When The Snow Falls In Autumn Chapter 42

Chapter 42

At seven o’clock the next morning, the phone vibrated next to the pillow. It was not an alarm clock, but a phone call.Ye Qiulan touched his phone in a daze, and barely opened his eyes a crack. The words “Teacher Liu” danced on the screen.The remaining sleepiness was instantly shaken away, and she sat up suddenly, her heart pounding.

“Hello, Teacher Liu?”

“Classmate Ye Qiulan? Please come to the office of the Ancient Books Restoration Department on the third floor of the library now. I need to confirm some details with you about what happened last night.” Teacher Liu’s voice sounded more serious than last night, with a business-like coldness.

“Now?” Ye Qiulan looked out the window. It was just dawning, and gray-blue light seeped in through the gaps in the curtains.

“Yes, now. As soon as possible.” The phone hung up.

She was holding the phone, her palms a little sweaty.There was a familiar feeling of contraction in my stomach again. I didn’t know whether it was because I was nervous or because I hadn’t eaten breakfast.I barely slept after I came back last night. When I closed my eyes, I could see the scattered pieces of crispy yellow paper and Ling Xueqing’s tense profile in the dim light.

She stood up quickly, washed up, put on a simple cotton shirt and trousers, and tied her hair casually.When she grabbed the canvas bag, she hesitated for a second and stuffed the postscript about “Yun Yun Pavilion” into it.When she opened the dormitory door, the cool morning air made her shiver.

There are usually very few people on the third floor of the library, but it is even more silent now.There were only a few emergency lights on in the corridor, and the light was pale, shining on the smooth but slightly old floor tiles.The door to the restoration department’s office was ajar, and a brighter light came from inside.

She knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

Opening the door, the office is not big, filled with books, materials and repair tools. There is a faint smell of paste and old paper in the air.Teacher Liu sat behind his desk with some documents spread out in front of him.In addition to her, there is another person – Teacher Zhao, a professor of document restoration and the head of the ancient book restoration department. An old gentleman with gray hair and a always gentle look.At this moment, Teacher Zhao was frowning, holding a magnifying glass in his hand, and looking carefully at a piece of gray paper spread out on the table.

Ye Qiulan’s heart sank again.

“Classmate Ye is here, sit down.” Teacher Liu pointed to a chair in front of the desk.Teacher Zhao raised his head, glanced at her with complicated eyes, nodded to her, and said nothing.

Ye Qiulan sat down, holding the strap of the canvas bag tightly with his fingers.

“The surveillance was adjusted last night.” Teacher Liu got straight to the point and turned the laptop screen in front of her towards her, “Watch this.”

What was displayed on the screen was the surveillance screen from the corner of the storage area of the ancient book restoration department of the library, about twenty minutes before closing last night.In the picture, a figure of medium height wearing a dark hoodie lowered his head and walked quickly towards the row of oak cabinets.The hood of the hoodie was pulled down very low, completely covering his face. Only his slim figure could be seen.The figure stayed in front of the cabinet for less than a minute. He moved very quickly. He seemed to have used some tool to pry the lock of the cabinet (it was not clear from the surveillance angle), then opened the cabinet door and rummaged inside.Soon, the figure pulled out a book-like thing wrapped in acid-free paper, stuffed it into his arms, and fiddled with other storage boxes, causing some scattered pieces of paper to slip.Then, the figure quickly closed the cabinet door (but apparently didn’t lock it tightly), turned around, lowered his head and quickly left the surveillance range.During the whole process, the figure never raised his head.

The clarity of the picture was limited, and the figure was deliberately blocked, making it impossible to identify who it was.

“This person,” Teacher Liu pointed to the frozen picture, “do you have any impressions? Did you see anyone with similar clothing and body type in or near the reading area yesterday afternoon or evening?”

Ye Qiulan stared at the blurry dark mass on the screen, trying to remember.She spent most of yesterday afternoon sorting out the notes. Occasionally she looked up and saw people coming and going in the reading area. There were many people wearing dark clothes and some wearing hats… She shook her head blankly.”No…no special impression.”

Teacher Liu and Teacher Zhao looked at each other.Teacher Zhao sighed, put down the magnifying glass, and rubbed his eyebrows.

“What was stolen was the second of the three hand-written supplementary fragments of “(Kangxi) Yongzhou Prefecture Chronicles”.” Teacher Zhao’s voice was a little hoarse. “This set of fragments was donated by the local government a few years ago. The preservation condition has not been good, the paper is fragile, and the ink has fallen off. More importantly,” he paused and looked at Ye Qiulan, “According to the early access records reported by your group, you and classmate Ling Xueqing are the only ones who have been in frequent contact with this set of fragments recently.”

The office was quiet for a moment.The smell of old paper and paste seemed to be stronger in the air.

Ye Qiulan felt that his throat was dry.”Teacher Zhao, we are just conducting normal inspections for the purpose of reporting…”

“I know.” Teacher Zhao raised his hand, interrupted her, and softened his tone, “I don’t suspect you of stealing anything. But it happened after you used it intensively. The library must follow procedures to check all possibilities.” He pointed to the gray piece of paper on the table, “This is near the cabinet.What was found on the ground is not a stolen document, but the material and age are similar.There are half a faint fingerprint on it, and there are a few very new scratches that are suspected of being scratched by hard objects.In addition, the cabinet lock has slight pry marks, and the tools are very professional, which cannot be done by amateurs.”

“You mean… someone deliberately stole that fragment?” Ye Qiulan’s voice was trembling, “Why?”

“This is also what we want to know.” Teacher Liu responded with sharp eyes. “The content of the fragment is mainly the records of farm acres and households in several villages in the Guixi River Basin in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. It has academic value, but it is not a unique copy. The economic value on the market… is also very limited. Unless,” she paused, “someone is particularly interested in some specific information recorded in it, or does not want certain information to be seen.”

Ye Qiulan’s head buzzed.Guixi River Basin… Yiyun Pavilion… Liu Zongyuan’s possible clues to lost poems… could it be related to this?But that’s just their academic speculation based on local records. As for letting people take risks to steal it?

“In your team report,” Teacher Zhao asked slowly, “about the argument about the ‘Yiyun Pavilion’ and the Guixi River Basin, in addition to the published local chronicles, did you cite or speculate on some… sensitive content that has not yet been confirmed, or may involve specific locations or physical discoveries?”

“No!” Ye Qiulan immediately shook his head, and cold sweat broke out on his back. “We just sorted out the record chain of existing public documents and put forward a research hypothesis to find the possible direction of Liu Zongyuan’s scattered and lost poems. It did not involve any undisclosed objects or specific location excavation conjectures.” She thought of Ling Xuequing’s rigorous style. Every inference in the report had a solid documentary basis and no conjecture.

Teacher Zhao nodded, seemingly not surprised.”I understand Ling Xueqing’s academic style. But this does not mean that others will not have excessive associations with your research direction… or have ulterior interests.”

The office fell silent again.The sky outside the window got a little brighter, and the gray-blue turned into fish belly white.

At this moment, there were two knocks at the door, neither light nor heavy.

“Please come in.” Teacher Liu said.

The door was pushed open, and Ling Xueqing stood at the door.Today she wore a white Polo shirt, dark trousers, and her hair was tied into a neat ponytail. There was no expression on her face, except for an imperceptible hint of tiredness in her eyes.Her eyes quickly glanced at Ye Qiulan, paused for half a second on her slightly pale face, and then turned to the two teachers.

“Teacher Liu, Teacher Zhao.” She walked in with a steady voice, “I saw the email notification and came over.”

“Just in time.” Teacher Liu pointed to another chair next to him.

Ling Xueqing sat down, her posture upright, her back straight, and her hands placed naturally on her knees.Her presence seemed to subtly stabilize the tense atmosphere in the office.

Teacher Liu briefly repeated to Ling Xueqing what he had just said to Ye Qiulan, as well as the monitoring and preliminary findings.

Ling Xueqing listened very attentively and frowned slightly. After Teacher Liu finished speaking, she spoke: “About forty minutes before closing last night, I left the library because my tutor had something to do. When I left, the cabinets in the storage area were locked. There were about ten students in the reading area at that time, and Teacher Li, the assistant of the restoration department, was also on duty.” She stated clearly and accurately, and was meticulous about time, people, and status.

“When you left, did you notice anything unusual? Or people wearing dark hoodies and acting suspiciously?” Teacher Liu asked.

Ling Xueqing thought for a moment and shook her head: “I have no special impression. At that time, I was focused on what the instructor told me.”

“Regarding the content of the stolen fragment,” Teacher Zhao looked at Ling Xueqing, “In addition to academic arguments, in your report, is it possible that you inadvertently mentioned some… specific place names, family surnames, or details of property disputes that are easy to associate? In that fragment, the land records involve the changes in family property of several surnames.”

Ling Xueqing’s eyes were calm.”In the first draft of the report, this fragment was quoted only to illustrate the general stability of the distribution of villages in the Guixi River Basin during the Ming Dynasty, and to provide geographical background support for the location of ‘Yiyun Pavilion’. The specific item cited was ‘Eastern bank of Guixi River, Zhaojiaba, three hundred and twenty acres of private land’Neutral descriptions such as “Lin Jiachong, Shantang Mouth” do not involve any specific details of family feuds or property disputes.”Moreover, these contents are also recorded in the first and third volumes of the fragments, and are not unique to the second volume.”

Her answer was impeccable, once again bringing the focus back to purely academic areas.

Teacher Zhao pondered, tapping his fingers on the table unconsciously.”That’s strange… What’s the purpose of stealing the second volume alone?” He looked at Teacher Liu, “Unless there is something in the second volume that we haven’t noticed yet, or that the thief thinks is unique.”

The office was quiet again.The morning light passes through the gaps in the blinds and turns into bright strips of light, cutting through the floating dust in the room.

Ye Qiulan suddenly remembered something and moved his fingers slightly.She raised her head and looked at Ling Xueqing.Ling Xueqing seemed to have sensed it, and turned to her, blinking very lightly, with a question.

Ye Qiulan hesitated for a moment, then spoke in a low voice: “Teacher Zhao, Teacher Liu… When we reviewed it, the condition of that fragment was particularly poor. Some pages were seriously stuck together. Teacher Zhao, you also warned us to be careful. Could it be… that the thieves broke off some of the adhered pieces when they were rummaging through it in a hurry, or… took away something else?”

Ling Xueqing’s eyes immediately turned to the gray piece of paper on the table.

Teacher Zhao said “hmm”, picked up the magnifying glass, and looked at the piece of paper closer.”This is the backing paper. It is older than the fragment. It may have been padded in during later repairs. The scratches are very new… It looks like it was scratched by something like a metal sheet.” He said thoughtfully, “If the thief’s target is not the entire fragment, but a certain page or even a line of text… when tearing or cutting, the backing paper may be damaged and leave traces.”

This speculation makes things even weirder.What kind of information is worth spending so much time on, just for a page or a few lines of text?

“The library will formally report this matter and cooperate with the police investigation.” Teacher Liu closed the notebook in front of him and said in a serious tone, “Until the investigation is clear, the specific details of the theft of the fragments and the sensitive content involved in your report must be kept confidential and do not mention it to anyone. Including other students.” Her eyes lingered on the faces of Ye Qiulan and Ling Xueqing. “Your research can continue, but you must be more cautious when accessing other materials. If there are any abnormalities, report them immediately.”

“Understood.” Ling Xueqing responded.

Ye Qiulan also nodded.

“Okay, you go back first. Keep your phone open.”

When I walked out of the office, the lights in the corridor were all on, but there was no one there.The early morning silence enveloped the entire floor, with only the sound of their footsteps echoing.

Ling Xueqing didn’t stop until she reached the corner of the stairs.She turned around and looked at Ye Qiulan.The morning light slanted in from the high window of the stairwell, shining on the side of her face, and you could see the faint green shadow under her eyes.

“Didn’t you sleep well last night?” she asked, her voice low.

Ye Qiulan nodded and did not deny it.”I kind of… didn’t expect it to be so serious.”

Ling Xueqing was silent for a moment.”The core argument of the report will not be affected,” she repeated what she said last night, but with a hint of something else in her tone, “but the matter itself needs to be taken seriously.”

“Do you think… someone really came here for the clues in our report?” Ye Qiulan couldn’t help but ask, feeling panicked.

Ling Xueqing did not answer immediately.She looked beyond Ye Qiulan to the gradually brightening sky outside the window, her eyes a little deep.”Not sure. But the timing is too coincidental.” She looked away, “Teacher Zhao is right, someone may have over-associated with our research direction, or,” she paused and her voice became lower, “there are things in the fragments that we didn’t notice, but others care about.”

“What should we do?” Ye Qiulan felt helpless.They are just doing academic work, how could they get involved in this kind of thing?

Ling Xueqing looked at her slightly frowned brows and uneasy eyes, and suddenly reached out his hand, not to touch her, but to gently pull away the strap of the canvas bag that she had been holding tightly in her hand.

“Eat breakfast first,” she said, her tone unquestioning. “Then, make a detailed list of all the specific entries, page numbers, and contents in the report that reference the stolen fragments. Including any side notes or speculations that may cause associations, no matter how subtle.”

As she spoke, she turned and walked downstairs, holding Ye Qiulan’s canvas bag in her hand, acting as naturally as if it was her own.

Ye Qiulan was stunned for a moment and quickly followed.”Make a list…what to do?”

“Investigation.” Ling Xueqing didn’t even look back, and her voice came back clearly, “Let’s see what we ‘encountered’.”

Her back looked clear and firm in the early morning light, and her steps were steady, as if no matter what accidents or fog she encountered, she was methodically preparing a plan to dismantle and deal with it.Ye Qiulan followed her half a step behind, looking at the straight back, the messy anxiety and uneasiness in his heart seemed to be smoothed away bit by bit by the familiar and quiet power.

Downstairs, there was vague noise and voices coming from the direction of the cafeteria.A new day has begun, but the messy shadow in the corner of the library last night, and the academic report that suddenly became a little heavy in my hand at this moment, all indicate that this morning, and the following days, may not be as peaceful as usual.