The father who had been away for eighteen years due to the fear of falling into the trap came back...
It turns out that the kidnappers not only want money, but also the most precious treasure of the Lantern Festival.
It’s no wonder that the Cheng family had planned to sell the house, but finally didn’t, because even if they sold it, it wouldn’t play a key role.
"Do my parents know about this?" Cheng Sizhou asked.
"We didn't tell anyone except the police." Lin Xin shook his head and wiped away the remaining tears that seeped into the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes.
"Why don't you tell me? It's such an important clue."
"Do you remember the Lantern Expo back then? The restoration room and the storage room were connected in one bungalow, surrounded by a fence. Back then, conditions were poor, and security wasn't as advanced. Especially during the time when An Yi had the accident, one of the back doors to the storage room was broken, so anyone could just push it and get in."
Cheng Sizhou was still young at that time. He remembered the warehouse, but not what the back door looked like.
Cultural relics warehouses are usually very sophisticated. For example, they now have two doors, which require two custodians to unlock at the same time. In addition, the entire area is covered with surveillance cameras, so it is impossible for outsiders to steal anything.
"Didn't you report the broken door?" Cheng Sizhou asked.
"Once the application is submitted, it has to be approved at every level and signed by the leader before we can get the funding. Only after we get the funding can we find someone to repair it." Lin Xin replied.
Cheng Sizhou has been attending Dengbo for six years, and he understands that this is the process for anything involving money.
"The restoration team temporarily patched it up with some materials, but they didn't dare to make it too obvious, otherwise someone with ulterior motives would find out and steal a few things. Those who are in charge of the warehouse, security, and even the leaders would be implicated. At the very least, they would lose their jobs, and at worst, they would go to jail." Lin Xin continued.
"That's why I didn't reveal it because I didn't want people to think the porcelain gui was very valuable."
"Yeah, after we called the police, a bunch of reporters from TV stations and newspapers showed up. If we tell the truth, it'll just give them the chance to do something bad..."
"There wasn't any theft at the Lantern Festival that year, right?" Cheng Sizhou wanted to confirm. "What did they want most? Money or the porcelain gui? If it was the porcelain gui, would they steal it if extortion failed?"
"No, nothing is lost except An Yi, except my An Yi..."
Listening to the low sobs of his master's wife, Cheng Sizhou's brows twisted in pain. He had a guess that he didn't dare to think about too deeply, and he hesitated for several times but didn't say it out loud.
His master, Jiang Yunli, has always regarded responsibility as more important than anything else. If the safety of cultural relics and his daughter's life were placed on the two ends of the scale at that time, he might choose to protect the cultural relics and give up his daughter.
But this was too cruel for his master's wife. Since his master didn't say it explicitly, he should keep silent.
"Master's Wife, is this the only artifact they asked for?"
"Yes, just this one."
"Did Master ever tell me what's so special about this one?"
"It is the most important artifact unearthed from Longji Mountain."
Interrogating the master's wife about the details of the kidnapping case was not only torturing her, but also torturing Cheng Sizhou himself.
He held Lin Xin's hand and breathed a long sigh of relief. Those messy clues were finally connected.
Zichuan's parents were once trapped in Beiling Village on Longji Mountain, but they had no conditions to excavate the ancient tomb.
After they came back, Wen Duo made a long-distance call to contact a foreign gang. Three years later, the ancient tomb was robbed. The archaeological team led by Director Zhang happened to find the traces of the tomb-robbing gang, but did not have time to stop them. In the end, they only brought back a broken purple-gold-glazed six-eared porcelain gui. After the restoration was completed, it was added to the museum collection.
When the tomb-robbing gang discovered that this piece was missing and learned that the porcelain gui was about to be exhibited, they kidnapped and extorted Deng Bo to force him to hand it over.
The past events were so complicated that Cheng Sizhou pondered them over several times, but still felt that something was wrong.
"Master's Wife, are you sure that Wen Duo contacted the foreign tomb-robbing gang? Could it be just a coincidence?"
"It's definitely not a coincidence. Although my English is not good, I heard the kidnapper say the word 'Omet' with my own ears."
"Ommit? Omit? Omit, omit...?"
Cheng Sizhou imagined in his mind the scene of a gang of tomb robbers entering the ancient tomb.
They should have taken away the most exquisite burial objects in the tomb, but because the six-eared porcelain gui was accidentally broken, it was considered worthless and they deliberately omitted it, right?
However, a year and a half later, after the restoration team of the Lantern Museum exhausted all their efforts to restore the porcelain gui, they actually thought of taking it away by blackmail?
These bastards are so shameless!
"So they knew the porcelain gui wasn't a single artifact, but rather one that had been missed from a collection of relics. At the time, even the Institute of Archaeology wasn't sure what else was in the tomb besides the porcelain gui! Besides Wen Duo, who else could have known so much about the tomb and leaked the information about the porcelain gui to foreigners?!"
When Lin Xin said this, Cheng Sizhou had no words to respond.
At this moment, he didn't know whether his rationality or emotion prevailed.
Although there is no definite evidence to prove that it was Wen Duo who provided information to the foreign tomb-robbing gang, there is no doubt that he is the most suspicious, and Cheng Sizhou has no way to prove that it was not him who did it.
But Wen Duo is Zichuan's father. If it is really because of him that An Yi died innocently and tragically, can they find Wen Duo at all costs and make him pay for his blood debt?
It was raining heavily outside the attic. Cheng Sizhou stared at the rain and felt a fear he had never felt before.
Speaking of fear, this endless rain had already dragged Wen Zichuan into the abyss of fear, as if someone had strangled his abdomen and pressed him into the ditch.
My lungs felt like they were filled with water and I couldn't take a complete breath.
He lay on his back in bed, the patterns on the ceiling swirling, cold sweat soaking a large area of the bedsheets. As his consciousness gradually faded, he was actually thinking, I look like I've drowned, lying in bed with the symptoms of drowning. If I were dragged away for an autopsy, the forensic doctor would be very confused...
No, he can't die!
He has just connected with Wei Jing and has a bright future ahead of him!
He has to work hard to earn money and take care of his mother, and he can't let others look down on him anymore!
He still wants to be with Cheng Sizhou, next year and the year after, for many, many years...
Wen Zichuan gritted his teeth and struggled in his mind. He forced himself to stand up, then got out of bed, walked to the door while holding the wall, and suddenly opened the door!
“Boom—!”
Another muffled thunder rolled by, and the cool moisture hit his face. He could hear his heart beating wildly along with the sound of the overwhelming rain.
It was already dark. Strangely, most of the colleagues living on this floor had not returned. The guest rooms on both sides were immersed in darkness, and only the room opposite the patio was emitting a dim yellow light.
The situation this time was extremely serious. Wen Zichuan was unable to think about whether he would disturb President Wei if he went there rashly. It would be better if President Wei was there. He had a car and could take him to the hospital as quickly as possible.
He stumbled towards the light, and the closer he got, the clearer his vision became.
The antique window was made of a translucent material, through which the shadows of two men could be vaguely seen.
"Mr. Wei... I... Ha, huh..." Wen Zichuan breathed hard and tried to shout, but the two people in the room seemed to be talking and did not notice that he was outside.
He wanted to go forward and knock on the door, but his stomach suddenly tightened with pain, and he fell to his knees and began to retch.
"Teacher Wen! Teacher Wen, what's wrong with you?" A person suddenly rushed out from the stairs on the side, took three or two steps over the last few steps, helped Wen Zichuan up, and let him sit down next to the beauty.
"I... have a stomachache." Wen Zichuan recognized Su Zhuo's voice, but he still curled up in pain. He used all his strength to press his abdomen, but pressure was no longer effective in relieving the pain.
"My stomach hurts. Oh, I brought some medicine!" Su Zhuo shook off his backpack, took out several common stomach medicines and a thermos cup of warm water, and handed them to Wen Zichuan.
Wen Zichuan took it and ate it without saying a word.
"Why... do you bring stomach medicine...?" he asked Su Zhuo in a weak voice.
"During the second call, I saw you were always prepared," Su Zhuo scratched his head a little embarrassedly, "I'm your assistant now. Sister Lan said that a qualified assistant should think like the artist. I saw that it's not convenient to go to the hospital or buy medicine in the ancient town, so I brought it to you."
"Thank you." Wen Zichuan tried hard to give him a smile, but failed.
"You're welcome. I should thank you for finding me a new job." Su Zhuo said, glancing at the raindrops dripping from the eaves. It was quite cold in April, so he asked, "Teacher Wen, which room do you live in?"
"It's across the street." Wen Zichuan thought. In fact, since moving to Yangliu'an, his stomach problems have only recurred a few times, and the stress is not very serious. Today was an accident, and he ended up in such a mess.
Su Zhuo helped Wen Zichuan up and was about to walk back when suddenly there was a "click" and the door next to him opened.
"Mr. Aldrich, I benefit a lot from every chat with you." Wei Jing gestured "please" and said respectfully to the man next to him.
"Mr. Wei, you are so polite. I am honored to receive your appreciation." The man nodded in return.
Both of them were dressed in suits and ties, each with their own exquisite and noble demeanor. At first glance, they looked like they had just finished a business deal.
Since he had bumped into his boss, there was no point in just turning around and leaving. Su Zhuo lowered his head slightly and called out, "Boss Wei."
Wei Jing nodded, his eyes passed him and fell on Wen Zichuan, and he introduced with a smile: "Mr. Aldrich, this is our newly signed artist, Wen Zichuan. Zichuan, this is Mr. Aldrich, the treasure appraiser who returned from Sinodang."
Wen Zichuan stood at the corner of the corridor, his eyes like torches, staring at Aldrich.
Although Aldrich is an English name, judging from his facial features, he should be a Chinese, about fifty years old, with a short, neat beard at the tip of his chin.
"Your name is Wen Zichuan." Aldrich's eyes were sharp and his expression was calm. He seemed to be asking, but it was not clear whether it was a question.
"Yeah." It is always impolite to look directly at an elder for a long time. Wen Zichuan lowered his head slightly.
"I mentioned this to you, remember? Zichuan's... a friend of his, a cultural relic restorer." Wei Jing's attention was entirely on the older man. "Although he knows a lot, compared to you, he's nothing."
Wen Zichuan was full of question marks on his face. If you want to praise others, just praise them. Why do you have to pull them down at the same time?
"Really?" Aldrich smiled. Although he was no longer young, one could tell he must have been very handsome when he was young. "I'll be staying here for a few days. You're welcome to come and chat with me anytime."
Wei Jing is a well-known domineering CEO in the industry. He is rich and has great skills, which no one has ever seen. How could he be so polite to someone and even personally send him back to his room? It can be seen that Aldrich's identity must be extraordinary.
The stairs are made of wood, and high-end leather shoes make a rhythmic and crisp sound when you walk up them.
The sound of footsteps drowned out the sound of rain outside the corridor, and the bamboo in the courtyard finally straightened up, which meant that the rain was about to stop.
"Teacher Wen, you should go to bed early. Call me if you need anything." In order to take care of Wen Zichuan more conveniently, Su Zhuo's room was also arranged on this floor.
"Well, you should rest early too." The rain stopped and Wen Zichuan could finally breathe freely.
After returning to his room, he lay on his back on the bed, Aldrich's face lingering in his mind.
Indeed, it is possible to not remember the appearance of someone you haven't seen for eighteen years, but a few months ago, he and Cheng Sizhou found the old photo album at his grandmother's house, which contained photos of him when he was young.
Appearance changes with aging, but the basic features remain.
——His father Wen Duo is back.
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