Chapter 10: The Beginning of Cohabitation for One Night Added more for 2007 Zhang's recommendation votes

  I guess these two things must be able to prove the existence of Xi Shi's tomb and help determine its location. Also, I perked up my ears to listen to Li Yu Bo speak.

  He said: "My father is tight-lipped about this, and even I don't know what these two things are."

  I almost smashed my head on the ground. For two things that he didn't even know about, we both almost lost our lives.

  Ling Kong looked at Li Yu Bo and then turned to me, saying: "Lin You, what's your opinion?"

  I took another sip of bitter tea and said, "The other side may already know about these two things, but they need the map from Kang City to confirm them further. We got the map, but we don't know about these two things. After messing around for half a day, it turns out that we each have half of the information. Unless we put them together, finding Xi Shi's tomb is not going to be easy."

  It was clear that Leng Kong knew that Ming Ying had already told me the purpose of organizing this search for Xi Shi's tomb, so when I mentioned Xi Shi's tomb, he wasn't surprised. He nodded and said: "Perhaps they've come to take back the painting, or perhaps we'll find out what these two things are all about, and then we can complete the task on our own." As he spoke, he turned to Ming Ying and asked: "Ming Kong, where's that painting?"

  Mingying's expression was numb as she took out the painting from her bag and handed it over to Lingkong.

  I heard the clear and crisp voice of Ming Kong calling "Ming Kong", I thought to myself, could it be that they are all from the "Kong" generation? Does this organization still have such a rule for ranking generations? If I join the organization, would I be called "Lin Kong" or "You Kong"? Thinking about it is really annoying.

  Of course, I would rather die than join such a mysterious organization.

  Ling Kong spread the painting on the table, but I caught a glimpse of something suspicious in the crack that I had torn off.

  Just as Leng Kong was about to pick up the painting, I hastily intervened and asked, "How much do you know about mounting ancient paintings?"

  He was taken aback for a moment and shook his head in ignorance.

  I have nothing in common with this kind of person. I used my fingernail to separate the backing paper and the top layer of mounting paper, slowly peeling off the top layer, but found that there was another layer between the painting and the backing paper. I gently pinched it with two fingers and pulled it out.

  This is a very thin paper, which has been slightly yellowed due to its age. There was a blank space on it, nothing at all. I turned it over and looked at it for a while, muttering to myself: "Is this peach blossom paper or jingchuan paper?"

  Li Yubo was well-versed in history but had little knowledge of ancient paintings and calligraphy, so he asked: "What's the difference?"

  I twisted the paper and said, "Tao Hua paper is a type of printing paper produced in Kaihua, Zhejiang. It's whiter than Xuan paper, has elasticity, semi-transparency, and can be used for rubbing, printing, calligraphy and painting, as well as pasting windows. It's even used to seal the jar for Dongpo pork. If it's Tao Hua paper, applying water or oil will make the paper transparent. If there are hidden characters on it, they will appear."

  Li Yubo said: "Then hurry up and find some oil!" He lifted his body, pulled on the dislocated joint, and let out a cry of pain.

  I took a look at him and said, "If this weren't peach blossom paper but rather jingchuan paper, it would be made of bamboo. If oil were applied to it, the fine pores of the bamboo fibers would absorb it, and any writing on its surface would not show up."

  Everyone who heard this sentence had a solemn expression. If they couldn't judge the quality of the paper, once they made a mistake, it would be a lifelong regret.

  I said to Ling Kong Dao, "Find a pair of scissors, cut off a small piece from the edge, and take a look at the fiber shape under a microscope. The characteristic of bamboo fibers is that they have horizontal nodes in the longitudinal direction, are uneven in thickness, have cavities inside, and have cracks on the edges. If it's like this, then it's Jingchuan paper."

  Ling Kong made a phone call to his subordinate and told him to go to the cultural and educational equipment store tomorrow to buy a microscope.

  After hanging up the phone, he turned his head and said to me, "You've had a narrow escape tonight. Get some rest early."

  I exclaimed, "Rest? Where can I rest?"

  He pointed to the rooms inside and said that all the rooms in this house except mine and my assistant's are guest rooms. Choose whichever you like.

  I said I didn't need it, and I'd better go back home to sleep. As I spoke, I was about to stand up and bid farewell.

  Ling Kong suddenly stood up, one hand on my shoulder, pressing me back onto the sofa. His arm strength was extraordinary, as the saying goes, "the arm cannot twist the leg", and my leg strength was actually pressed down by him. I lost my balance and fell back onto the sofa.

  Mingying, who had been silent beside him, suddenly spoke up in a low voice: "I also live here."

  Ling Kong nodded and said, "Mm. Your home is now exposed, so don't go back to that house for the time being. Tomorrow, let Jiang Nan find you another place to stay, and move there after settling in."

  Mingying had no reaction, she just sat there blankly.

  He called out to a girl, introducing her as his assistant, Yang Ruihan. This girl was gentle and quiet, with a good figure. She wore a loose T-shirt and shorts, her white thighs flashing back and forth in front of me, I couldn't help but take a few glances.

  Suddenly a cold gaze swept over, I followed the direction of the gaze and found it was Mingying. For some reason, I felt a wave of shyness and quickly composed myself.

  Yang Ruihan also noticed that I had taken a glance at her seductive legs, but she didn't get angry. Instead, she said calmly: "Mr. Lin, please follow me this way."

  I followed her into a room, the decor was simple, it was clear that it was a guest room, very much like a fast hotel room. The bedding and sheets were still clean, I nodded my thanks to Yang Yuihua and casually asked if there were any cigarettes.

  She nodded and said "Please wait a moment", went out for about three minutes and came back, handing me two packs of Huanghe Lou 1916.

  Okay. This cigarette, my company's boss likes to smoke, gave me a pack. The price of 180 yuan per pack is also considered to be a high-end cigarette, one root can top up my meal money. Moreover, this cigarette is shorter than the ordinary cigarette, and it will be gone after two mouthfuls. However, the taste is similar to that of cigars, very fragrant. I took it over, thanked him hastily, thinking that this organization was really rich, and the cigarettes they casually brought out to entertain guests were at such a high level.

  What is this organization all about? Where does their money come from?

  I lit a cigarette in the room and calmed down. When I returned to the living room, I found that there was no one, and I guessed that Ling Kong had gone with Li Yu Bo to find an old Chinese doctor, and Ming Ying had already been taken into her own room by Yang Hua Huan.

  I've been busy all day, sneaking around and avoiding pursuit, without even having time to change my clothes. I'm covered in stinky sweat. There is a dress shirt in my bag that I wore when I went to Chen Ziqi's house, but I left it in Mingying's car and didn't bring it over. With no other choice, I thought forget about it for now and just go take a bath first, so I ran into the bathroom.

  I didn't expect this bathroom door was sliding type and there wasn't even a latch!

  I'm a person who can't survive without taking a bath every day, holding the idea of washing first and talking later, pulling up the shower curtain, taking off my clothes and starting to take a cold shower.

  I was washing halfway when the door suddenly opened. I hastily said: "Hey, wait a minute, someone is using it!"

  Yang Ruihan's voice sounded, saying: "Mr. Lin, you probably didn't bring a change of clothes. I've prepared a set of pajamas and put them here. You can change into them after your bath. As for your clothes, I'll take them to wash and have them delivered to your room by the time you wake up tomorrow morning."

  This Yang Ruihua seems to take all these things as extremely pure and normal behavior, completely not thinking that entering a bathroom where someone of the opposite sex is bathing is strange. However, this super five-star service I couldn't refuse, so I hurriedly agreed. But suddenly remembering that my underwear was also in that pile of dirty clothes, I felt too embarrassed to speak up again, and could only let her go ahead.

  The problem is, I couldn't find the shower gel. There were many bottles on the shelf next to me, all of which were imported goods with foreign languages on them, and I couldn't understand a single one. What the hell? Even if they're imported goods, shouldn't they have Chinese labels too? Do you have to show off your wealth like this? How can a poor guy like me stand it?

  Helpless, I could only squeeze out one bottle at a time, apply it to my hair and try it out. If it didn't feel right, I'd rinse it off. After messing around for half the day, I finally settled on a white bottle with SEBASTIAN written on it. Washing my hair with it felt pretty good, and after rinsing, it indeed felt very refreshing. It's not that I'm biased towards foreign products, but this one is actually quite good to use. The only thing is, I reckon it won't be cheap. I smacked my lips, thinking to myself, who knows if I'll have the chance to use it again? Might as well wash my hair thoroughly with it. So I used it for another round, and suddenly felt like I'd gotten a great deal, making the trip worthwhile.

  Finding the right shower gel was also a lot of work, and after trying out several options, I finally settled on PATYKA's flat bottle, which has a very unique scent. After washing my entire body, it felt refreshing, smooth, and silky, so I ended up using half the bottle.

  Alright, my mentality, why is it always so mediocre?

  I took a refreshing bath and put on the pajamas Yang Ruihua brought me. The fabric of these pajamas is so soft and smooth, it's a pleasure to touch and wear, just like the tender skin of the opposite sex. The gentle caress all over my body makes my brain involuntarily secrete dopamine, putting me in a state of mild excitement. In other words, I had impure thoughts.

  I'm just a carefree and straightforward person: I almost got shot or run over just now, but after snagging some cheap shampoo and body wash, all that tension and gloom has been thrown away to Java.

  I came out of the bathroom, and Yang Ruihua was standing not far away, secretly smiling with a curled lip. My old face turned red, probably she saw through my cheap mentality that can't stop using imported goods when I encounter them. I stiffly turned around, walked into the room, closed the door, and felt depressed in my heart.

  Sitting on the bed, I made up my mind that tomorrow morning, I would explain to Mingying and Lingkong that if necessary, I would go and make a passionate speech to Old Lady Yun, emphasizing the severity of the situation and the unbearable weight it has placed on me. After all, the organization had found me and forced me to do things, so if I refused to cooperate, they might not dare to do anything to me. However, if this continued, next time we encountered a hail of bullets, I probably wouldn't be as lucky as this time.

  So I will quit, no matter what.

  The decision was made, just about to lift up the quilt and lie down, when a light knock at the door sounded.