The wild Maybach drove all the way to a villa area near the sea.
Shen Manzhi carried a festive red gift box from the co-pilot and opened the door of Building A 16-2 in a grand manner.
The people on the sofa in the living room were singing softly to the tunes of the Peking Opera on TV, as if they were not affected by the people who came in at all.
Shen Manzhi placed the gift box on the table, sat on the single sofa and listened to the song quietly.
It was just like a month ago when she leaned under the ancient tree in the green-tiled yard and listened to the old man playing the erhu, which she still vividly remembers.
Chen Gui half-squinted his eyes and enjoyed the pleasant tune. His waving hand moved up and down according to the tune, and then he skipped the opera program.
"How's your sweetheart doing?"
Shen Manzhi raised his eyes lightly and looked away from the TV screen, "Who are you talking about?"
Chen Gui glanced at her and said, "Besides your husband, do you have any other lovers?"
Shen Manzhi leaned over and took the gift box from the table, opening it slowly, "What do you care about him?"
"Because the thing you want to ask me about tonight is related to him."
After Chen Gui finished speaking, he glanced at her and seemed happy to see the special reaction on her face.
Shen Manzhi only paused for half a second when pulling open the ribbon, and then took out a piece of pine nut and lily cake from the gift box. It was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, and sweet in the mouth.
Chen Gui's eyelids twitched twice. She ate the gift he gave him first.
Shen Manzhi took out a tissue and said, "Tell me, who invited you to drink tea."
Chen Gui turned down the volume of the TV, took off the old-fashioned glasses on the bridge of his nose, and rubbed his temples.
"Why don't you first listen to the matter about the pair of phoenix golden hairpins you asked me to help you investigate."
Shen Manzhi raised his chin slightly to signal him.
"Pure gold filigree phoenix hairpins are worth a lot of money. Half a year ago, your nominal sister took one of them and exchanged it for money at a pawn shop called Yunlai Pawn Shop in the West District. Within half a month, she entered It fell into the hands of a jewelry recycler.”
Chen Gui took the gift box she handed over and picked out a piece of snack, "I went to contact the businessman. He said that this golden hairpin was originally intended as the finale of an overseas auction. During the promotion period, it was bought by a Chinese. Bought it."
Shen Manzhi tapped his index finger, "Only one?"
"Yes, there is only one. You said it was a pair. The pawn shop owner told me that the little girl who came to pawn only took one gold hairpin."
"That Chinese man simply took away the golden hairpin in advance because he paid too high?"
"Of course not," Chen Gui said with an enigmatic look on his face, "That person has a great influence in the overseas market. Coupled with his connections and Chinese identity, the owner of the auction house was very considerate, so the final item was changed. Another piece of jewelry that rivals it.”
Shen Manzhi did not interrupt him, but listened quietly.
"I checked this person, and I only knew that his surname was Qin. He was a young man. When I confirmed whether he was from the Qin family in Huaicheng, I suddenly lost the clue. My friends who were helping me to find out seemed to have been warned and could not be traced. Other clues.”
Chen Gui suddenly looked at her and said, "That gentleman of yours has been abroad for nearly 20 years."
Shen Manzhi's eyelashes moved slightly, and the wound on his back ached slightly.
What Chen Gui said was that the person who bought the golden hairpin was most likely Qin Yanfeng. After all, he had stayed abroad for so many years and had enough connections and strength.
"I want to buy a collection related to my country in a low-key manner, but there is no need to hide it."
Chen Gui stood up and poured two cups of hot water and put them on the coffee table. "I thought so at first. He might want to keep a low profile, but the contract to complete the handover was in someone else's name. This is a bit of a problem. It's obvious. , he doesn’t want to be found out.”
Generally speaking, high-end buyers usually keep a low profile when buying precious collections, but this kind of buying in someone else's name is indeed rare.
Qin Yanfeng had mentioned before that he had a secret and asked her if she wanted to exchange it.
If Qin Yanfeng was talking about this golden hairpin, how could he know what it meant to her?Or does this golden hairpin have other secrets? Chen Gui continued, "The buyer lost the clue, so I wanted to check the origin of Jin Chai. About half a month ago, an old friend who had quit the antique circle told me something.
About 20 years ago, a young girl came into his pawn shop with a pair of gold hairpins. "
Chen Gui looked at Shen Manzhi, with only the black eyes bright in his turbid eyes, "They were a complete couple at that time. The girl had a very nice name. He was very impressed. Her name was Zhan Yunqing."
Shen Manzhi's back trembled. The fragrance between his lips and teeth faded little by little, and a trace of bitterness spread out. He almost made a sound in his throat with difficulty, "Then what?"
Chen Gui was immersed in the scene described to him by his old friend and did not notice Shen Manzhi's expression.
I was deeply impressed by this young and beautiful girl, not just because of the nice name.
More than 20 years ago, everything was booming and everyone was celebrating the arrival of the new millennium.
Most of the people who came to the pawn shop made a fortune during this period to redeem their old items.
The young girl was wearing an old school uniform and staggered into the inconspicuous pawn shop with a box wrapped in a piece of silk.
The boss was wiping a pair of jade bracelets on the table. When he saw the thin girl barging in, he didn't even think at all.
After opening the door to welcome guests, he walked around to the front desk, put on his glasses, and took the things from the girl's hands.
In the shape of a phoenix flying in the sky, gold wire coils out of wings, fluttering about to fly, and the hollow patterns are carved to create exquisite lightness and fineness.
Top quality collection.
"Boss, look at how much it's worth. I'll redeem it when I have the money."
The little girl's eager voice brought the boss back from his self-absorbed joy.
The boss suppressed the joy in his heart and looked at the thin figure in front of him. She was in urgent need of money. Thinking that she had encountered some difficulty, he coughed twice, but he did not lie and gave the little girl a very high price.
"Son, the maximum period of pawning is half a year. If you don't come to redeem it after half a year, it will be a dead end."
Zhan Yunqing's face turned a little pale, and his hands clenched on the counter turned white. He finally nodded, "Then half a year, boss, you must keep it for me."
Chen Gui half-squinted his eyes, remembering the faint guilt that his old friend felt when he came to talk to him about this matter.
The boss is in this business out of interest. If he finds something he likes, he keeps it as a treasure. The rest follows the rules of the industry, and he is always very casual.
But that girl left him with a lifetime of guilt and became the trigger for him to leave this circle.
Half a year later, the girl did not come.
The boss felt a little regretful for some reason, but then he decided to keep the pair of gold hairpins for himself.
About a month later, the girl barged in again on a rainy day, "Boss!"
The girl was still wearing a plain shirt and white-washed slacks. Her sideburns were wet and stuck to her oval face, and her beautiful eyes were shining with tiny boss narrowed his eyes, it was the little girl with a nice name, Zhan Yunqing.
Shen Manzhi interrupted Chen Gui, "Did the boss redeem it for her?"
Chen Gui sighed, "No, after the agreement expired, the boss kept the pair of gold hairpins. About half a month later, a gentleman came to buy them, so when Zhan Yunqing came to redeem them, the gold hairpins were no longer there. It’s on the boss.”
Shen Manzhi frowned, "If the boss likes it, why would he sell it to someone else? How did that person know about this pair of golden hairpins?"
Chen Gui looked at the surprise in her eyes, showing a trace of unbearability. He had also checked Zhan Yunqing and found that she was the wife of the Shen family, Shen Manzhi's biological mother.
He had the same question as Shen Manzhi, and his old friend told him without hesitation that something happened that year.
The girl spent tens of thousands of gold and traveled for several months to prove her innocence for her deceased scientific research parents, pawned the family heirloom phoenix gold hairpin, collected evidence and finally vindicated her case. Outsiders only have a glimpse of the hardships involved.
Zhan Yunqing failed to come to redeem the old things as promised. When his boss said that the gold hairpin had been sold, he fell to the ground and cried heartbrokenly.
Shen Manzhi felt his heart suffocate.
She rarely had such mood swings and emotional touches. For some reason, when she mentioned her mother, she only had a very short memory of the time when she was three years old, but she still couldn't hide the emotions and desires involved in her blood relationship.
Heartbreaking is a bit too much. For a beauty like Zhan Yunqing, who has been pampered and raised but has had her wings broken by reality and stood up, being sad is even more heartbreaking than heartbreaking.
The boss couldn't bear it anymore, so he walked up and helped the little girl up, "My child, you have proven your parents' innocence, haven't you? Some things should be forgotten in the past, and some things should be discarded."
There was something in his words. Zhan Yunqing raised his eyes, and a pool of water filled his eyes and slid down his cheeks.
"clean?"
Zhan Yunqing sneered twice, but his still slightly immature face showed a calmness beyond that of his peers, "It's just that they cleared up their own suspicions and didn't stop me anymore."
She stared hard into her boss's eyes, as if looking at someone else through him, "They took away the lives of my parents, and even the only relics were taken away from me. How can I convince myself to testify for them?" Come clean!"
The boss's body was shaken. For the first time, he saw the desperate madness in a little girl's eyes, and he felt endless guilt in his heart.
Half a month ago, a gentleman came to him and wanted to buy a pair of gold hairpins. The boss did not want to sell them because he was not short of money and it was a pleasure to keep them as collections.
But he only has one life.
Shen Manzhi broke into a cold sweat and recovered from the past events narrated by Chen Gui.
Chen Gui saw that her expression was wrong and concluded for her, "Someone deliberately bought the pair of gold hairpins, and it was half a month after... Zhan Yunqing agreed to redeem the gold hairpins within the time limit."
If the boss hadn't been soft-hearted and insinuated that Zhan Yunqing had something to hide, she would have felt that God was playing tricks on her.
But the fact is that within the month of the agreed deadline, Zhan Yunqing could not leave that place at all. They took this opportunity to buy Jin Chai to create the illusion that she and Jin Chai were not destined.
Shen Manzhi calmed down and picked out the weirdness, "If it's just a precious relic, why is it designed so carefully?"
Chen Gui took a deep breath, "The pair of golden hairpins are put together. There is a buckle at the thickest joint. As long as the phoenix is rotated end to end to the appropriate position, one of the golden hairpins will open automatically. It can accommodate a finger long curled up note."
"Is there a note in there?"
"My friend said that he couldn't put it down at that time. One day he suddenly saw the clues, but he never found out how to open it. Later, the gentleman bought it. When he thought about it later, he felt that there must be something in it. A dark secret.”
Shen Manzhi suddenly remembered that the photo of Zhan Yunqing wearing a gold hairpin was from the year of her wedding, with two lifelike phoenix gold hairpins on the left and right side of her bun.
And for what reason, the pair of golden hairpins returned to Zhan Yunqing's hands, and now they reappeared in the world and were taken away again?
"My friend still recorded the gentleman who bought the pair of gold hairpins back then, but after more than 20 years, it is very difficult to find them." Chen Gui stood up and sighed, "I wanted to check the gold hairpins, but I couldn't. I encountered all kinds of obstacles, but they obviously didn’t want my life. Do you still remember the painting I left in the store?”
Refers to a deer as a horse.
Shen Manzhi nodded, "The most powerful person in Huaicheng?"
Chen Gui is smart, and the clues he left behind naturally make it clear to her, "The surname is Qin. Considering the case that happened in Huaicheng, only the Qin family in Huaicheng is the most suspect. With his identity, he does not dare to take it lightly." Then we took people's lives, excluding those who took the dark road and the third master of the Qin family, and then only the two brothers Qin Xianguo and Qin Xianhe were left."
It was young people who bought this reappearing golden hairpin overseas, only the younger generation.
Therefore, it is reasonable for Chen Gui to suspect Qin Yanfeng.
Shen Manzhi lowered his eyes and said nothing, not knowing what he was thinking.
Chen Gui pointed to the point, "Now they want to take back the golden hairpin again. With a mind as smart as yours, you must know why."
When the pair of gold hairpins returned to Zhan Yunqing's hands, they obviously lost their original secrets.
It was a cold night and the fireplace was burning in the house, but Shen Manzhi was still covered in cold sweat.
She wanted to find the pair of gold hairpins just because they were the relics of her mother Zhan Yunqing, just like Zhan Yunqing had to redeem the pair of gold hairpins.
But none of them expected that there was another mystery hidden in it, and it seemed that they could get a glimpse of a shocking secret.
The other party thought they were going to re-examine old matters, but instead they were anxious to expose themselves first.
Zhan Yunqing's death was not an accident. Did she have any doubts when she got the pair of gold hairpins again?And when did the other party know that her suspicions were broken through, and the cause of her death became a mystery? "Little Overlord, are you okay?"
Chen Gui stood on the balcony and closed the half-closed window. He turned around and saw Shen Manzhi's face was pale.
This man often went to his place to buy some valuable things, and almost emptied his family fortune. But after seeing those past events, he felt that this little bully was quite pitiful.
Shen Manzhi stood up, calmed down his impetuous mood, and did not care about what he called him, "If Shen Luo hadn't pawned that gold hairpin, I wouldn't have asked, and there wouldn't have been so many old things to uncover.
If my mother had no suspicion and no secrets, they would definitely not be so anxious to buy the gold hairpin. The other gold hairpin might not be in their hands. "
Because only two gold hairpins can be opened at the appropriate buckle points to take out the contents of one of the gold hairpins. They could not get the contents inside, and naturally they did not want her, a descendant, to get it.
Then, Zhan Yunqing must know something. She was already suspicious when she got the pair of golden hairpins again, but for some reasons, she could no longer wade into the muddy water and save herself, so she could only find a way to hide the secret.
But, unfortunately, it was still discovered.
Chen Gui looked at her with his old and shrewd eyes, which seemed to be pity, but showed nothing at all. "In fact, the older generation has solved the problems of the older generation. Why do you have to bear the responsibility on yourself?"
Shen Manzhi slowly raised his eyes after a few seconds, "She spent several years, exhausted money and time, thinking she had proven her parents' innocence, but in the end, she didn't expect to die because of it."
Chen Gui watched her walk to the door and then turn around. His brows were already cold, but there was a playful smile on his lips, "When will the injustice be repaid? I'm just curious about it."
Chen Gui opened his mouth slightly but did not persuade you in the end. Some people seemed to be easy-going and pleasant with you, chatting and laughing, but in fact the truth was hidden in jokes, such as Shen Manzhi.
(End of this chapter)