Chapter 36: No Need to Even Take the Test

Long after finishing the call with her father, Li Xinfang's hands were still shaking.

The company had been sealed, and all accounts, both public and private, were frozen.

The Partner was sentenced, her father went bankrupt, and he was millions in debt...

But suddenly, a turning point appeared?

Even if it was just a glimmer of a turning point, it was still better than seeing no hope at all and just waiting helplessly for death.

Li Xinfang took a sharp breath, teardrops clinging to her eyelashes, and starlight flickered in her pupils: "Gu Ming, thank you!"

Gu Ming gave a simple, honest smile.

Li Xinfang should definitely thank Lin Sicheng the most. But he said there was no need: Doctor Li, if you want to thank someone, thank Gu Ming...

"You handle your family matters first; once things are mostly settled, I'll have you treat him to a meal!"

If the matter was resolved, how could a single meal be enough?

"Okay!" Li Xinfang nodded heavily, then recalled the scene of meeting Guan Xingmin just now, "Lin Sicheng, is he really only a senior in college?"

Could that be fake?

"That's right, he even had to ask for leave to come out today."

If he's only a senior, how could he know those two?

"Then have you ever met Secretary-General Hao and Director Guan?"

Gu Ming thought about it very seriously: "No impression, maybe they're friends of Grandpa's!"

Impossible.

If they were friends of an elder, they wouldn't joke around with Lin Sicheng so casually, let alone put their arms around his shoulders and laugh and chat.

Li Xinfang was also certain that the relationship between those two and Lin Sicheng was not ordinary.

Take Secretary-General Hao, for example; it felt like he and Lin Sicheng were like "buddies"?

And Director Guan: her father had racked his brains, not knowing how many hairs he'd turned white with worry, yet he couldn't even get through on his phone.

But just because she knew Lin Sicheng, not only did Director Guan agree to meet, he even let her father go to his office?

This clearly meant the matter could be handled...

She couldn't figure it out.

Actually, there was no need to think about it.

"Gu Ming, Lin Sicheng is quite good to you!"

"Of course, we've been friends since we were kids running around naked. How many scapegoats have I been for him, how many beatings have I taken in his place? If you don't believe me, ask him another day: can he even count them?"

Li Xinfang laughed out loud: "Was it his suggestion that you change departments?"

Gu Ming paused and nodded.

That wasn't a suggestion; that was instigation!

She didn't know what that bastard had said to Old Gu, but the second day after Grandpa was hospitalized, Old Gu went to the hospital to find the leadership and had him transferred to logistics.

Now look: he was doing fine as a lab doctor, and now he's become a handyman?

"What about Wan Ying, did he stop you from pursuing her too?"

"How could that be?" Gu Ming shook his head like a bobblehead, "I never pursued her, okay?"

"It's fine, if you like her, just pursue her!"

Gu Ming insisted stubbornly: "I really never pursued her!"

Li Xinfang smiled.

The week before last, she was on the night shift and passed by the General Affairs Department, just in time to hear Gu Ming and Lin Sicheng arguing.

It was on speakerphone, and the volume was huge:

"Gu Ming, I've lived this long, and this is the first time I've seen someone try to pick up a girl by giving her a mahjong table?"

"You play all night; today you're touching tiles, tomorrow you'll be touching hands, and in a few more days, your hand will be under her skirt..."

"Once you're married and have a kid, you leave for your night shift, and she heads out to play mahjong... She plays until midnight, then checks into a small hotel with her mahjong buddies... Tsk, she's having a great time, and your kid is left at home crying..."

It's no exaggeration; Gu Ming's face turned green at the time.

Ever since then, Gu Ming would dodge and hide whenever he saw Wan Ying...

Even though her mood was still heavy, she didn't know why, but every time Li Xinfang thought of Gu Ming's expression back then, she wanted to laugh.

"Snap~"

The lighter sparked a flame, Lin Sicheng shielded it from the Wind, Guan Xingmin took a "hissing" drag, and wisps of white smoke drifted from his nostrils.

"Want one?"

"I don't know how yet!"

Lin Sicheng shook his head and paused slightly: "Director Guan, will the matter from just now... be very troublesome?"

Guan Xingmin smiled enigmatically: "What if it is troublesome?"

Lin Sicheng said decisively: "Then we won't do it!"

"Hahaha~"

Guan Xingmin was stunned for a moment, then laughed out loud, "Rest assured, even if Li Guojun didn't give a gift, even if I hadn't run into his daughter today, this matter would still have to be handled..."

The matter was quite complicated:

Li Xinfang's father had partnered with someone to open a Bronze handicraft company. Three months ago, his Partner acted as a middleman and sold an Imitation Xuande Censer from the Kangxi era to a local antique company for four million.

A month later, the buyer discovered the item was wrong and called the police. But the seller had long since run away, so they could only go after the middleman who provided the full guarantee.

According to the appraisal by the Appraisal Center, the Imitation Xuande Censer was a modern craft, and the middleman was looking at at least ten years in prison.

But he insisted that the item was absolutely genuine. Therefore, Li Guojun and his Lawyer strongly requested to apply for a higher, more authoritative Appraisal Center to intervene.

It just so happened that Li Guojun and Guan Xingmin were alumni of the same university, so he sought his help. But Guan Xingmin was only the deputy director of the Appraisal Center, not the deputy department head, so seeking him out was useless, which is why he kept avoiding him.

"Re-appraising it shouldn't be in accordance with the regulations, right?" Lin Sicheng was somewhat puzzled, "Then why is it possible now?"

"Because of you!"

"What?"

"Because of that Song Dynasty Yaozhou Kiln Celadon Inverted Pot from the Cultural Relics Company!"

Guan Xingmin exhaled a puff of smoke and mimicked a leader's tone, "Machines, machines, all you know is how to rely on machines all day long... If machines were that useful, what the hell do we need you for?"

Lin Sicheng was stunned: just because of that pot, a case involving nearly ten million in illicit funds was overturned?

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

"This is exaggerated? Lin Sicheng, let me tell you: compared to that, this case is not even worth a fart..."

"Let me ask you again: is the Shanghai Museum authoritative? Is the National Cultural Heritage Administration Appraisal Center authoritative?"

"They ran it through the most advanced instruments, and every test said it was genuine, but what was the result? Not only was the pot a fake, but it also turned out to be a radioactive source, for crying out loud!"

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

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

"So Lin Sicheng, do you have any idea how many leaders were broken out in a cold sweat, unable to sleep night after night from the lingering fear?"

"And how many units were scolded until they were bloody, working overtime night after night? Just like us, the bureau chief held meetings in person, and the Municipal Bureau issued documents overnight: all cases involving Cultural Relics are to be back-checked for three years..."

"Those not yet sentenced are to be delayed, those already sentenced are to be re-appraised, and if you don't have the ability, submit your applications early, and I will go to Beijing myself to invite Experts for you bunch of losers..."

Guan Xingmin spread his hands: "The exact words of the department leadership!"

Seeing Lin Sicheng looking bewildered, Guan Xingmin sighed again: "You can't blame the leaders for being angry: before Bai Hong (General Manager of the City Cultural Relics Company) went to Beijing and Shanghai, he first took that pot to the Provincial Department Appraisal Center..."

"It went through the machines?"

"No shit!"

Lin Sicheng stared with wide eyes and an open mouth, not knowing what to say: didn't that mean a massive scapegoat had just been dumped right onto the head of the public security system?

If he were a leader, he would be angry too...

Guan Xingmin exhaled: "So, in the end, you will definitely get a commendation of some size, at the very least a certificate. But the case is still under investigation, and the Commission for Discipline Inspection is still looking into it, so don't be in a rush!"

Lin Sicheng was certainly not in a rush, because he had no idea that the nature of that pot could be so serious.

He thought for a moment: "Who will give it?"

"Hard to say, but at the very least it will 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 your internship after the New Year, have you thought about where you want to go?"

Lin Sicheng felt something was wrong: "Not yet, but my grandfather wants me to go to graduate school!"

"A total waste of time, it's not like you can't study after you start working?" Guan Xingmin's eyes rolled, "I think our bureau is quite good, just based on that pot, you wouldn't even need to take the exam!"