or not is unknown, but Qi Zhannan really did cry. "I was just worried about you, Uncle."
"You're just following others to watch my misfortune?" Qi Yanzhou sneered expressionlessly. "So you want to see me make a fool of myself?"
"I'm not—ah!" Qi Zhannan screamed even more pitifully.
Zhou Yue was focused on driving when he saw Qi Zhannan trying to grab him, so he quietly stepped aside, afraid of being implicated.
**
The day after Qi Yanzhou left, experts from the Suzhou Provincial Archaeological Team came down to further excavate the tomb-raiding tunnel. Preliminary estimates suggest it's a cultural relic from the Shang and Xia dynasties, containing a Bronze Age burial complex, highly representative of the period. It is considered to have even greater research value than the ancient city ruins they are currently excavating.
After listening to Shen Liang and Xiao Zhang recount the events, Zheng Qiu realized that Hong San and his group had been trying so hard to cover up this tomb complex. After discovering the tomb robber's hole, Qi Yanzhou didn't share this information with them but instead reported it to the local cultural relics bureau.
Upon receiving the news, the Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau immediately dispatched relevant experts. Zheng Qiu was astonished that someone else had beaten him to it while he was right there. When the expert from the Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau arrived, he couldn't hide his delight; it was a case of being overjoyed without even realizing it.
The experts from the Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau clearly knew Qi Yanzhou.
His mouth was full of praise for Qi Yanzhou, calling him "Teacher Qi" at every turn. Zheng Qiu only learned after chatting with him that he was not only a big shot in the antique world of Northwest China, but also a professor at the School of History and Literature of Cheng'an University, specializing in ancient Chinese history.
Before the provincial cultural relics bureau arrived, Qi Yanzhou had already thoroughly analyzed the tomb complex and its surroundings. He had submitted the project application before the provincial officials arrived, fearing that Zheng Qiu might merge it into the ancient city ruins project.
Zheng Qiu understood upon hearing this.
He must have offended someone, so while he was guarding this place, everyone shunned him. This Shang and Xia dynasty culture is also Xie Yunjin's research area. Now, the two of them can only watch helplessly.
Zheng Qiu looked at her two students, "Why didn't you two tell me you were coming back yesterday?"
"Teacher Zheng, you overestimate us." When they heard about the tomb raiding tunnel, they thought of ancient city ruins and never imagined that there would be a group of tombs from the Xia and Shang dynasties. "We also didn't expect that Master Qi was so amazing that he could figure out what dynasty the tombs were from so quickly."
Zheng Qiu remained silent for a long time before finally remembering Song Chiyu.
If only I had spoken up for Song Chiyu that night, I would have stood up for her. Now, I'm too embarrassed to even ask someone to pass on a message.
Upon learning of this, Xie Yunjin couldn't resist taking a peek through the tomb-raiding tunnel where the burial complex had been discovered. For archaeologists, every discovery is like opening a blind box—exciting, especially when it's in their area of expertise and interest. However, the people there treated him like a thief; he was practically denied even a glance, let alone getting close.
Xie Yunjin found it hard not to suspect that this was Qi Yanzhou's doing, which showed that the Qi family was even more deeply entrenched here than he had imagined. He had originally planned to use the excuse of borrowing dormitories from the provincial archaeological team and the station to get closer to them and inquire about this project and Qi Yanzhou, but Qi Yanzhou's eldest brother arrived that very afternoon.
Qi Jianguo came in and went to find Song Chiyu.
At that time, Song Chiyu was eating. When she saw him hear this, she choked a little before getting up to greet him.
"Big brother."
Qi Jianguo frowned as soon as he saw her. "You've lost weight. Your face is so much smaller."
Song Chiyu thought to herself that he had only seen her once, how could he tell if she had lost weight or not? "Big brother..."
"Tonight, your big brother will slaughter three sheep for you right here and roast them in the yard. Everyone can come and eat." Qi Jianguo still had that rich and powerful air about him. "If Zhan Nan hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known you were here. How are you doing living here? If there's anything you don't like, tell your big brother. If it's really not okay, your big brother will buy you a house here. You can drive here to work every morning; it's not that far."
"Big brother, I'm fine. Don't worry."
"How could I not be worried? Look at you, you're on your own turf, and you're still so reserved. Let me tell you, Yanzhou lives far away and it's inconvenient for him to come see you, but our relatives live nearby. I've already told them to come see you every few days, cook you some good food and bring it over, and if you need anything, they can buy it for you. After you finish eating, take your brother around and let me see if you need anything."
Song Chiyu finally found a chance to speak and quickly asked, "Big brother, have you eaten?"
"not yet."
"Then I'll go get it for you." Song Chiyu stood up and walked towards the window: "Do you have any dietary restrictions?"
"Eat them all."
Zheng Qiu and the people at the original work station looked at him curiously.
Just then, the provincial archaeological team arrived. The provincial expert leading the team was very familiar with him. "Jianguo, what brings you here?"
"I'm here to see my sister-in-law."
Song Chiyu: "..."
"Teacher Qi's wife? Oh, I've been asking around these past few days, but everyone says they don't know. Now that you're here, you can introduce me to her."
"Isn't that right? Song Chiyu, you can just call her Xiaoyu." Qi Jianguo greeted her, "Xiaoyu, this is Uncle Wang. You can ask him for help if you have any difficulties at work in the future."
Having lived to this age, Song Chiyu had long rediscovered the feeling of visiting other people's homes with her parents during the Lunar New Year when she was a child. She didn't want to, but had no choice but to bite the bullet and greet them.
"Thanks to Yanzhou this time, I think the tomb raider's hole has even reached the main burial chamber. If it had been any later, I don't know how many cultural relics would have been destroyed."
"It was nothing," Qi Jianguo said, chatting with him as if no one else was around.
Song Chiyu's other colleagues finally figured it out and quietly pulled her aside, "Teacher Song, the Teacher Qi they're talking about is that Master Qi, right? So, Master Qi is your husband?"
The secret that Song Chiyu and Qi Yanzhou had kept hidden for so many days was made public by Qi Jianguo in less than half an hour after he arrived.
Fortunately, Qi Yanzhou's stance was clear, otherwise she really wouldn't know how to explain it.
She covered one side of her face helplessly and said, "Mm."
"Why didn't you tell us?"
“Back then you all thought he wasn’t a good person, so what could I say?” Song Chiyu placed the lunchbox in front of Qi Jianguo, but they pulled it back.
"So when Teacher Xie said those things to his face, he...didn't react at all?" Other colleagues couldn't help but gossip, "Your relationship is indeed...Teacher Xie wasn't wrong..."
"Do I need to tell you how he reacted?" Song Chiyu was also angry when she mentioned them. They were just a bunch of lazybones, not worth getting close to. Now they were even commenting on her. "Stop worrying about my affairs and take care of your Teacher Xie."
Xie Yunjin looked at her without saying a word. After everyone else had left, she walked up to her side unhurriedly and said casually, "It seems that your husband's family is quite influential in this area."
Song Chiyu sensed his sarcastic tone and calmly turned around to correct him: "This is just his most insignificant advantage. He is also handsome and well-mannered. His family would not look down on others just because they are locals, and would not bring up other people's mothers' congenital defects."
Xie Yunjin could tell that she was still bothered by what happened when she met his parents back then.
He took a deep breath and sat down behind her: "That's what my aunt said, not what I said. Just because they think that way doesn't mean I think that way."
"Then why did you refute me back then?" Song Chiyu bluntly exposed her. "Not only that, but also when you first came to my house, you didn't prepare anything. I bought and chose everything for you. Is this what you call sincerity?"
"That was my first time dating, and I didn't know I had to prepare all this to meet someone's parents." Xie Yunjin saw that she was starting to doubt even her own sincerity, and her eyes behind her glasses revealed disbelief and frustration: "He prepared it, didn't he? That can only mean that he's dated more than just you. Someone else must have asked him to do this before, which is why he did it so easily."
"So you're starting to sow discord, aren't you?" Song Chiyu sneered. "So when you went to the homes of your later girlfriends, you knew what to bring when meeting their parents for the first time?"
Xie Yunjin choked for a moment.
He frankly admitted, "After we broke up, I did date two other girlfriends. But I never went to their homes, nor did I ever give their parents anything. It was only after dating them that I realized how special you were to me. I like you, I just like you, the kind of liking that no one else can replace."
“You said I didn’t argue with them back then because I didn’t care what they said. What they said couldn’t affect my decision to marry you.” Xie Yunjin took a deep breath: “If you had just been more patient back then and hadn’t argued with them, even if my parents had a lot of complaints, they wouldn’t have been able to object.”
"Why should they have so many complaints?" Song Chiyu replied, "I don't think my parents and I are such bad people that your parents should have to accept us."
Xie Yunjin sensed her intense hostility: "You know perfectly well that's not what I meant."
Song Chiyu felt that based on this alone, they could never go back, not to mention everything that happened afterward. "Xie Yunjin, I have no objection to you staying here, but you're staying here to destroy my family. I advise you to give up on that idea."
“Song Song, do you think his family is that simple? Just by listening to his older brother talk, you can tell he's no ordinary person; he has a very江湖 (jianghu, a term referring to the world of martial arts and chivalry) air about him. You think your husband is good now because you don't understand him at all. When you understand him as well as you understand me, you'll find that he's not as good as me.”
Song Chiyu sneered, "Since you can't sow discord, you start slandering him?"
Xie Yunjin licked her lips. "No, I'm just telling you that I'll wait for you. When you realize one day that he's not as good as me, remember to come back to me. I'll always be here."
"Hey, hey, hey—" Qi Jianguo was chatting with the people from the provincial archaeological team when he vaguely heard him say something about waiting for her. He reached out and pushed him in annoyance: "Who are you? Why are you standing so close to my sister-in-law?"
Qi Jianguo is not a respectable person.
As he stared at him, he seemed ready to fight. Xie Yunjin glanced at him and walked away.
Qi Jianguo sized him up and said, "Sister-in-law, stay away from him. He doesn't look like a good person. He looks like he's scheming."
Song Chiyu smiled and said, "Okay."
Qi Jianguo stayed until evening before leaving.
Only after confirming that she had eaten half a roasted lamb leg did she leave for town. Song Chiyu told Li Li about it, and Li Li was overjoyed. Now, finally, someone else cared about her daughter just like her. "Isn't that what marriage is all about? Two families become one, everyone works together towards the same goal, what's wrong with that?"
"Yes, yes, yes," Song Chiyu said, feeling happy as she heard her laugh. "What are you and Dad doing now?"
After talking with Li Li, Song Chiyu sat on the bed and hesitated for a while before calling Qi Yanzhou.
He answered quickly: "Hello, Miss Song."
His tone remained cool yet polite, as if he weren't the one who had used his leg to seduce her that night.
Song Chiyu felt a burning sensation involuntarily just thinking about the area between her legs.
Suppressing the strange feeling in her heart, she told him about Qi Jianguo's visit.
He wasn't surprised to hear this, nor did he take it for granted. He asked softly, "Has he caused you any trouble?"
There was no real trouble, it was just that Song Chiyu couldn't quite accept his personality for the time being.
After listening, Qi Yanzhou smiled faintly and said, "I understand. I will tell him."
"Don't say I told you," Song Chiyu reminded her.
"Yes, I know."
Song Chiyu suddenly fell silent. A brief silence ensued.
But she didn't hang up, and they remained in a silent stalemate.
Qi Yanzhou vaguely sensed something and silently raised the corners of his lips.
He's the type of person who, if he doesn't realize she has feelings for him, will never cross the line. But if he discovers she's showing him unusual emotions, he definitely won't just sit idly by.
"Miss Song, have you been missing me?"
Song Chiyu, who had been lost in thought, sat up abruptly from the bedside upon hearing this: "I didn't!"
He didn't insist, and simply gave a curt reply.
Song Chiyu seemed to have been touched on a sensitive spot, and her emotions suddenly became agitated: "I, I just didn't know what to say to you for a moment. Since there's nothing else, I'll hang up now."
"Miss Song—" Qi Yanzhou was about to say something when Song Chiyu interrupted him, "Good night!"
"Mm." He smiled knowingly but didn't say anything. "Good night."
[Author's Note]
Thank you everyone for feeding me! Love you all! [Sprinkling flowers][Sprinkling flowers]
It might look a little short today, please bear with me!
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