"Okay, I'll call him then." The boss agreed and went to make the call.
***
In the teachers' dormitory.
Yan Xinyuan, wearing reading glasses, sat under a desk lamp with a list of contestants in front of him.
One pair: Xie Shi'an/Qiao Yuchu.
Second Doubles: Bai Bingbing/Xu Jia
Order 1: Zhang Chun
Second Single: Yang Li
These were all pre-arranged, with only three orders remaining unfilled.
He lowered his head, trying to write something, but after writing one stroke, he couldn't continue. He then drew a circle around the stroke and crossed it out.
Well, another sheet of paper wasted.
Yan Xinyuan decided to stop writing, picked up his pipe, lit some tobacco, and after puffing away for half a pipe, he opened the drawer, took out the bankbook, and was about to leave.
Just then, there was a knock on the door.
Yan Xinyuan opened the door and saw Coach Liang.
"Oh, you're going out? Perfect timing, I and a few other teaching assistants pooled together some money, you can take it to Jian Changnian."
Faced with the envelope pushed towards him, Yan Xinyuan was somewhat taken aback: "This..."
Coach Liang also saw the bankbook in his hand and smiled.
“We don’t earn much, and we have families to support. We’ve all done our best, so we’ll help out as much as we can.”
Yan Xinyuan patted him on the shoulder: "I thank you on behalf of Chang Nian, and I also thank you on behalf of the Binhai Provincial Team."
***
Qiao Yuchu followed Xie Shi'an home.
As soon as she entered, she went straight to her grandfather's locked study. She had thought she would never open that door again in her life, until today.
Pushing open the heavy door, dust and memories surged in.
On Grandpa's familiar workbench, there were still sawdust shavings, and carving knives and brushes were scattered haphazardly on the table.
On the wall behind the desk, there are several marks of varying depths. These were drawn by her grandfather every year when he measured her height. The line ended abruptly when she was six years old.
Seeing her open the door, Qiao Yuchu understood what she wanted to do.
“Shi’an, there’s really no need to go to this extent…”
Xie Shi'an stopped rummaging through the things, placed his hands on the table, gripping the edge tightly, his shoulders trembling slightly.
Qiao Yuchu knew she was in pain, so she gently put her arm around her shoulder and shook her.
"Let's think of another way."
Xie Shi'an raised his head, his eyes slightly red.
"Actually... I understand everything."
No one could understand the pain of losing a loved one better than her.
Qiao Yuchu was taken aback: "So you want to help her, right?"
Xie Shi'an nodded almost imperceptibly.
"Then I'll help you look for it."
Unfortunately, the house had already been ransacked after Grandpa passed away. The two searched for a long time but found nothing of value. The only half-finished product was a bookmark on Grandpa's workbench.
But you can't sell unfinished products for money. He made the bookshelves, tables and chairs himself, but they were too heavy to move, so it was not realistic to sell them.
Xie Shi'an stood there for a while, and the lotus lantern flashed through her mind. Because it was a child's toy, it was the only thing that her father hadn't taken away.
Xie Shi'an picked up the lotus lamp from the bookshelf in the living room and carefully wiped away the dust.
Despite her immense reluctance, she looked at her grandfather's smiling portrait and silently said in her heart:
"Grandpa, if you were alive today, you would be happy to know that the toys you made for me can be used to save lives."
Chapter 33 Relics
Evening self-study.
Zhou Mu nervously went to ask the teacher for leave. It was the end of the semester and the courses were very heavy. She thought the teacher wouldn't approve her leave, but the homeroom teacher looked at her, sighed, and signed the leave slip.
"I saw what you posted in the group. Go ahead, be careful, and come back before the dorm lights go out."
Zhou Mu smiled gratefully and bowed deeply to the man.
"Thank you, Teacher Liu."
She and several enthusiastic classmates carried the things to the school gate, where Cheng Zhen had already called a car to wait.
"So many!"
In just one afternoon, Zhou Mu received many unused items from enthusiastic classmates, including books, audio-visual products, clothes, shoes, bags, plush toys, and so on. There were really no pockets left in her dormitory to hold everything. Her own suitcase was full, and she even borrowed several suitcases from her roommates to pack things, but it still wasn't enough. She had to borrow several large sacks meant for garbage from the dormitory supervisor to fit everything in.
Fortunately, Cheng Zhen had the foresight to call a minivan.
Zhou Mu lent a hand and helped him carry the sack onto the car.
"I don't know how much it can sell for."
"Sigh, we'll sell whatever we can."
"Where are you selling them? I'd like to help out too." As she spoke, Li Jiajia from the school's badminton team ran over.
"People's Park, do you want to go help, or do you want to..." Zhou Mu teased her in a low voice while Cheng Zhen was busy carrying things.
Li Jiajia elbowed her, spitting her away.
"Get lost! I really wanted to help. It took me a lot of effort to convince my homeroom teacher to let me come out. Besides, can the two of you sell all this stuff?"
The senior members of the badminton team were also helping to move things and chiming in.
"Yeah, I originally wanted to go with you guys, but you know how it is, it's senior year of high school, it's really hard to ask for leave..."
"It's nothing, senior. You've already helped me a lot today."
Without senior students mobilizing their classmates, it would have been impossible to gather so much stuff in such a short time.
"Alright, that's all for now. Let's go."
With everything loaded, Cheng Zhen jumped into the car, and Zhou Mu and Li An'an followed after saying goodbye to their senior.
***
"Boss, take another look. This really is Mr. Xie Yun's work."
The pawnshop owner pondered the lotus lamp: "It does resemble it, but Xie Yun has been dead for over ten years. Where can we find his original work..."
"Look here, there is his seal. This seal is not passed down to posterity and no one can forge it. He would carve a seal for every work of his. The seal face is mostly small seal script in intaglio. You can tell the authenticity just by this."
The shopkeeper turned the lotus lantern over and exclaimed, "Oh, it really is there!"
However, Xie Yun did not leave behind many works during his lifetime, so who is this young man who remembers Xie Yun's engraving habits so clearly?
"You are..." the boss asked, somewhat curiously.
Xie Shi'an lowered his eyes: "Just tell me if you want it or not."
"Of course I want it, but as you know, the antique market is not doing well right now, and Xie Yun is not a big name. As for its authenticity, I'll have to find an expert to verify it later. I can only give you 15,000 yuan, that's all."
Just because of that one sentence, "not a big name".
Xie Shi'an snatched the lotus lantern from his hand and turned to leave.
The boss, smoking a cigarette, watched her with a smirk. He was sure she'd be back in three seconds.
As expected, Xie Shi'an walked to the door and stopped.
"Twenty thousand, not a penny less."
Xie Shi'an finished counting the money and was about to turn and leave when he said one more thing.
"Although Xie Yun is not a great master, in my heart, every piece of his work is a unique treasure in this world."
When she went out, Qiao Yuchu also came out after withdrawing money from the bank next door.
"It's done so quickly?"
Xie Shi'an nodded: "Let's go, let's go to the hospital."
"Okay." Qiao Yuchu reached out and flagged down a taxi.
***
After a day of training, Jian Changnian received her generous salary as she wished. Although it was still far from 100,000 yuan, it was enough to cover the cost of one day's ICU treatment.
Cao Rui sat in the car, holding an envelope in his hand. It was a referral fee commission from a friend.
He thought for a moment, then handed the envelope to Jian Changnian, who was sitting in the back row.
"Here, you probably don't have enough money anyway, take it to tide you over."
Jian Changnian was slightly taken aback: "Brother Cao..."
Cao Rui smiled but didn't turn around.
“I heard you and Shi’an arguing. I think she can understand your struggles and pain to some extent.”
Upon hearing his words, Jian Changnian thought of the portrait of Xie Shi'an hanging in the living room and bit her lower lip tightly.
I acted impulsively at the time, and the words just slipped out without thinking. Now that I've calmed down, I regret it a little.
"I...I know she...she's concerned about me. Thank you, Brother Cao. I'll apologize to her."
Cao Rui turned around, smiled, shifted gears, and started driving.
“When I met her, she was a little younger than you. Besides Qiao Yuchu and Cheng Zhen, she didn’t have many friends. She was quite an eccentric kid. The fact that she came all this way shows that she… must really care about you.”