The night was deep, myriad neon lights adorned the city in a riot of colors, forming undulating beams of light that blurred the viewer's eyes. Three hours of tutoring finally ended. Coming out of the elevator, Zeng Liangjun hurried to catch the last bus back to the school dormitory.
"Xiaoya, no need to send me off, you can go home!" Zeng Liangjun had already reached the door, nodding towards the student behind him, he said.
"Take care, Teacher Xiaojun!" Lin Xiaoya waved goodbye.
As he was leaving, Lin Xiaoya's father, Lin Huaishan, handed him a pair of jade lions. This pair of jade lions, brought back from Myanmar by Lin Huaishan, were very valuable. He wanted Zeng Liangjun to take them back to the school and give them to Professor Chen.
Professor Chen was Zeng Liangjun's Master's supervisor. As a prized asset of the university, he was extremely honest and would not accept gifts directly. Professor Chen was the most prominent professor at the university, he didn't hold back when expressing his opinions. Those who tried to bribe him with gifts would face his wrath, with both the gift and the giver being thrown out.
Lin Huaishan was adept at networking. Knowing that it wouldn't work to confront Professor Chen directly, he took a more roundabout route by having Professor Chen's student, Zeng Liangjun, carry the gift back.
The jade lions were indeed beautiful. Zeng Liangjun had never seen such beautiful jade artifacts. The two delicate lions were exquisitely carved, their heads looked incredibly lifelike, captivating with a soft, luminescent green hue.
Professor Chen loved jade artifacts, he would undoubtedly be smitten with these two lions.
Needless to say, these jade lions must be priceless. Lin Huaishan was one of the wealthiest individuals in Chunan city, he had ongoing business relations with Professor Chen. Professor Chen was a leading figure in materials science, often his suggestions or data sets could bring tens of millions in profit to Lin Huaishan. Therefore, securing Professor Chen's favor was one of Lin Huaishan's priorities.
Considering this, Zeng Liangjun held the jade lions tightly. If there was even a slight damage, Zeng Liangjun wouldn't be able to compensate for it.
Within Professor Chen's twenty plus graduate students, Zeng Liangjun was the one with the most humble background. However, Zeng Liangjun was diligent and hardworking, which made him a favorite of Professor Chen. Consequently, Professor Chen had recommended this tutoring job to him.
The tutoring fee of five hundred yuan per hour was a high-paying job in Chunan city, and only a rich man like Lin Huaishan could afford it. Moreover, tutoring Lin Xiaoya was indeed a breeze. The young girl was so clever that sometimes, she was able to stump Zeng Liangjun with her questions.
After waiting at the bus stop for almost half an hour, the bus still did not come. Zeng Liangjun checked the time on his phone, it was already half past nine, the last bus had left early.
As for taking a taxi, he certainly would not be able to afford it. His graduate studies were funded by the state, and there was no need to pay tuition fees, in addition, they would receive a monthly stipend of eight hundred yuan. But Zeng Liangjun came from a poor family, he was not only responsible for his own studies but also needed to support a younger sister and brother back home.
"I might as well walk back."
It would take about an hour to walk back to school, but Zeng Liangjun was used to walking. Back when he was studying in the village, wasn’t he out walking five or six kilometers up the mountain road each day?
Just as Zeng Liangjun had walked a few hundred meters, a shrill scream shattered the tranquility.
"Robbery!"
Zeng Liangjun swiftly turned around, to see two men, one after the other, running wildly. Behind these two men was a fashionably dressed woman stumbling in her pursuit, with a very flustered expression.
Several pedestrians around stopped in their tracks to watch, but upon seeing the two tall, rugged men, at most they would merely silently observe. It seemed none planned to intervene.
Touching the pair of jade lions tucked in his bag, Zeng Liangjun found a suiting excuse for his faint-heartedness and avoidance of trouble - the jade lions were too precious. If they were to be damaged, even selling him off wouldn't make up the loss. He shot a glance at the fashionable woman, feeling a touch guilty.
As the saying goes, what you fear most often happens. The two men actually ran straight towards Zeng Liangjun. Their running speed was too fast, and the pedestrian walkway wasn't wide enough. Zeng Liangjun's position naturally blocked their path.
"Get out of the way!"
The man running in front roared, bumping into Zeng Liangjun and then roughly pushing him aside. Stumbling, Zeng Liangjun fell into a flower bed.
The instant Zeng Liangjun fell into the flower bed, he distinctly heard a "dings" ring-like sound coming from his bag, presumably the sound of the two jade lions squeezing against each other.
Zeng Liangjun's face instantly turned pale white. The two men ran further and further away, and he stumbled up, finding a well-lit spot to carefully take out the pair of jade lions from his bag and examine them.
Originally, the jade lions were wrapped in foam, but under the powerful impact, the foam had shattered. Under the street light, Zeng Liangjun saw that both jade lions' heads had cracks — thin, but very noticeable!
Although autumn had already started, it was still very hot in Chunan city. However, Zeng Liangjun felt as if he had plummeted into an icehouse. The spectating crowd around him kept growing. Police arrived after a while and began to question the fashionable woman about how much money she lost. However, these sounds seemed to be very distant from Zeng Liangjun.
According to Zeng Liangjun's estimation, the pair of jade lions were worth at least fifty to eighty thousand yuan. This might be nothing to Lin Huaishan, but for Zeng Liangjun, it was a significant amount. Now, he was in a state where even a few yuan would be saved.
Zeng Liangjun didn’t even know how he managed to return to the dormitory with a muddled head. He placed the two small jade lions on the table under the lamp. They still glowed with an enchanting green color under the light, but the two cracks were strikingly discernible.
"How am I going to explain this to Teacher Chen tomorrow?"
Zeng Liangjun felt like he was going mad. He had been horrendously careless. Seeing two robbers, he should have skedaddled! What was he thinking, moving closer to watch the spectacle? Was he asking to be troubled?
As Zeng Liangjun continued to berate himself, he suddenly noticed a faint green liquid seeping from the crevices of two jade lions.
"Huh?"
To his surprise, these jade lions actually contained jade water! Usually, it's rare for hard jade to have pockets or bubbles, but there is still a probability for such conditions to occur. It is even rarer for hard jade to contain water or other substances. Jade items with jade water in them are priced exorbitantly!
Zeng Liangjun quietly wiped the jade water seeping from the jade lions with his hands. He did not notice that as his hands swept off the emerald green liquid, it had already seeped into his hands. All Zeng Liangjun felt was a cool sensation from the jade water, which was quite comforting.
But, he wasn't in the mood to pay attention to these sensations. All he did was ponder how he had to apologize and compensate for the pair of jade lions to Professor Chen tomorrow...
Holding the pair of jade lions, Zeng Liangjun laid on his bed in despair. The jade lions, as per his modest estimate, would be worth only fifty thousand yuan. He, yet to graduate, already had such a debt. When would he be able to pay off?
Thus, with wild thoughts running in his mind, he fell asleep holding a jade lion in each hand, without even turning off the light.
During the night, Zeng Liangjun slept restlessly. He felt as if his hands were on fire, radiating a stinging sensation. Not long after, they felt as if submerged in an ice cellar, numb from freezing. He spent the entire night experiencing this alternation of heat and cold. Following this, he vaguely dreamed that he managed to restore the jade lions using a little glue!
The next day, he woke up while it was still barely light.
As soon as Zeng Liangjun woke up, a throbbing headache struck him. He wished that he didn't have to wake up, for waking up would mean confronting those damn jade lions! This was a big problem!
He had fallen asleep holding the jade lions, so now subconsciously, he raised his hands, bringing the delicate jade lions before his eyes. If only the dream from last night was real, he thought, then he could just glue them back together.
With sleepy eyes, he observed the jade lions in his hands. Suddenly, his squinting eyes shot wide open!
"What on earth?!"
The cracks on the jade lions have simply vanished! He sprang from his bed, examining them carefully. A fracture seemed to had been struck on each of the jade lions last night, but now it had abruptly disappeared!
"It's an illusion, it must be an illusion!"
Zeng Liangjun flipped the jade lions every which way, hoping to find a flaw on them. But the jade lions were merely palm-sized, easy to scrutinize in one glance—where could he find the slightest flaw?
On this occasion, Zeng Liangjun almost doubted whether he was hallucinating last night. The jade lion was never crushed. That must be his eye trick.
If he had seen things last night, that would be great news. He felt significantly relieved as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders.
Early in the morning, Zeng Liangjun spent a great deal of time contemplating the two jade lions, then remembered that he still had a report to submit in the lab today. He had to focus on the main task. He hustled and bustled to freshen up, packed the two jade lions neatly in his bosom, and hurriedly set off for the lab.
On his way to the lab, Zeng Liangjun occasionally glanced at his hands. They had felt weird when he fell asleep last night. One moment, they were as if smeared with menthol, burning hot, and then the next, they were icy cold as if submerged in ice water.
His hands were beautiful, just like a woman's, with broad knuckles and slender fingers, almost like they were carved from white jade. Even now, Zeng Liangjun could perceive something moving inside it, an unexplainable strange feeling.
Inside an office on the top floor of the No.9 lab at the University of Science and Technology, an old man with reading glasses was absorbed in reading a report.
"Good day, Master Chen!" Zeng Liangjun greeted respectfully.
Master Chen is also known as Professor Chen, his actual name is Chen Pu Liang. He is a mainstay among Chinese scientists, and the only Professor at the University of Science and Technology. He specializes in material applications. While outsiders refer to Chen Pu Liang as Professor Chen, all the twenty or so postgraduates under his guidance simply call him "teacher."
Without lifting his head, Chen Pu Liang fixed his gaze on the report and said, "What's delaying you today? The lab is buzzing with activity, go assist them right away!"
Chen Pu Liang is a typical old-fashioned scholar, somewhat indifferent to everyone. He always appears aloof, yet he is extremely kind-hearted and objective in his dealings. There's no hint of his elitist air when he discusses academic fields.
"Master Chen, this is something Mr. Lin asked me to bring." Zeng Liangjun unravelled the tightly packed plastic bag, taking out two jade lions and placed them on the desk in front of Chen Pu Liang.