Where Wang Yuechuan and Professor Cui Fo rushed to was an old bookstore. It was a place where books were sold downstairs, and upstairs was where the owner resided.
Professor Cui Fo was on the edge of his seat and couldn’t wait to walk into the bookstore right away. It seemed that the old bookstore with the mark of age in it had increased the hormones in the old professor indefinitely.
Or rather, if things like ancient classics could be found somewhere… It seemed very convincing if they were from such an old shop.
“Excuse me, anyone?”
Wang Yuechuan opened the door and walked into the bookstore before Professor Cui Fo. It was almost ten o’clock at night. The bookstore was closed, but it was not locked. A faint light glimmered from inside.
Rows of bookshelves in front of him were filled with various books. The smell of books and the smell of humid air mixed. Wang Yuechuan saw a woman in her forties or fifties taking a nap on the counter on the left.
Wang Yuechuan glanced at Professor Cui Fo, then tapped twice on the counter. He woke up the middle-aged woman in an instant.
She was a little startled and looked at the two people in front of her.
“Don’t be afraid. We are not bad guys. Are you the owner’s wife here?” Wang Yuechuan said bluntly, “We are here to find a book.”
Wang Yuechuan took out a note as he said, “Look at what’s written on this, is this the place…is this person here?”
“Oh, you mean that book.” The owner’s wife realized, “So you are the guys looking for the book?”
“Madam, do you…know this book?” Wang Yuechuan asked sternly.
The owner’s wife said casually, “I don’t know. This is what my son told me. He said that he saw someone post something about looking for this book on the old book website.”
Wang Yuechuan quickly said, “Then your son is now…”
The owner’s wife said, “He has gone sourcing. Otherwise, I won’t have opened the door now. Oh, I remember it. He had found the book. Just a moment.”
Soon, the owner’s wife took out a dilapidated hardcover book from the cabinet behind her, “Is this the book you are looking for?”
Professor Cui Fo directly grabbed it and then flipped through the book quickly with an anxious expression. He remained silent, all the while accelerating the speed of his action.
Wang Yuechuan frowned, “Is this the one?”
Professor Cui Fo said, “Yes, this is it! The professor who wrote the book was a famous linguist in the eighteenth century. However, because of the war, many of his literary works have been lost. Even this book, it should be the printed version many years ago. The amount of printing should be just a little! I have the impression that there should be a first edition copy hidden in the British Library. I have never thought that we could find the printed version in China! Wang, your country is magical!”
Wang Yuechuan and Professor Cui Fo communicated with English. The owner’s wife couldn’t understand what they were talking about. She kept looking at them.
Wang Yuechuan asked quickly at this moment, “So, is this book useful for your interpretation work?”
Professor Cui Fo was overjoyed, “Yes! Of course, it is! With it, I can probably speed up my interpretation at least three times! No, at least five times!”
Wang Yuechuan nodded, and then looked at the owner’s wife, “Madam, this is the book we need. We’ll have it. Name your price.”
“Then, three thousand?” The owner’s wife said suddenly.
Wang Yuechuan nodded without saying a word and took out the bank card. But the owner’s wife suddenly noted at this time, “Oh! I got it wrong. My son didn’t say this number. He said five thousand… five thousand yuan!”
Wang Yuechuan frowned but didn’t stop his movements. He said indifferently, “Think about it. It’s five thousand, five thousand it is. Madam, have you decided?”
The owner’s wife swallowed her saliva, subconsciously, “I have decided. Five…five thousand.”
“That’s all right. My card’s here.” Wang Yuechuan nodded.
He deliberately used this tone to test the owner’s wife… It turned out the owner’s wife behaved like typical townspeople.
Maybe it was just a coincidence… The next proposition came after “The Book of the Dead” almost destroyed his long-standing cognition.
If there are supernatural powers in the world, then the saying is also meant to exist?
“Okay! Please sign here!” The owner’s wife said with joy, “Well, sir, would you like to leave a phone number? I still have a lot of old books! My son is very good at finding old books! Next month, I heard that there would be another batch of good products next month! What if I show you when they arrive?”
“Let’s talk about it later.” Wang Yuechuan signed his name, then took a bookstore business card directly from the counter, and quickly left the bookstore with Professor Cui Fo.
“Take your way, sir!”
The owner’s wife showed them the door and waved her hands enthusiastically until she couldn’t see the two of them at all. Then she turned around and closed the door of the shop. She sat back on the counter. Her body laid directly on the table as if she fell asleep in an instant.
A black smoke quietly emerged from her body.
The black smoke condensed in the air. Soon it revolved and turned into a black shadow.
The black shadow floated quietly above the bookstore, looking at the direction where Wang Yuechuan and Professor Cui Fo disappeared, and said quietly with an insidious smile, “Hurry up and become a magician… I like magicians the most… Hehe.”
The black shadow disappeared in an instant. What left was a sharp and harsh laugh as if an old witch’s sneer…
…
Professor Cui Fo sitting in the front passenger seat in the moving car, could not wait to read the ancient book. Wang Yuechuan looked at his obsessive expression and remained silent.
His phone rang at this time. Wang Yuechuan took a look and answered it after he hesitated for a short while.
This was a call from his superior, who was his immediate superior in the provincial bureau.
“Yuechuan, you haven’t slept yet, right?”
Wang Yuechuan said, “Teacher Zhao, what’s the matter?”
“It’s almost three months since you’ve been assigned there, right? You haven’t reported to me for a long time… I heard that you seem to be involved in something recently. You don’t often get to the bureau over there, right?”
Wang Yuechuan said directly, “That’s it, Teacher Zhao. I plan to report to you recently, but there are some special circumstances here. I have not been able to spare any time. Since you are calling directly, then I will report to you now.”
“Okay, what’s the situation?”
“Teacher Zhao, I’m investigating something recently, but there is no substantive clue yet.”
“What? Something big has come to your notice again?”
“Teacher Zhao…I can’t say about this yet. But please believe me, okay?”
There was a silence on the other end of the phone, “Yuechuan, I know you are a good comrade, you have always made clear of everything you are doing… Well, I will wait for you to give me a complete report. But Yuechuan, work still needs to be done. You still have to investigate what the provincial bureau asked you to investigate thoroughly.”
“Teacher Zhao, I know. I will do my job well.”
“Well, it’s late. Take a rest early if there’s nothing to bother. I will ask my wife to cook some crabs for you when you’re back. By the way, there is still half a bottle of Moutai at home waiting for you.”
“Okay, it’s a deal.”
“It is a deal.”
…
“Are you going back alone?” Ren Ziling suddenly stood up, staring at Luo Qiu with her eyes wide open. She then sat down with her arms crossed over her chest, frowning, and said, “I don’t agree!”
“Don’t worry, I’m fine.” Luo Qiu said calmly, “You might cause trouble if you go.”
“What is it that I might cause…” Ren Ziling goggled again. But her heart suddenly softened when she saw Luo Qiu look at her with a steady smile on his face, “Well, you are an adult… But if the people in your family find faults in you, let me know right away! See how I lash out at them!”
You’ve done that once, haven’t you… in the box of the restaurant three years ago.
Her countenance when she left those contracts was nothing different from her appearance now.
Luo Qiu whispered, “You eat first.”
