Leaving the Bai family, Wu Tingxiu invited me to her company.
I got into her tiger-head chariot and we arrived at an office building.
This was my first time at her company, and according to her, she usually worked here.
Her company was a comprehensive enterprise. We took a private elevator directly to the door of her office.
The office was about one hundred square meters, not only spacious and bright but also antique in style.
In the center was a massive rosewood chair. Against the wall was a desk, and on the wall behind the desk hung a giant landscape painting, which I immediately recognized as an authentic work by Zhang Daqian.
The bookshelves on either side of the desk were filled with thread-bound books. In the north corner stood a raised-head desk with paper, ink, brush, and inkstone, clearly a place for writing calligraphy.
On the wall above the raised-head desk, another painting hung. I couldn't tell who the artist was, but the brushwork was good, and I couldn't tell the era either.
Wu Tingxiu motioned for me to sit and asked if I wanted coffee or tea.
"Tea, I can't get used to that foreign drink, coffee," I said.
Wu Tingxiu smiled, personally boiled water, and brewed me a cup of tea. She took a sip and said, somewhat uncertainly, "Da Hong Pao?"
"You know tea?"
"I may not have eaten pork, but I've seen pigs run, haven't I?"
I smiled, put down my teacup, and got straight to the point: "Tell me, Director Wu, what task are you assigning me this time?"
She chuckled, "From now on, we're practically family. You don't need to be so formal. When we were in Yuncheng, didn't you say you wanted to call me Xiao Wu?"
She fiddled with her teacup and continued, "No one has ever called me that since I was little. You're the first."
"There's always a first time for everything," I chuckled. "Besides, if I call you Xiao Wu, aren't you the one getting the advantage?"
She raised an eyebrow, looking a bit confused.
"You're older than me. If I call you Xiao Wu, doesn't that make us peers?" I said.
"How do you know I'm older than you?"
I was about to say that any fool could see it, but upon seeing her expression, I suddenly remembered something Wang Yang had told me: Age is a woman's taboo, something you must never touch.
As I thought this, my gaze drifted to her chest. Just as I was about to speak, she sneered, "Do you often like to make such jokes?"
In an instant, I realized she had misunderstood me, but I didn't know how to explain.
Besides, yours is already large. Isn't it normal to catch a glimpse if you're not careful?
"Let's talk about business…" I quickly interjected. "What do you want me to do for you?"
The anger in her brows slowly dissipated. She picked up a file from the side and handed it to me: "I need you to find someone."
"Who?"
She pointed to the file on the desk. I took it and glanced at it. It was an A4 paper with very scattered information, including only a name and a few addresses.
"Who is Yang Hanxue?" I asked.
Wu Tingxiu said, "His ancestor was a famous Lock King in Yanjing."
"Lock King? As in, the lock for opening things?"
She nodded.
I immediately understood why she wanted me to find this person.
She wanted to find this person to open that Five Elements Dual Dragon Box.
However, the box was still in Wu Hao's hands. If I found the locksmith without the box, wouldn't it be useless?
She seemed to guess my thoughts and said, "I'll handle the box myself. You must find this person."
Looking at the addresses on the paper, I asked, "Is this all the information you have on him?"
Wu Tingxiu nodded. "This is all the information I have about him, but I know quite a bit about his grandfather."
I sighed and said, "Then tell me."
"Yang Hanxue's grandfather was Yang Qirui, a famous archaeologist in Yanjing. His grandfather's team discovered the Peking Man fossils."
Hearing this, I was startled. I knew quite a bit about the Peking Man fossils.
When the Japanese invaders were fighting us, it was said that the Peking Man fossils were placed in the协和医院 (Xiehe Hospital) established by the Americans. After all, these fossils were extremely precious, and they were afraid they would be lost during the war.
As a result, they remained there until 1941. At that time, relations between the Japanese and the Americans were tense, and many people believed that a conflict between the two was inevitable.
Therefore, they felt that keeping the fossils in China was unsafe and were worried that they might fall into the hands of the Japanese.
To prevent this from happening, archaeologists decided to ask the Americans to help transport these fossils abroad for safekeeping.
At that time, the United States and Japan had not yet gone to war, so in theory, transporting these fossils should have been no problem.
A lot of effort was put into transporting these fossils. Not only were they meticulously packed, but to avoid suspicion, they were escorted by the U.S. Marine Corps under the private name of a military doctor.
However, by sheer coincidence, on the day of the transport, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, declaring war on the Americans.
The ship carrying the fossils was captured by the Japanese.
Due to the chaotic situation at the time, the military doctor responsible for transporting the fossils was hit by a stray bullet and died on the spot. The box of extremely precious fossils then went missing.
To this day, no one knows the whereabouts of the fossils. Some say they fell into the sea, others say they were discovered by the Japanese and taken back to their country, and still others say that the military doctor responsible for the transport, foreseeing the future, hid the fossils at the port before boarding the ship.
In short, the matter is shrouded in speculation, and those fossils have never been found, which remains one of the greatest regrets in the history of human research.
The fossils displayed in museums today are merely replicas.
I was somewhat surprised that the person Wu Tingxiu asked me to find was the descendant of a renowned figure.
"Didn't you say his ancestor was the Lock King?" I asked.
Wu Tingxiu said, "Yang Qirui's public identity was an archaeologist, but he was fond of researching various ancient locks and mechanisms. He was undoubtedly the Lock King."
People with talent are truly different. Not only do they reach the pinnacle in one field, but they also achieve accomplishments in other areas.
"When I go to find this Yang Hanxue, how capable is he?" I asked.
"Compared to his grandfather, there is naturally some distance, but he is also an outstanding figure in the field of mechanisms and keys."
"If I find him, what if he's unwilling to come to Guangling? Or what if he refuses to help?"
Wu Tingxiu smiled, "He won't. This person is obsessed with locks and keys. As long as you mention the Qimen Shuanghe Lock to him, he will definitely be very interested and will naturally follow you here."
I hesitated, looking at the addresses on the paper: "Why are there so many addresses?"
Wu Tingxiu said, "His whereabouts are uncertain. These are places where he has lived before."
"Places where he has lived before?" I was taken aback. "You mean, you don't know where he is?"
Wu Tingxiu nodded.
"Then how am I supposed to find him?" I was taken aback.