“Brother Lu! Sister Wan!” The person picking them up was Zhang Weili. “Xiao Dao is at the film set. She will come over in the evening after finishing shooting.”
“She took on a new drama again?” Lu Zheng asked. “Who is she falling in love with this time?”
“Falling in love?” Zhang Weili was stunned for a moment. She was still not quite used to Lu Zheng’s way of speaking and did not react immediately.
Lin Wan rolled her eyes at Lu Zheng. “What are you saying? This time, Xiao Dao is shooting a rural-themed drama. She gets married right at the start.”
Zhang Weili, “…”
“Come, come, get in the car. Lunch first. I have already booked seats.” Zhang Weili led the two into the car, and soon they arrived at a time-honoured restaurant.
Zhang Weili’s national popularity was, after all, not as high as Zhao Xiaodao’s. No one recognised Lu Zheng or Lin Wan, so the group ate directly in the main hall. They casually chatted in the group with Zhao Xiaodao, who was on her midday break.
Zhao Xiaodao: You can just eat something casual for lunch. In the evening, I will treat you to Donglaishun!
Zhang Weili: (angry.jpg) So the one I am treating is just casual? And it is summer now. Why eat Donglaishun!
Zhao Xiaodao: Eating hotpot is lively (sly smile.jpg)
Lu Zheng: @Zhao Xiaodao, Good appetite for hotpot?
Zhao Xiaodao: Yes
Lu Zheng: Then after that, do you want to eat a hawthorn pill?
Zhao Xiaodao: (angrily refusing.jpg)
Lu Zheng: Let Weili accompany you. Whoever eats the next hawthorn pill first, I will give that person a good thing.
Zhao Xiaodao: Deal!
Zhao Xiaodao: (expectant.jpg)
Zhao Xiaodao: (working hard.jpg)
At the dinner table, seeing Zhao Xiaodao so excited, Zhang Weili looked up blankly and could not help asking, “What hawthorn pill?”
Lin Wan could not help laughing. “Lu Zheng gathered wild hawthorns himself and made hawthorn pills with several kinds of mountain fruits. They are extremely sour and especially aid digestion.”
Zhang Weili showed disdain. “What is there to fear? I have liked sour things since I was little.”
Lin Wan gave a thumbs up. She had eaten one and declined further offers with thanks. She hoped Zhang Weili could control her expression in the evening and eat it smoothly.
Zhang Weili smiled, did not take the matter to heart, and did not ask what Lu Zheng’s so-called good thing was. She treated it as a small joke among friends and continued to enthusiastically entertain Lu Zheng and Lin Wan.
“Hey, hey, here it comes. Braised intestines. The signature dish. Brother Lu and Sister Wan, try it!” Zhang Weili called out.
…
After lunch, Zhang Weili drove the two to the Palace Museum.
The “Special Exhibition of the Twelve Zodiac Animal Head Bronze Statues” and the “Fifty Years of Repatriated Cultural Relics Exhibition”, which had been running for half a month consecutively, were being held for free in a special hall not far beside the museum.
So…
It was packed with people.
“Good heavens, so many people!” Zhang Weili circled for a long time before luckily spotting a car leaving and quickly taking the parking spot.
“Of course. These are the twelve bronze heads from the Old Summer Palace!”
The speaker was a child, looking only about ten years old. He came out from behind in the parking lot with his parents, just reaching the side of the three, heard Zhang Weili’s exclamation, and directly replied.
Lu Zheng glanced at him and casually laughed. “What is so special about the twelve bronze heads from the Old Summer Palace? They are just a few artistic water faucets. Are they that important?”
The child’s eyes widened. He got angry on the spot and fiercely retorted.
“Of course they are important. The Garden of Gardens, the Old Summer Palace, combining Chinese and Western styles, representative of Hua Xia gardens. It was looted by invaders and burned to ruins in a fire!
“The twelve bronze statues, although just the water… faucets outside the garden, also represented the face of the Old Summer Palace, yet the invaders cut off their heads and took them!
“What difference is there between this and cutting off the head of our Hua Xia culture, Hua Xia nation, and Hua Xia spirit?
“As long as the twelve animal head bronze statues are not all returned and reunited, as long as those invaders do not sincerely apologise, we have not truly got the venue back, not truly avenged our ancestors!
“The fire of the Old Summer Palace may have gone out, but the fire in our hearts has not!
“This grudge will not be forgotten! This fire will not extinguish!”
Lu Zheng was stunned on the spot. He had not expected the child to be so cultured and eloquent. Were children nowadays this fierce?
The child’s mother pulled him. “Uncle is joking with you.”
Who knew the child would nod seriously. “I know he is joking with me, but I think this kind of thing should not be joked about.”
So the child’s mother felt a bit embarrassed and was about to apologise to Lu Zheng, but Lu Zheng smiled and bent down. “You are right. Uncle should not joke about this matter. Uncle apologises.”
The child nodded solemnly. “It is fine.”
The child’s father was about to say something when he spotted Zhang Weili. “Zhang Weili?”
“Eh?” The child also saw Zhang Weili. His eyes lit up. “It is Sister Zhang Weili. I have watched your boxing matches. You are amazing. Can you give me an autograph?”
“Of course.” Zhang Weili smiled.
Then the child immediately took off his backpack, pulled out a notebook from it. “Just sign on the first page. Thank you, sister!”
“You are welcome!”
While Zhang Weili signed with a smile here, the child’s parents came to Lu Zheng and Lin Wan there.
“Sorry, this child is a bit serious.”
“No, it is very good. The new generation of children, the more serious the better. Blending in is suitable for biding time, but now, we do not need to bide our time. We should fight. We should contend.” Lu Zheng laughed.
Lin Wan also laughed. “I think what he said was really good. It shows you two educated him well!”
The child’s parents thanked them repeatedly. After Zhang Weili finished signing, the child put away the notebook, and only then did the groups head together towards the exhibition hall.
Along the way, the child was very excited.
“Ten of the twelve animal head bronze statues have already returned. The remaining two cannot be far, right?”
“Those cultural relic thieves are really great. Using their own methods against them, stealing back what they robbed and stole, returning to original owners. Truly modern chivalrous thieves!”
“I am their fan. I hope they keep up the good work!”
“And the snake head and sheep head. I do not know when they will return. When they do, I must come see again!”
“When I grow up, I want to be a diplomat. I will formally get our things back from those two most famous museums!”
…
Until they passed security and entered the exhibition hall, the two groups parted and viewed separately.
Zhang Weili could not help breathing a sigh of relief. “Children nowadays have much broader knowledge and higher spirit than we did back then.”
The child had talked from start to finish all the way, recounting the collections in the exhibition brochure and related history fluently, making Zhang Weili’s heart pound. She could not join in and dared not speak, afraid of exposing her ignorance.
Lin Wan could not help laughing and pulled her. “What are you afraid of? You are the only Asian champion in UFC. Did you not see the admiration in that child’s eyes when looking at you?”
Zhang Weili could not help smiling bitterly. “That is why I am even more afraid of exposing ignorance and disappointing him…”
Thanks to fellow Daoists Demon Realm Little Tiger, 08a, and Please Call Me Yi Yan for their hundred rewards.
