Shen Sangyu led several people into her father’s office and opened the door.
She nearly scared the life out of him.
Shen Sangyu was just about to explain when Du Yansong, who had been holding onto her the entire way, strode forward and grabbed Shen Qian’s hand.
“You must be Brother Shen! You really have a wonderful daughter!”
After an enthusiastic barrage of compliments, the two men were practically ready to become sworn brothers on the spot.
“Dad, the box I asked you to bring this morning, where is it?”
Shen Sangyu quickly interrupted them.
“Oh, right, right. It’s over here. Sang-sang, what’s inside? Why is it so heavy?”
Now that Shen Sangyu had finally brought the conversation back to business, the two men ended their socializing.
She really had to admire their extraordinary ability to make friends with absolutely anyone.
Shen Qian pulled a large box out from underneath his desk and placed it on top.
“Easy, easy! Careful, Brother Shen!”
Watching Shen Qian handle the box made Du Yansong wish he could do it himself.
In truth, Shen Qian was already being extremely careful. Shen Sangyu had even stuffed foam padding inside the box for extra protection.
Shen Qian looked completely baffled.
Du Yansong opened the briefcase he had been carrying and took out a pair of white gloves, which he carefully put on.
Then came a magnifying glass, a flashlight, a soft brush…
He had brought absolutely everything a professional could possibly need!
His serious, professional demeanor was enough to make everyone hold their breath.
Not only Shen Sangyu and Tang Yuan, even Shen Qian couldn’t help but become completely absorbed.
Everyone watched Du Yansong’s movements with rapt attention.
One moment he was shining the flashlight over the bronze vessel, the next he was carefully changing its angle to examine it from another direction.
“…Young Miss Shen, tell me, where did you find this?”
Du Yansong was extremely curious.
A bronze vessel preserved this perfectly was clearly valuable. Anyone with even a little knowledge of antiques could tell that much.
“…Huh?”
How was she supposed to explain that?
Should she tell him that when she first got it, the thing had practically been a piece of worthless scrap metal?
Fortunately, Fu Yingqi came to her rescue just in time.
“Professor Du, Sangyu mentioned that the inscription might record the name of a tribe?”
Shen Sangyu could only recognize one or two characters from the shape of the inscription. Based on the vessel’s function as a bronze wine vessel, she had speculated that it was probably made by a relatively large tribe during the late Shang Dynasty.
Sure enough, Du Yansong stopped asking where the bronze had come from.
The scholarly spirit of the older generation, who refused to stop until they had gotten to the bottom of every question, was truly something to admire.
The white-haired old man fell into thought for a moment.
“I’ll need to go back and compare it with bronze inscriptions from the same period before I can make even a preliminary guess. But judging from the craftsmanship and decorative patterns, it does bear some similarities to a group of artifacts unearthed in Shandong several years ago…”
“Look at these two characters. They’re pronounced ‘Yaxu.’ I’ve seen these same characters on other bronze artifacts as well. It’s possible that there really was a large tribe called ‘Yaxu’ during that period…”
Du Yansong pulled Shen Sangyu, who had been standing off to the side, closer and pointed at the inscription engraved on the bronze vessel with his gloved finger.
As he spoke, his gaze shifted from the artifact to everyone else in the room.
Du Yansong suddenly laughed.
“…Perhaps we’re looking at a brand-new historical discovery!”
It wasn’t just Shen Sangyu who was excited.
Even Jing Fan and Tang Yuan, who knew practically nothing about bronze artifacts, were thrilled.
Shen Qian finally understood what was going on.
So his daughter had discovered a bronze artifact with tremendous academic value and intended to donate it to the country!
“…Young Miss Shen, on behalf of the country’s bronze artifact researchers, I’d like to thank you.”
Not everyone who obtained a national treasure would willingly hand it over to the state.
After all, even after the founding of the country, countless artifact smugglers and dealers still existed. An ancient bronze vessel of this caliber could fetch an astronomical price on the overseas auction market.
Shen Sangyu quickly waved her hands.
She was actually a little surprised herself that the item Uncle Li had casually given her could be worth so much.
“This is simply what I should do as a citizen of China…”
She didn’t need anyone’s thanks.
“By the way, Young Miss Shen, would you be interested in attending Peking University? I’m a doctoral supervisor in the cultural relic restoration program there…”
Du Yansong had already realized that Shen Sangyu possessed extraordinary talent when it came to identifying cultural relics.
More importantly, the young girl had a passion and sincerity toward cultural relics that he recognized all too well.
A doctoral supervisor?
Professor Du!
She was still a high school senior!
Wasn’t that a little too far into the future?
Shen Sangyu could only smile helplessly.
Hearing this, Shen Qian was equally puzzled.
“Professor Du, Sang-sang is only a senior in high school this year…”
“High school? That’s perfect! Next year, I happen to have a place for a direct-entry doctoral student!”
Fu Yingqi really couldn’t bear to watch anymore.
Professor Du really didn’t even blink when he lied.
Everyone in the academic world of cultural relics knew that Professor Du hadn’t taken on a student in years. His position as a doctoral supervisor at Peking University was practically honorary. He hardly ever even set foot inside the university.
Du Yansong seemed to catch Fu Yingqi’s expression and shot him a sharp glare.
It was as though he were saying,
What do you know? If Old Yu and Old Ding discover this girl, someone my age won’t stand a chance against them. Of course I have to pull a few tricks and make her my final disciple!
In her previous life, Shen Sangyu had taken the college entrance examination, but she hadn’t even filled out her university application.
The Shen family had run into trouble shortly before the exam, and she had never had the chance to seriously think about what major she wanted to study.
Shen Qian knew his daughter well.
The moment he saw Shen Sangyu’s expression, he understood.
The little girl hadn’t made up her mind yet.
“Brother Du, let the child think about it herself. She’s still young and hasn’t really considered these things before.”
Shen Qian and his wife had always had the same attitude toward their children.
They only wanted them to be happy and healthy.
As for what major they studied or how great their achievements became, they had never cared much about those things.
“You haven’t eaten yet, have you? I’ll have Uncle Chen arrange something right away. Tang Yuan, Jing Fan, and this gentleman… Who is he?”
Shen Qian began calling everyone over for a meal, only then noticing the tall, handsome young man with his extraordinary bearing.
“Dad, he’s my friend. His name is Fu Yingqi.”
Shen Sangyu didn’t give any further explanation.
Who would have thought Shen Qian would immediately address him as…
“Xiao Fu!”
“Xiao Fu, what would you like to eat? Just tell your uncle. Don’t be shy…”
Fu Yingqi wasn’t offended in the slightest.
Instead, he gave Shen Qian a warm smile.
“Thank you, Uncle Shen. I’m not picky.”
…
She had to admit, Fu Yingqi really did look quite handsome when he smiled.
Especially considering how accustomed he was to wearing such a cold expression.
Du Yansong shook his head inwardly.
Brother Shen, aren’t you practically inviting a wolf into your house?
Your precious daughter is about to be swept away, and you haven’t even noticed!
Not only had this boy dragged an old man like him all the way to Haishi for the sake of little Shen…
He had come along himself too.
And that alone would have been enough.
But now he was practically strutting around like a peacock showing off its feathers.
He had even smiled at Shen Qian, despite this being their first meeting!
If that old man from the Fu family found out about this, wouldn’t he be so angry that his beard would practically blow into the sky?
“Professor Du, I have one more thing. Could you take a look at it for me?”
Shen Sangyu took out the Xuande blue-and-white porcelain vase from the safe.
She hadn’t had the chance to discuss this matter with Shen Qian yet.
Since they were already here today, she might as well settle this matter at the same time.
“Ah, Sang-sang, isn’t this your grandfather’s vase? Uncle Chen told me earlier that it had been broken. How did you manage to repair it so quickly?”
Shen Qian took the vase from her, looking rather surprised.
He couldn’t see the slightest trace that it had ever been repaired.