Chapter Nine: The Teapot

  Qin Zhong discovered many things from the Manchu archives that cannot be understood with normal thinking, and even a single coincidence cannot be taken lightly. Moreover, there are many things that are evidence of the humiliation of the Chinese nation for decades, such as the crimes committed by the Japanese during their invasion of China.

  These things that are not forbidden have stirred up Qin Zhong's patriotic heart, in addition to studying those strange events, he also wants to carefully study these historical evidence, perhaps it will become a sharp tool for Chinese people like the Japanese in the future.

  He patted his heart and asked himself if he had ever loved his country. In the end, he came to the conclusion that he still loved his country very much.

  Just then, Qin Zhong's door was knocked on. Originally, there were hardly any people in the entire building, except for himself, and possibly Da Ya and Fang Shu.

  "Who is it?"

  "It's me, Director!"

  By the sound of it, Qin Zhong immediately recognized that it was Da Ya. He didn't know why Da Ya's enthusiasm for going to work was so good at this time.

  Da Ya walked into the house, holding a mop: "Director, I've cleaned up the entire building. There's a rest room on the first floor that's been closed for a long time, do you want me to clean it too?"

  Qin Zhong was not very familiar with such places in the building because he came relatively late: "There are still such places in our building?"

  "Uh-huh, I heard it was Fang Guan Zhang who locked it up at first. It seems that your father also specifically requested to leave it behind back then." Da Ya is still relatively familiar with the situation of the entire mansion.

  Qin Zhong's expression was taken aback for a moment, and then he quickly regained his composure: "Is that so? I really didn't know about this. If you're free, help me tidy up." He put down the Manchu file in his hand, after all, Qin Zhong's greatest advantage was that he never forgot anything he had seen, as long as he wanted to remember it.

  Qin Zhong and Da Ya hastily went downstairs, looked at the lock that had already grown rusty, opened the door, and a musty smell wafted out, as if something was moldy.

  "You stay here and take a rest, I'll go to the office to check on the computer. It's probably time to reply to the report forms. After all, our department is under the jurisdiction of the District Archives Bureau, so we still need to do our daily work well." Qin Zhong said, handing over the entire first-floor lounge to Da Ya.

  As he went upstairs, Qin Zhong kept thinking about what was said in the file. He himself was a history major and had a good understanding of Manchu history, but strangely, many things mentioned in the Manchu file were completely unknown to him.

  After Qin Zhong finished his own work, he finally figured it out and decided to start from this archive, from the first thing on Grandpa's notes, and slowly complete those things that Grandpa didn't finish.

  Before long, Daxia panted and ran up from downstairs: "Director, Director, something's wrong, the girl from the church is here."

  Qin Zhong was puzzled, why this guy would be so flustered in front of Meng Na: "She's coming anyway, you don't have to be like that."

  "It's her, she's here. Anyway, you don't know, just come out and take a look." Da Ya, due to his large teeth, found it laborious to speak, and after saying more than a few words, the corners of his mouth would always be left with a long string of saliva, which he had to forcefully suck back in.

  Qin Zhong raised an eyebrow and smiled: "Look at you, a woman has scared you like this, isn't it that Meng Na? Really."

  Da Ya felt a great deal of difference in Qin Zhong's attitude, and in his eyes, Meng Na was indeed like what Lao Gui had said - a shrewd woman. Moreover, he himself had also been taken advantage of by Meng Na before.

  Qin Zhong heard that Meng Na had arrived, and out of politeness, since she had helped him before, he should at least go out to welcome her.

  Downstairs, I saw Mona wearing a white mini skirt, flesh-colored silk stockings, and red pump shoes, and she had somehow managed to create an explosive hairstyle.

  Qin Zhong also showed some surprise: "Miss Meng Na, what's this?"

  "How does it look?" Miss Meng Na's feeling when she saw Qin Zhong was naturally different.

  This suddenly made Da Ya a bit dazed, he stole a glance at Meng Na with his peripheral vision, and didn't know why Meng Na's eyes were so sharp, just a simple raise of an eyebrow made Da Ya tremble all over.

  "Dream, Miss Meng Na, why don't we go sit in the rest room for a bit? I'll go make some tea for you." Da Ya said tentatively.

  Qin Zhong didn't know what was going on between Meng Na and Da Ya, why Da Ya seemed like a mouse seeing a cat when he saw Meng Na. He suppressed his curiosity in his heart and didn't ask directly, but still politely invited Meng Na to the first floor's rest room.

  He entered the rest room, and with a quick movement, grabbed the teapot on the tea table and rushed out.

  Qin Zhong stepped into the house and saw that the living room, which was messy earlier, had been cleaned up by Da Ya. The doors and windows were wide open, and the damp air inside had dissipated, making him feel quite satisfied.

  "I really didn't expect that your archive room would have such an elegant place, it's really good. If you add some large speakers here and play some cool music, wouldn't it be even more enjoyable?"

  The daughter of a pastor would be so fiery, no wonder that big tooth would retreat three steps: "Big Tooth, is there something between you and her?"

  "Hum, that guy, at Christmas time, when bread was being distributed in the church, which is God's gift to us, he was so greedy and took two portions for himself alone. I didn't scold him, or else I would have left him behind."

  Qin Zhong couldn't help but shiver at Meng Na's response, really hadn't expected this little girl to be like that.

  Just as the two were talking, Da Ya walked in with a teapot, her hands shaking. Qin Zhong thought it was because of her fear of Meng Na, but when he took the teapot from her hand, he suddenly felt that the water inside was icy cold, yet upon closer listening, the water inside was still bubbling and churning, and steam was rising from the spout.

  Qin Zhong's eyes widened, what was going on? Was this teapot made of some special material? He didn't dare to think more, held his breath, endured the temperature of the teapot, and opened the lid to see that the water inside was indeed boiling.

  "Hey, what's going on with you two? Really! Big Tooth, you're brewing tea but not pouring it?" Meng Na was a straightforward woman, speaking without reserve.

  Qin Zhong waved his hand and said in a low voice, "Don't talk, it's not right, this teapot is very strange, come and feel it." He said to Meng Na, letting Meng Na stretch out her hand to touch the teapot.

  Mona pouted: "This hot teapot, what do you want me to touch?"

  "Feel it!"

  Meng Na didn't know what Qin Zhong and Da Ya were up to, but she carefully reached out to touch the teapot, looking at Da Ya's forehead covered in cold sweat, his terrified expression seemed to suggest that he too felt something was off. At this moment, Meng Na's hand also touched the side of the teapot: "Huh? That's strange, why is the teapot cool when the water inside is boiling?"

  The three of them loosened their grip, staring at the water in the teapot that was boiling non-stop, with steam evaporating continuously. Before they could pour the tea from the teapot into their cups, the water in the teapot had already evaporated completely, and even the tea leaves inside the teapot looked as if they had just been put in.

  "Director, look, the tea leaves are like this. I just poured water in and the leaves opened instantly, but unexpectedly the water is still boiling, yet the teapot has become as cold as ice. Look at my hand!" Daxin stretched out his own hand, and his hand had already begun to change. His originally ruddy palm had turned black and dry.

  Qin Zhong stretched out his own hand to look, and his hand didn't seem to have changed at all. Meng Na's hand also hadn't changed, which was strange. Could it be that the teapot had poison on it?

  "What have you been doing just now?" Qin Zhong asked Da Ya.

  Tears welled up in the thick lenses of his glasses: "I just took the teapot to wash it, and after washing, I poured tea leaves and water into it. Look at it now."

  "Where did the tea come from?"

  "What I usually drink."

  "Where is the water?"

  "It's also mine at home."

  Qin Zhong seemed to understand something: "That should be the teapot's problem." Before Qin Zhong finished speaking, Da Ya stared at the teapot and sat down with a thud, using his slowly withering hand to point at the teapot, unable to speak.