NR | Chapter 7

Fourth Brother wasn’t here. I locked the room door from the inside, flopped onto the bed, and began going over everything that had happened today, especially that nine-ring jade box. In fact, when Tian Yuqing asked me to look at it a second time, I really did notice some things I had missed the first time.

A thin layer of pigment had been painted on the right side of the box, but I hadn’t paid it any attention during my first look, so I guessed it must be some special kind of paint that only showed up when natural light hit it at a certain angle.

The painting itself was easy enough to understand. It showed a massive army advancing into a forest sea in the dead of winter. What shocked me was how unimaginably huge this army was, to the point that its tail completely merged into that sea of trees, or to put it another way, you couldn’t see the end at all.

And it wasn’t just the army, that forest sea also had something going on. If this depicted Chinese territory, then it was definitely a very distinctive place, one that wouldn’t vanish in the short term. The scenery was full of recognizable features.

That was what made me confidently rule out the Central Plains and the southern regions right away.

Besides that painting I had overlooked, there were a few other scattered remarks. I wanted to find some clues from those disconnected bits of language, and also figure out just what these people were doing by showing up out of nowhere.

I noticed one very important piece of information in my conversation with Tian Yuqing, the right time.

So what exactly was the right time?

I found it strange. I had no idea what Tian Yuqing was talking about, but he refused to say it plainly. Over the next two days, I racked my brains trying to pry something out of him, but every time I was about to speak, I realized that just by sheer presence alone, I had already lost.

A week later, there was still no news. Fourth Brother’s shop soon reached closing time for the holiday, and I couldn’t handle the professional side of appraising houses, so I just tallied up the shop’s accounts and helped the assistants buy New Year goods. The two days before the holiday were so busy I was running myself ragged.

Tian Yuqing was still staying in the shop. Every day he did nothing but drink tea, admire the snow, and play on his phone, or else stand by the door watching those brats outside set off little firecrackers. While we were all rushing around, he was absurdly free.

I stood on a stool with great effort to paste up Spring Festival couplets, while Tian Yuqing sat in the shop playing games. The first time I saw him gaming, I had been a little surprised. How could the grandkids from such a rigid, old-fashioned family actually play this kind of game that kept up with the times? He said I didn’t get it. This was called keeping up with the times.

I was too lazy to bother with flour paste for the couplets, so I just stuck them up with clear tape. Right after I finished putting on the last strip of tape, Tian Yuqing’s phone rang. I instinctively slowed my movements to the lightest possible, prickling my ears to listen.

I couldn’t hear the voice on the other end. I didn’t know if it was Fourth Brother. After the other person said a long stretch of something, Tian Yuqing’s expression suddenly turned serious for no clear reason. With a cold face, he said, “Got it. I’ll be there within three days. Please arrange for us to pass through in advance.”

Was this guy finally leaving?

It sounded like the other side was in a hurry. If Tian Yuqing was finally leaving, I ought to have taken out all the firecrackers I’d been hoarding and used them to chase off this plague spirit. But my intuition told me the person on the other end was very likely my Fourth Brother, or at least it was something related to him.

Tian Yuqing stood up and said to me, “You’re done with this one, don’t keep putting up more. Go pack. This New Year’s not happening. We’re making a trip to Gansu. Something’s come up with your Fourth Brother.”

He spoke very quickly, and in just a few words he laid out the current situation in detail. His language was extremely concise, concise enough that I didn’t even need to think to catch the key points, go to Gansu, Fourth Brother is in trouble.

Usually, when someone suddenly starts talking very fast, it means they’ve run into something urgent and need to get that information out quickly.

After that, Tian Yuqing kept taking calls nonstop in the shop. Just from what I could hear, he made at least twenty. From the contents of the calls, it sounded like Fourth Brother had been hired to go to some place in Gansu, and that place was definitely connected to this jade box.

Even though, with my limited ability, I couldn’t help with Fourth Brother’s problem much, I still rushed to my room as fast as I could and started shoving changes of clothes into my suitcase like mad.

What Tian Yuqing meant was that Fourth Brother wanted to bring me along. Since Fourth Brother said so, there had to be something I could help with once we got there. Besides, I had probably already caused Fourth Brother plenty of trouble just by opening cabinets at random, so it was only right that I go help out.

So this time I was unusually proactive. I packed enough clothes for four days, then dragged my suitcase downstairs. Tian Yuqing had just finished a call. He looked up at me, then at the suitcase in my hand. “You’re only bringing this much?”

I thought to myself, it’s not like we’re moving house or going on a vacation, do I need to haul a thousand-plus kilometers to Gansu with bags piled up all over the place? Besides, however much I brought, I’d still have to carry it myself. Fourth Brother’s house appraisals were mostly in the countryside anyway. By then we’d be taking dirt roads, and I only had two hands, not six.

“This is enough. When are we leaving? Now?” I asked.

Tian Yuqing smiled at me and gave a slight nod, then stood up from his chair. “Fine. Since you’re ready, let’s go.”

He picked up the wooden box holding the jade box. It was locked shut with a big padlock. After he finished speaking, the assistant started rolling up the shop’s shutter door.

Tian Yuqing put his phone into the pocket of his down jacket, walked up to me, and handed me the wooden box in exchange for my suitcase handle. “We’re going to make a stop to the east first, then head to Gansu. It’s a long trip. Other than the scheduled rest stops, our car won’t be stopping. If you get carsick, sitting in the passenger seat might be more comfortable.”

I hadn’t expected him to do it like this. Driving a thousand-plus kilometers, and first we had to take a detour east? That much time on the gas pedal would wreck your foot. I immediately started searching my memory to see whether I’d brought my driver’s license. There was no way I could really let him drive more than a thousand kilometers alone, right?

By the time I thought of that, the shutter door had already been fully opened. The sound of firecrackers from the shop across the street suddenly grew loud in my ears, a smell of gunpowder drifted over, and the winter sunlight made me squint. The next second I looked out at the street, and I was completely stunned.

At least five or six Jeeps were parked along the otherwise empty roadside, all of them brand-new. A rather seasoned-looking guy jumped down from one of them, greeted Tian Yuqing, then turned to me with a gesture. “Hello, Young Master Gan. I even attended your full-month banquet when you were a baby.”

Tian Yuqing cut him off with a wave. “Lao Gen, this is urgent. Skip the pleasantries. Are all the supplies ready?”

I finally let out a breath. There had never been a moment when I was more grateful to Tian Yuqing than now. I was terrified that if this guy nicknamed Lao Gen kept talking, he’d go on to say things like, “I even held you when you were little,” or “You really look like your mom when you were a kid.”

Lao Gen took the suitcase from Tian Yuqing’s hand and was very respectful toward him. “Everything you instructed has already been prepared. The last two cars won’t carry people, only supplies. Everyone’s in the first three cars. We’ve already gotten word back from over there. The situation isn’t clear. The assistants are taking turns driving, so we can get there in two days at the fastest.”

I followed Tian Yuqing over to the cars. There were people sitting in all of them, and from the looks of it there were at least six or seven in total. Just as Lao Gen said, the last two cars only held luggage and several large black cases. My little suitcase looked painfully out of place among them.

I cursed inwardly. If I’d known, I should’ve packed more.