Chapter 46 Going abroad is a long way off...
Jiang Shiyuan still chose to risk staying, working anxiously in Bishui Village for a week.
Their dormitories and archaeological sites were far from the village, surrounded by towering mountains, and the signal was intermittent, making it difficult for Shen Yiyi to contact the outside world.
Although Jiang Shiyuan got a cell phone, he used it most to check the time.
The longer it went on, the more uneasy she became. Although Huo Lan couldn't find this place in a short time, if Shen Yiyi made contact with Shen Chuqing, she would be a ticking time bomb sooner or later.
But thinking too much is useless; she can't go anywhere else except here.
She could only bury herself in her work as much as possible, hoping to get the recommendation letter as soon as possible.
Inside the makeshift shed, Cheng Yinghua was taking pictures of a broken piece of a pottery jar that had just been unearthed.
It was summer, and the sun was almost always scorching. The girl, whose skin was delicate and clearly had never been exposed to the elements, was squatting in the pit working the whole time.
After taking the photos, Cheng Yinghua walked to the edge of the excavation square. The excavation work of the Bishui Village project has been going on for several months, and the main excavation squares have been dug down to nearly four meters. She stood at the edge of the pit and looked down. Jiang Shiyuan's figure looked particularly petite in the deep pit, but she was always busy.
"Shiyuan, come up and rest for a while, drink some water, and be careful not to get heatstroke."
Upon hearing the sound, Jiang Shiyuan paused slightly in her hand, shovel in hand, and looked up. The sunlight made her squint, and her cheeks turned slightly red.
“It’s alright, Teacher Cheng, I’m not tired.” Her voice was a little hoarse, but it carried a lot of energy. “I’ll finish cleaning this layer.”
She arrived late and was immediately assigned to an excavation unit that was clearing up late cultural layers.
The soil here is completely different from the surface layer, and more things can be dug out.
Jiang Shiyuan really enjoys her current job. The feeling of touching history with her own hands and uncovering the mysteries little by little is a completely different sense of accomplishment from restoring cultural relics in a temperature- and humidity-controlled laboratory.
However, she couldn't linger too long; her ultimate goal was to get the letter of recommendation and then leave.
Before she knew it, Cheng Yinghua had already climbed down the ladder to the bottom of the pit and come to her side.
She carefully examined the cross-section that Jiang Shiyuan had cleaned and the neatly arranged unearthed artifacts, her eyes practically overflowing with admiration. "Very good. Pay attention to the roundness of the pottery shard's edge and the sedimentary inclusions."
Jiang Shiyuan then stopped what she was doing. "Teacher Cheng, why did you come down? Go and rest."
Cheng Yinghua looked at her seriously, her gaze sharp. "Tell me, why did you come here? Based on your resume, you shouldn't just be an intern."
Jiang Shiyuan stood up and began packing her things. "I can't hide it from Teacher Cheng. I came here for a letter of recommendation. I want to apply to schools abroad, but I'm missing some materials."
Cheng Yinghua nodded. "You can ask your previous teachers to write it for you; they shouldn't refuse."
Jiang Shiyuan knew she would ask this question, and had already prepared an excuse long ago: "It's been a long time since I graduated, and I haven't been in touch with them. I don't want to go back and bother them."
The reason was simple, but highly credible, and Cheng Yinghua had no doubts at all.
"Okay, so which university are you planning to apply to, and when do you need the recommendation letters?"
Jiang Shiyuan knew that Cheng Yinghua had agreed. She was an important leader at the Wancheng Archaeological Research Institute and enjoyed a high reputation in the archaeological field, so her letter of recommendation would be very valuable. However, she couldn't tell her which school it was, so she gave a vague answer.
"I am so grateful to Teacher Cheng. I came out of my family's knowledge, so I hope it can be done as soon as possible."
Cheng Yinghua didn't mind Jiang Shiyuan's lack of response, but frowned with worry, "If you go abroad, that's far away... You must let your family know you're safe and sound often!"
She added, "If it's urgent, I'll write it and send it to you next week."
Upon hearing the news, Jiang Shiyuan was so excited that she almost cried.
Cheng Yinghua was amused by Jiang Shiyuan's reaction and quickly comforted her, "Okay, okay, listen to me, let's go upstairs and rest first. You don't need to push yourself so hard. I can tell you're a hardworking and good kid, I'll definitely write you a letter of recommendation."
Jiang Shiyuan didn't know what to say, so she could only express her gratitude over and over again.
By the time we arrived at the work shed, it was almost time to get off work.
Instead of staying in her own exploration area, Shen Yiyi climbed up a large camphor tree that was said to be able to receive signals.
Although she grew up in a scholarly family, her personality was quite different from her sister's.
Shen Chuqing was quiet by nature, but she was active and lively. She could climb trees and walls with ease since she was a child. So when she grew up, she didn't want to work in an office and resolutely applied for archaeology. However, she did not expect that the working conditions would be so harsh, and she really couldn't stand it.
"Oh my god! My sister is engaged!"
Just as Shen Yiyi received the signal, her mother sent her a message saying that Shen Chuqing had made an engagement with the Huo family a few days ago.
Shen Yiyi's voice was loud and clear. Even though Jiang Shiyuan was in the shed not far from her, she could hear her howling. The words "engagement" exploded in her ears like a bolt from the blue.
After getting out of the pit, she didn't even have time to drink some water before running to the big camphor tree where Shen Yiyi was and asking, "What happened?"
Seeing Jiang Shiyuan under the tree, Shen Yiyi almost burst into tears, "My sister's engagement is such a big deal, and my mom is only telling me now!"
The two returned to the work shed to rest, while Shen Yiyi was still furious.
Jiang Shiyuan poured her a glass of water and tentatively asked, "What exactly happened?"
When she left, she asked Shen Chuqing to attend the engagement banquet in her place. Getting engaged to Huo Lan was expected, but she didn't know why, upon hearing the news, she still felt some indescribable emotions.
She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but it was definitely not a happy reaction.
"My sister is engaged to someone from the Huo family. The Huo family of Wancheng, even if you don't know them, you must have heard of them, right?" Shen Yiyi took the water glass, still gritting her teeth. "They got engaged a week ago, and they're only telling me now!"
Jiang Shiyuan's voice trailed off, "They're really engaged..."
“Yes!” Shen Yiyi said in a flurry, her ideas coming to her head on a whim. “Tomorrow is the weekend, come with me to the town for a stroll. I can buy my sister an engagement gift with the characteristics of the ancient town. I’ll use my internship salary to buy it, so they’ll know that I can earn money to buy things for my sister!”
Jiang Shiyuan instinctively refused. Although several days had passed, she still couldn't let her guard down and couldn't go out unless absolutely necessary.
"I'll stay in the dorm and work through the data from the past few days, and take another look at some items that need repair."
"You're such a workaholic..." Shen Yiyi wasn't happy, but she still wouldn't give up, shaking her arm and pleading, "Come with me~"
Cheng Yinghua was about to leave work when she saw this scene on her way back to the work shed. She laughed and said, "Shi Yuan has been here for so long but hasn't gone out yet, has she? Bishui Town is an ancient town, and there are some stalls selling cultural artifacts and antiques in the market. Going to take a look can broaden your horizons and may even help with your work later."
Seeing that Cheng Yinghua was also speaking up for her, Shen Yiyi quickly pressed her advantage, "That's right, let's invite Xia Mo to come along, the three of us can look after each other."
Jiang Shi didn't want to go, but she couldn't go against Cheng Yinghua's wishes, so she had no choice but to agree.
Back in her dorm, Jiang Shiyuan changed out of her dusty sun-protective shirt and pants and put on her old long-sleeved shirt and pants.
She didn't take much with her when she left. Her bag contained only her identification, some necessary documents, a small amount of cash, and three gold necklaces that could be quickly converted into cash. She didn't take anything else.
The sun-protective clothing and hat she was wearing were given to her by Cheng Yinghua after she noticed that her arms were sunburned. She took them out of her own closet.
These past few days, she's been eating at almost every household's house again. Her clothes, sunscreen, and daily necessities were all collected for her by her colleagues.
She really should go to town to buy some necessary items; she felt guilty about always relying on others.
"Your sister is engaged to the Huo family. Could it be Huo Lan, the head of the Huo family?" Xia Mo couldn't hide her excitement as she changed her clothes. "Huo Lan is such a perfect person, like he's sitting on a cloud. I don't even dare to dream about him!"
Xia Mo continued, "But thinking about it carefully, it makes sense. Your sister is so beautiful and talented, and your family is one of the top families in Wancheng. It's not surprising that they got engaged."
"No, it's Huo Qi, the son of the second master of the Huo family. He's a lazy rich kid!" Shen Yiyi angrily threw her clothes onto the stool next to her. "I don't know why my sister took a liking to him."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Shiyuan stopped making the bed, her mind in turmoil for a moment.
How could it be Huo Qi? What on earth happened?!
After sitting down, Jiang Shiyuan hurriedly picked up her phone and logged into the social media platform, but the signal kept spinning and no matter how many times she refreshed, it was all blank.
After changing her clothes, Shen Yiyi went to bed to rest, looking dejected. "Don't bother. There's only a signal from that big camphor tree next to the construction site. Get a good rest tonight. Tomorrow, when we get internet in town, everything will be clear."
Upon hearing Shen Yiyi's words, Jiang Shiyuan gave up refreshing the page.
However, she couldn't sleep after going to bed that night. She really couldn't guess what had happened that day. Why did it turn into Shen Chuqing and Huo Qi's engagement party when it was supposed to be Huo Lan's engagement party?
The more I thought about it, the more confused I became, and I remained in a state of half-dreaming and half-awake until the next day.
After getting up early and washing up, the three of them took Dazhuang's van to town. Dazhuang was the person Cheng Yinghua had mentioned before; he was a very approachable villager from the neighborhood.
Dazhuang often goes to town during the day to sell some mountain products and returns to the village at night, so Shen Yiyi and Xia Mo often ride in his car along the way.
When they reached a place with a signal, the three of them simultaneously picked up their phones to check the latest entertainment news.
"So that's how it is! So the engagement party that the Huo family has been hyping up all along wasn't for him, but for my sister and Huo Qi!" Shen Yiyi exclaimed incredulously. "Does Huo Lan really dote on his cousin that much? He spent so much money and connections promoting it for so long, inviting almost all the world's wealthy and famous people, and it wasn't for his own engagement?"
Shen Yiyi could only make judgments based on snippets of information online. She had been with the archaeological team for two months, and when the Huo family banquet was underway, she was still squatting in the excavation square digging soil, almost completely isolated from the world.
“And Huo Lan said…” Xia Mo said, her brows furrowed tightly, “He’s not getting married…”
Shen Yiyi seemed to know very well, "Hey, there's nothing to doubt about this. Huo Lan has always loved burning incense and praying to Buddha. A few years ago, he would occasionally invite a master to Huo Garden to talk about Buddhism. When he attended any event, he would always be carrying a broken wooden bead and playing with it. Maybe he has already taken up his hair and entered the Buddhist order."
Shen Yiyi pouted and said thoughtfully, "No wonder Huo Qi's engagement was such a big deal. It turns out that Huo Lan has no offspring since he is unmarried. The future heir of the Huo family will still depend on my sister!"
Xia Mo looked regretful. "No way... How can such a handsome guy be sexually apathetic? I'd rather he liked men!"
Jiang Shiyuan, who was standing to the side, couldn't hear the conversation between the two. All she knew was that she had harmed Shen Chuqing.
She never imagined that Huo Lan would handle this matter in such a way.
She thought that even if he wouldn't admit to the engagement with Shen Chuqing under pressure, he would wait until things were over before canceling the engagement. But he actually confused right and wrong on the spot, binding two completely unrelated people together!
This is absolutely absurd...
Jiang Shiyuan was overwhelmed by deep self-blame and became even more afraid to speak to Shen Yiyi.
She couldn't let Shen Yiyi have the opportunity to pass on her information to Shen Chuqing, at least not before she got the letter of recommendation.
*
Upon arriving in town, the three said goodbye to Dazhuang, bought some daily necessities, and then went to the town's antique market.
There weren't many surveillance cameras in the town, and the antique market was a mixed bag, so Jiang Shiyuan still didn't dare to let his guard down. He kept the brim of his fisherman's hat low and wore a mask the whole way.
Seeing her attire, Shen Yiyi asked in confusion, "It's so hot, aren't you stuffy wearing a mask?"
Jiang Shiyuan explained, "It's just because I'm afraid of getting a tan."
“That’s true.” Shen Yiyi glanced at Jiang Shiyuan a few more times and teased, “A pretty girl like you should definitely cover up when you go out. If some thugs take a liking to you, we won’t be able to protect you.”
"Huh?" Jiang Shiyuan remembered that this wasn't the reason she gave.
Shen Yiyi was in high spirits, lingering in front of each stall and chatting with Jiang Shiyuan.
Why don't you become a celebrity?
Jiang Shiyuan couldn't understand Shen Yiyi's thought process and couldn't answer any of her questions.
“Yes, yes!” Xia Mo chimed in, “I was stunned the moment I saw you. Your skin is so white it’s glowing, and your face is so small and beautiful. You’ve just woken up and you still have that lazy vibe. It’s like seeing a picture of a beautiful woman waking up late. I don’t understand why you’ve fallen in love with working with the loess soil.”
She added, "So, being a female celebrity is more suitable for you than being a gravedigger."
"Uh..." Jiang Shiyuan realized that she couldn't answer Xia Mo's question either.
However, she can't become a female celebrity, otherwise Huo Lan would be jealous and go crazy every day....
When Jiang Shiyuan realized that she was thinking of Huo Lan again, she quickly shook her head, trying to kick him out of her mind.
The two continued to tease Jiang Shiyuan, but Shen Yiyi was suddenly drawn to something and stopped in front of a stall displaying various antiques.
The stall owner was a thin, middle-aged man who squinted at the three young women in front of him, looking rather shrewd.
"Boss, how much is this Guanyin statue?"
Shen Yiyi examined a white porcelain Guanyin statue with great interest.
"Young lady, you have a good eye!" The shopkeeper immediately beamed. "This is white porcelain from the Dehua kiln in the mid-Qing Dynasty. Look at the glaze, how lustrous it is! And the crackle pattern, how natural it is! One price, eight thousand!"
Xia Mo gasped, "So expensive!"
Shen Yiyi liked it more and more as she looked at it. Holding the Guanyin statue, she whispered to Jiang Shiyuan and Xia Mo, "I'm buying this for my sister. I hope the Bodhisattva will bless her so she can give me a little nephew to play with, so she won't have to focus all her attention on me every day."
Jiang Shiyuan chuckled and began to examine the Guanyin statue more closely.
The white porcelain felt warm to the touch, but was slightly light in weight. She gently rubbed the glaze with her fingers and examined the body and crackle patterns in the sunlight.
Xia Mo asked softly, "How is it, Shi Yuan?"
After spending a week together, they all knew that Jiang Shiyuan had a special interest in cultural relics.
Having followed Huo Lan for several years, Jiang Shiyuan had seen countless collections and could easily distinguish whether cultural relics were genuine or fake, superior or inferior.
"The body isn't dense enough, the glaze is too glossy, the crackle looks artificially aged, and the font of the base mark doesn't match that of Dehua ware from the Qing Dynasty. It's probably a replica from around the 1990s, and the craftsmanship is actually quite good..." She roughly estimated the price, "The market price is probably no more than 800."
When the antique stall owner saw that Jiang Shiyuan could easily identify the origin of the Guanyin statue, his face immediately darkened: "Hey, young lady, what do you know? You just say it's fake with a few words? Who can prove it? This is an old item that has been blessed. If you taint it, how am I supposed to sell it?"
Hearing her boss's tirade, Shen Yiyi's anger surged instantly.
"Do you even know who we are? Don't tell me we don't know!" Shen Yiyi said arrogantly. "You know that a Ming Dynasty tomb was recently unearthed in Biyue Village, right? We're the staff working there!"
Xia Mo, who had just claimed to be a gravedigger, immediately chimed in, "That's right, that's right. As a proper archaeologist, would we not be able to tell what era this porcelain is from?"
The antique dealer wasn't afraid at all and remained confident, "So what if it's an archaeological team? Does the archaeological team have the right to say it's fake just by talking?"
The argument quickly attracted onlookers, and in the scuffle, someone's elbow bumped into the Guanyin statue on the stall.
"Crack!"
With a crisp sound, the white porcelain Guanyin statue fell onto the hard ground and shattered into several pieces.
The air froze instantly.
The boss was stunned at first, then overjoyed, and then quickly changed his expression to anger, throwing a tantrum to prevent them from leaving.
"My beloved Guanyin!"
The antique stall owner pulled out a feather duster from somewhere and blocked the group's path, looking determined to make things worse. "You broke my family heirloom! You have to pay for it! Twenty thousand! If it's not even a penny less, I'll call the police and sue you for intentional property damage!"
Twenty thousand? That's outrageous!
Shen Yiyi and Xia Mo were so angry that their faces turned red, and they immediately started arguing with the antique stall owner.
More and more people gathered around. Jiang Shiyuan tried to hide himself in the shadow of his hat and tried to pull Shen Yiyi and Xia Mo, who were already angry, but the two of them couldn't hold them back at all.
"You're extorting us! This shoddy fake isn't worth 20,000 yuan at all. You're just taking advantage of the fact that we're three girls and easy to bully!"
"Call the police then! The police don't help unreasonable people!"
Call the police?
Jiang Shiyuan's heart clenched, and she quickly stopped Shen Yiyi, who was about to call the police. If she called the police, she would have to give a statement and sign it, and her information would definitely be exposed!
"No, we'll pay, I'll pay!"
It's better to avoid trouble than to get into one. Since money can solve the problem, there's no need to think about anything more complicated.
After Jiang Shiyuan finished speaking, she took off the backpack she was carrying and took out an exquisite red velvet bag from the innermost zippered pocket.
She untied the ribbon, and a phoenix necklace with flowing golden light flowed into her palm.
It was an extremely exquisite filigree necklace, with gold threads as fine as hair, woven into a complex and delicate phoenix with outstretched wings. The phoenix head in the center held a large, round aurora pearl, and the phoenix wings were also adorned with colorful gemstones of various sizes. The craftsmanship was superb, and it was clear at a glance that it was very valuable.
The antique stall owner's eyes lit up immediately.
These necklaces were the heaviest and most precious ones she had picked out from the closet. She had originally intended to use them as funds for her trip abroad, but she never expected that she would have to hand them over now.
However, this necklace is also an exclusive custom-made piece from a private studio. If it enters the market and its origin is traced back to her, she might still be able to sell it. She is selling gold, not craftsmanship, so she can't just hand over the necklace to him as is.
After showing the chain to the shopkeeper, Jiang Shiyuan quickly put it back into the velvet bag to avoid being too conspicuous.
She calmly said, "I can give you the pure gold chain, but you have to melt it down in front of me. Firstly, it will prove that it is pure gold, and secondly, I don't want you to take too much advantage of me. After all, I'm only selling this chain for its craftsmanship and design, and it costs five figures."
The boss was somewhat reluctant, but his eyes lit up when he saw the gold. The glittering necklace looked quite heavy, weighing at least 30g.
But he was also a connoisseur. Compared to gold, the gemstone and pearl on it were far more valuable. If he were to resell them to a knowledgeable buyer, they could fetch at least tens of thousands of dollars. If they were melted down and sold by weight, the value would be significantly reduced!
Shen Yiyi and Xia Mo were both dumbfounded, unable to understand how Jiang Shiyuan, who wouldn't even replace his broken phone, could casually pick out such an expensive item from his bag.
Shen Yiyi quickly covered her bag with her hand, "Don't give it to him, it will only spoil him. If we indulge him this time, he will only become more and more cunning in the future!"
"Didn't you just say eight thousand? I'll transfer it to you!" Shen Yiyi didn't want to make a big deal out of it; anything that could be solved with money wasn't a problem anyway. "But if you still want twenty thousand, then we'll see you at the police station. It's your choice!"
I thought the boss would be relentless, but to my surprise, he stopped while he was ahead. "You should have said so earlier. Transfer the eight thousand over quickly."
Shen Yiyi paid money to settle the matter, and the three were then allowed to leave.
On the way back, Shen Yiyi was still furious. "How dare he extort me! And I actually transferred eight thousand to him! I'm so angry!"
Xia Mo and Jiang Shiyuan comforted each other, and the conversation inevitably turned to Jiang Shiyuan again.
"However, how do you get such an expensive necklace? I've been to several auctions, and the pearls on your necklace are rounder and brighter than the top-quality Arbernese pearl I saw at an auction that cost 300,000!"
Hearing Shen Yiyi say this, Jiang Shiyuan secretly regretted not taking all the jewelry off the necklace before leaving.
Now she can only pretend to be confused, "Actually it's fake. The gold is real gold, but the beads are fake. Otherwise, how could they be so shiny? That's why I told him to melt them down."
Shen Yiyi and Xia Mo easily believed Jiang Shiyuan's excuse.
Most of Dazhuang's mountain products are sold to wholesalers, and he also sells the remaining small portion at the market.
As evening approached, Dazhuang packed up his stall and drove the three men back to the village. After what had happened to them that day, his expression was somewhat grave.
"The antique market in this town is a shady place. Several of the antique stall owners know each other and they're in cahoots to swindle out-of-towners. If someone doesn't fall for it, a bunch of street thugs will come over and force the customer to buy it with sticks."
Da Zhuang, driving the car, said earnestly, "You should avoid going to the antique market unless absolutely necessary. It's too dangerous for you girls."
The three listened with lingering fear, thankful that they hadn't encountered the street thugs Da Zhuang had mentioned that day.
Back in her dorm, before going to sleep, Jiang Shiyuan opened her backpack, intending to secretly break off the beads and gems from several necklaces and ruin the craftsmanship, but after searching through all the layers and pockets of the backpack, she couldn't find the red velvet bag.
Her heart instantly panicked.
The antique shop owner had already become greedy after seeing her necklace, so how could he easily agree to settle the matter for eight thousand? She was simply careless...
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Author's Note: Thank you so much to the little angel [Full Moon] for the 100 bottles of nutrient solution! A big thank you!!
Guess who will give away their whereabouts first, the necklace or Shen Yiyi? Two ticking time bombs! [laughing and crying emoji]
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