Stealing Heavenly Secrets

Before this, he had planned to commit the classics of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism to memory.

Saturday morning.

Students at Ke University began enjoying their weekend.

Shops across the city welcomed the tide of customers as usual, and after five quiet days, the pedestrian street where Li Zhi's shop was located also hit its peak foot traffic.

Seeing that it was nearly noon, Li Zhi's Antique Style Jewelry Shop still showed no signs of opening.

The owner of the neighboring Fashion Shop, Zhou Mei, gave him a call.

Li Zhi, who answered Zhou Mei's call, was at home eating dumplings.

"Sister Mei." Li Zhi's voice was full of energy as he picked up.

"Xiao Li, are you sick? You haven't been to the shop for three days. Do you need your sister to come take care of you?" Zhou Mei's voice was as pleasant and alluring as ever.

"Cough, cough," Li Zhi choked on his water, and after a bout of hurried coughing, he said, "Sister Mei, I'm not sick. I'll head to the shop in a bit."

"Coughing that hard and you say you're not sick. Stay home, I'll come pick you up and take you to the hospital." Zhou Mei sounded a bit anxious.

"Sister Mei, I'm really not sick. I just choked on some water. I'm eating dumplings at home, and I'll go to the shop after I finish." Li Zhi quickly explained.

"You're eating dumplings?" Zhou Mei's voice suddenly turned a bit odd, then she said, "Bring me a portion too."

With that, she hung up decisively.

Li Zhi felt a bit baffled.

Back in her own shop, Zhou Mei looked at Li Zhi's number on her phone, a smile curling at the corners of her mouth. "Since when did you start liking dumplings? I think you're just missing your sister-in-law."

Then she went upstairs and quickly changed into a dark red bodycon skirt, swapping her flats for black high heels.

She checked herself in the mirror, frowned slightly, and glanced down at her nude stockings.

Though the stockings wrapped her legs smoothly and sleekly, she found them a nuisance and peeled them off, despite their cost.

After striking a few nice poses in the mirror, Zhou Mei finally left the fitting room satisfied.

Downstairs, she told the two weekend part-timers in her shop, "I'm stepping out. Take good care of the customers."

Both girls gave her a thumbs-up.

They knew their boss had a thing for the handsome young guy next door.

When Zhou Mei reached the front of Li Zhi's Antique Style Jewelry Shop, Ye Fan, Pang Bo, Xia Siyu, and Li Xiaoman arrived almost at the same time.

"Boss lady, is the jewelry shop owner not open yet today?" Pang Bo and Ye Fan recognized Zhou Mei as the owner of the clothing shop next door and asked directly.

"You're here for Li Zhi too?" Zhou Mei's eyes flickered with confusion, then she spotted Pang Bo and said, "Oh, I remember you—you're the college kid who came twice to return something."

"We heard Boss Li is back. We're not sure when he'll open," Ye Fan added.

"He'll be here soon. Just wait a few minutes," Zhou Mei said with a smile, catching Ye Fan's hint.

Less than a minute later, Li Zhi appeared on the pedestrian street, dragging a large suitcase.

Seeing so many people gathered at his shop, he quickened his pace. Recognizing Ye Fan and the others, he smiled and said, "It's you guys."

Then he handed a lunchbox to Zhou Mei. "Sister Mei, here are the dumplings you wanted."

He didn't even notice Zhou Mei's carefully done-up appearance.

After unlocking the door and inviting Ye Fan and the others inside, Li Zhi quickly said, "Four students, anything you're looking for? This shop is small, but the items have nice designs—perfect for young people's tastes."

"Boss, we're here to return something." Pang Bo pulled out the box with the Golden Pixiu Bracelet.

"The other person didn't like it? You can check out other options." Despite his words, Li Zhi efficiently inspected the item and processed the refund.

Such a smooth return made Pang Bo very happy.

He'd expected to waste a lot of breath arguing with the boss.

After the return, Pang Bo planned to leave—like most guys, he wasn't into browsing shops.

But Li Xiaoman and Xia Siyu stayed to keep looking at accessories.

Ye Fan, however, kept his eyes fixed on the heavy-looking suitcase Li Zhi had brought.

Watching Li Zhi disinfect and wipe down the Golden Pixiu Bracelet before placing it back in the display case, Ye Fan suddenly asked, "Boss, do you sell antiques here?"

"This is a pedestrian street, not an antique market. How would I have antiques?" Li Zhi laughed.

"Judging by your shop's decor, I thought there might be real antique jade," Ye Fan said, pointing at the items in the antique-style section.

Li Xiaoman and Xia Siyu, who were browsing, pricked up their ears.

Li Zhi chuckled. "You're not just here to return something, are you? Student Xia, even though you're not wearing those big black-rimmed glasses today, I still recognized you at a glance."

Xia Siyu and Li Xiaoman, who had been wearing hats and masks, immediately took them off.

Then they turned and walked up to Li Zhi. "Do you really have articles written in Oracle Bone Script? If you let me take a look, I might introduce you to Professor Gao."

Li Zhi smiled, walked to the shop entrance, and dragged his suitcase over to the counter.

Then he opened it in front of them.

Ye Fan saw that the suitcase was packed with books, including visible titles like Huangdi Neijing, Tao Te Ching, Collected Commentaries on the Analects of Confucius, Diamond Sutra, and Classic of Mountains and Seas.

The other books in the suitcase were blocked by some sheets of rice paper.

Li Zhi pulled out a sheet of rice paper covered in brush-written characters from beneath the stack.

Then he closed the suitcase again.

After spreading the sheet with over a hundred Oracle Bone Script characters on the counter, Li Zhi said, "Student Xia, are you sure you recognize the characters on this?"

Seeing those Oracle Bone Script characters, Xia Siyu was completely stunned.

There were over a hundred Oracle Bone Script characters on the rice paper, and she only recognized three of them.

Then Xia Siyu stammered awkwardly, "I'll look up some materials when I get back. I'm sure I can figure them out."

The characters on it were vastly different from the Inscriptions she had seen before.

Li Xiaoman seemed to sense her good sister's embarrassment and pulled her along, saying, "Sisi, when we're out shopping on the weekend, let's not keep discussing academics. Take a photo and bring it home. By Monday, you can study them properly."

Xia Siyu quickly pulled out her phone, intending to take a picture of the text.

But Li Zhi was faster than her, directly putting the text away and saying, "Priceless Treasure. No photos."

"It's not even the original. Do you have to be so stingy?" Xia Siyu muttered with a pout.

Li Zhi smiled and said, "Apologies. The paper may be new, but the characters on it are worth a fortune."

Xia Siyu seemed annoyed. She suddenly bared her teeth and glared at Li Zhi, then grabbed Li Xiaoman's hand and said, "Xiaoman, let's go."

Ye Fan gave Li Zhi a slight nod and followed them out.

As for Pang Bo, he had already run outside the shop.

Li Zhi watched their retreating figures and simply shook his head, then began organizing the Ancient Records in the suitcase.

Just then, the shop echoed with the sound of tapping footsteps.

Li Zhi, who was bent over sorting the Ancient Records, looked up and saw two fair, slender legs stepping in black high heels, heading straight toward his Storage Room.

Straightening up, Li Zhi noticed Zhou Mei carrying a Dumpling Box with a displeased expression as she walked into his Storage Room.

"Come here."

After pushing open the small door to the Storage Room, Zhou Mei turned and called out to Li Zhi.

"Sister Mei, what's wrong with you?"

Looking completely baffled, Li Zhi followed her.

Once inside the Storage Room, Zhou Mei shoved the Dumpling Box into Li Zhi's hands and said, "You didn't make these dumplings yourself."

Li Zhi laughed and said, "Sister Mei, you're giving me way too much credit. I don't know how to make dumplings. These are Frozen Dumplings I bought from the supermarket."

"So you're just fobbing me off with Frozen Dumplings?"

Zhou Mei seemed genuinely angry as she walked to the small door and, with a subtle motion, slid the bolt shut.

Li Zhi didn't notice her little move and instead said with an apologetic smile, "Then I'll treat you to dinner tonight."

Zhou Mei turned and walked up to Li Zhi, flashing a seductive smile. "That's more like it."

Then she suddenly did something that nearly made Li Zhi's nose bleed.

Right in front of Li Zhi, she pulled down the zipper on her chest.

"Sister Mei, you—"

Before he could finish, Li Zhi's mouth was covered by Zhou Mei's.

Then, from the Storage Room came a clattering noise, as if the two were having a scuffle inside.

The sounds lasted a full half hour before fading away.

Afterward, Zhou Mei left with a radiant expression.

Another five minutes passed before Li Zhi finished tidying up the scattered items in the Storage Room and came out.