Gu Dahong happily continued following the local officials to take photos, while Lin Xi turned around and headed home.
Since switching careers to become a middleman for the group, Lin Xi’s warehouse had become idle. Fortunately, the warehouse was rented monthly, so she just needed to stop renting it next month.
The old second-hand van was still parked inside the warehouse. These past few days, Lin Xi had been going out early and coming back late, wandering around aimlessly. To be honest, it was quite exhausting.
The development of Lianhua Village was absolutely good news for Lin Xi.
Once the time came, she could open a guesthouse. Her grandmother wouldn’t have to worry about her living off savings anymore, and she wouldn’t have to raise pigs either. Although their home-raised pigs were delicious, pig farming looked simple but was actually very troublesome and tiring. Every day, she had to go out to the fields to cut pig fodder, day after day. Her grandmother’s health had improved a lot compared to before, but she still needed rest.
Lin Xi didn’t want her grandmother to be so worn out.
When Lin Xi got home, Chi Xiangping was playing with Hu Mingyue. As people get older, they tend to like children more and more.
Chi Xiangping now thought Hu Mingyue and Hu Mingfang were perfect in every way. In her mind, she was already imagining what Lin Xi’s future children might look like.
When she saw Lin Xi, the smile on her face hadn’t faded: “I just heard your Uncle Gu’s voice. What were you two talking about?”
Gu Dahong was an excellent village chief. Whenever any of the elderly villagers faced difficulties, no matter the time, they could always turn to him for help.
Everyone in the village respected him, and he was widely admired as their village chief.
“The folks from the township came and said they want to create a tourist route, from Pingwei Town to Wangjiaping. Our Lianhua Village has been included on this route. Uncle Gu asked if I wanted to open a guesthouse.”
When Chi Xiangping heard about the new tourist route, she slapped her thigh excitedly. “Of course you should open one! Why wouldn’t you? Ufeng Town used to be just a village too, but look at it now! Our Lianhua Village may be small, but in summer, everyone who sees it can’t help but say how beautiful it is.”
Dian Province was a famous tourism province in China, rich in tourism resources. Everyone in Dian Province knew that once a village got developed, almost every household would become prosperous. Lianhua Village had beautiful scenery, and the villagers had been waiting for this moment year after year. Chi Xiangping was thrilled.
Lin Xi smiled and praised her: “My grandma really has foresight. I’ve already agreed with Uncle Gu. He told me to go to the brigade office tomorrow; they’ll approve a piece of land for me to build the guesthouse.”
The village had few households, many ponds, and not much farmland, but the village always reserved land for homesteads. To build a guesthouse, the land didn’t have to be big, just enough.
For now, Lin Xi didn’t want to tear down the old house. This old house had been built after Chi Xiangping married her grandfather. Her grandmother was nostalgic and probably wouldn’t agree to demolish it anytime soon.
Besides, Lin Xi was reluctant to part with it. This house was filled with her cherished childhood memories.
“All right, I’ll think carefully about which piece to pick later. We must choose one with a good view.”
“Grandma, you take your time choosing. I’m going to check on Yao Yuran.” Yao Yuran was still in the hospital, and Lin Xi had been back for a while now—she was a bit worried about her.
Hu Mingfang wanted to go with Lin Xi, but Lin Xi stopped her. “Stay with Grandma at home. Once I get to the hospital, I’ll let you call your mom.”
Hu Mingfang was very sensible; she stopped in her tracks as soon as she heard that. Lin Xi gently patted her hair and started the car, driving out of the yard.
Passing by Da Mingbao’s house, Da Mingbao was sitting at the door, holding a bowl of fruit and basking in the sun. Lin Xi stopped the car, exchanged a few words with her, then left.
She arrived at the hospital and bought some food from a small shop at the entrance. When she got to the ward, Yao Yuran was asleep. Lin Xi sat on the small bed and took out her phone to play with.
The group chat was lively—almost everyone was online.
When she logged in, the system notified her that the task Yao Xiran had assigned to her was completed, and the reward had been sent to her space account.
Lin Xi touched the ring on her finger and let her consciousness sink into it. She saw a round, chubby robot inside the space. Its appearance was very much like the astronaut from the Xizhilang commercial.
Lin Xi silently commanded to exit and opened her eyes. The time on her phone matched the moment she had entered the space with her consciousness.
This was the conclusion the group members had reached after repeated practice and confirmation over time.
In other words, this space couldn’t provide the kind of danger-avoidance capabilities that novel spaces often do. Everyone wasn’t disappointed, though—having a space at all was an enormous help to them.
Lin Xi was chatting casually in the group when Chu Qianmo contacted her.
[“Wife-Slayer Chu Qianmo: @EarthGirl Lin Xi, Xiao Xi, I heard they said you can help us fulfill Earth’s unfinished wishes, is that true?”]
The effect of the half-bottle of restorative liquid was remarkable. Chu Qianmo’s flesh and bones had been completely restructured.
No exaggeration—when Chu Qianmo saw his reflection in the water the day after waking up, he was utterly stunned.
In his previous life, Chu Qianmo was handsome enough to be considered a good-looking guy wherever he went. But his current appearance was completely different.
Chu Qianmo swore that even with full beauty filters and the “White Moonlight” filter on Meitu Xiuxiu, no photo could capture his current look.
This was the ultimate upgraded version of his last life’s appearance. He bore about a thirty percent resemblance to his former self, but anyone with eyes wouldn’t mistake him for the original.
Not to mention, his aura was entirely different. The original was an elder of the Liuyun Sect, famous since youth, stern and unsmiling, exuding the presence of a superior with every gesture.
He also had an idol’s aura, but as his cultivation plateaued, the expression on his face grew colder.
Only after the “Wife-Slayer Enlightenment” did he show a hint of a smile—but it was just a slight curl of the lips. In Chu Qianmo’s words, it was extremely pretentious.
Men hated the original’s expression, but to innocent, naive young girls, it was an irresistible trap.
What about Chu Qianmo? Just a freshly certified cook, his savings had never exceeded twenty thousand. From head to toe, he was dripping with loser vibes. He loved to smile, and when he was really happy, his mouth would stretch all the way to his ears. No matter how handsome someone was, smiling like that always gave off a hint of goofiness.
When Chu Qianmo saw his own reflection, he couldn’t help but burst into laughter. He could confidently say that if he walked up to the original owner’s five wives right now, they probably wouldn’t recognize him. Since transmigrating, aside from inheriting the original owner's cultivation talent and the accompanying spatial pocket, this was the happiest thing that had happened to him.
The original owner’s wives had all been reborn and returned, and when they saw the original owner, they acted like he was a madman. If you looked at it from the outside, Chu Qianmo thought their revenge on this scumbag husband was completely justified. But now that he had taken over the original owner’s body, things were a lot more complicated. Chu Qianmo didn’t want to die.
[Earth girl Lin Xi: That’s right, do you need my help with anything?]
Lin Xi’s words caught Chu Qianmo off guard. Unlike others, he wasn’t particularly attached to modern society.
His parents were both dead, and so were his grandparents. He had been living with his uncle and aunt. At fifteen, just after finishing middle school, he stopped studying and went out to make his own way.
Luck was on his side. His first job was at a restaurant. He was diligent and had a sharp eye, which earned the boss’s favor.
After working as a waiter for a year, he was called into the kitchen and gradually taught how to cook.
Chu Qianmo was smart, and once he realized this, he worked even harder. From fifteen until he died at twenty-seven—a span of twelve years—he had been working at that same restaurant.
All his focus was on cooking. When he was twenty-five, his mentor passed away, and the restaurant was taken over by his mentor’s son.
The boss’s son didn’t know how to run a restaurant. The only thing he was good at was playing games online.
The more clueless he was, the more he wanted to be in charge. His first move was to overhaul everything, to overturn all the rules his father had set. He wanted to turn the restaurant into an internet-famous hotspot.
The place was renovated, and the old recipes were tossed out. They had to learn dishes from online recipes instead.
The more they tried, the worse it got. Good dishes turned into unrecognizable messes. Out of respect for his mentor, Chu Qianmo held on for two years, but when the boss’s son decided to make pre-packaged meals, Chu Qianmo couldn’t take it anymore and stormed out in anger.
When you’re unlucky, even a sip of water can choke you. Chu Qianmo’s lifelong streak of good deeds couldn’t save him. He grabbed a kid who was recklessly crossing the road, only to get hit by a car and transmigrate.
Chu Qianmo sighed deeply. If he had known he would transmigrate, no matter how stupid the boss’s son was, he wouldn’t have left in a huff.
Now, what good was it to be handsome? In the cultivation world, it was survival of the fittest—killing wasn’t even a crime. How could that compare to modern society?
Besides, before he traveled through time, he lived until he was twenty-seven, spending twelve years honing his culinary skills—so busy that he never even had time for a girlfriend. And now, suddenly, he’s a six-time-married man. Who could handle such a shock? If he’s lucky enough to find a wife in this era, he wouldn’t dare mention this less-than-glorious past to anyone!
Hindsight is useless; no amount of regret can change what’s done. Chu Qianmo figured time travel was probably a one-way ticket.
After thinking it over, he typed: [Chu Qianmo, the Wife-Killing Culinary Master: Lin Xi, could you keep an eye on when my master’s idiot son finally drives the restaurant into the ground?]
Chu Qianmo went with the crowd, calling Lin Xi by the nickname everyone used in the group chat.
He had formally apprenticed under his master to become a chef. If not for the gratitude he felt for his master’s kindness back then, he would have left long ago.
[Earth Girl Lin Xi: Got it. I’ll open Meituan Waimai and take a look now.]
Following Chu Qianmo’s instructions, Lin Xi opened the Meituan food delivery app and set the location to Fuyuan City, a hundred kilometers away. She casually searched for the restaurant, and the name popped up immediately.
She clicked into the restaurant’s page. It was already late December, and the restaurant had sold fewer than a hundred orders all month. There were plenty of reviews, but most were negative. The prices weren’t even cheap.
Lin Xi took a screenshot and sent it to Chu Qianmo. Seeing it, he burst out laughing: [Chu Qianmo, the Wife-Killing Culinary Master: Counting the time, I’ve been dead for almost a week, and the restaurant has only sold twenty more orders than before I died?]
Chu Qianmo’s restaurant was called “Chaoxi Private Kitchen.” When food delivery platforms first started gaining popularity, their shop had joined early. Though their prices were a bit higher than similar restaurants, the food was delicious and portions generous. Their sales were excellent.
In a typical month, they’d easily sell over a thousand orders. Some months even reached two thousand. And that was just delivery—walk-in customers weren’t even counted.
But since the boss’s son, Wang Xinbao, took over the restaurant, everything changed.
First, he changed the menu. Then he switched the ingredients. Finally, to make more money, he stopped using fresh ingredients altogether and bought a bunch of pre-packaged meals online.
Orders would come in, and he’d just tear open the packaging and microwave the food for two minutes before sending it out.
The dishes lost their original flavor, but the prices didn’t drop. A hundred orders a month was considered a good month.
As a professional chef, seeing Wang Xinbao sabotage the restaurant like this drove Chu Qianmo crazy. He’d argued with him countless times. In his life, the person he hated the most had shifted from the Golden Horn King in Journey to the West to this Wang Xinbao kid.
Chu Qianmo’s mission was ongoing, and a chat window popped up on his side.
[System Message: Would group member Chu Qianmo, the Wife-Killing Culinary Master, like to assign Earth Girl Lin Xi a long-term mission to monitor when “Chaoxi Private Kitchen” finally closes? The mission reward is: ___ .]
This was the only thing on Chu Qianmo’s mind. He rummaged through his portable space, passing by piles of sparkling spirit stones, until he reached the shelf holding his medicinal herbs.
Taking out two porcelain bottles, he wrote the words "Beauty and Body Refining Pills" on the system information line.
Chu Qianmo looked at these two bottles of medicine and couldn't help but sigh. The original owner might have been a bit of a scoundrel, but his reputation as a genius was well-deserved.
Although he was primarily a sword cultivator, his alchemy skills were also exceptional. After killing his own Dao companion, he descended to the mortal world to accelerate his cultivation progress.
In the mortal realm, he made a living by trading medicinal herbs and crafting various beauty and body refining pills. In a short time, his pills became all the rage among the upper class of the country he lived in. His second wife, a princess of a nation, married him because of this.
Take the two bottles of pills in Chu Qianmo’s hands now, for example—they were made using herbs from the mortal world. In simple terms, as long as the right herbs are found and the correct dosages used, these pills can be replicated in modern society.
Chu Qianmo inherited not only the original owner’s sins but also his talents. He wasn’t interested in fighting or killing, but he was very intrigued by the alchemy formulas left behind.
Right now, he was on his way to the mortal world and had already planned how he would spend his days. He intended to open a restaurant in the capital of the most prosperous country there while simultaneously experimenting to see if these formulas could be applied to cooking ingredients.
Just thinking about his future made Chu Qianmo feel hopeful. He might be unambitious, but even after crossing over into the cultivation world, he still wanted to be a chef.
Since this was a long-term task, Chu Qianmo had to pay Lin Xi one bottle of the beauty and body refining pills every month.
Each bottle contained five pills. According to a previous agreement between Lin Xi and the system, a portion of these items would be deducted as payment for helping her rationalize the use of sedatives in Wufeng Town.
Therefore, by the time the bottle reached Lin Xi, only two pills remained.
This kind of medicine, which had only existed in novels before, was now inside Lin Xi’s personal space.
Her heart itched with curiosity—she was genuinely eager to know what the pills tasted like and how effective they were.
She glanced at Yao Yuran, who was still asleep, then turned over and pretended to be asleep herself, slipping her consciousness into the space.
The porcelain bottle was very small, adorned with delicate green floral patterns that looked elegant and refined. Lin Xi pulled out the small wooden stopper on the bottle, and a fresh herbal fragrance mixed with a faint medicinal scent wafted into her nose, accompanied by a subtle, unknown floral aroma.
The scent matched exactly what Lin Xi had imagined, and she was thoroughly satisfied as she replaced the stopper.
The chat group also became lively because of this system message.
With so many girls in the group, who wouldn’t want to look beautiful? Even Xiang Qianlan washed her face every day, using cleanser and then applying some perfume afterward.
Beauty and body refining pills—who wouldn’t want some? So, the group launched a new round of exchanges.
After finalizing the items to be exchanged, Ye Bingbing tagged Lin Xi in the group chat, hoping Lin Xi could send some things to her parents.
Among the items, she also wanted to include a drop of gene repair serum.
As soon as Ye Bingbing finished sending her message, Xu Huanhuan immediately replied, saying she also wanted to send some things to her family.
Lin Xi agreed to both. She happened to want to send some specialty products from Yunnan Province to Brother Feng, Sister Li Ying, and the others. It was perfect to send everything together.
Both of them passed their items to Lin Xi. This time, Xu Huanhuan sent a small handful of golden melon seeds. Though small, they weighed about an ounce in total.
From Ye Bingbing's side, the world’s progress wasn’t much different from Lin Xi’s. She sent Lin Xi a wristwatch and half a bottle of gene repair serum.
After passing the items, Ye Bingbing told Lin Xi about her mission’s progress.
“The return process in S City is going very smoothly. The Gong, Leng, and Ye families, along with the clans allied with them, have all been uprooted.”
“I’m still working in the Special Abilities Unit. I probably won’t ever get out, but I’m quite satisfied. The pay is good there—with bonuses and benefits, I make around seventy to eighty thousand yuan a month.”
Although she had to return her salary to the system like Lin Xi did, Ye Bingbing was genuinely content. In her previous life at home, her pocket money was about the same amount.
The Special Abilities Unit wasn’t busy most of the time; it was like an ordinary government job—drinking tea, reading the newspaper, clocking in and out on time.
In her free time, she traded for some small gems with Ah Huahua and spent time sketching and designing. Without the craziness of the CEO’s world, Ye Bingbing found every day to be beautiful.
She occasionally thought of her parents, but compared to Xu Huanhuan in their group chat, Ye Bingbing felt lucky to have been able to return and see her parents even once after crossing over.
People must learn to be content; only then can life be good. This was the lesson her mother taught her. Ye Bingbing felt truly satisfied.
Lin Xi was happy for Ye Bingbing as well—after all, Ye Bingbing’s past hardships were truly heartbreaking.
The two chatted for a while until Yao Yuran woke up. Lin Xi helped her out of bed to use the bathroom. When she came out, the doctor came for rounds, followed by a nurse who administered anti-inflammatory IV fluids.
The meal she bought was still warm, so Lin Xi propped up the table on the hospital bed to help her eat. Then, honoring her promise to Hu Mingfang, Lin Xi let Yao Yuran make a phone call.
Seeing her mother so spirited, Hu Mingfang smiled through her tears.
After hanging up, Lin Xi shared her plan.
“The tourist route will probably open in spring, and the guesthouse will be built by then. Yuran, you can stay at my place to recuperate these next few months. Once the guesthouse is ready, you can help me out.”
“Our village doesn’t have an elementary school; the nearest one is in the neighboring Xing Shui Village. Both the elementary and middle schools there have good teaching quality. This year, quite a few elementary students got admitted to the city’s middle schools.”
“Our village is developing now. Your household registration, along with your two children’s, can be transferred to our village’s collective household.”
A collective household registration only carries a name; it doesn’t participate in the village’s land distribution, nor does it come with its own homestead. The villagers wouldn’t have any objections to this arrangement.
Gu Dahong could easily handle all these matters.
Yao Yuran never expected that after waking up from a sleep, Lin Xi would not only have arranged her job but also taken care of the troublesome household registration issue that had been weighing on her mind.
This undoubtedly solved the two biggest worries Yao Yuran had at the moment. Her rough, calloused hands tightly grasped Lin Xi’s, and she kept thanking her over and over, tears streaming down her face.
Yao Yuran wondered how she had been so fortunate to meet such a benefactor. At this moment, all the hardships she had endured over the past twenty-plus years seemed to dissolve.
There’s an old saying: “Bitter first, sweet later.” She had lived a hard life before, but after meeting Lin Xi, her days ahead could finally hold a bit of sweetness.
For someone who had suffered so much for so many years, even just a little sweetness was more than enough.
Lin Xi said, “No need to thank me. Xi Ran and I are friends. But Yuran, I have to confess—I lied to you. Xi Ran and I aren’t actually college classmates. We’re online friends who got along really well. That app really exists; we came up with it together.”
Lin Xi had attended university in the capital, and since Yao Yuran was going to live at her place, such details could easily be found out.
When Lin Xi initially told Yao Yuran that she and Yao Xiran were classmates, she hadn’t expected to have much contact with Yao Yuran. To avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, she decided to come clean.
She explained, “When I first came to find you, I was afraid you wouldn’t believe me, so I told that little lie.” Saying this, Lin Xi felt a bit embarrassed.
It seemed that whether it was Xu Huanhuan or Ye Bingbing, she had used the same excuse when visiting their homes. More newcomers would probably join the group later, and this excuse would likely be used again.
Though not very creative, whether it’s a black cat or a white cat, a good cat is one that catches mice!
Yao Yuran hadn’t expected Lin Xi to say that. Before she could wipe away her tears, she smiled and said, “You could have just told me directly. Young people nowadays love chatting online—that I know. Grandma Zhang’s grandson carries his phone everywhere, saying he’s got a girlfriend online.”
Yao Yuran didn’t even have a basic phone, but before Yao Xiran passed away, he had helped her get a QQ and WeChat account.
She had memorized those numbers by heart, already knowing them inside out. She didn’t have much reaction to the fact that Lin Xi and Yao Xiran were online friends.
What mattered was that Lin Xi had sent her money and provided a stable place for her and her daughter to live. For that, she was deeply grateful.
With this ticking time bomb defused, Lin Xi felt a wave of relief. Sitting on the small bed, she talked with Yao Yuran while preparing to tell Yao Xiran about the arrangements she had made to keep Yao Yuran there.
Yao Xiran had been hesitant to tell Yao Yuran earlier, fearing she might disagree. Even if she said something, it would be pointless and only upset her. Now that Yao Yuran had agreed to be with her, Yao Xiran felt much more at ease.
After finishing some repairs, Yao Xiran saw the message from Lin Xi and without hesitation, sent over several wristbands.
These wristbands were something Yao Xiran had made during her free time over the past couple of days. They looked like smartwatches, but their functions far surpassed ordinary ones.
First, they didn’t need charging. The smartwatch used cutting-edge new energy materials from the interstellar era, powered by solar energy technology. As long as there was light, the watch could replenish its energy.
Second, she integrated an anti-lost system. Lin Xi only needed to install a website Yao Xiran developed on her computer and input the unique codes of each watch. No matter where the watch wearer went, as long as there was light, the watch could be located.
Moreover, the smartwatch had built-in monitoring capabilities. If it detected the wearer was in danger, it would first determine the specific threat and then call the appropriate emergency number accordingly.
Finally, the watch featured a fifty-fold signal booster, meaning even deep in remote mountains or forests, calls and internet access would never be cut off or suffer from embarrassing no-signal situations.
There were seven wristbands in total—seven was Yao Xiran’s favorite number.
Reading Yao Xiran’s detailed explanation, Lin Xi immediately thought about mass-producing these smartwatches. With these devices, the chances of children and women being abducted could be drastically reduced.
Nowadays, human traffickers had countless tricks. Every time Lin Xi scrolled through short videos, she would come across news about missing children.
There were parents who mistreated their children, but there were also those who devoted their entire lives to searching for their lost kids.
Lin Xi had once read a phrase online that she liked very much: “Though my own life is far from perfect, I cannot bear to see the suffering in the world.”
As someone who yearned for light and hope, Lin Xi wished for less and less of such suffering in the world.
She shared her thoughts with Yao Xiran, who replied: “I’ve given you the devices—they’re yours now. Except for the ones reserved for Xiaofang, Xiaoyue, and my sister, the rest are at your disposal.”
“I’m also giving you four extra ones because I have plans in this area. I’m very grateful to my country. Since middle school, I’ve been on scholarships, and in university, I took out student loans.”
“Although I’ve paid off my loans, I still regret not having contributed enough to my country. Making these watches is my way of giving back.”
Lin Xi thanked Yao Xiran, who was lying on her bed at that moment, munching on a crisp, fragrant apple with a smile.
It was actually Yao Xiran who should be thanking Lin Xi. After all, Lin Xi had rescued her sister from that den of wolves—something Yao Xiran would be grateful for her entire life.
Yao Xiran felt that while saying "thank you" was certainly sincere, it was even more important to show her gratitude through actions.
Just as Yao Xiran was thinking about what else she could do for the Huaxia of another timeline, someone knocked on her door. "Boss, boss, come quickly."
Yao Xiran tossed the half-eaten apple into her spatial pocket, took a sip from the water on the table, and then went to open the door.
With billions of interstellar beings, the allure of natural plants was deeply ingrained in everyone. Her natural plants had already been sold for sky-high prices on the StarNet. Even so, those who had tasted her natural plants still waved massive amounts of star currency, flocking to her.
The trending topics on StarNet were all about the natural plants she had sold. Although her brothers and sisters were trustworthy, they were still too weak now. Those in power and with money could crush them as easily as squashing ants. The more people knew about the source of the natural plants, the greater the danger to them.
So for now, it was not the time to let them know these natural plants came from her. This was both to protect herself and to protect them.
Yao Xiran had already decided to shut down the website and temporarily stop her activities.
She opened the door, and Yao Putao was standing outside her room. "Boss, boss, a few days ago you gave a bunch of stones to Second Brother for testing, right? The results are in. Those black stones are nearly identical in composition to star meteorites."
Yao Xiran was momentarily stunned. Among them, their Second Brother was Pu Xiyuan, a person with a very rigorous personality. When he said "nearly identical," it was practically the same as saying "100% the same."
In the interstellar world, mechs existed, and making mechs required star meteorites. These star meteorites floated in space and were extremely difficult to capture or salvage.
The higher the grade of the mech, the more star meteorite it needed. On the black market, a 500-gram piece of star meteorite sold for over three million star coins.
The stones Lin Duxi had sent her weighed at least ten or eight jin (around 5 or 4 kilograms), and he had said that in his world, these materials were used for building houses and paving roads.
In other words, these stones were everywhere in Lin Duxi’s world.
That was pure money! Yao Xiran was thrilled, and Yao Putao was even more excited. Selling just 500 grams of star meteorite would be enough for them siblings to buy tickets off the Garbage Star.
How could Yao Putao not be excited!!!
***
Back on Earth, Lin Xi found an excuse to step out. When she returned, she handed the watch Yao Xiran had given to Yao Yuran. When Yao Xiran was in the modern world, she had taken apart both phone watches and smartphones.
Lin Xi bought a SIM card at a store outside and inserted it into the watch, which worked perfectly. The phone watch looked no different from the ones currently on the market.
The staff at the telecom service center didn’t notice anything unusual when activating the card.
Lin Xi patiently taught Yao Yuran how to make calls and how to apply for WeChat. The WeChat account Yao Xiran had registered before was no longer accessible because the phone number it was linked to was no longer in use.
Yao Yuran was deeply heartbroken. Her younger sister had told her that there were many photos of them together saved upstairs.
After Lin Xi helped her set up a phone card and apply for WeChat, Lin Xi guided her to try searching for that WeChat ID to add as a friend. Fortunately, the account was set to automatically accept friend requests.
Lin Xi then showed her how to look through the Moments. The Moments had no privacy settings; as soon as she clicked in, there it was—photos of the two sisters together.
Yao Yuran had never had a single photo of Yao Xiran. She had always relied on her own memories to recall her sister. Now, seeing them, her sister’s voice, expression, and smile all became vivid again in her mind.
Yao Yuran wept uncontrollably. She looked at that photo over and over, tears streaming down her face, the wound on her head throbbing painfully with each sob.
Lin Xi understood exactly how she felt. When her grandfather had just passed, she would tear up whenever she saw photos of herself with him.
Sitting on the small bed, Yao Yuran couldn’t help but think about the Lantingxu collection she had sent out yesterday. Judging by the delivery time, it should have arrived by now.
Lin Xi didn’t dare to track the package with the tracking number, fearing it might lead to being traced.
She could only guess.
***
Several hundred kilometers away in Spring City, a courier delivered a package addressed to the Yunnan Provincial Museum to the mailroom.
The mailroom was overseen by security guards, most of whom were barely literate. They signed for each package as the courier handed them over.
Then, they painstakingly recorded every package with careful strokes.
Half an hour later, the registration was complete. Staff from the office came to move the packages inside. Each package bore a signature and was stamped with the museum’s unique seal.
The museum’s package receiving process was extremely strict because the items inside were incredibly valuable. Any mishap would mean a loss not only to the nation’s interests but also to its cultural heritage and continuity.
Moreover, every year, private collectors donated items to the museum—precious artifacts of great significance.
Losing even one item would be a grave disrespect to these private collectors.
Today, Little He distributed the packages one by one according to the names on them. The staff receiving the packages followed the same procedures as Little He in the mailroom.
The last package was wrapped more simply than the others. It had no recipient’s name, only the museum’s public phone number, and the sender’s name was also listed as the museum.
Little He immediately recognized it as a donation from a private collector. She didn’t dare to open it and promptly took it to the director’s office.
Inside the director’s office, several professors were engaged in a heated discussion over an artifact.
Little He placed the donated item on the director’s desk. After the director signed for it as required, she quietly left.
The director then rejoined the debate.
As night fell, the group had yet to reach any conclusion. Instead, their disagreements left them all feeling frustrated and irritable.
The artifacts had been carefully collected and preserved, and the museum director was quite experienced at handling such emergencies. He brewed tea for everyone, and as he stood up, he noticed a package on the desk. Smiling, he picked it up.
“This is another item sent to us by a private collector. Gentlemen, no need to be upset. Come, come, let’s see what this is.”
The director carefully opened the package with a small knife.
Inside, they first saw a layer of bubble wrap, and a piece of paper slipped out. On the paper was the name of the donated item.
Professor Wang from the Department of Archaeology at Yunnan University picked up the note: “Donation item: the authentic Lantingji Xu.”
At those words, the professors who had just been arguing turned around as if searching for the sunflowers facing the sun, their eyes locking onto Professor Wang. Then, together with him, they all fixed their gaze on the package in the director’s hands.
The *Lantingji Xu* holds epoch-making significance.
In the ninth year of the Yonghe era during the Eastern Jin Dynasty (353 AD), a gathering was held at Lanting in Shanyin County, Kuaiji Commandery (present-day Shaoxing, Zhejiang). More than forty renowned scholars attended.
At the gathering, Wang Xizhi, “slightly intoxicated,” took up his brush and wrote what was described as a “scroll depicting the history of Jiangnan.” For over sixteen centuries, the Lanting gathering and the *Lantingji Xu* have had a profound impact on Chinese literati both then and later. The Lanting Pavilion in the suburbs of Kuaiji became a sacred site for Chinese calligraphy.
For thousands of years, the existence of the *Lantingji Xu* has been a subject of intense debate. Each year, scholars dispute whether the existing copies of the *Lantingji Xu* are truly Wang Xizhi’s original work.
And now, Wang Xizhi’s authentic *Lantingji Xu* has been sent in a humble package to the Yunnan Provincial Museum?
Professor Zhao from the Department of Ancient Chinese Characters at Yunnan University suddenly stood up. He snatched the package from the director’s hands and carefully opened it himself.
The significance of the *Lantingji Xu* in the history of classical literature is self-evident. Regardless of its authenticity, Professor Zhao treated it with utmost caution, even holding his breath as he handled it.
Finally, the last layer of bubble wrap was removed, revealing a scroll.
“Yonghe ninth year…”
Professor Zhao’s voice trembled. Before him appeared the elegant, flowing calligraphy, graceful as a startled swan and supple as a swimming dragon. At a glance, he was almost certain it was the genuine article.
His hands trembled, and so did his heart.
News that the Yunnan Provincial Museum had received the *Lantingji Xu* donated by a private collector spread like wildfire throughout China’s archaeological circles.
The museum’s phone lines were overwhelmed. The director answered call after call, repeating the same words countless times.
Renowned figures throughout China’s archaeological community dropped their work and took all kinds of transportation to rush to the Spring City.
Though the workday had long ended, the Yunnan Provincial Museum remained brightly lit. No one left; even the security staff were called back. Working overtime was rarely a pleasant experience, but tonight, everyone at the museum worked late with a sense of joy and fulfillment.
If this *Lantingji Xu* was truly authenticated as the original, its significance to archaeology would be extraordinary.
In the dead of night, a message appeared on the desk of the Minister of National Security.
"On December 24, 2020, the 'Red Scarf Classmate' donated the 'Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Collection' to the Yunnan Provincial Museum. There is a 70% probability that it is an authentic piece."
