160: Chapter 16 Closure

When his wife mentioned that the experts wanted him to hand over the mei bottle, he hadn't paid much attention to it at first.

But given the current situation, Xu Ting couldn't help but overthink things.

Were these three experts really so shameless that they would resort to trickery just to get this mei bottle into the Museum?

Suppressing his dissatisfaction and anger, Xu Ting asked coldly.

"Expert Zhao, why is the conclusion you reached today the complete opposite of what you said last night?"

"Can you tell me why?"

Zhao Meng was about to mention the mark on the bottom of the bottle, but He Qixiang beat him to it.

He Qixiang gave Zhao Meng's jacket a subtle tug from behind and spoke up first. "The forgery technique used on this mei bottle is incredibly sophisticated; I've never heard of anything like it before."

"Old Zhao hadn't encountered it before, so he made a mistake last night."

He paused for a moment, and seeing that Mr. Xu didn't press further, he continued, "Mr. Xu, could you hand this counterfeit over to the state?"

"To be honest, we already have a piece of calligraphy and painting that uses this same forgery technique."

"If we have this porcelain piece as well, we can study their methods and track down the suspects involved in the production and sale of these fakes."

"This will prevent more people from being swindled."

After hearing this, Xu Ting became even more cautious.

If he handed it over, the mei bottle would most likely end up in the Palace Museum, wouldn't it?

And the man standing before him happened to be the Director of the Palace Museum...

They were certainly in a hurry! Were they really unwilling to give him even a moment to consider?

He had never explicitly refused to donate it.

Thinking of this, Xu Ting looked at the three experts again, a hint of disgust flashing in his eyes.

"Director He, out of the three of you, who was the first to doubt the authenticity of this mei bottle?"

"It was me," Cai Guoqiang replied without a second thought.

"I wonder, how did you discover it, Expert Cai?" Xu Ting's tone was becoming increasingly impolite.

Cai Guoqiang blurted out immediately, "A friend of mine told me."

As soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted them.

Sure enough, Xu Ting let out a cold snort, his voice laced with sarcasm. "Expert Cai's friend is quite remarkable. I wonder when he had the chance to see this mei bottle?"

Cai Guoqiang was left speechless, his face flushing red instantly.

Xu Ting took in their evasive expressions, and his suspicions grew even stronger.

Suppressing his anger, Xu Ting said in a frigid tone, "Experts, now that you've seen the mei bottle, I have other matters to attend to, so I won't be hosting you any longer."

"Please!"

He was asking them to leave.

Cai Guoqiang and the others looked at each other in immense embarrassment, not knowing what to say.

He Qixiang was thick-skinned enough to say, "Mr. Xu, every word we've spoken is the truth. Regarding my proposal just now, have you considered it?"

"Handing it over to the state? I'll think about it."

"Please!"

Xu Ting didn't want to say another word to the three of them.

The three of them walked out under Xu Ting's sarcastic 'send-off.'

As soon as they were out, the door was slammed shut.

It let out a loud "bang."

"Pah! What kind of people are they?"

"People say we businessmen are crooked, but these intellectuals are even more damn despicable," Xu Ting grumbled loudly.

Liang Hong finally caught on. "Old Xu, do you mean their goal for this visit was just to get you to donate the mei bottle?"

"Most likely," Xu Ting replied, still feeling a bit uneasy.

He took out his phone and dialed a number.

When the call connected, he made a conscious effort to keep his tone calm, though his hand gripped the phone tightly. "Old Master Lei, I have a cultural relic here. I was wondering if you could give it an expert look."

...

After leaving Xu Ting's house.

Zhao Meng actually looked the most relaxed, while He Qixiang and Cai Guoqiang both appeared preoccupied.

"Old He, why didn't you let me tell him about the mark? It's why we got kicked out," Zhao Meng asked.

He Qixiang replied, "We don't know how he obtained this mei bottle. If we told him, I was afraid of alerting the enemy."

"It might make the forgery ring wary."

"I've been trying to find a way to take down this ring, and right now, the only one clue we have is these two counterfeits."

"Wait, no, there's also one person..."

Zhao Meng nodded in agreement. "Old He, you're right to be cautious."

Seeing Cai Guoqiang walking ahead distractedly, He Qixiang shouted, "Old Cai, what's wrong with you? You haven't said a word since we left Xu Ting's house."

"Do you have any other clues about this forgery ring to add?"

Hearing this, Cai Guoqiang turned around with a solemn expression. "Old He, the top priority right now might not be catching them."

"There's something even more serious waiting for you to handle."

He Qixiang's expression tightened as he felt an ominous premonition.

"What important thing?"

"According to my friend, counterfeits like this mei bottle have already infiltrated certain Museums. And..."

Cai Guoqiang glanced at He Qixiang, hesitating to continue.

"What?"

"Are you saying there are people from the Museums in these criminal rings?"

"And what? Just say it all at once! Don't beat around the bush."

He Qixiang's hands trembled with anger as he roared.

"And, there are some inside the Palace Museum that you manage."

Cai Guoqiang chose to trust his old friend He Qixiang. After observing him closely for most of the day, he concluded that He Qixiang wasn't involved.

He Qixiang felt like he'd been struck by lightning, and his whole body swayed.

He grabbed Cai Guoqiang and shook him forcefully. "Old Cai, what... what did you say? You... you're not mistaken?"

Dizzy from being shaken, Cai Guoqiang quickly stopped him. "Old He, calm down."

Zhao Meng snapped out of it and hurried to steady He Qixiang.

But He Qixiang kept saying, "Old Cai, which cultural relic is it? Tell me clearly."

"I don't know either."

"Then why did you say there were?"

"It's a guess, but I'm eighty percent certain."

Cai Guoqiang really wanted to call Chen Shaoping right then to ask, but he was afraid that if he was too slow, Old He's explosive temper would flare up, and he wouldn't be able to handle it.

He Qixiang steadied himself. His expression was heavy, but his eyes were resolute.

"Let's go. Back to the Museum."

Soon, the Palace Museum announced its closure under the guise of renovations.

The specific reopening time was to be determined.

...

While the Palace Museum quietly closed and undercurrents surged...

The sun was setting over Yangcheng. Chen Shaoping was being pulled along by Zhang Ying into a bustling wet market.

After receiving the rehearsal notice for the National Day Gala tomorrow afternoon, Zhang Ying and Chen Shaoping had snuck off work early together.

The two of them held hands as they bought plenty of groceries.

There were ribs, fish...

Once home, they worked together, first putting the ribs in a pressure cooker to stew.

Then Chen Shaoping began washing vegetables and peeling garlic and scallions...

Zhang Ying did the cooking.

Their coordination was quite seamless.

It took them about an hour and a half in total.

A home-cooked meal of four dishes and one soup was served.

Chen Shaoping took a bite of the fish and praised her.

"Darling, this is delicious."

Zhang Ying smiled, feeling very happy. "If it's delicious, then finish it all."

"We're going to Kyoto tomorrow anyway, so any leftovers would just have to be thrown away."

"No problem," Chen Shaoping agreed readily.

The meal was finished in an atmosphere of laughter and sweetness.

Chen Shaoping cleared the table. Zhang Ying wanted to help, but he refused.

He told her to just rest on the sofa for a while.

After Chen Shaoping finished the dishes and cleaned the kitchen...

At Zhang Ying's request, the two went for a walk within the residential complex.

Hand in hand, they strolled slowly along the path.

"Hubby, in twenty or thirty years, will we still be walking hand in hand like this?"

"We will. If you like, we can come out for a walk after dinner every day from now on."

Chen Shaoping said as he kissed Zhang Ying on the forehead.

Forty minutes later, they returned home to bathe, exercise, and share an intimate connection.