"Student, it's a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding. My name is Li Zhi, and I came to visit Professor Gao Peijun at your academy. I noticed that Student Sisi seems to have a good relationship with Professor Gao, so I wanted to ask her to take me to visit him." Li Zhi hurriedly explained.
"Then why were you shouting and randomly raising your price just now?" the girl named Sisi demanded.
"Isn't paying the introducer a customary practice?" Li Zhi said matter-of-factly.
Then he asked, "How should I address you two?"
"Xia Siyu." The girl with glasses paused before answering.
"Li Xiaoman," the pretty girl said.
"You're Li Xiaoman? Ye Fan and Pang Bo's classmate?" Li Zhi blurted out in surprise.
"You know Ye Fan?" Li Xiaoman asked.
"A few days ago, he and Pang Bo bought a Golden Pixiu Bracelet at my shop," Li Zhi said.
"You're the owner of the Antique Style Jewelry Shop who closed up and ran away after selling them something?" Li Xiaoman asked in a strange tone.
Li Zhi nodded. "I am the owner of the Antique Style Jewelry Shop, but I didn't close up or run away."
It turned out that Pang Bo had failed to win over the girl and had even been rejected in public.
So he had wanted to return the Golden Pixiu Bracelet.
However, when he went there twice in a row, Li Zhi's shop had been closed both times.
He and Ye Fan had assumed that Li Zhi had already shut down the shop and run away.
This morning, Ye Fan had just mentioned the matter to Li Xiaoman, but he had never expected them to encounter the person involved so soon.
The misunderstanding was cleared up.
Li Zhi once again explained the purpose of his visit.
Perhaps because Li Xiaoman was beside her, Xia Siyu seemed more confident. She said again, "Then take out that article you wrote in Oracle Bone Script and let me see it."
Li Zhi shook his head and said seriously, "That is a priceless treasure. I can't show it to you."
"If you won't show it to me, how am I supposed to know whether you're lying to me?" A sly glint flashed through Xia Siyu's eyes.
Li Zhi glanced at Xia Siyu and Li Xiaoman, then said, "Student Xia, Student Li, goodbye."
With that, he left Ke University directly.
Watching Li Zhi's hurriedly departing figure, Xia Siyu said, "What kind of person is he?"
Seeing this, Li Xiaoman asked, "Sisi, don't tell me you're interested in him?"
Xia Siyu's eyes immediately widened. "Xiao Man, I've known him for less than ten minutes, and you're saying I'm interested in him? Do you think I'm boy-crazy?"
Li Xiaoman smiled. "Whether you're boy-crazy isn't important, but I've never seen you show this much curiosity about a man."
"Why, you little Li Xiaoman, how dare you tease me?" Xia Siyu immediately spread her arms and lunged to hug Li Xiaoman, intending to teach her a lesson.
"Ahem!" Just then, Ye Fan's voice sounded behind them.
"Ladies, did I come at a bad time?" Ye Fan said as he looked at Xia Siyu and Li Xiaoman, who were playfully tussling.
"Ye Fan, come help me figure something out. I just ran into someone..."
When Xia Siyu saw Ye Fan arrive, her eyes lit up. She immediately told him about Li Zhi's behavior and then asked, "Do you think he's a tomb robber?"
It turned out that Xia Siyu was worried that the article written in Oracle Bone Script in Li Zhi's possession had been copied from inscriptions on a cultural artifact. She had sought Professor Gao Peijun's advice precisely to determine the value of the artifact in his possession.
Among unearthed bronze vessels, those with inscriptions and those without them fetched completely different prices on the black market.
Moreover, the more inscriptions there were, the higher the price.
After listening, Ye Fan thought for a moment before saying, "Siyu, what you're saying is possible. That Boss Li is highly suspicious. He suddenly disappeared for several days, and when he showed up again, he didn't return to reopen his shop. Instead, he came to our school to look for Professor Gao."
Li Xiaoman, who was standing nearby, sighed. "Are you two all right? You're suspecting someone of being a tomb robber for no reason. I saw him earlier. That Boss Li's entire outfit was worth a lot of money. He doesn't look short of cash, so why would he rob tombs?"
Xia Siyu said, "Xiao Man, you don't understand. There are plenty of unscrupulous merchants like Li Zhi who appear to run jewelry shops but secretly traffic in cultural artifacts. Sometimes, when they can't make up their minds, they use all sorts of tricks to consult experts like Professor Gao. Professor Gao has told us about more than ten such cases in class. Every one of them pretended to be seeking academic advice, while secretly having cultural artifacts appraised."
Ye Fan said, "Since that Boss Li is back, Pang Bo and I will go to his shop tomorrow to return the bracelet. You two can come with us and investigate him while you're at it."
Hearing Ye Fan's suggestion, Xia Siyu tugged on Li Xiaoman's arm and asked, "Xiao Man, are you going?"
Li Xiaoman nodded helplessly. "I'm going. How could I let you go take a risk alone, Sisi?"
Afterward, the three continued discussing whether Li Zhi was a cultural-artifact dealer or a tomb robber as they headed toward the cafeteria.
After leaving Ke University and sitting in the driver's seat, Li Zhi was still unwilling to give up.
He continued thinking about how he could get close to Gao Peijun.
The normal approach probably wouldn't work.
He didn't trust an introduction through an intermediary, either.
After all, the thing in his possession was extraordinary.
If the wrong people set their sights on it, he would be in trouble.
Li Zhi, who had been an amateur archaeologist in his previous life, knew very well just how much truly good things were worth.
It wasn't a question of how much money was involved.
It was a question of how many people might have to die to ensure safety.
Li Zhi did not have much faith in human nature.
Nor did he find profit worthy of his trust.
Only ordinary people were willing to risk their lives for profit. True ruthless men had always risked their lives for their dreams.
In his previous life, how many people had tried inhuman cultivation methods in pursuit of immortality, only to refine themselves to death?
How many had even used their own sons' blood to wash their bodies in order to preserve their youth?
Back then, Li Zhi himself had personally left three "close friends" underground forever.
But after living a second life, he did not want to walk the old path again.
Yet reality seemed to be forcing him back onto that path.
Could this be path dependence?
After sitting in the car for ten minutes, Li Zhi changed into another jacket, put on a pair of plain glasses, and returned to Ke University's small campus.
He casually bought two books, a notebook, and a cup of coffee from the bookstore on campus.
Then, holding the books and coffee, he followed the group of students heading to the library and entered the Ke University Library with them.
Next, relying on the skills he had honed as a student, he followed another student and slipped inside without a library card.
The Ke University Library was much larger than the one he had attended as a university student.
Its collection was extremely extensive.
Following the index, Li Zhi quickly found the section containing books related to archaeology.
Then he started at the first shelf, searching through the books one by one for what he needed.
Half an hour later, Li Zhi finally found a collection of documents that provided a detailed introduction to Oracle Bone Script.
Just as he had expected, those document collections were not publicly published books.
They were internal materials compiled by Ke University's archaeology department.
Li Zhi then took out all the document collections, chose a secluded corner, pulled the article from his pocket, and began checking it character by character against the reference materials.
By the time the library closed, Li Zhi had found only forty-five Oracle Bone Script characters with clear meanings.
All the remaining characters were impossible to decipher.
Some were even quite different from the characters recorded in the Complete Collection of Oracle Bone Script.
Moreover, the forty-five decipherable characters did not form connected sentences. They were scattered throughout the article.
They were completely unusable.
If he misunderstood a Cultivation Method, it could cost him his life.
He understood this principle clearly, both in his previous life and in this one.
At that point, Li Zhi completely abandoned the idea of having a university professor decipher the contents of the article.
He left Ke University in disappointment.
With the moon high in the sky, Li Zhi finally returned home, but he tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep.
Finally, he went to his study and copied the Oracle Bone Script article again with a brush.
Only then did Li Zhi feel his mind settle down, and before long, he sank into a deep sleep.
He did not wake up until the sun was already high in the sky.
After boiling some dumplings to fill his stomach, Li Zhi took the newly copied article to the shop.
He decided to learn from Brother Gou. Since he couldn't understand it, he might as well stop trying and treat the characters as simple drawings.
Perhaps one day, inspiration would suddenly strike, allowing him to comprehend the True Scripture hidden within.
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