It was past mealtime, but Luo Bisheng was still chatting off and on with Chen Zhifei.
Wang Xiaoliang figured the guy had eaten too much that morning and still wasn't hungry.
The door opened, and Xie Hui leaned halfway inside. "Boss Luo, give me a hand."
Luo Bisheng sprang up, and Wang Xiaoliang followed him out.
Xie Hui's car was parked by the roadside, its trunk open with a large cardboard box inside.
Luo Bisheng reached under it to lift, and his arms sank a few inches.
Wang Xiaoliang patted Xie Hui's arm. "Go park first. We'll carry it."
Xie Hui answered and climbed back into the driver's seat, then drove around to the back.
The two carried the box into the lobby, one at each end. Luo Bisheng bared his teeth as he set it down. "What's in this thing? It's so heavy."
A little while later.
Xie Hui walked in, followed by a woman holding the hand of a girl in her early teens.
Though the girl was nearly as tall as her mother, her face was still childish. Her feet never stopped moving once she came in. She looked around, her eyes fixed on the stairs to the second floor, and she let go of her mother's hand and darted over, stopping to stare at the artwork on the wall.
"My wife, Zhang Lin. My daughter, Xie Yutong." Xie Hui kept the introductions brief, then patted the box. "Come on, let's open this."
Luo Bisheng found a utility knife and sliced through the tape with a few quick strokes. They pulled away the foam sheets layer by layer, revealing what was inside-
A golden toad.
It sat squatting, its mouth wide open with half a copper coin held between its lips, its belly round and plump. The