Parasitismus-Eve

Kapitel 9

Sun Jing opened the door for her. As Xu Xu brushed past him, he suddenly said, "Do you remember what you said when you tried to persuade me last time?"

She slowly stopped to look at him.

"You said I like danger."

Xu Xu frowned, but suddenly felt that Sun Jing was too close to her. Her first reaction was surprise. In her mind, Sun Jing was a cunning and scheming man who spoke strangely and was used to plotting and attacking from behind. Would such a man take the initiative to make a move?

"Hey, a good partner, right..." She only managed to say half a sentence before Sun Jing's stubble pricked her chin painfully.

She was pressed against one side of the door frame, her palms braced against the already open door, pushing it back and then slowly swinging it back from the top.

Sun Jing placed one hand on Xu Xu's back, moved it to her waist, and then down. When he moved it back, it had already slipped inside her clothes, encircling her incredibly elastic waist, and pressed her forcefully against himself.

Their tongues lingered between their lips and teeth for a long time before separating. They slowly tilted their heads back and gently pressed their left hands on Sun Jing's lower abdomen, separating the two of them slightly.

"I still have..." She only managed to utter half a sentence before Sun Jing bent his right knee forward, squeezing between her legs, making her last words sound like a nasal sound.

With her eyes closed, she felt Sun Jing's lips touch her earlobe, a stimulation completely different from that in her lower body. Her chin rested on Sun Jing's shoulder, her cheeks burning, her fingers digging into the man's back.

"A date, I'll be late..." she mumbled.

After a while, she opened her eyes, her chest heaving, and glared at the man who had released her.

"I think we still need to put work and our partners first," Sun Jing said.

The desire in Xu Xu's eyes hadn't completely faded; they were still glistening with a misty light. Suddenly, she leaned in and kissed him.

Sun Jing felt her lower lip being slowly taken into someone's mouth and wedged between her two rows of teeth.

Sun Jing thought, hoping she wouldn't bite too hard.

Xu Xu only bit down lightly before letting go. She stepped back outside the door and smoothed her hair.

"Then you've lost your chance, partner." With that, she turned and walked down the stairs.

Sun Jing listened as the conversation slowly faded into the distance.

"Am I crazy?" he asked himself.

My finger slowly glided across my lips, and when I looked at them, a faint red tinge was visible.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, in the office of the Oracle Bone Department of the Shanghai Museum, Wen Zhenhe was sitting at his desk, smoking and reading the evening paper that had just been delivered. His elbows were on the table, his shoulder blades were raised high, and his head was tilted forward, so that only half of his head could be seen from behind, with smoke rising from it from time to time.

Smoking is prohibited in the office, but Wen Zhen and the young researcher behind him certainly had no right to criticize their superior. He stared at the old man's strange back for a while, then picked up his cup, took a big gulp of tea, crushed the few tea leaves that rushed into his mouth with the tea between his teeth, and swallowed them all.

Wen Zhenhe was reading a news article in the culture section, and her sparse eyebrows slowly furrowed.

The title is "Mysterious female tycoon wants to build a private museum".

Qiu Xilai, the oracle bone expert interviewed, was somewhat surprised by the reporter's swift response. He said he had just met with the young woman, who had a strong interest in oracle bones, the day before, to discuss the topic of collecting and acquiring them. He added that if this patron were to actually establish such a museum in the future, he would be happy to provide assistance during the planning and construction process.

The reporter also interviewed Sun Jing, another oracle bone scholar who introduced the mysterious female tycoon to Qiu Xilai. Sun Jing admitted that he was assisting the investors in contacting people in academia and the collecting world, hoping to ultimately facilitate this beneficial deal for promoting oracle bone culture. However, the reporter was ultimately unable to interview the young "Ms. Xu." In Sun Jing's words, she was unwilling to step into the limelight while everything was still in its early stages.

Therefore, the reporter did not actually have enough information, and he had no choice but to list a series of information about famous private museums in China in his report to make it more complete.

The circle of oracle bone inscription collectors isn't large. Wen Zhenhe knew Qiu Xilai and also knew the name Sun Jing. He tapped his fingers on the table, feeling a bit annoyed. He hadn't even known about this. If this had happened in any other antique field in Shanghai, it would have been implicated by the other department heads at the Shanghai Museum—genuine bigwigs in the industry. Shouldn't he be on the same level as them? But he wasn't. He slammed his fist down on the table again, until his hand ached.

Wen Zhenhe didn't notice that the report had two bylines: one for a reporter and one for an intern. Those in the media industry would understand that this meant the report was written by the intern, while the official reporter listed first had likely only skimmed the draft and picked out a few typos. Interns are characterized by their gullibility and lack of critical thinking skills. For them, the most important thing is getting the article published, so they'll confidently assure the editor that their writing is absolutely true and credible.

Unfortunately, the director of the Oracle Bone Department at the Shanghai Museum was unaware of this. He took a few deep drags on his cigarette, burned off the last bit of tobacco, put away the cigarette holder, and walked out of his office.

His subordinate stood up and walked to the newspaper, wanting to see what news had angered Wen Zhenhe. He knew he had time to read the whole newspaper before Wen Zhenhe returned. As was customary, a few days before each rotation of the Shanghai Museum's oracle bone collection, Wen Zhenhe would spend an hour or two wandering around the exhibition hall before leaving get off work. Today was the first day.

The Shanghai Museum is located on the south side of People's Square. There is a wide open space in front of the museum, where people take photos all the time.

A boy of about thirteen or fourteen years old looked up, shook the string, and flew a kite high into the air, walking forward step by step.

"Hey, you can't fly kites here. You have to go to the center of the square to fly them," the tall, thin museum security guard said as he ran over.

The boy seemed not to hear, still craning his neck, until a car horn blared in front of him.

"Hey, you can't park here, the parking lot is over there." The security guard left the kite-flying boy and turned to the car that was honking its horn.

Parking is actually allowed. In fact, there are cars parked in the open space in front of the museum right now. But those are special cases, such as when you are at the museum on business and not a tourist, and you can mention the names of some influential museum personnel.

The car horn blared arrogantly once more.

Parked in front of the security fence was a blue BMW 335 with its top down. Another reason the security guard didn't immediately show a stern face was the presence of embossed dragons and phoenixes on the car's two front doors, whether inlaid or pasted on, with a milky-white ivory sheen. Almost no one would put such luxurious decorations on their car; even a slight scratch would ruin it.

The woman in the driver's seat, wearing large sunglasses, smiled beautifully.

"I'm going to pull over," she said, sticking her hand out the window and flicking it with a crisp sound. It was the sound of the crisp new banknotes she was holding between her fingers.

"Huh? We can't stop here."

He slowly withdrew his hand, and when he stretched it out again, the money he was holding had turned into two bills.

The security guard suddenly realized that the woman in sunglasses hadn't pulled out a hundred-yuan bill because she didn't have change for parking. As for now… he immediately put the money in his coat pocket, ran to the car, and pulled up two movable barriers to let the car in. Then, smiling, he jogged alongside the car, pointing out parking spaces.

"Which hall is for viewing oracle bones?" Sun Jing asked the security guard after getting out of the car.

"Bronze Ware Exhibition Hall," the security guard replied, then enthusiastically pointed out how to turn and walk through the hall.

Sun Jing nodded to him, and walked a few steps towards the entrance of the museum with Xu Xu, but then turned back alone and instructed the security guard, "Please keep an eye on the ivory plaques on the vehicle, don't let anyone damage them."

"Ivory...ivory? Oh, yes, yes, definitely, don't worry."

Wen Zhenhe stood beside the pillar.

This is a corner of the bronze ware exhibition hall. However, some of the display cases now contain fragments or complete tortoise shells, ox scapulae, ox ribs, ox thigh bones, and sheep skulls. Some have inscriptions, some don't. Depending on their burial environment over the past few millennia, some are dark yellow, some grayish-white. Regardless of their current color, they are hardly considered beautiful. Therefore, although they only appear in the exhibition hall for about two weeks every one or two months, most visitors are still drawn to the simple yet elegant bronze ware next to them.

This situation was certainly not satisfactory to Wen Zhenhe. The Shanghai Museum regularly rotates its collections and exhibits, but the number of oracle bones in its collection is not enough for rotation; even if all of them were taken out, it would only fill one hall. Therefore, their presence is occasional, appearing only occasionally during small-scale rotations.

Even such a chance appearance failed to generate enough interest among visitors, which conveyed a message to Wen Zhenhe: the elevation of the status of the Oracle Bone Inscriptions Department was still a long way off.

"Look at this four-eared mirror. During the Shang and Zhou dynasties, they were used to hold water and act as mirrors. Actually, the color you see on bronze artifacts now is the result of long-term oxidation. When they were first used, they were golden yellow. Can you imagine?"

The exhibition hall was always quiet, so even speaking softly like this was enough for Wen Zhenhe to hear clearly. The "river" between his brows deepened even more; he was another person who liked bronzes.

"Aren't you an expert in oracle bone script? You also know quite a bit about bronzes."

Wen Zhenhe turned her head to look at the two people who were speaking, somewhat surprised.

Both of them were quite eye-catching. The young woman was tall and slender, and even in the exhibition hall, she wore large-lensed sunglasses, exuding a celebrity air. The man next to her wore a blue knitted hat commonly worn by hip-hop enthusiasts, a style completely incongruous with his appearance, and even more so in a museum exhibition hall. However, a corner of a band-aid was peeking out from under the brim of his hat, which was probably the reason he wore it.

"The periods of the Bronze Age and the Oracle Bone Inscriptions largely overlap," Sun Jing replied. "The oracle bones are there, but the Shanghai Museum has a very small collection. To open a dedicated exhibition hall for oracle bones, we would need at least three times the size of the collection."

As the two spoke, they brushed past Wen Zhenhe, neither of them glancing at the old man. However, Sun Jing, with his hand in his pocket, gently pressed the dial button on his phone.

They paused and strolled in front of the oracle bone display case, speaking in hushed tones, yet Wen Zhenhe could still hear most of what they said. It was like fishing; the bait bobbed up and down in the water, sometimes near, sometimes far, as if it were alive, and the fish would naturally swim over to bite.

"The sheer number and the number of rare oracle bones on display here cannot compare to those at the Anyang Yin Ruins Oracle Bone Museum. However, the coordination of the spotlights, stands, and exhibition booths is excellent, which is actually more important for the average visitor."

He nodded slowly.

"The Shanghai Museum has many resources, but it doesn't collect many oracle bones. It's not that they can't, but rather that they've never focused on this area. Even so, they still have some very precious collections."

"Like a wizard's skull? But I haven't seen it here."

"I've always wanted to see it in person, but such national treasures are rarely on display."

"Perhaps there's an opportunity," Xu Xu smiled at Sun Jing, "if we can collaborate with the Shanghai Museum."

"It would be wonderful if we could collaborate. Besides the significance of the Shanghai Museum's oracle bone collection, the management experience of a modern large museum is also very important."

Wen Zhenhe heard these few sentences clearly, and recalling the report he had just read, he naturally guessed the "identities" of the two people in front of him.

Collaborating with the Shanghai Museum? He put his hands behind his back and squinted at the two people in front of him.

A series of rapid footsteps approached from afar. A person ran past Wen Zhen and stopped in front of Xu Xu and Sun Jing, whispering something to them.

The security guards in the square outside? They seem to be in some trouble. Wen Zhenhe didn't hear clearly, but seeing the two of them quickly walk out with the security guards, she hesitated for a moment before following them.

"I'm so sorry, so sorry," the security guard apologized repeatedly, following Xu Xu and Sun Jing. "I was watching the whole time, I didn't expect him to just bump into us like that, there was no way to stop him. He was right outside, my colleague was watching him."

Xu Xu and Sun Jing, their faces grim, quickly walked out of the museum. They saw a fat man explaining something to another security guard in front of the blue BMW. A folding bicycle with wheels no bigger than bowling balls lay overturned on the ground nearby, apparently having just been in an accident with the BMW.

The thought of a fat man riding a small car is ridiculous, but none of the people involved are laughing right now. He just crashed into the front left door, where the intricate relief carving, which originally featured a dragon with its head held high, is now broken off. The fat man is carefully holding it in his hands, his thick palms trembling.

"It was just a light touch, a very light touch." The fat man looked miserable. When he saw the skinny security guard accompanying Xu Xu and Sun Jing walking quickly over, he immediately turned around, picked up the handle, and touched the broken part on the car door, as if he wanted to try to put it back together.

Sun Jing's face was ashen as he watched the fat man's buttocks wiggle in front of him, but he couldn't help finding it somewhat amusing. This guy's performance was trending towards exaggeration; he'd have to talk to him about it later—everything in moderation, this wasn't his magic stage.

"You want to fix it after you've damaged it like this? Well, the owner is here now, what are you going to do?"

The fat man turned around hesitantly, still holding the dragon head in his hand. When he saw Xu Xu and Sun Jing staring straight at him, he hurriedly covered the evidence with his other hand.

"Still hiding? What are you hiding?" the security guard shouted as hard as he could.

The fat man let go, looked down, and then looked up mournfully, saying, "I'll pay, I'll pay."

As he spoke, he reached into his pocket and rummaged around, making a rustling sound, clearly indicating that there were quite a few coins inside.

"Can you afford to pay for it? This is ivory." The security guard tried to make amends in this way.

"Ivory?" The fat man was startled, bringing the dragon head to his eyes to examine it closely. "No way, ivory on a car?"

"Of course it's ivory," Sun Jing said.

The fat man glanced back at the ivory carving on the car door and stammered, "Well, it's bound to happen sooner or later if we put it here..."

"You're the one who caused the damage," Sun Jing retorted, then looked at Xu Xu as if asking the car owner how they planned to handle it.

Wen Zhenhe had already left the museum and was standing not far from them when he heard "ivory," and he was taken aback. He was somewhat incredulous; putting ivory carvings on cars—did they have so much money they didn't know what to do with it?

"Then...how much money do you want? I only have..." He blinked his small eyes, his tongue swirled in his mouth, and he blurted out the word "three".

"I only have three hundred yuan," he said.

The skinny security guard, a man of many experience, immediately saw through his trick. He snorted and said, "Three hundred yuan? Let me see your wallet."

The fat man immediately blushed, stammered a couple of times, and suddenly shouted, "Just because you say it's ivory doesn't mean it's ivory! Who knows?"

"Oh, you think you're right after I hit you?" The speaker was, of course, the security guard.

Xu Xu hadn't said a word until now, then she gently shook her head, walked to the car door, and leaned down slightly to check its condition. Then she did something that left everyone speechless.

She used her fingernail to poke at a spot on the car door, then pinched it and forcefully lifted it up.

It turns out the sculpture was made on a transparent material similar to soft glass, which was then attached to the car door. Now the entire piece was being slowly peeled off. Her method was quite rough, with a "ripping" sound and a series of slight "clucking" sounds. This was because the material was bent too sharply during the tearing, and countless delicate details of the dragon and phoenix carvings were broken off.

He slowly opened the car door, threw the almost completely destroyed artwork onto the back seat, then turned to the other side and began tearing off the paint on the right front door.

"Anyway, he can't afford to pay for it; these things are bound to break eventually," Xu Xu said. "Besides, I don't really like it anymore; it's a bit too flashy."

The skinny security guard gaped. "Rich people are so arrogant," he thought bitterly.

The fat man watched as Xu Xu and Sun Jing got into the car, breathed a sigh of relief, and his expression relaxed. However, he held the hood in his hand and looked at it from left to right.