Chapter 237: Trouble from Within

Asking for the expert went surprisingly smoothly. I placed a piece of rock I brought onto the expert's table, and the expert, wearing glasses as thick as beer bottle bottoms, took one look, grabbed my hand, and wanted to go see the site with me.

The expert was an authority in the geological field, having dealt with rocks all his life. He could determine what mineral components were contained in a rock just by smelling it. It is rumored that several of China's large non-ferrous metal mines all have the expert's hard work in them.

The expert's surname was Xu, full name Xu Siguan. He graduated from an Ivy League university in the United States in his early years. After returning to China, he encountered the Cultural Revolution. Expert Xu was less than twenty years old at the time and hadn't started working before he was sent to a "cowshed."

Expert Xu was in a real "cow shed." His task was to herd three water buffaloes for the May 7th Cadre School. Expert Xu had studied books since he was a child and had only seen what cows looked like in books. He was greatly surprised when he first saw a cow. Thinking of the Tang poetry he read when he was a child—"The shepherd boy rides the cow, blowing a flute horizontally"—he begged another professor in the cow shed to borrow a bamboo flute, jumped onto the cow's back, and prepared to play a piece of silk and bamboo water music in the misty Jiangnan.

Who knew the cow wouldn't cooperate? Suddenly, it ran wildly. Expert Xu fell off the cow's back and broke several ribs, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as he was sent back to the city to recuperate. After his injury healed and he returned to the cow shed, he refused to play the Jiangnan shepherd boy's sentimentality no matter what. Every day, he herded the cows through the mountains, occasionally finding a stone, and at a glance, he knew it was extraordinary. Expert Xu was not an expert at the time, and knowing his words carried no weight, he didn't make it public. He spent eight years in the cow shed with a stone in his pocket, grinding a jagged, curved stone until it was completely round.

When he was rehabilitated and returned, Expert Xu had no achievements, so his superiors had nowhere to arrange him and had to let him do odd jobs at the Geological Institute. It happened that the whole country was looking for mines everywhere. Central Province's geological resources were not rich, and watching other provinces open coal mines, iron mines, copper mines, and gold mines, they were so anxious that they called on all geological personnel in the province to find mines at all costs and listed an internal document: as long as a mine is found, the professional title will be promoted by three levels immediately.

Expert Xu felt the time was ripe. He walked through the place where he had found the stone several times, formed a report that night, and sent it to the provincial leaders that day. As a result, the personnel sent to investigate found that it was exactly as Expert Xu reported, without the slightest error. He had discovered the largest non-ferrous metal mine in the country.

Expert Xu was a guest professor at the university Huang Qishan attended. When I asked him, Huang Qishan thought of him and recommended him to me.

Professor Xu Siguan held my ore, reluctant to let go for a long time, and repeatedly asked about the origin of the stone.

He immediately spread out a map. I opened my eyes wide and searched the map for a long time but couldn't find Chunshan County, so I pointed to the sesame-sized Hengyue City and said: "It's right here."

Professor Xu compared it with the place I mentioned, looked up some information, and finally looked up at me and said: "Young man, you have discovered a gold mine!"

I wasn't surprised when I heard this; instead, I felt it was incredibly natural.

Professor Xu wanted to go to the site with me to take a look. I politely declined, saying I still had something to do, and that once I finished, I would definitely come to pick up the professor.

Walking out of the Geological Research Institute, I felt the sunlight outside was exceptionally bright.

When a person is in a good mood, they think about drinking.

Huang Weiwei and the others who were waiting for me outside saw me come out and surrounded me to ask for the result. I laughed and said: "Let's drink first."

Drinking wasn't the important thing. I also wanted to go to the Cultural Relics Administration. I had always been curious about what exactly was inside the eighteen stone coffins transported from my Suxi Town.

Chen Meng volunteered to lead the way. She had a reporter's press card, and both ghosts and humans had to give her some face. Reporters, regardless of size, as long as they have a pen in their hands, everyone has to respect them.

If I said I was a town mayor and wanted to knock on the door of the Cultural Relics Administration, I'm afraid the security guard at the door would laugh at me. In the provincial capital, an official like me could kill ten people with one brick, and upon checking their identities, nine and a half of them would have a higher rank than me.

Things went exactly as Chen Meng expected. We were easily received by a deputy director of the Cultural Relics Administration.

Being an official myself, when I saw the deputy director's high-spirited demeanor, I wished I could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

The deputy director received us politely, and after clarifying that I was the town mayor of the place where the eighteen stone coffins were unearthed, he kindly invited me to observe the stone coffins.

It turned out that except for an empty coffin made of golden nanmu wood, every other stone coffin contained priceless treasures. In one of the stone coffins, the gold, silver, and jewelry, and a single night-luminescent pearl, could be worth half of Hengyue City.

The deputy director said it wasn't a matter of price, but of cultural and historical value. This batch of unearthed cultural relics rewrote the history of the Hengyue region and also rewrote the historical and cultural status of Central Province. The provincial leaders originally wanted to build a history museum at the place where the cultural relics were unearthed, but upon learning that we were going to build a new government building, they rewarded us with three million yuan to encourage us!

After the deputy director took us to visit, he mentioned He Jiaxiao on the way back, saying that this person was a talent!

I had to admire the meticulousness of the work of the provincial cadres. Even He Jiaxiao could be known. Perhaps he said it unintentionally, but it was precisely because he said it unintentionally that the other seventeen stone coffins were discovered; otherwise, they might have been buried underground forever and wouldn't have been unearthed for another few thousand years.

He Jiaxiao, who was following me, smiled conceitedly, so I said to the deputy director: "Actually, this person called He Jiaxiao is him."

The deputy director stopped, stared at He Jiaxiao for a few times, and asked a few questions casually. I didn't expect He Jiaxiao to answer them fluently, which surprised me greatly. The image of the playboy in my mind vanished. It seemed that this little brat really had some skills.

The deputy director ignored us and turned to ask He Jiaxiao: "Do you want to come to the Provincial Cultural Relics Administration to work?"

He Jiaxiao's mind was full of going abroad now. Let alone Central Province, even if he were given a job at the State Council, he might not agree.

Sure enough, He Jiaxiao refused the deputy director's kindness, saying that he only knew a little bit of the surface, and that if he wanted to enter the Provincial Cultural Relics Administration, not only were his qualifications insufficient, but more importantly, he was afraid of ruining the reputation of the Cultural Relics Administration.

The deputy director didn't force him, but insisted on treating us to dinner, saying that he had been engaged in cultural relics work all his life, and the cultural relics unearthed in Suxi Town were the only ones that had truly opened his eyes.

It was hard to refuse such hospitality!

Having figured out two things in succession, I was basically beaming with joy.

Standing on the streets of the provincial capital, looking at the thousands of lights, I remembered that a few years ago I was one of the people under one of those lights. Now that I was back, everything had changed, and I couldn't help but feel emotional. Sorrow spread from my heart, infecting the surrounding air, and it began to feel sorrowful.

He Jiaxiao had received the approval of the deputy director, and naturally, he was even happier than me. He refused to go back overnight, saying he had to spend a night in the provincial capital to appreciate the city's karaoke culture.

Central Province was the ancestor of the national karaoke culture, and many stars had walked out from the grassroots stages. A few years ago, when I was studying here, the karaoke culture was already in full swing, and now it was perfect. In the past, my pockets were shy, and I only heard the name but hadn't seen the reality. Today, having this opportunity, I was naturally happy to feast my eyes.

Chen Meng would follow whatever He Jiaxiao did. But Huang Weiwei didn't want to go, saying it was messy inside and it would be better to find a hotel to rest.

The final result was that He Jiaxiao and Chen Meng went to the karaoke hall to watch the show, and Huang Weiwei and I drove to find a hotel.

The provincial capital had changed a lot now, almost changing with each passing day. Relying on my memory, I directed Huang Weiwei to drive the car to the Huatian Hotel.

We opened two rooms, one for me and He Jiaxiao, and one for Huang Weiwei and Chen Meng. We parted ways in the corridor, each opened our own door, and just as I stepped in, I suddenly remembered my aunt's phone call, and a layer of cold sweat broke out on my back.

My aunt apologized and told me that Xuelai was not as easy to deal with as she thought!

"What exactly happened?" I asked anxiously, and in my irritation, I kicked the trash can, causing a loud bang, which made my aunt ask over the phone what I was doing.

"She has already found your aunt-in-law. Your aunt-in-law is now looking for Jiaxiao everywhere." My aunt said nervously, and I seemed to hear her heavy breathing. This was indeed unexpected. In my impression, my aunt had always been a capable person who remained calm in the face of danger, but now she also seemed to be at a loss. It seemed that the matter had reached a point where it was difficult to clean up.

"Are you together?" my aunt asked: "Did he go to Chunshan County?"

"I'm in the provincial capital." I told my aunt: "Jiaxiao, Chen Meng, and Huang Weiwei are all here."

My aunt pondered for a moment and said: "Don't rush back, especially Jiaxiao; he must not show his face."

I was about to reply when the door was knocked, and then I saw Huang Weiwei enter gracefully. She stood in the center of the room, looking around, and said: "Who were you talking to on the phone?"

I told her it was my aunt, and Huang Weiwei insisted on talking to my aunt.

I handed the phone to her, turned around, and went into the bathroom. I collapsed onto the toilet seat and wanted to cry!

He Jiaxiao's matter had a direct relationship with me. His aunt-in-law, Wanru, had traveled thousands of miles to Hengyue City with her son, and on the very first night, her son had gone astray, and the person who accompanied him was none other than me!

Her son was the life of his aunt-in-law, Wanru! She had always regarded him as a piece of pure white jade. After the incident with Xuelai, how could his aunt-in-law bear it?

And the culprit for all this was me! Because she trusted me enough to hand her son over to me, and I let her son plant a seed in another woman's belly, while the seedbed was the one she was least willing to accept.

I wanted to call my aunt-in-law, but after thinking about it, I gave up. I began to hate Xuelai. This shameless woman had dug a huge pit and buried us all in it.

Perhaps, this was trouble from within! ===== CHAPTER 238 =====