I've been going to bed around 1 AM and waking up around 8 AM every day for the past few days. Right now I feel dizzy and my mind is blank. That's all I can manage to eat tonight, I'll just have to make do for now. I need to go to bed early tonight.
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 87
After staying at home for more than a week, Mo Mo was ready to set off again. The main reason was that he was disliked by the two women. Li Mochou and Rei Ayanami thought that he stayed at home all day and interfered with their games, so they kicked him out.
Since there are only two computers at home, Mo Mo used one to watch movies, so the two of them couldn't enjoy playing games together.
"I regret it so much! I shouldn't have taught you to play games in the first place." Mo Mo looked at the two girls who had moved the computer together and were happily playing games in their pajamas, completely abandoning their goddess image, and was on the verge of tears.
"Then I'm leaving, I'm really leaving." Mo Mo felt a surge of anticipation, which quickly turned into despair.
Neither woman looked up; they merely gave Mo Mo a perfunctory reply.
"That's fine, but it would be even better if Shisi could join us. Maybe the three of us would become best friends while playing games, and then I wouldn't have to worry about Shisi." Mo Mo couldn't help but think as he watched the two girls playing games harmoniously. However, if Mo Mo went closer, he would find that both of them had a chat group called "Sisters' Group" on their phones, and there were only three people in it. Unfortunately, the two girls hid it too well, and Mo Mo didn't have the habit of snooping, so he didn't know.
After thinking about whether he had forgotten anything, he realized that he had basically brought everything and then activated the random time travel, disappearing behind the two women.
After Mo Mo disappeared, the two women exchanged a glance and noticed the smile in each other's eyes. Just as they were about to pick up their phones, they saw Mo Mo, who had just left with a smile on his face, suddenly reappear behind them, pale-faced and dressed in tattered clothes.
Upon seeing this, the two women rushed over to support Mo Mo, asking him with concern if he was alright and if he had encountered any danger.
"Mo, what happened to you? Why are you in such a sorry state? And don't you usually take half a day to come back after time travel? Why are you back so quickly this time?" Rei Ayanami asked worriedly.
"Don't even mention it. My luck wasn't great today. I randomly ended up in a fantasy world, thinking I was going to have a great time, but before I could even figure out what kind of world it was, someone suddenly flipped the table. I guess some powerful being was setting things up in that world, or maybe there were other people like me in it. It was probably the final stage, but the loser was probably furious, so they flipped the table and reset the world. When I got there, the world had already started to collapse. Luckily, I reacted quickly and used a World Bead to hold it off for a moment before activating my ability to run back. Otherwise, I would have suffered a huge loss, either dead or crippled." Mo Mo said with lingering fear.
"Who told you to play randomly? You can clearly travel to the world that suits your needs, why do you have to play randomly? And you say there's no challenge? I think you're just being pretentious, a jerk is just pretentious." Although Li Mochou was scolding Mo Mo, the worry in her eyes was unmistakable.
Feeling the care from the two women, Mo Mo's heart warmed, and he couldn't help but hug them and give each of them a big kiss.
"Don't worry, I won't be so reckless again. I will be extra careful, and I will prioritize my safety even if it means giving up some good things."
Mo Mo realized he had been too arrogant. His long-term smooth sailing had made him lower his guard. Even the incident in Shrouding the Heavens was a blessing in disguise. He didn't think there was any danger in traveling between worlds. However, reality taught him a lesson. Fortunately, he didn't suffer much loss. He just completely used up the World Bead that he had almost exhausted in the Iron Man world.
"Using one of my last World Beads prematurely exposed a huge hidden danger. It was a worthwhile trade. Otherwise, if I had rashly and randomly transmigrated to the battlefields or perilous places of some powerful beings in that advanced world, I probably would have been dead on the spot, without even the ability to react. After all, my peak cultivation level was only equivalent to a perfect True Immortal, and such cultivation level would probably only be considered slightly above average in the myriad worlds. Indeed, I can't be too reckless. Developing cautiously is the key!"
Mo Mo originally intended to stay until evening before entering another world, but the two women urged him to enter again. Although he was somewhat puzzled, Mo Mo still activated his ability and left the villa.
After Mo Mo left, the two women stared at the spot where he had left. Five minutes later, they smiled at each other, and then Li Mochou picked up her phone and sent a text message. After that, the two of them excitedly left the villa.
Mo Mo was unaware of what was happening in the villa; at this moment, he had already arrived in a magical world.
The reason it's considered magical is because there are things in this world that cannot be explained by science but still exist.
Looking at the bustling crowds of old Beijingers, Mo Mo was quite curious. After all, he was a post-90s generation, born during the era of reform and opening up. At that time, people's living standards had begun to improve, there were no more educated youth sent to the countryside, and even televisions had begun to be in color. So, at first glance, he was quite curious.
As Mo Mo walked out of the train station, he recalled the plot. Although he had read the novel a long time ago, a novel is a novel after all, and there are still many differences between it and the TV series. Otherwise, the novel would have started with the Weasel Grave, while the TV series would have started with the Ancient City of Jingjue.
It was quite by chance that Mo Mo started reading Ghost Blows Out the Light. He was in high school at the time, and it happened to be his grandfather's birthday. His grandfather's house was not far from his high school, so he took leave in the afternoon and went to his grandfather's house.
Even more coincidentally, his phone ran out of data at the time. Perhaps because phones back then were small-screen phones with buttons, he didn't use much data. Using more data than allowed was a serious matter back then, as one megabyte cost ten yuan.
He had left a little early, taking leave before 3 p.m. He was afraid of missing his grandfather's birthday and didn't dare go to an internet cafe. He arrived very early, so he couldn't use his phone. The TV shows were all war movies, which he didn't like. Just as he was getting bored, he found a thick book by his grandfather's bedside. It was a physical copy of Ghost Blows Out the Light. Once he started reading, he became completely engrossed in it.
Back at school, he still couldn't stop thinking about Ghost Blows Out the Light. Fortunately, it was already the end of the month, and after waiting a few days, he finally had enough data. He couldn't wait to search for Ghost Blows Out the Light. He remembered that it was winter, and he was sitting in the back row. The classroom door was drafty, but even though his hands were trembling from the cold, he couldn't help but watch it.
However, what impressed Mo Mo the most was not watching Ghost Blows Out the Light, but watching Dong Ge's Tomb of the Gods, because his first time was taken away because of watching Tomb of the Gods, which was also the only time. That was when he was caught playing on his phone in class and his phone was confiscated by the teacher.
Mo Mo remembers it very clearly. It was during evening study that he hid his phone under the table to look at it. He happened to see an interesting part and couldn't help but laugh. Then he looked up and found his homeroom teacher walking in from the door with a smile on his face. After that, he didn't touch his phone for a month.
Looking back on her past experiences, it all seems like yesterday. Composing herself, Mo Mo began to recall the plot of Ghost Blows Out the Light.
The Ghost Blows Out the Light tells the story of Hu Bayi, Wang Kaixuan, and Shirley Yang's tomb raiding adventures. At this time, Hu Bayi returns from military service and stays at his old friend Wang Kaixuan's house in Beijing. Wang Kaixuan takes him out to eat, where they encounter Da Jinya, and Hu Bayi is eventually tricked by Da Jinya into embarking on the path of tomb raiding.
Hu Bayi was initially reluctant to engage in tomb raiding, but he was eventually persuaded by Wang Kaixuan. Remembering their trip to Niuxin Mountain during their rural work assignment, where they had heard of numerous tombs, and recalling their long-lost fellow villagers, they decided to search for graves there. So, the two bought some supplies and returned to Niuxin Mountain.
Unfortunately, when they returned, all the antiques on Niuxin Mountain had already been taken away by the archaeological team. They had no choice but to set their sights on the ancient tombs on Niuxin Mountain. Under Yingzi's guidance, they began their first tomb raiding career, which also marked the beginning of their colorful life.
Mo Mo was a big fan of Ghost Blows Out the Light back then, and now that he's here, how could he not explore it? Besides, Mo Mo is someone who has inherited the legacy of the Source Celestial Master, so finding dragon veins and locating acupoints is a piece of cake for him, and he can also directly utilize the power of various earth veins and dragon veins.
Humans light lamps, ghosts blow them out; when the rooster crows, the lamp goes out, so don't touch gold. The tomb raider's seal and the gold-touching talisman protect the body but not the ghost blowing out the lamp. A coffin in a pit, a bronze outer coffin, if your birth chart isn't strong, don't go near it. A vertical burial pit, a box-shaped grave, those who move mountains and unload ridges should avoid it. A red-clothed fierce ghost, a smiling corpse, ghost laughter is not as good as ghost crying.
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 88 An Encounter
Mo Mo looked at his clothes, which were quite trendy for this era, and then at the crowd around him who kept turning around to look at him. He was speechless. It was his own fault for forgetting to change his clothes before he came. But there was nothing he could do about it. After all, where could you buy clothes from the 1990s? If you wanted them, you could only have them custom-made or find them in film studios or movie theaters.
To avoid drawing too much attention, Mo Mo had no choice but to buy some clothes. However, she needed to exchange some money before doing so, since the current Mao Zedong banknotes were from several different versions, and the people here didn't recognize these bright red RMB notes.
After thinking for a moment, Mo Mo put his hand in his pocket to cover it, and then took out a copper coin from his storage space. It was a Kaiyuan Tongbao coin with a square inside and a round outside, and there was a faint fingernail mark on one side of the coin, so it was also called the Concubine's Coin.
Legend has it that during the Kaiyuan era, one evening, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang and Consort Yang were drinking and making merry in the palace, accompanied by eunuch Gao Lishi, Taoist priests, and palace maids. Xuanzong played music, and Consort Yang danced gracefully. Suddenly, in the midst of her dance, Consort Yang stopped, pointed into the distance, and exclaimed, "Fire!" Everyone looked in the direction she was pointing and indeed saw a patch of fire, but there was no smoke or disturbance. Xuanzong ordered Gao Lishi to send someone to investigate, but the Taoist priest waved his hand to stop him, saying, "Wait! Let me perform a divination." Xuanzong agreed.
The Taoist priest sat upright with his eyes closed, chanting incantations. After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the priest stood up and said with a smile, "This is the casting of Kaiyuan Tongbao coins by melting copper in a furnace." Emperor Xuanzong and Consort Yang were skeptical, so they sent an eunuch to verify it. Before long, the court officials presented a wax sample of the Kaiyuan Tongbao coins and reported that it was indeed the casting of coins by melting copper.
Emperor Xuanzong examined the wax model and then showed it to his concubine, the Imperial Concubine. After looking at the front, she turned the model over to look at the back, accidentally leaving a fingernail mark on the back. The Imperial Concubine requested that Emperor Xuanzong keep it, and in his delight, he granted her request. Therefore, all Kaiyuan Tongbao coins minted during that era have a fingernail mark on the back, and later generations called these Kaiyuan Tongbao coins "Great Tang Imperial Concubine Coins." A Song Dynasty poet even wrote the line, "The golden fork fell and could not be seen, but a trace of a Kaiyuan coin remains."
Because few Imperial Concubine coins have survived to the present day, they are still quite valuable, worth much more than ordinary Kaiyuan Tongbao coins, by about a hundred times. The world of Ghost Blows Out the Light is still in the early stages of reform and opening up, so it's naturally not like it is now. Therefore, a single coin can't fetch tens or hundreds of thousands of yuan, but buying one for a few hundred or a thousand yuan is quite easy. Mo Mo simply wanted to exchange some money for a new set of clothes.
After asking for directions, Mo Mo headed towards Panjiayuan. He only knew of antique trading in Panjiayuan; while he was sure there were other places, he was too lazy to look. After asking for directions twice more along the way, Mo Mo finally arrived at Panjiayuan.
Although it's called a garden, it's actually just a very traditional old Beijing street, except that both sides of the street are lined with antique shops and numerous stalls, making it a market for antiques, hence the name Panjiayuan. Mo Mo was in a hurry to exchange money to buy clothes, so she didn't bother looking for anything and just randomly went into an antique shop after arriving at Panjiayuan.
After entering the store, Mo Mo didn't say anything. When she saw the owner, she took out the coin from her pocket, put it on the counter, said "Give me an estimate," and then stood quietly to the side.
The boss was in his fifties, dressed in a black Tang suit, with a ruddy complexion, looking like he was living a comfortable life. His black hair was neatly combed back, making him look even more energetic. He smiled at everyone he met, appearing very approachable. However, the occasional glint of shrewdness in his eyes indicated that he was not an easy person to deal with.
The shopkeeper was visibly taken aback when he saw Mo Mo. After all, while Mo Mo's clothes were inexpensive, that was only because of the brand and quality; the style and coordination were anything but cheap. Although Mo Mo wasn't much of a fashion expert, he could still tell if something looked good on him. Therefore, the shopkeeper was clearly astonished, as he had never seen such exquisite clothes before. However, the shopkeeper only paused for a moment before recovering; after all, he was a seasoned veteran with decades of experience, and he had that much composure.
After regaining his senses, the shopkeeper glanced at the copper coins Mo Mo had placed on the counter and said, "Kaiyuan Tongbao coins! There's quite a lot of them, but they're not worth much! However, since you've taken them out, they must be extraordinary coins." As he spoke, the shopkeeper put on gloves.
"This Kaiyuan Tongbao coin has clear characters, pure color, and is in perfect condition. However, it is made of bronze. Judging from your clothes, you don't seem like someone who's here to make fun of me. So, if I'm not mistaken, this Kaiyuan Tongbao coin should be a rare Imperial Concubine Coin." After saying this, the shopkeeper reached out and picked up the Kaiyuan Tongbao coin.
The shopkeeper glanced at it and saw the faint fingernail mark. After examining it closely for a few more moments, he said, "I knew I wasn't wrong. This is a coin from a concubine's coin. Brother, what do you want?"
"I'm a little short on cash, so I need to get some to spend," Mo Mo said casually.
"Young man, you may be young, but you have quite the presence. I wonder what kind of business you run? Is this money inherited from your ancestors?" After hearing Mo Mo's words, the shopkeeper didn't rush to quote a price, but instead chatted with Mo Mo.
"It was a gift from someone else, boss, so don't bother asking about it. Besides, I'm not involved in the underworld yet. I need the money urgently. Name your price, and I'll sell it if it's right," Mo Mo replied somewhat impatiently.
"Brother, please calm down. I'm just a small business owner. After all, I need to know the origin of the goods before I dare to accept them. I wouldn't dare to accept things of unknown origin," the shopkeeper said with a smile.
Mo Mo naturally knew this, but he didn't want to waste too much time on it. After all, he had plenty of such things. He had collected a large number of antiques and paintings during the Condor Heroes era, and any one of them would be enough to keep him busy for a while. After all, he didn't spend much money.
The shopkeeper glanced at Mo Mo, then stared at the money in his hand for about a minute before extending his hand with his fingers spread wide.
"Five thousand?" Mo Mo knew he meant five hundred, but Mo Mo deliberately said five thousand because he knew the money was definitely more than five hundred. Although he didn't care about the amount, he didn't want to be ripped off, so he directly asked for five thousand. The shopkeeper would definitely raise the price, no matter how much, it would be higher than five hundred.
"Brother, your money is not bad, but it's not worth that much. After all, the antique industry is just starting out, and there aren't that many big spenders. I see you're an honest man, so I'll add two hundred, and then another hundred, making it eight hundred. Let's all make money together," the shopkeeper said generously.
"Since you've said so, boss, then it'll be eight hundred!" Mo Mo smiled slightly.
After the money and goods were settled, the shopkeeper grinned and said, "My surname is Zhang, and everyone here calls me Old Zhang. I wouldn't dare say I'm the best, but I still have some influence in Panjiayuan. If you have any good stuff, young man, you can come to me. As long as the goods are good, I guarantee you a satisfactory price."
Mo Mo smiled, didn't reply to the shop owner, and turned to leave.
Just after Mo Mo left, a girl of about twenty years old came out. Although she was wearing a simple long dress and had no decorations, her beauty was still undeniable.
After the girl came out, she took Old Zhang's hand and said with some confusion, "Dad, this Tongbao is not bad, but we can't make much money even if we buy it for 800! If we are lucky, we can find a sucker and make 1,000 or 2,000. If we are unlucky, we can only make 300 or 400. Moreover, he needed the money urgently. I estimate that we could have gotten it for 650 at most. Dad, why did you give him 800?"
“Daughter! You’re right, Dad knows all this too. But you only saw the coin, and you overlooked his demeanor. You can also tell from his clothes that he’s not an ordinary person. He urgently needs money right now, so why shouldn’t I do him a favor? I can make money and give his brother face at the same time. What’s not to like? If he ever has something to sell, he might think of us. Someone like him could easily leave us something to live on for a year. So, my dear daughter, you still have a lot to learn.” Old Zhang said earnestly.
"Dad, I understand. No wonder they say that understanding the ways of the world is true learning, and being adept at human relationships is true literature. I will pay attention to that in the future." The girl nodded heavily.
After receiving the money, Mo Mo left immediately. He naturally had no idea what happened after he left. As a foodie, how could he go to Beijing without trying Peking duck? So Mo Mo bought a set of clothes, changed into them, and headed straight to Quanjude.
Unfortunately, when Mo Mo arrived, the restaurant was sold out. He had no choice but to find a random restaurant. Perhaps it was fate, but Mo Mo ran into Hu Bayi, Wang Kaixuan, and Da Jinya who were fighting. When Mo Mo arrived, Da Jinya had already been beaten down, and Wang Kaixuan had successfully retrieved his ancestral jade pendant.
Seeing this, Mo Mo leisurely ordered a hot pot and started eating. He knew that the future "iron triangle" of tomb raiders had already gathered two members, and he had already met Big Gold Tooth, their guide. He believed that they would soon head to Niuxin Mountain. Mo Mo wasn't interested in the Kwantung Army fortress, so he planned to wait until Hu Bayi and the others returned and went to Jingjue Ancient City before joining them. After all, Mo Mo was quite interested in the things inside Jingjue Ancient City.
I usually wake up around ** o'clock in the morning and can finish writing a chapter around noon. If I wake up later, it might be one or two o'clock. In the evening, I usually finish writing the second chapter around 11 o'clock. So, I usually update around noon and around 11 o'clock at night.
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 89 Heading to Kunlun Snow Mountain
While Hu Bayi and Wang Kaixuan were at the Savage Valley in Niuxin Mountain, Mo Mo sold another piece of porcelain. He then used the tens of thousands of yuan he had to roughly inquire about the situation in this world and buy some equipment useful for the tomb. These included black donkey hoof capsules, windproof candles, and searchlights. These items cost Mo Mo tens of thousands of yuan, with the most expensive being the donkey-hide gelatin capsules made from black donkey hooves, since only unscrupulous merchants would know how to make donkey-hide gelatin from donkey hooves.
As for things like cinnabar and yellow talismans, Mo Mo didn't buy them. Firstly, he didn't need those things, and secondly, he didn't know how to use them, since they weren't part of the same system. As for peach wood swords, which are the most damaging to zombies in various novels and TV shows, why would Mo Mo need to buy peach wood? In his small world, the peach forest alone was more than ten miles long, and they had all grown for hundreds of thousands of years. He could easily break off a single peach tree and completely crush all kinds of zombies of all sizes in this world.
During the few days that Hu Bayi and the others were away, Mo Mo spent most of his time in Panjiayuan. With his keen eye for detail, he quickly gained a considerable reputation. He also successfully befriended Da Jinya. To be precise, Da Jinya took the initiative to seek him out. After all, Mo Mo not only demonstrated amazing eyesight but also occasionally showed his understanding of various famous mountains and the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams. Furthermore, after three days of being there, he displayed extraordinary skills, taking down the thugs who came to cause him trouble with a single move.
That day, after finding Mo Mo, Da Jin Ya chatted with him for a while and discovered that Mo Mo was interested in going into business. He told Da Jin Ya that a Chinese American woman had funded the formation of a Chinese archaeological team to go to Xinjiang. The team was currently short of someone who could perform geomancy and burial site selection, and Mo Mo was a perfect fit for the job. However, Mo Mo told Da Jin Ya that he only knew about the general terrain, the Five Elements, and the Eight Trigrams, and he didn't know anything about geomancy and burial site selection. Nevertheless, Da Jin Ya still recommended Mo Mo to the archaeological team, but they would have to wait for Hu Bayi and the others to join them.
Mo Mo immediately agreed. After all, he didn't really know how to locate auspicious sites. Although he could find one with some effort, why bother himself when there were professionals? It would be like asking for trouble. So Mo Mo leisurely enjoyed the scenery of Beijing while waiting for Hu Bayi and Wang Kaixuan.
A week later, Big Gold Tooth brought Hu Bayi and Wang Kaixuan to see Mo Mo, introducing themselves. After hearing that Mo Mo was quite well-off, Fatty Wang Kaixuan suggested that Mo Mo and Hu Bayi have a contest. From then on, Fatty Wang started calling him "Brother Mo." Learning that Hu Bayi had sent all his money to his struggling comrades, Mo Mo gave Hu Bayi all the hundreds of thousands he had earned in Panjiayuan, instructing him to send it to his comrades.
When Mo Mo took out the money, everyone, including Big Gold Tooth, was stunned. Big Gold Tooth knew a little about Mo Mo's situation, but he never expected that Mo Mo could earn so much money from Panjiayuan in just one day, and that he would be so generous as to take it all out.
Although surprised, Hu Bayi still refused. After all, this was not a few thousand or tens of thousands of yuan, but hundreds of thousands. You have to know that the world of Ghost Blows Out the Light is still in the 1990s. At that time, the purchasing power of RMB was still very strong, basically four or five times that of today. In other words, Mo Mo took out two or three million yuan and gave it to Hu Bayi casually.
Mo Mo was not surprised at all. After all, Hu Bayi was a very good person with high moral character and awareness. Otherwise, he would not have sent all the money to his comrades. So Mo Mo threw the backpack full of money into Hu Bayi's arms and said, "I have admired the People's Liberation Army since I was a child because they protected our homeland. Now they are in trouble and I happen to be able to help. It is my honor. I will leave this money with you. If you don't accept it, I will throw it into the stove and burn it in a while."
Upon seeing this, Hu Bayi excitedly took the money from his hand and kept thanking Mo Mo. Seeing Hu Bayi tightly hugging the backpack to his chest, Mo Mo smiled and said, "That's more like it. Money is a bastard, you can never earn enough. Besides, we're going on an adventure, and when we come back, we'll have a lot of income again."
“Right, right, we’re all people who make big money. What’s a little bit of money? We can easily earn it back with just one trip. Old Hu, don’t worry about it. The right thing to do is to send the money out quickly.” The fat man patted Old Hu on the shoulder.
“Yes, yes, we’re the kind of people who make big money, why would we care about such small amounts? We should hurry up and send the money over, after all, Lao Hu, your comrades are waiting for this money to buy rice to cook.” Big Gold Tooth chimed in.
"Alright, let's send the money out, have a good meal together, and then go see Professor Chen," Hu Bayi decided.
Finally, after sending out all the money, Mo Mo and his group of four went to a restaurant for a good meal. However, considering that they were going to see Professor Chen later, they did not order any alcohol. The meal lasted for about an hour before it ended. After the meal, Mo Mo had already become sworn brothers with Hu Bayi and Wang Kaixuan.
After dinner, Big Gold Tooth went home, while Mo Mo and his two companions went to Professor Chen's house. When they entered, they saw Professor Chen discussing something with a woman in a dark red trench coat in the inner room. Just as Professor Chen's student, archaeology expert Hao Aiguo, was about to ask the two to leave, Professor Chen came out to greet them.
Professor Chen greatly admired Hu Bayi, who had served in the military and had practical experience. However, he said that to be a team leader, one also needed to understand the art of celestial feng shui. Hu Bayi then shared some of the knowledge he had learned from the "Sixteen-Character Yin-Yang Feng Shui Secret Techniques," from mountain ranges and water features to the sun, moon, and stars. He pointed out that the Qingwu technique, which uses the flow of nebulae to determine the location of burial sites, is the art of celestial feng shui, and it is also the most obscure and difficult to understand.
Everyone in the room was amazed by Hu Bayi's fluent and eloquent manner. Even the woman who had been sitting expressionlessly in the inner room began to notice him. When Hu Bayi said that Mo Mo was exceptionally skilled and that even he was no match for Mo Mo, Professor Chen looked at Mo Mo and the other two with even greater respect.
In the end, Mo Mo and his two friends successfully joined the archaeological team and met three other students of Professor Chen: Sadi Peng, who was interested in studying aliens; Chu Jian, who was good at mountaineering; and Ye Yixin, a quiet and beautiful girl who loved archaeology.
While everyone was exchanging pleasantries, the Chinese-American woman from the inner room came out. She looked tall and elegant with an extraordinary air about her. Professor Chen introduced her as Shirley Yang, the sponsor of this event and a photographer for National Geographic magazine.