?

  I went back to Pangzi's siheyuan with him, it was already 9 o'clock in the evening. This day had been exhausting enough, after washing up and preparing for bed, I planned to go see Dr. Zhang tomorrow. But then the phone suddenly rang, the caller ID showed that it was my second uncle's mobile phone.

  My heart skipped a beat as I nervously picked up the phone, preparing to be lectured by my second uncle. But as soon as he spoke, his voice was severely short of breath, and he asked: "Are you in Beijing?"

  I felt something was off, so I quickly replied: "Yeah, Second Uncle, what's going on?"

  His voice was very chaotic on the other end, and after I finished speaking, he hastily said: "Alright, you stay in Beijing, hide well, don't go anywhere...". He only got halfway through his sentence when the phone suddenly cut off. My mind was a mess, what's going on? Why did my uncle tell me not to return to Hangzhou, had something happened there? Why did he use the word "hide"?

  I felt something was off, so I picked up my phone to call Wang Meng. After the call connected, it was hung up on me. That little brat actually dared to hang up on me! I was furious, but I thought that Wang Meng wouldn't dare to hang up on me either - maybe he just accidentally pressed the wrong button? I dialed again, and this time, it only rang once before being hung up on me again.

  I think something's off about this Wang guy, when did he become so bold? He didn't give up and called again, this time the phone went dead.

  What's going on? Something is off, really off.

  I picked up my phone to call Zhao Wang, but before I even started dialing, the door was slammed shut with a loud bang. Outside, I heard Fatso's voice yelling, "Tianzhen, open the door quickly!" My anxiety was already on edge, and Fatso's sudden shout made me feel even more irritable. I reluctantly opened the door to find that this dead fat guy was only wearing a pair of underwear, and I couldn't help but curse, "Damn it, you're not some kind of Adonis, what are you doing running around naked?"

  Fatso had a resentful expression, saying: "Your mother's big mouth is going to get us into trouble." After finishing speaking, he didn't wait for my reaction and dragged me by the arm while wearing only his underwear towards his house. Fatso lived in a small quadrangle courtyard, which was a villa-level treatment in this land-scarce Beijing area. I was being dragged by Fatso in the corridor, just about to scold him, when I discovered that something was off with him.

  He locked the door as soon as we entered the room, and I found that the TV was on, seemingly playing some news. The DVD player below it was glowing blue, with a few discs placed on top of it. I took a glance and saw that they were Japanese women's action movies. I cursed: "Damn fatty, even if you want to drag me to watch these together, do you have to be so impatient? Can't you wait for a few more minutes?"

  Who would have thought that fatty actually put away the DVD, threw the disc into the drawer, grabbed the remote control in his hand, and said with a tense face: "You know nothing, Fatty originally wanted to see if Japanese people's action movies had made any progress. As a result, as soon as he turned on the TV, damn it, do you know what was playing on the news?"

  I glanced at the TV and found it was commercial time. Nowadays, even news programs start inserting ads.

  "I irritably said: 'I didn't even turn on the TV, who knows what's being broadcast, what's going on?'"

  Pangzi swallowed his saliva, with a somewhat strange expression, and said: "You'd better be mentally prepared, it seems like something has happened to your Wu family." I was shocked in my heart, thinking of the strange phone call from Second Uncle, and looking at Pangzi's expression again, suddenly felt icy cold hands and feet.

  Did Fatso see some information about the Wu family in the news? What could have happened that would make it onto the news?

  My heart was racing, my eyes fixed on the TV, just as the commercial ended and a scene appeared on screen. I took one look and felt like I'd been struck by lightning - it was my Xi Lin Printing Company.

  The shop was in a state of chaos, with people rushing in and out. The female anchor's voice was icy as she explained: "...After receiving the report, the Hangzhou Municipal People's Police immediately launched an investigation and inspected several shops suspected of smuggling. We will continue to follow up on this story." Meanwhile, the camera panned across the scene, and I saw Wang Meng anxiously talking to a police officer, while Zhao Wang stood by, looking stunned and intimidated.

  The screen flashed by, and then reported several other shops, including four Wu family pawnshops and several individual households. I sat on Pangzi's bed, feeling cold hands and feet, and finally understood the meaning of Second Uncle's words.

  How did this happen?

  This time the anti-smuggling operation was carried out without any rumors, we who are in this line of work have a very tight network, as soon as the police have any news, everyone on the road can receive the message within an hour, but this time it came too suddenly.

  Among them, is it a coincidence or has been depressed for a long time?

  Wait a minute, Second Uncle suddenly took over all of Third Uncle's responsibilities, completely clearing me of any blame. Did he anticipate this would happen today?

  I immediately took out my mobile phone and dialed Second Uncle's number, but it was unreachable.

  I spent the whole night making phone calls, until 11 o'clock in the morning, when Wang Meng's phone finally got through. The first sentence he said to me was almost tearful: "Boss, I'm scared to death, I almost ended up in jail." Although Wang Meng has made a lot of progress this year, after all, his experience is not enough. If it were me facing so many cops, one wrong word could have led to being caught and put in a difficult situation, I guess I wouldn't be much better than him.

  I took a deep breath and said in a low voice: "Don't panic, I'm asking you, have all the police withdrawn?"

  "Yeah, just left."

  "I said: 'Have they found out anything?'"

  Wang Meng cried out in a mournful voice, "The counterfeit goods in the store have all been found out, and many shops have suffered losses. When the police came to investigate, Second Master went with them to the yamen, but there's still no news."

  I took a deep breath and asked again: "Have you found out where the goods were shipped?"

  Wang Meng lowered his voice and said, "Not yet."

  My mind is a mess, but I've got a number, as long as they don't investigate the sales side, they can't get me for stealing and selling cultural relics, at most I'll just be fined for selling fakes.

  Then, I asked Wang Meng to keep his phone on for 24 hours and contact me as soon as there was any news. I also told him to inform the other stall owners in Hangzhou to withdraw all the counterfeit goods and not to open their stalls recently. Wang Meng said that my uncle had already given these instructions before, and he left a message telling me not to interfere with the stall owners' affairs anymore and to completely wash my hands clean. If I didn't receive his notice, I mustn't return to Hangzhou.

  I hung up Wang Meng's phone, and Fatzi and I looked at each other in dismay. Fatzi patted me on the shoulder and comforted me, saying: "As long as we didn't get caught with fake goods, it's fine." In fact, nowadays, 90% of the antiques sold in shops are fake, and everyone knows this, it's an unspoken rule in the market. It's hard to change this situation overnight, so those in power just turn a blind eye. But for us, who make a living by digging up antiques from the ground, if we get caught with a fake source, our lives wouldn't be enough to pay for it.

  That night, I can say that I was tossing and turning, from time to time looking at my phone. The next day when I got up, with a pair of panda eyes, Fatso told me not to overexert myself, hastily ate breakfast, and then took the photocopies to rush to the museum.

  On the way, I was still thinking about Pan Kou's affairs and called Wang Meng again. Wang Meng said it was still the same, now in Hangzhou's antique shops, not a single one dared to open, Er Ye had not returned yet, but Lao Lei was running around in the back, it shouldn't take long.

  That museum is located in Xicheng District, Beijing. It mainly collects ceramics and has a small area with few visitors. When I and Pangzi entered, there were no visitors except the staff.

  We asked people all the way where Dr. Zhang was, and then came to an office door, which was open. The room was very messy with many things piled up in a disorderly manner. A woman with a ponytail was bent over writing something on her desk, but I couldn't see her face clearly.

  I knocked on the door and heard: "Excuse me, where is Dr. Zhang?"

  After a while, the woman raised her head, looked at me and Fatso for a moment, nodded and said: "I am. You two are introduced by Professor Shi, please sit down." I exchanged a glance with Fatso, Woman?

  She asked us to sit down, but in fact there were no extra stools in the room, which was cluttered everywhere. Finally, the fat man sat on a pile of paper with a thud, and I stood aside. This returned Ph.D. had a ponytail, wore no makeup, but had deep contours, healthy wheat-colored skin, and looked very beautiful. Unlike ordinary little girls, she didn't have a playful and lovely appearance, but was more serious, which made me involuntarily think of the Greek goddess, and I was a bit distracted for a moment.

  At this time, the fatty pulled my hand and whispered: "Tianzhen comrade, calm down a bit, don't be fascinated by beauty." I cursed silently, finding Dr. Zhang staring at me with an expressionless face, suddenly blushing, thinking that this time was really embarrassing, hurriedly clearing his throat, saying: "Dr. Zhang, hello, my surname is Wu, this is my friend, we..." Before he could finish speaking, she interrupted him.

  She nodded and said, "I know, bring the book over." She didn't show any impatience, her expression was stern, neither warmly welcoming nor unwelcoming, with an air of a scholar. Myself and Fatso were affected by this atmosphere, and we both straightened our posture.

  The fat guy handed the copy to Dr. Zhang, who then lowered his head and looked at it, but didn't make a sound for a long time. Finally, the fat guy whispered in my ear: "No wonder they say that PhDs are different from ordinary people. But I bet you, this woman will become an old leftover woman."

  Fatso spoke in a low voice, and I followed suit, the two of us whispering to each other. I said: "How did you know that the face of the person who's being whispered about is like a Greek goddess, yet she remains unmarried?"

  The fatty looked at me with disdain and said in a low voice, "If it were you, would you be willing to marry a woman who is more educated than you and better than you in every way? Besides, look at her aura, don't you feel embarrassed?"

  I think fatty is too vicious, so I retorted: "Shut up, you're talking nonsense. Radish and cabbage, each has its own love. Moreover, your current statement is a typical example of sexism. As a young person in the new era, I despise you."

  Fatso immediately said I forgot righteousness when I saw beauty and framed me.

  Just as I was about to speak up, Dr. Zhang suddenly raised her head, her piercing gaze slowly sweeping over me and Fatso, her eyes narrowing slightly, after a moment, she spoke: "This thing... where did you two get it from?" The way she acted, it was just like interrogating a criminal.

  Pangzi's face changed as soon as he heard it, but due to the weight of Zan Sheng Jing, he endured and didn't speak out. I was shocked in my heart, but remained calm on the surface, smiling: "It was collected from an old farmer, Dr. Zhang, I heard that Professor Shi said you are an expert in this field, do you know what is written on it?"

  Dr. Zhang furrowed his brow, his slender fingers tapping irregularly on the table as he gazed at me and Pongzi with an eerie expression. After a long while, he finally spoke: "This is a fragmentary book, and some of the words are very obscure - I've never seen them before either. However, it records something interesting."

  "What's up?"

  Dr. Zhang thought for a moment: "This thing is not complete, and I'm just speculating. Based on the content above, the owner of this thing has been to a city before, and took something from the ruler of that city...". She said up to here, furrowed her brow involuntarily, then continued: "Nonsense."

  I was secretly anxious and silently cursed the female doctor for being stuck at a critical moment. I asked more sincerely: "What's wrong?"

  Dr. Zhang shook his head and smiled, "It's a bit shocking to say it out loud, I think it was fabricated by the ancients. You're in the business of reproducing antiques, this thing is quite niche, it would be very valuable if it were given to a research institute. However, if it were to circulate on the market, it wouldn't sell for much money. Name a price and our archaeological institute will take it."

  The fat man couldn't help it, but he didn't swear at the lady. Instead, he said: "I'm saying this... Doctor, we're looking for you to translate something, not sell us anything. Just be straightforward and tell us what's written on there."

  "This is something that I and Fatso went through nine deaths and one life to come up with, selling it to her would be a joke, she's worth billions, so I have to weigh my options carefully. But this woman is the only person who can understand it so far, so I don't want to get angry, and said in a gentle tone: 'Dr. Zhang, I'm just a curious person, not looking to make money from it, what does it say on there? Please tell me straightforwardly.'"

  The woman was probably confused by the actions of the fat man, shaking her head and saying: "The person who wrote this said that he had been to a city called Yabuda. According to the records above, he had a very close relationship with the ruler of Yabuda. When he left, he took something from Yabuda with him. This thing was later put into a door by him, and then...the world inside this door...was a...was a..."

  Door? Could it be the Bronze Door? Did Sundara people ever put something inside the Bronze Door?

  I exchanged a glance with Pangzi, and coincidentally, Dr. Zhang's card got stuck again at this moment. I was anxious and my tone wasn't controlled either, saying: "What is it after all? Speak clearly." Dr. Zhang frowned, threw the photocopy on the table, crossed her arms, looked towards the door, and said: "See them out." After she finished speaking, a man appeared at the door and made a gesture of invitation to me and Pangzi.

  I and Fatso were both stunned at once, this changing face is too fast, leaving people unprepared.

  Fatso was the first to come back to his senses, and immediately slapped me on the head with a loud slap, saying in a flattering tone: "Doctor, don't mind him, this kid's right brain isn't developed well, he talks nonsense, just communicate with me."