Chapter 36: No Need to Even Take the Exam

Long after hanging up the phone with her father, Li Xinfang’s hands were still trembling.

Her company had been shuttered, and all accounts—both corporate and personal—had been frozen. Her business partner was facing a prison sentence, and her father was bankrupt, burdened with millions in debt. Yet, suddenly, there was a glimmer of hope. Even if it was just a faint chance, it was better than waiting helplessly for the end.

Li Xinfang took a sharp breath. Tears clung to her eyelashes, but a spark of light shimmered in her pupils. "Gu Ming, thank you!"

Gu Ming offered a bashful smile. Li Xinfang really should have been thanking Lin Sicheng, but he had insisted, "Dr. Li, if you want to thank someone, thank Gu Ming."

"You handle things at home first. Once they’re settled, I’ll treat him to a meal on your behalf!"

If things truly worked out, a single meal wouldn't be enough.

"Alright!" Li Xinfang nodded firmly. She recalled her encounter with Guan Xingmin earlier. "Lin Sicheng... is he really only a senior in college?"

Could there be any doubt? "That’s right. He even had to ask for leave to come out today."

If he were just a senior, how could he possibly know those two men? "Have you ever met Secretary-General Hao or Director Guan?"

Gu Ming thought about it earnestly. "No impression. Maybe they’re friends of his grandfather’s?"

That was impossible. If they were friends of an elder, they wouldn't have teased Lin Sicheng so casually, let alone draped their arms around his shoulders, laughing and joking. Li Xinfang was certain: the relationship between those two and Lin Sicheng was anything but ordinary. It felt as if Secretary-General Hao treated Lin Sicheng like a "bro." And then there was Director Guan: her father had exhausted every resource, losing sleep and hair over the stress, yet couldn't even get the man on the phone. But the moment she mentioned she knew Lin Sicheng, not only did Director Guan agree to meet, he even invited her father to his office. This clearly meant the matter could be resolved.

It was baffling. But then, perhaps it didn't matter.

"Gu Ming, Lin Sicheng treats you quite well."

"Of course. We’ve been playing together since we were in diapers. How many of his blunders have I covered for? How many beatings have I taken for him? If you don’t believe me, ask him yourself next time: can he even count them all?"

Li Xinfang laughed. "Was it his idea for you to transfer departments?"

Gu Ming paused and nodded. That wasn't a suggestion; it was coercion! He didn't know what that rascal had said to Old Gu, but the day after his grandfather was hospitalized, Old Gu had gone to the hospital administration and had him transferred to logistics. Now, look at him: he was a perfectly capable lab technician, and now he was reduced to a glorified errand boy.

"What about Wan Ying? Did he tell you not to pursue her, too?"

"What are you talking about?" Gu Ming shook his head like a rattle. "I never pursued her in the first place, alright?"

"It’s okay, you can admit it if you did!"

Gu Ming refused to budge. "I really never did!"

Li Xinfang smiled. Two weeks ago, she had been on the night shift and passed by the general affairs office, where she happened to hear Gu Ming and Lin Sicheng arguing. The speakerphone was on, and the volume was high:

"Gu Ming, I’ve lived this long and this is the first time I’ve seen someone try to woo a girl by gifting her a mahjong table!"

"You play all night—today it’s just shuffling tiles, tomorrow you’ll be holding hands, and in a few days, your hands will be under her skirt..."

"Once you’re married and have kids, you’ll head out for a night shift, and she’ll be off to play mahjong... and after playing until midnight, she’ll check into a cheap motel with her gambling buddies... Tsk, she’ll be having the time of her life while your kid is at home wailing..."

It wasn't an exaggeration—Gu Ming’s face had turned green at the time. Since then, Gu Ming had avoided Wan Ying whenever he saw her. Even though her heart was still heavy, for some reason, the memory of Gu Ming’s expression made Li Xinfang want to laugh.

***

*Snap.*

A flame rose from the lighter. Lin Sicheng shielded it from the wind as Guan Xingmin took a puff, exhaling thin wisps of white smoke through his nostrils.

"Want one?"

"I don't know how yet."

Lin Sicheng shook his head and paused. "Director Guan, will the matter we just discussed... be troublesome?"

Guan Xingmin smiled enigmatically. "What if it is?"

Lin Sicheng replied firmly, "Then we won't do it."

"Hahaha!" Guan Xingmin was stunned for a moment before bursting into loud laughter. "Don’t worry. Even if Li Guojun hadn't offered a gift, and even if I hadn't met his daughter today, this matter would still get handled..."

The situation was complex. Li Xinfang’s father had partnered with someone to open a copper handicrafts company. Three months ago, his partner had brokered a deal, selling a Kangxi-era imitation Xuande incense burner to a local antique company for four million. A month later, the buyer realized the item wasn't authentic and called the police. The seller had long since fled, leaving the middleman, who had provided a full guarantee, to face the consequences.

The authentication center had confirmed the burner was a modern craft, and the middleman was looking at at least ten years in prison. But he insisted the item was genuine. Li Guojun and his lawyers had been pushing hard to have a higher, more authoritative appraisal agency intervene. As it happened, Li Guojun and Guan Xingmin were alumni of the same university, so he had sought his help. But Guan was only a deputy director at the appraisal center, not a deputy bureau chief; he couldn't help, so he had been avoiding them.

"Re-appraising it shouldn't follow protocol, right?" Lin Sicheng asked, puzzled. "Why is it possible now?"

"Because of you!"

"What?"

"Because of that Song Dynasty Yaozhou kiln celadon reversible pot from the cultural relics company!"

Guan Xingmin exhaled a puff of smoke, mimicking a superior’s tone: "Machines, machines—all day long you only know how to rely on machines... If machines were that reliable, what the hell do we need you for?"

Lin Sicheng was stunned. Was a case involving nearly ten million being overturned just because of that pot?

"Isn't that a bit... exaggerated?"

"You think that’s exaggerated? Lin Sicheng, let me tell you: compared to that, this case is nothing at all..."

"Let me ask you: are the Shanghai Museum and the National Cultural Heritage Administration’s appraisal center authoritative?"

"They ran it through the most advanced equipment, and it tested as 'authentic' every which way. But the result? Not only was the pot a fake, but it also turned out to be a radioactive source!"

"A radioactive source... that’s a damn radioactive source! If it had entered a museum and been put on public display, what would the consequences have been?"

Guan Xingmin gestured wildly, getting more agitated as he spoke. "Boom... the sky would have collapsed, wouldn't it?"

"So, Lin Sicheng, do you know how many leaders were broken out in a cold sweat, unable to sleep for nights on end?"

"And how many units were scolded into oblivion and forced to work overtime every single night? Take us, for example: the bureau chief called a meeting personally, and the municipal bureau issued a document overnight: all cultural relic cases from the past three years are to be re-examined..."

"Cases not yet sentenced are to be delayed; cases already sentenced are to be re-appraised. If you don't have the skills, file your applications now, and I’ll personally go to Beijing to hire experts for you bunch of losers..."

Guan Xingmin spread his hands. "Those are the bureau leadership’s exact words!"

Seeing Lin Sicheng’s bewildered expression, Guan Xingmin sighed. "You can't blame the leaders for being angry. Before Bai Hong (the general manager of the municipal cultural relics company) went to Beijing and Shanghai, he took that pot to the provincial appraisal center first..."

"It went through the machines?"

"Obviously!"

Lin Sicheng stared with wide eyes and an open mouth, not knowing what to say. Didn't that mean a massive, disastrous blunder had just landed squarely on the head of the public security system? If he were the boss, he’d be furious too.

Guan Xingmin exhaled. "So, in the end, you’ll definitely get a commendation of some sort, or at the very least, a certificate. But the case is still being investigated, and the Discipline Inspection Commission is still looking into things, so don't be in a rush."

Lin Sicheng certainly wasn't in a rush, as he had no idea the nature of that pot was so severe. He thought for a moment. "Who will give the commendation?"

"Hard to say, but at the very least, it’ll be from the municipal bureau or the municipal cultural relics bureau!"

Guan Xingmin gave an ambiguous reply, then changed the subject. "You’re graduating next year, right? You can start interning after the New Year. Have you thought about where you’re going?"

Lin Sicheng instinctively felt something was off. "Not yet, but my grandfather wants me to go to graduate school!"

"A waste of time. You can study while you’re working, can't you?" Guan Xingmin’s eyes rolled. "I think our bureau is great. With that pot to your name, you wouldn't even need to take the entrance exam!"