Lu Chuanbai felt at ease only when he held Xu Qingqing firmly in his grasp.
Facing Lu Chuanbai's sudden confession, Xu Qingqing felt a flutter in her heart. But then she thought of Gu Anrou.
Gu Anrou was like a thorn in her heart that she could never get rid of.
Xu Qingqing could never forget Gu Anrou's vicious curses, telling her to get out of Lu Chuanbai's world. Even now, although Lu Chuanbai liked her, he would still protect Gu Anrou.
"I don't want it!"
"You have to accept it even if you don't want to." Lu Chuanbai gently pinched Xu Qingqing's chin, not allowing her to avoid his gaze, and said domineeringly.
"I'm not asking for your consent. I'm just informing you that I'm going to court you."
"You're being too domineering. This is really bothering me!" Xu Qingqing's mouth was pinched and pouted, making her words sound slurred.
"Then just accept me. Isn't there a saying that goes 'face difficulties head - on'?"
Xu Qingqing blushed and choked with anger. She was rendered speechless by Lu Chuanbai's confident confession. A powerful force suddenly welled up in her body. She pushed Lu Chuanbai away and turned to run.
No, it was more like fleeing in a hurry.
Damn it! Why did Lu Chuanbai confess his love to her!
She didn't like him at all, okay!
He was so self - confident and so cheesy!
Among all the people in the world, Xu Qingqing was probably the only one who thought Lu Chuanbai was cheesy.
As Xu Qingqing walked, she kicked the small stones on the ground to vent her anger.
She couldn't take it anymore. She wanted to go out and hide for a couple of days!
Just as Xu Qingqing was considering whether to stay at Lu Qi's shop for a few days, she received a call from Wang Lide.
"Hello, Teacher Wang. What's up?" Xu Qingqing answered the phone.
Wang Lide said seriously, "Qingqing, are you free tomorrow? We need to carry out a very important mission!"
"I'm free!" Xu Qingqing answered without hesitation and asked with concern, "Teacher Wang, what happened? Do we need to restore some cultural relics again?"
"No. This time we need to cooperate with the police. The police found a large number of unknown cultural relics in the antique market. They suspect that these relics were dug out by tomb - robbers and are being sold. We need to go and conduct on - site appraisals!"
Wang Lide's tone was filled with anger and helplessness towards the tomb - robbers.
"I see!"
Mentioning the tomb - robbers, Xu Qingqing gritted her teeth in hatred.
If it weren't for the tomb - robbers' crazy pursuit of money, how could so many cultural relics be wandering and so many calligraphies and paintings be damaged!
It was their bounden duty to crack down on tomb - robbers!
"I'll definitely be there on time tomorrow."
After hanging up the phone, Xu Qingqing suddenly remembered that there was still one last vase to be restored in Lu Qi's shop.
She had agreed so impulsively. Xu Qingqing slapped her own head. Although there were other restoration masters in the shop, she didn't know if the boss would agree.
Xu Qingqing ruffled her hair and decided to send a message to the boss. If the boss didn't agree, then she would have to postpone the restoration.
Xu Qingqing: Hello. How should I address you?
Xu Qingqing: Boss, I have something to do tomorrow. Your antique may have to be restored by another restoration master.
But you can rest assured that the masters in our shop are all very skilled. Do you think it's okay?
Lu Chuanbai, sitting in the car, received Xu Qingqing's message and replied with a smile: My surname is Bai. You can call me Mr. Bai.
Xu Qingqing immediately added the note "Mr. Bai" to his WeChat.
Mr. Bai: Don't worry! I don't trust anyone's restoration skills except yours. Wait until you're done with your business and then restore it.
Xu Qingqing was a bit stunned looking at the instant reply. She felt touched and delighted in her heart.
Was her skill so good that the customers only trusted her?
The joy of being affirmed swept over her heart. Xu Qingqing seriously replied with a "Thank you". But then she felt that the emotion wasn't fully expressed, so she added a cute cat emoji with its two front paws clasped in a gesture of gratitude.
Looking at the cute cat emoji, Lu Chuanbai couldn't help but think of the way Xu Qingqing had pushed him away and run away.
She was really like a fluffed - up kitten.
Xu Qingqing asked for leave from Lu Qi and went home to sleep.
The next day, she arrived at the Special Action Team's yard at 6:50, ten minutes earlier.
It was already autumn. The leaves on the trees in the yard were slowly turning yellow and falling, giving a desolate and bleak feeling.
The other two team members had arrived even earlier.
"Good morning, Qingqing!" Gu Yuan greeted Xu Qingqing while packing up his things.
"Good morning." Xu Qingqing waved at him with a smile. Chen Jiashu walked over carrying a black backpack. Although his expression was still silent, it was much softer than before.
"These are the equipment you'll need for the appraisal. I've already prepared it for you."
"Thank you." Xu Qingqing took the backpack and put it on, adjusting the shoulder straps.
When everyone was present, Wang Lide called the three of them to stand in the middle of the yard for a meeting.
Wang Lide said seriously to them, "I only want to emphasize one point!"
"We're not just going to appraise the treasures. We also need to protect our own personal safety. When those tomb - robbers are cornered, no one can predict what crazy things they'll do!"
"So while protecting the cultural relics, everyone also needs to protect themselves. Do you understand?"
"Understood!"
The three of them answered loudly.
"Next is the grouping. I'll be in a group with Gu Yuan, and Xu Qingqing will be in a group with Chen Jiashu. Any questions?" Wang Lide's serious gaze swept over everyone.
"No."
Everyone cooperated whole - heartedly. Even Gu Yuan, who usually liked to fool around, knew the occasion and followed the arrangement.
"Then let's set off now!"
Since she had to share a car with her team member, after getting in the car, Xu Qingqing asked Chen Jiashu for details about this mission.
"Do you have any pictures of the relevant cultural relics? I only heard Teacher Wang briefly describe the mission. I haven't seen them yet."
"Here you are."
Chen Jiashu handed his phone to Xu Qingqing. There were pictures of the cultural relics taken by the police in the antique city on it.
In the pictures, there was a bronze - made creature with a human face and a bird's body. Its eyes bulged out roundly, its nose protruded like a cylinder, and there were many feathers on its body.
Xu Qingqing stared at this never - seen - before creature in surprise, too shocked to speak. She looked at the pictures over and over again. All of them were pictures of this cultural relic, just taken from different angles.
"My goodness! This is so amazing! Is this really a civilization on Earth?" Xu Qingqing couldn't help but exclaim. Her eyes were reluctant to leave the pictures.
Chen Jiashu nodded in agreement. His excitement was no less than Xu Qingqing's. "Yeah. Just looking at the pictures is already so shocking, isn't it!"
"If only we could see the real thing! Qingqing, I have a feeling that this will definitely be something that shocks the world!"
Xu Qingqing thought Chen Jiashu was being a bit understated. If this was a real discovery, it would definitely attract the attention of the world's archaeological community!
She had studied antiques at home and abroad for so many years and had never seen such a cultural relic. If she had to describe this feeling, it was like seeing the Sphinx in Egypt for the first time.