Chapter 150: Coordination Meeting

Lead-colored clouds hung low, and the glass filtered the daylight into a cold, gray tone.

The conference room projector was lit, with two rows of seats surrounding a long table shaped like the character "口". There were no subtitles, no name cards, and certainly no banners. If someone were to walk in suddenly, they wouldn't even know what kind of meeting was being held.

Of the roughly forty or fifty chairs, more than half were occupied; the expressions were quite solemn, and the sound of discussion was incessant.

With a "bang," the door was pushed open, and the meeting hall suddenly fell silent.

Immediately, the leaders entered one after another, and the attendees grew gradually surprised.

The Municipal Cultural Relics Bureau: one Deputy Bureau Chief and three Division Chiefs: the Cultural Relics Supervision Division, the Cultural Relics Protection and Archaeology Division, and the Cultural Relics Inspection Division.

The Municipal Public Security Bureau: one Deputy Bureau Chief and four Division Chiefs: the Criminal Investigation Detachment, the Public Security Detachment, the Exit-Entry Detachment, and the Municipal Appraisal Center.

As well as the Municipal Customs Anti-Smuggling Division, the provincial and municipal-level Cultural Relics Protection Research Institutes, the Archaeological Research Institute, the Cultural Relics Exchange Center, and other assisting units.

There were fourteen units at the division level or higher alone.

Oh right, there was also the Northwest University Heritage College, but why was the representative so young?

And, so unfamiliar?

Among a group of leaders averaging over fifty years old—some with graying temples, others with potbellies—the thirty-something, vibrant Wang Qi Zhi was exceptionally eye-catching.

The assistant he brought was even more eye-catching, barely twenty, with a face still showing traces of lingering childishness.

Lin Sicheng said a word to Wang Qi Zhi and walked toward an empty seat in the outer circle.

Wang Qi Zhi did not insist otherwise.

According to the Municipal Bureau's arrangements, Lin Sicheng's seat should have been in the middle circle.

The reason was simple: the first and second major pieces of physical evidence were discovered by him, namely the Registration Book and the Jade Wenming. The three key pieces of evidence that followed were also discovered by him, namely the Qingbai Mirror and those two pieces of the Seven-Star Board.

He even reported the case himself and led the initial appraisal work for the five pieces of evidence at the Appraisal Center; how deep was this level of participation?

But Lin Sicheng did not care much for being in the spotlight, so he politely declined.

Turning his thoughts inward, he took a look around.

Other areas were basically full, with only a few seats empty directly facing the leaders' table. Two women in their thirties sat right in the middle.

One was relatively tall, and one was relatively thin.

With nowhere else to go, Lin Sicheng sat down accordingly, and the tall woman raised her head, curiously looking him over for a few moments.

"A student from Xida?"

Lin Sicheng nodded.

The tall woman tilted her chin toward Wang Qi Zhi: "The one on the stage, that's your teacher, right?"

Lin Sicheng nodded again, then gestured toward the stage.

The woman shook her head: "It's fine, the leader has a microphone, he can't hear!"

The thinner one beside her giggled.

Lin Sicheng paused and said nothing more.

He finally understood why the seats on both sides of these two women were completely empty: they were quite old, yet lacked any sense of propriety.

Seeing Lin Sicheng reveal an expression of "I don't want to deal with you," the tall woman pursed her lips and smiled.

The meeting officially began; the staff turned off the lights and pulled the curtains.

A photo of the Registration Book was projected onto the screen.

The woman took a look: "You're studying archaeology, right? Do you recognize this item?"

Lin Sicheng did not speak.

Afterward, it changed to the Jade Wenming, and the woman asked again: "How about this one, do you recognize it?"

Lin Sicheng did not even glance sideways.

The woman pursed her lips and smiled: "Your studies aren't very good, how did you get into graduate school?"

It was just quite baffling, and quite annoying.

Lin Sicheng simply stood up and moved a little to the side.

The thinner woman laughed even harder: "He's still a little 'milk dog'... stop teasing him..."

The woman pursed her lips and smiled, no longer tormenting Lin Sicheng, and chatted in whispers with the thinner woman.

The main leaders of each department had already held several meetings previously; what needed to be discussed had been discussed, and the direction to be taken had already been set. Today was for specific deployment and the final synchronization and coordination among all units.

The main purpose was one thing: to find the specific location of the Zhang Anshi Tomb as soon as possible and avoid the continuous damage to the tomb caused by grave-robbing activities.

There were many secondary purposes: preventing the outflow of Cultural Relics, avoiding social impact, protecting cultural heritage... and so on and so forth.

The meeting was not long, about an hour and a half; in the end, the leaders of the Cultural Relics Bureau and the Public Security Bureau expressed their thanks and notified all units to take their respective positions.

Lin Sicheng stood up, and the two women also stood up, following closely behind him.

At first, he was baffled, but when he saw Wang Qi Zhi pause for a moment, Lin Sicheng realized that these two knew Professor Wang.

They were likely quite familiar; even from a distance, the tall one tilted her chin toward Wang Qi Zhi and even winked.

And to think they didn't even know each other, yet the moment they met, they treated him like a child to be teased?

"Sicheng, let me introduce you..." Wang Qi Zhi pointed, "This is Associate Researcher Ren from the Yang Mausoleum Museum, and this is Doctor Wu from the Municipal Archaeological Research Institute... This is my student, Lin Sicheng."

"Hahaha... Secretary Wang, your student is quite interesting."

It was indeed quite interesting: after Wang Qi Zhi finished the introduction, Lin Sicheng only said a faint "Hello."

He did not reach out his hand, nor did he show much humility.

Wang Qi Zhi was stunned, not understanding why: Lin Sicheng was usually quite polite, wasn't he?

What did these two women say?

Unable to ask on the spot, Wang Qi Zhi changed the subject.

They were likely quite close; the two female Doctors were joking with Wang Qi Zhi, asking how someone who managed the Youth League Committee managed to mix into the leadership level, and whether he had given gifts.

Walking as they talked, Lin Sicheng followed behind.

I don't know if it was an illusion, but I felt that Lin Sicheng's gaze was not quite right; it held suspicion amidst the scrutiny, and seemed to reveal a few traces of sharpness.

Is this kid quite the grudge-holder?

The two female Doctors felt rather uncomfortable, said a few words, and left first.

Watching their retreating figures, Wang Qi Zhi looked surprised: "Did those two harass you?"

A "little puppy" remark hardly counts as harassment.

What Lin Sicheng found strange was that they didn't even know each other, had never even met, so where did that inexplicable sense of familiarity from that Doctor Ren come from, along with her non-existent sense of boundaries?

He thought for a moment: "Teacher, that Doctor Ren, the tall one, is she unmarried?"

Wang Qi Zhi was suddenly stunned, his expression gradually turning strange.

Lin Sicheng sighed: "Teacher, the way she looks at you is not right."

Suddenly, Wang Qi Zhi's old face flushed red: "Lin Sicheng, what nonsense are you spouting?"

Lin Sicheng didn't speak: to appraise an artifact is also to appraise a person.

With their relationship at this point, he felt that even as a student, it was better to offer a reminder: a person like Doctor Ren, with such a personality, such an age, and who is also quite pretty. The key point is, she is still single?

It just felt like Professor Wang was in quite some danger...

"Don't you know what kind of personality your teacher has? We only attended two seminars together..."

Wang Qi Zhi didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and patted him on the back: "Worry about yourself first."

What do I have to worry about?

Lin Sicheng muttered to himself, but didn't make a sound.

Wang Qi Zhi explained a few more things, and the two left the conference room.

But just as they stepped out the door, a voice came from the side: "Professor Wang is here too? Come, come, come, little Lin, let me introduce you!"

Bureau Chief Chen stood to one side of the door, next to the Director of Shijian, and between the two stood the leader who had previously been sitting in the very center of the leadership seats.

The two female Doctors hadn't gone far, and upon hearing the voice, they turned around abruptly.