The group climbed all the way to the entrance of Yangtian Mansion. A path leading inside had been cleared, and the way was unobstructed.
Gu Yuan, who was directing the archaeological team's excavation work, spotted Xu Qingqing and the others standing at the entrance. He waved to them warmly and then went to the registration desk to get the protective suits.
When Gu Yuan approached, Xu Qingqing introduced him. "This is my colleague, Gu Yuan."
Gu Yuan came up to Xu Qingqing and the others, took off his mask, and said, "You must be Mr. Smith."
Mr. Smith quickly stepped forward and nodded. "Yes, that's me."
"Welcome," Gu Yuan said, giving Mr. Smith a thumbs - up. He distributed a set of protective suits to each person and told them to put them on quickly.
Xu Qingqing put on her suit with ease and then helped the two kids tidy theirs up, speaking in a gentle tone.
"Yiyi, An'an, we're about to enter Yangtian Mansion."
"Whatever you see, don't make a sound, so as not to disturb the uncles and aunts who are working."
Xu Yiyi and Xu An'an nodded seriously.
Xu An'an, looking extremely cute, put her small hands around her mouth and said earnestly, "Mom, don't worry. An'an won't disturb them!"
"Mom, I'll be obedient too!" Xu Yiyi promised with full confidence.
Xu Qingqing stroked the kids' well - behaved heads and praised them. "You're really good kids."
After reaching an agreement with the kids, the group walked into Yangtian Mansion.
Most of the treasures that were easily damaged had been collected by the archaeological team. What remained inside the building were the building itself and things that were difficult to move.
The bodies of hundreds of Taoist priests hadn't all been removed yet. When Mr. Smith saw the mummies that had remained intact for hundreds of years, he struggled to suppress a gasp in his throat.
"This is truly amazing! How could such a miraculous thing happen!"
Xu Qingqing had become immune to Mr. Smith's exclamations. She shook her head with a helpless smile and pulled the two kids, whose eyes were equally bright, and continued walking inside.
It took them over two hours to tour the whole Yangtian Mansion.
When they came out, the sky was turning gray. Xu Qingqing and the others hitched a ride with Gu Yuan down the mountain to the mountain pass.
Xu Qingqing told Lu Chuanbai to go back to the hotel first. She still had something to report to Teacher Wang Lide.
Xu Qingqing went to the office of the Cultural Relic Protection Association in Dongchuan Province and asked the receptionist. She was told that Wang Lide was not in the research institute.
The receptionist said that Wang Lide had gone to another place for a report and would be back in two days.
Worried that the villagers were waiting anxiously, Xu Qingqing decided to report the matter of the bronze coins to the president of the Dongchuan Province Cultural Relic Protection Association.
The president happened to be out of town dealing with something and would only be back at night.
The receptionist asked Xu Qingqing to wait for a while. Helpless, Xu Qingqing had no choice but to continue waiting.
Fortunately, the heating in the guesthouse was turned up high, so it wasn't too cold.
Xu Qingqing sat on the bench outside the office and waited for about an hour.
A man with a somewhat shifty - eyed look and hair as shiny as if it had been licked by a cow sneaked into the corridor where the president's office was located.
The man peeked and saw a peerless beauty with eyes like autumn water sitting in front of the president's door. Immediately, a bad thought crossed his mind, and he rushed up to greet Xu Qingqing.
The man took off his security guard's vest, revealing a black windbreaker inside. He spat on his palm, smoothed his hair, and walked over to talk to Xu Qingqing.
"Hello, I'm Ma Yuan, the president's assistant. What do you want to see the president about?"
Xu Qingqing had never seen this man before. She glanced at the name tag on his chest and confirmed that he was indeed a staff member of the Cultural Relic Protection Association.
"Hello. I've found that many villagers in the villages at the foot of the Dongshan Mountains have ancient bronze coins passed down from Yangtian Mansion. I hope the president can find a way to recover them..."
Hearing this, a glint flashed in Ma Yuan's eyes. His mind raced as he pretended to stroke his chin and spouted nonsense.
"This is a matter that deserves attention. However, the president's schedule has been delayed, and it's not clear when he'll be back..."
"What should we do then?" Xu Qingqing frowned, and her white teeth unconsciously bit her red lips.
The pitiful look of the beauty made Ma Yuan feel pity. He continued to lie. "I can represent the president. How about I go with you to collect the ancient bronze coins first?"
This did seem like a feasible solution.
Xu Qingqing didn't suspect anything and went with Ma Yuan to get a car assigned by the protection association.
As the two passed by the reception desk of the guesthouse, the receptionist who had received Xu Qingqing saw them leaving together and couldn't help but whisper to her colleague.
"Why is the president's nephew going out with Technician Xu Qingqing? Is he up to no good?"
The colleague shook her head. "I don't think so."
"But he used to cause trouble all the time..."
"That was because Ma Yuan wanted the president to arrange an easy job for him. Now that he's been assigned as a gatekeeper, he should stop causing trouble."
"Maybe Technician Xu Qingqing needs his help with something."
Ma Yuan drove the special car of the cultural relic association proudly. When passing by the security booth, he ran into his colleague who was covering his shift.
The colleague was about to ask Ma Yuan where he was going when Ma Yuan quickly made a shushing gesture and pointed at Xu Qingqing in the back seat, who was looking down at her phone.
Although the colleague was dissatisfied with Ma Yuan running around during working hours, thinking about his connections, he had to swallow his anger.
"We're on official business. We're going out to collect a batch of ancient bronze coins. You guard the gate well."
After saying that, Ma Yuan drove away arrogantly.
During her previous work in Dongchuan Province, Xu Qingqing hadn't gotten to know all the staff of the Cultural Relic Protection Association.
She didn't know that Ma Yuan was just a small security guard and had no right to represent the president.
By the time Xu Qingqing realized it, it was already too late...
The group arrived at the village that had hosted Xu Qingqing. The village head had already mobilized the villagers to collect all the ancient bronze coins in their homes.
The village head came forward as a representative to negotiate with Xu Qingqing. As soon as Ma Yuan parked the car, the village head immediately surrounded them and rubbed his hands embarrassedly.
"Technician Xu, I've discussed with the villagers."
"We know these are treasures, and we won't ask for an unreasonable price. How about compensating us 50 yuan for each bronze coin?"
On the way, Xu Qingqing had been worried that the villagers would ask for an exorbitant price. She didn't expect them to be so reasonable.
Xu Qingqing opened the car door and got out. She spoke gracefully. "Village head, if it weren't for you bringing out the bronze coins, I wouldn't even know about them. 50 yuan is reasonable."
When the village head saw that Xu Qingqing had agreed, a look of excitement appeared on his face. He immediately called the village accountant to count how many ancient bronze coins each family had collected.
After all the counting was done, there were more than 200 ancient bronze coins.
Xu Qingqing turned to look at Ma Yuan, whose eyes were shining greedily. Ma Yuan's gaze was fixed on the sack filled with ancient bronze coins.
These many ancient bronze coins were all priceless. If he could sell a few of them, he would be rich!