WWY Chapter 63
by VolareChapter 63: Lan He’s Boyfriend, Swear You’ll Always Be Good to Me!
Tuxi Ling got out of the car with a mix of apprehension and unease, still holding the box in his hands, which now felt more like a tribute.
In stark contrast, Lan He walked towards them with a light and cheerful step, affectionately calling out, “Uncle Luo, Uncle Dan, good morning!”
Luo Minhu saw that his hands were empty and asked with disappointment, “No soup dumplings today?”
“I was in a rush today, so no, but I’ll make it up tomorrow for sure!” Lan He said obediently, wrapping his arm around his shoulder. “Uncle Luo, let me introduce you, this is Tuxi Ling!”
Luo Minhu raised his thick eyebrows. “Oh!”
Tuxi Ling quickly straightened his chest and raised his head. “Uncle Luo, hello!”
Lan He turned to Dan Han and pointed at Tuxi Ling, indicating, “Uncle Dan, Tuxi Ling, you can just call him Little Ling!”
Tuxi Ling actually detected a hint of contrived coyness on his face, and goosebumps erupted on his back. Before Dan Han could utter a cold snort, he quickly greeted, “Uncle Dan, hello!”
Dan Han sized him up from head to toe, pursed his lips with dissatisfaction, and scoffed, “Hmph!”
Lan He turned back, winked at Tuxi Ling, and then shepherded the two old men back into the room, chatting all the way about Dan Han’s health, the need to wear more clothes with the recent temperature drop, and Luo Minhu’s son coming to visit. Tuxi Ling was simply dumbfounded.
Who was this person with the sweet talk, the ability to act spoiled, and the talent for saying things that hit the spot? Where did the wealthy young master, known for his sharp tongue, cunning, pickiness, and prickliness, go?
The tall and long-legged Officer Ling followed behind the three elderly and frail figures, scurrying with small steps. Finally, they reached their room, and under Lan He’s prompting gaze, he put down the box and turned back to close the door.
When he returned, the two old men were sitting side by side on the sofa with serious expressions, giving Tuxi Ling the feeling that he was being forced to undergo a leadership review.
He looked for Lan He and saw him fetching two glasses of boiled water for the two old men from next door, a very thoughtful gesture.
Luo Minhu leaned back on the sofa, exuding authority without anger, “You’re Lan He’s boyfriend?”
Tuxi Ling: “?”
He turned his head to look at Lan He, who was leaning against the windowsill, smiling innocently. “Brother, I’ve told both uncles already, don’t be shy!”
Tuxi Ling: “!”
This was his so-called “I’ll find a way”?
So, the hostility from the moment they met stemmed from the anger of his own precious cabbage being stolen by a pig?
This…
Even knowing that this “brother” was an act, the sweet, cloying voice still caused a surge of heat to well up in his abdomen, rushing in all directions, endlessly rushing…
Dan Han said, “He looks good, but good looks aren’t everything. Lan He is a soft-hearted and naive child, you can’t take advantage of him. You have to be good to him!”
Tuxi Ling: “…”
Naive? His mind spins at least 1200 times a minute!
Luo Minhu chimed in, “Little Ling, Lan He has a bad heart. He’s come to the sanatorium for treatment so many times, and you? You haven’t accompanied him once. Oh, you only know to come to the door when you need something? If it weren’t for today, we wouldn’t even know he had a boyfriend!”
Dan Han said forcefully, “I think his heart condition was brought on by you being angry!”
Lan He bit his lip, looking pitiful, but actually stifling a laugh: “Uncles, my brother is busy! Stop scolding him, it makes my heart ache!”
He gestured to Tuxi Ling, “Quick, swear you’ll always be good to me!”
Tuxi Ling was put on the spot and had no choice but to raise three fingers. “I swear!”
As for what he was swearing, he couldn’t bring himself to say it.
Luo Minhu saw the hand he raised, narrowed his eyes slightly, then nudged Dan Han. “That’s enough, don’t go overboard! I think this young man’s character is alright. He’s been scolded for so long without getting angry, he’s quite humble, he’ll be good to Lan He in the future!”
“Oh, so you were testing him?” Lan He raised his chin with a proud look. “It’s completely unnecessary! He’s so good to me, he listens to everything I say, and he always finds ways to make me happy every day!”
If only that were true!
He planned to make that his New Year’s wish this year, bathing and burning incense on New Year’s Eve to pray.
Dan Han’s anger subsided a little, but his brow was still furrowed. “Lan He said you wanted me to help appraise something? Take it out and let me see!”
Tuxi Ling was relieved and opened the box, respectfully placing it on the coffee table in front of the sofa, inviting him to take a look.
Dan Han took a casual glance and was startled.
“Warring States Period dragon-patterned jade disc? Lan He, didn’t you show me a painting of it?”
“Yes, Uncle, you’ve seen it!”
“And the other one is a Tang Dynasty incense burner? Too fake.”
“Fake?”
“Yes, obviously fake. The material is wrong.”
Dan Han took out his reading glasses from his pocket and looked closely, then went back to the room to get a briefcase containing a magnifying glass, gloves, a small brush, small tweezers…
Tuxi Ling was tongue-tied.
Lan He glanced at him, smug: Professional, right!
Tuxi Ling nodded slightly, his heart in his throat.
The old man spent half the day diligently appraising, put down the magnifying glass, and shook his head. “They’re all fake. If they were genuine, they would be cultural relics. I was originally planning to persuade you to donate them to the museum, but since they’re fake, just keep them for fun. The imitations are quite convincing.”
Tuxi Ling was speechless.
So these were the fakes borrowed from the museum!
He thanked the two old men solemnly and quickly left the sanatorium under the pretext of having something to do.
Dan Han said indignantly, “I knew he wasn’t anything good. He used people and then left? I have to advise Lan He later. Such a good kid, it’s one thing to have a boyfriend, but he’s so bad!”
Luo Minhu poked him with his finger. “Look at you meddling. People must have something urgent to come and go so quickly!”
Dan Han snorted coldly. “He doesn’t have anything! He doesn’t take Lan He seriously at all, and he doesn’t take us seriously either!”
“How doesn’t he take us seriously? Didn’t he open the car door for Lan He? How considerate?” Luo Minhu raised his chin towards the outside of the gate. “I say, didn’t you see it? He’s a police officer. There must be something wrong with those two cultural relics that he came to you! He’s in a hurry to solve the case!”
“A police officer? You’re lying to me? A righteous face makes him a police officer?”
“You admit he has a righteous face?” Luo Minhu laughed. “You old thing! He has calluses from holding a gun on his hands. Can I be wrong?”
“Really? Oh…”
The two of them watched the Bentley drive away together, saying in unison—
“They’re a bit of a match…”
“They’re very suitable…”
–
Although the case had opened up a new line of thought, Tuxi Ling still didn’t get permission to join the task force. Tian Kun seemed to be at odds with him, simply refusing to let him participate in the case investigation.
Ke Yaojin persuaded, “Captain Tian is trying to keep you out of trouble. You’re so close to Lan He, don’t accidentally make any mistakes. He’s trying to eliminate hidden dangers! Look, our branch is so busy now. The whole city doesn’t just have Sang Da’s case, other cases need someone to manage, right? You’re the one in charge of the overall situation, the bureau will remember your sacrifice!”
Tuxi Ling knew what he said was true, anyone would arrange it that way, but he just wouldn’t accept it.
“Alright!” He tucked away his black notebook and picked up the box containing the cultural relics from the table. “Then I’ll go investigate another case, you guys be busy!”
Ke Yaojin didn’t expect him to give up so easily and was stunned. “Huh? What are you going to investigate?”
Tuxi Ling left the sentence “None of your business” and trotted downstairs.
Awesome!
He had to go to the museum again, first to return these two fake cultural relics, and second to find Yishi Pan to investigate their origin.
Subconsciously, he had already determined that Qi A was the one who robbed the museum. Their gang often smuggled and sold cultural relics, so they must have some understanding of the value of various cultural relics. He didn’t take this one, which meant he knew this one was fake. So, the one Lan He saw abroad should be the real one.
His reason for making the judgment was very simple: even Dan Han, who came from the National Museum, had to use a magnifying glass to carefully distinguish it. In the hasty robbery situation, Qi A couldn’t have judged the authenticity at a glance. They must have handled the sale of the dragon-patterned jade disc, so he knew this one was fake and worthless.
According to regulations, questioning must be done by no less than two police officers. He didn’t have anyone available right now. After a little thought, he took out his phone and opened his address book.
“Hello, Officer Ba, this is Tuxi Ling.”
“Hello, Captain Ling!”
“Is the station free?”
“I’m free for now. The case has been handed over to the Criminal Investigation Brigade!”
“Accompany me to the museum again?”
“Do you have something going on?”
“I have to return the cultural relics and chat with Curator Pan.”
Although the word “chat” was implicit, You Ba understood immediately. “No problem, then come to the Guangbo station to find me, I’m here!”
Because of the robbery, the city museum was currently closed to the public, ostensibly for internal maintenance to avoid trouble.
Yishi Pan was a little surprised by the arrival of the two police officers. He took the box from Tuxi Ling’s hand. “Did you finish the extraction so quickly?”
Tuxi Ling nodded perfunctorily. “Our technology is very good.”
Yishi Pan made tea for them and asked expectantly, “Officers, when will our museum be officially open?”
You Ba wiped the water that splashed out of the edge of the paper cup with a tissue. Seeing that Tuxi Ling didn’t answer, he said gently, “You have to wait for the results of the case investigation.”
Yishi Pan sighed. “We’ve suffered a great loss. We lost seventeen cultural relics at once, alas!”
Tuxi Ling sipped the hot tea. “Curator Pan, can I ask you a little more about the situation?”
“As long as it helps solve the case, I will definitely cooperate!” Yishi Pan was indeed prepared to cooperate, but when Tuxi Ling turned on the law enforcement recorder and took out his black notebook, he was a little confused. “Officer Ling, what is this?”
Tuxi Ling smiled. “This is our regulation, don’t mind.”
“Oh, okay, I understand.”
“Curator Pan, last time you said that there can’t be any fakes in the museum, right?”
“Of course!”
“But we found experts to appraise them. The two cultural relics that I took back have been determined to be fake.”
Tuxi Ling’s tone was very relaxed, as if he was chatting about everyday matters, but it made Yishi Pan sit up straight instantly.
“Determined? How did you determine it? Which expert dared to spout nonsense? I think he’s just a fake! I’m going to confront him!”
“Don’t get excited.” Tuxi Ling smiled. “A retired master of cultural relic research is recuperating in a sanatorium in our city. You’ve probably heard of his name, Dan Han, the director of the National Museum.”
Yishi Pan’s face instantly turned very ugly, and his lips were trembling. “Old Dan? Old Dan said these two are fakes? How is that possible? Indeed, I’m not from this major, I don’t understand cultural relic identification, but they were all appraised by our museum’s expert group when they entered the museum!”
Tuxi Ling reminded, “Is there a possibility that they were quietly replaced? After the first appraisal, few staff members pay attention to their authenticity, right?”
Yishi Pan stood up as if he had been greatly humiliated. “Impossible! Our management is very strict!”
“But the facts I know are like this.” Tuxi Ling didn’t want to argue with him and asked, “Can I see the collection files that you showed us last time again?”
As if eager to prove himself, Yishi Pan ran to find a stack of thick 8-open books and piled them on the coffee table. “Look, you can look at them slowly! We have records of every entry and exit from the warehouse!”
Tuxi Ling slowly searched through the catalog, and You Ba, who had been a decoration for half the day, also came over to look. He heard the clues from their conversation, and the outline of a super case was slowly forming in his heart.
Tuxi Ling found the corresponding page for the Warring States Period dragon-patterned jade disc and started reviewing the data from the beginning.
It entered the museum twenty-two years ago, when the museum had just been established. The original jade disc was cracked into six pieces, and because there were few collections at that time, it was exhibited like that.
Later, when the cultural relic restoration technology became relatively mature, they invited an expert in ancient jade to repair it. The expert’s name was…
Tuxi Ling carefully identified the blurry pen signature in the “restoration” column and finally recognized the two characters.
Qiu Na.