214: Chapter 214 The Manor

Early in the morning, Li Xin slowly opened his eyes; it was already broad daylight outside. A sliver of pale golden morning light leaked through the gap in the thin curtains, the morning sun casting down at an angle, its gentle warmth spreading through the room.

He lay quietly for a while, staring at the ceiling. The natural wood-colored ceiling was covered with vertical wooden slats, the gaps so narrow that you wouldn't notice them unless you looked closely.

The air conditioner was humming, slightly louder than it had been at night; the compressor load had likely increased after the sun came out.

He sat up and stepped onto the floor with bare feet, a slight chill washing over him. Lazily, he went to the window and pulled back the curtains; the sunlight outside rushed in all at once, making him squint.

In the courtyard, the leaves of the large banyan tree swayed gently in the breeze, casting a patch of dappled shadows on the ground below. Sunlight spilled onto the swimming pool, creating shimmering light mists; the bottom of the pool was invisible, leaving only a layer of silver-white water light spread across the surface.

The distant sea was light blue; near the shore, the color was deeper, gradually lightening toward the middle, and blurring into a hazy, grayish white further out.

He went downstairs after washing up. There was already movement in the kitchen; the sound of a spatula hitting an iron wok drifted from behind the half-closed door, accompanied by the white steam released when a steamer was lifted and the distinct aroma of wheaten food.

He walked into the dining room, where several items were already laid out on the table. A basket of shrimp dumplings with transparent skins, through which the pink shrimp meat could be seen. Two plates of custard buns, plump and with smooth surfaces.

A plate of blanched choy sum, neatly arranged, drizzled with a thin layer of soy sauce. Beside it was a pot of Pu'er tea, thin white smoke rising from the spout.

The private chef, surnamed Chen, was in his early fifties and wearing a white chef's hat as he poked half his body out from the kitchen doorway.

"Good morning, Mr. Li. The shrimp dumplings have just come out of the pot, eat them while they are hot. The custard buns also need to be eaten quickly; they won't flow if they get cold."

Li Xin sat down at the table and picked up a shrimp dumpling. The skin was thin, and he could feel the elasticity of the filling when he picked it up with his chopsticks. He took a bite; the shrimp was whole, fresh, sweet, and bouncy, with just enough juice to moisten his mouth.

"Nice work," he remarked.

Chef Chen smiled and retreated back into the kitchen. A sizzling sound came from the pot again, probably frying something.

Li Xin finished that shrimp dumpling and picked up another. When he was eating the third one, Chen Hu walked over from the living room, holding a tablet, and stood beside him.

"Boss, the temperature and humidity of the underground vault on the third level have been checked this morning, and everything is normal. Do you want to go down and take a look now, or wait until after you finish your meal?"

Li Xin set down his chopsticks and picked up his tea to take a sip. "Let's go now."

Chen Hu nodded and turned to walk toward the stairs. Li Xin followed behind him, crossing the living room to an inconspicuous narrow door at the end of the hallway. Chen Hu took a card from his pocket and tapped it against the sensor area on the side of the door; the lock clicked open.

Behind the door was a small elevator that could only hold three or four people. Liu Mo pressed the bottom button, and the elevator began to descend; it wasn't fast, and one could barely hear any sound while it was running. In less than half a minute, the elevator stopped, the doors opened, and in front of him was a short corridor, only four or five steps long, with a heavy alloy door at the end.

Chen Hu swiped the card again and entered a set of numbers. The locking mechanism inside the alloy door began to operate; the sound of gears came from inside the door, very light, lasting for a few seconds. Then the door slid open to the sides, revealing the space inside.

A blast of cold air hit his face. It wasn't the kind of cool breeze blown from an air conditioning vent; the temperature of the entire space was uniformly low, like walking into a natural cold cellar.

The air was dry, without any feeling of humidity, cool as it was inhaled into his nasal cavity, carrying a slight metallic scent.

Li Xin walked in. The space was much larger than when he had last seen it; the original walls had been expanded outward, and the newly built concrete walls were still grayish-white, unpainted. The floor was covered with anti-static rubber mats, dark gray, with a slight elasticity when stepped on.

The entire vault was divided into four compartments, separated by transparent tempered glass walls. The innermost room was the largest, piled with neat gold bars stacked in rows, with narrow aisles left between each stack.

The surface of the gold bars was matte, without the reflection of a mirror surface; when the light hit them, it was just absorbed into a uniform dark gold.

The shelves in the two middle rooms had already been installed; they were stainless steel shelving units covered with a layer of black anti-slip mats. Most of the shelves were still empty, but things had already been placed on a few of them.

Several independent small vacuum display cases were placed against the wall, the interiors lined with dark velvet cloth, the jewelry inside refracting tiny specks of light under the illumination.

The outermost room was the smallest, with only a long table and two chairs in the corner, and several tools laid out on the table. A magnifying glass, a white light flashlight, an electronic scale, and a set of precision vernier calipers. A printed table hung on the wall, listing real-time temperature and humidity data.

Li Xin walked to the middle room and stopped in front of a vacuum display case. Inside the case lay the "Star of Travancore," glowing with a faint blue fluorescence under the cold white light, the edges of its facets refracting fine lines of light, as if water were slowly flowing inside the stone.

In the display case next to it were several items brought back from Orchha. A pure gold bracelet, its surface chiseled with intricate scrolling vine patterns, with blackened traces embedded in the grooves of the lines—remnants of enamel that had been inlaid and then fallen off.

A silver ring, its face polished flat, engraved with a line of tiny characters in Sanskrit; the font was ancient, and the strokes were somewhat blurred.

Chen Hu stood at the entrance and did not follow him in.

"Boss, all the small pieces of jewelry that have been put into storage have corresponding numbers and photos, recorded in the filing cabinet in the drawer of the outermost compartment. Large gold bars are sealed in batches, and each stack is labeled, indicating the source and the date of storage."

Li Xin picked up the bracelet, looked at it casually, and put it back. Through the glass, his fingers couldn't feel the temperature of the metal, but he could imagine the touch. Cool and heavy, the surface slightly rough—the irregular friction left by hand-chasing.

He walked to the innermost compartment, looking at some special gold bars through the glass. Those from Jaigarh Fort, Orchha, and Padmanabhaswamy were mixed together, indistinguishable by appearance. Only the small label attached could indicate where they came from.

The light and color on the surface of the gold bars were uniform, without any Impurities or spots. After the System's Extraction, most were directly cast into standard bars, with consistent size and weight for each, neat edges, and no burrs; a portion was kept in its original state by him, saved for collection.

The light shone down at an angle from above, forming a layer of soft halo on the surface of the gold bars, a dark gold, not that ostentatious brightness.

He stood there for a while without speaking, then turned and walked out.

"The temperature and humidity are well maintained," he remarked when he reached Chen Hu.

Chen Hu followed him out of the vault, and the alloy door made a dull clunking sound as it closed again. As the elevator went up, Li Xin leaned against the wall of the carriage, his hands in his trouser pockets, watching the floor indicator light jump one by one.

Back in the living room on the first floor, the sunlight had already covered most of the floor. The pool in the courtyard reflected shimmering blue ripples in the light, which were projected onto the ceiling, moving slowly like water waves.

Li Xin sat down on the sofa and had just poured a cup of tea when the electronic doorbell at the entrance rang. He glanced out through the floor-to-ceiling window; a gray Mercedes was parked outside the iron gate, and Luo Maifa was climbing out of the driver's seat, carrying two or three garment bags in his hand.

Chen Hu had already gone to open the door. Luo Maifa strode in, his voice arriving before he even reached the living room.

"Brother Xin! You're finally back! I've been waiting so long I've gone gray!"

He put the bags of clothes on the sofa and sat down next to Li Xin, the sofa cushion sinking significantly. He was rounder than when they had met half a year ago; his face was chubby, and the sharp angles around his chin from before were no longer visible.

"You've certainly put on weight," Li Xin glanced at him.

"Damn, don't mention it."

Luo Maifa leaned back and stretched out his legs.

"Su Wan's mom stews soup for me every day, and I have to drink it. The old lady thinks my build isn't sturdy enough and insists that if I stand for too long on my wedding day, I'll collapse."

He kept gesturing while he spoke, and when he said the word "collapse," he made a motion of falling backward, which made the corners of Liu Mo's mouth twitch.

"Did you bring the groomsman suit?" Li Xin asked.

"Got it, got it."

Luo Maifa sat up and brought the bags of clothes over one by one.

"All three of your suits are here. The champagne one is for the outdoor ceremony, the dark blue one is for the indoor toast, and there's a dark gray spare in case anything goes wrong."

He untied the bags, pulled out a champagne-colored suit jacket, and held it up for Li Xin to see. The fabric had a faint pearlescent sheen under the light; it wasn't flashy, but the quality looked genuinely good.

"Try it on. If the shoulders don't fit, there's still time to alter it. I had three tailors taking turns watching the fit; it's guaranteed to fit perfectly."

Li Xin stood up, took the jacket, and put it on. He was already wearing a light beige shirt, with the top button undone. Once the suit was on, the shoulders fit just right—neither too tight nor too loose. The cuffs hit right at his wrist bone, revealing a sliver of the white shirt underneath.

"How is it?"

Luo Maifa stood up from the sofa and circled around him.

"The shoulder lines are flat, and the waist is tapered naturally. Let me tell you, that tailor studied in Italy. When he was measuring you, he spent forever with the tape measure, as meticulous as if he were carving a sculpture."

"It's quite good."

Li Xin moved his shoulders, raised his arms, and bent his elbows; nothing felt restrictive.

"No need to alter it."

Luo Maifa finally relaxed, plopped back onto the sofa, grabbed the pot of Pu'er tea from the coffee table, poured himself a cup, and gulped it down.

"You have no idea, I've been going crazy these past few days. The hotel calls me every day to confirm the menu. Su Wan's mother insists on adding some ancestral Eight-Treasure Duck dish. The kitchen says it takes four hours to make, which messes up the banquet schedule. We've been negotiating for ages; it's giving me a headache."

"How did you end up solving it?"

"I had the kitchen stew the duck a day in advance and then reheat it to thicken the sauce on the day of. Only then did Su Wan's mother approve."

He finished speaking, took another sip of tea, and wiped his mouth.

"By the way, are you still going to that track event in five days? Chen Jingming has confirmed it; the seven or eight people attending are all into sports cars, no fluff."

"I'm going."

Li Xin took off the jacket, folded it, and put it back in the clothing bag.

"That Bugatti hasn't been touched since it was serviced last year. It'll be good to take it out for a run."

"That works. I'll let Chen Jingming know."

Luo Maifa pulled out his phone, typed a few words quickly, and shoved it back into his pocket.

"Oh, right, there's also a wine tasting next Saturday at that ultra-luxury club in Binhai. It's all real big shots, no hype-seeking influencers or media. Chen Jingming is one of the organizers; he said it'd be great if you came to meet some people."

"He already told me. I've seen the invitation."

"Alright then." Luo Maifa stood up and brushed some non-existent dust off his pants.

"I'm heading out; I've got a ton of stuff to do at the shop. You get some rest. You look like you've lost weight after that trip to India, so eat more."

He walked to the door, then turned back to add: "I've gathered six people for the groomsmen group, all the ones from when we were kids, you know. Qiang Zi, Yang Hong, A-Dong, Fatty, and my cousin A-Kai. Everyone will be there for the Acquired rehearsal, so you guys can catch up then."

Li Xin nodded. "See you Acquired."

After Luo Maifa left, the living room quieted down. Li Xin sat on the sofa for a while, then hung the suits in the walk-in closet on the second floor.

On his way back, he passed the window and saw the swimming pool's surface shimmering in the afternoon sun. The water was clear, and he could see the blue mosaic tiles at the bottom.

He walked around the courtyard. The gravel path had been baked warm by the sun, and he could feel the heat radiating through the soles of his shoes.

When he reached the banyan tree, the shade instantly enveloped him, and the difference in temperature was quite noticeable. A few withered leaves had fallen onto the stone bench under the tree; he brushed them off with his hand and sat down.

In the distance, a few sailboats were on the sea, their white sails billowing in the wind as they moved slowly. There were clouds in the sky, a thin layer with edges bleached white by the sun, revealing a faint grayish-blue in the center.

He sat in the shade, took out his phone, and then put it back. There were no messages to check, and no one to reply to. He sat quietly, listening to the rustling of the wind through the banyan leaves and the faint sound of waves in the distance.

Later in the afternoon, Liu Mo walked out of the house carrying a cup of coffee. He walked over to Li Xin, placed the coffee on the stone bench, and crouched down beside him.

"Boss, Mr. Chen Hu has gone back to the company to handle some matters, and I am now responsible for your security. The organizers of the antique exchange meeting have sent another confirmation letter; the time is set for next Saturday at 2:00 PM, at that private club in the east of the city. Attendance is limited to thirty people, and it is not open to the media."

"Has the list been confirmed?"

"It has. Besides you, there are over twenty other people, mostly local industrialists and overseas collectors. A few are from Hong Kong and have brought some private collections of Ming and Qing dynasty porcelain for exchange. The organizers said that if you'd like, you can bring one or two small items to show as well."

Li Xin picked up the coffee and took a sip. The temperature was just right, not scalding. It was slightly bitter, with little lingering sweetness. After swallowing, he said, "We'll see when the time comes. I might not bring anything; just going to look around will be enough."

"Then I will submit your name."

"Mm."

Liu Mo stood up and brushed the dust off his knees.

"The kitchen has prepared steamed leopard coral grouper, white-cut chicken, vegetable hearts in superior soup, and a soup for dinner. Would you like to add anything else?"

"That's enough. Any more would be a waste."

Liu Mo turned and went back into the house. Li Xin sat in the shade for a while longer, and the coffee in his cup gradually reached the bottom. The sunset began to sink, and the color of the sea changed from light blue to orange-red. The part near the shore shimmered with golden light, gradually transitioning to dark purple further out, and blurring in the distance.

He stood up, took the empty cup in his hand, and walked back into the house.

Dinner was indeed simple. The leopard coral grouper was steamed just right; the fish meat was tender and white. When he pressed down with his chopsticks, the whole piece of meat separated naturally along the lines of the fish bone. Dipped in a little steamed fish soy sauce, it was fresh, sweet, and light.

The skin of the white-cut chicken was translucent, and the meat was firm, with the natural flavor of the chicken when chewed. The vegetable hearts in superior soup were cooked soft, and the leaves had absorbed the soup, filling his mouth with the umami of the broth.

Li Xin finished a bowl of rice and drank most of the soup. When he put down his chopsticks, he felt full and at peace, without the feeling of something pressing on his chest that he'd had during those days in India.

After dinner, he watched TV on the sofa in the living room for a while. There was nothing special on, just some local news on the livelihood channel.

After watching for a while, he switched to the sports channel, which was showing a replay of a European soccer league match. The grass on the screen was glowing green, players were running back and forth, and the ball was being passed between the two teams.

He leaned back on the sofa, watching as his consciousness slowly grew heavy. His eyelids felt dry, and his vision began to blur. He didn't try to stay awake, just leaned against the sofa armrest and fell asleep.

When he woke up, the TV was already off, and the living room lights had been dimmed. A thin blanket was draped over him; he didn't know who had covered him or when.

He sat up and checked his phone; it was 10:47 PM. Next to the kettle on the coffee table was a note in Liu Mo's handwriting that read: "Boss, there is hot red date tea in the kitchen warming cabinet. Drink it and get some rest early."

He stood up, went to the kitchen to pour a cup of tea, and carried it to the floor-to-ceiling window. The sea in the night was dark black; he couldn't see the details of the waves, only a few navigation lights flashing rhythmically in the distance.

The streetlights along the coastal road shone in a line, orange-yellow, extending along the coastline. They broke off at a corner and then continued into the distance.

He stood there for a while, finished the tea, and went upstairs. The bedroom curtains were already drawn, and the bedside lamp was glowing with a warm yellow light. He took a shower, sat on the edge of the bed, and looked at tomorrow's schedule. There were no plans. Just staying in.

As he lay down, the cry of a seabird came from outside the curtains, short and clear, and then it was quiet.