The Qian family's ancestral home.

The Qian family was considered one with deep roots. Most family members worked in fields related to culture and history. Elder Qian was the vice-president of the Calligraphy Association, Father Qian was a leader in the Beijing Education Commission, and Mother Qian was a professor in the history department of a university. As for Qian Wenhao's other uncles, some were archaeological experts, while others were curators of Cultural Museums... Even the person with the least external achievements ran their own antique shop.

This kind of family wasn't rare in Beijing, but it was undoubtedly a well-known scholarly family.

Even their ancestral home was located in a Retro Siheyuan Villa Area in a prime location. Although its overall scale couldn't compare to Zhuang Hongyi's home that Xiao He had visited last time, it was full of a unique ancient charm in its design, making one feel the restraint of entering a classical aristocratic family the moment they stepped through the main gate.

Fortunately, Xiao He arrived later than the others, so Elder Qian had already calmed everyone's emotions and stepped away to receive him.

Seeing Elder Qian personally coming out to greet him, Xiao He hurried over to greet him and thanked him, saying, "There are so many things going on today, yet Elder Qian still took the time to receive me. It's really too much trouble. Had I known, I should have visited another day."

"Oh, we've known each other for so long, there's no need for formalities!" Elder Qian waved his hand casually. "Quickly, come in! The others heard that the materials you provided helped the Restoration Center find key evidence, and they're all very curious about you! It's the perfect time for me to introduce you—"

When Xiao He followed Elder Qian into the Villa's main hall, the others had already composed themselves and greeted Xiao He with smiles.

Qian Wenhao's parents were even more enthusiastic, taking Xiao He's hand and thanking him.

The Qian family knew many people in the calligraphy world. After the incident, they had sought help from everyone to provide imitation materials to the Restoration Center, but the results weren't very good. When Xiao He arrived, he instantly solved everyone's big problem, so how could they not be happy?

Thus, without any hesitation, even though the young man before them was younger than everyone, including Qian Wenhao, they didn't show any sign of neglect.

As for their thanks, Xiao He accepted them quite calmly.

After all, regarding this matter, he had done much more work than the Qian family knew about.

Although it wasn't directly for Qian Wenhao, it indirectly allowed Qian Wenhao to be released earlier and avoid further Police investigation.

However—

Xiao He scanned his surroundings and asked with some concern, "Qian Wenhao... is he alright?"

To be honest, the state Qian Wenhao was in after coming out really couldn't be called good.

Xiao He was indeed somewhat worried about his condition.

It felt like Qian Wenhao's issue was no longer physical, but psychological.

"Ah, don't worry, he just went back to his room to wash up."

Mother Qian said gently, then choked up with heartache. "I just don't know what on earth happened to him. He didn't say a word the whole way back, and his spirit has been poor."

If it were just a lack of rest, one could feel at ease, but looking at Qian Wenhao's situation, it clearly wasn't that.

"It's fine, I've already arranged for a doctor to help check on him."

Father Qian put his arm around Mother Qian's shoulders and comforted her in a low voice.

Although there were still many unknown mysteries, fortunately, he was back. Everything was moving in a positive direction, and everyone believed this hurdle would be overcome.

Hearing this, Xiao He didn't mention Qian Wenhao's condition again to avoid causing more worry. Instead, he chatted with the Qian family about daily life and got to know some of its members.

In terms of blood relation, Father Qian should call Elder Qian 'Fifth Uncle,' and Qian Wenhao should call him 'Fifth Grandpa.'

Of Elder Qian's generation, only Elder Qian remained, so the younger generations respected him deeply. The family regarded Elder Qian as their pillar of strength.

In the Qian family, it was truly the personification of the saying, 'An elder in the house is like a treasure.'

With Elder Qian presiding, and the other brothers and younger generations of the Qian family being very united—each developing their own careers while supporting one another—the relationship between the brothers had been very good throughout the years. It was a rare case of harmony in a large family.

Xiao He felt somewhat moved after being introduced to everyone.

Moreover, everyone was very friendly and didn't suffer from that scholarly arrogance, thinking that because Xiao He was an actor, a mere performer, he should be neglected or despised. Their interactions were very down-to-earth, not intentionally refined, and felt very sincere.

Among them, Qian Wenhao's Fourth Uncle was a professor of archaeology—a tough man who had actually entered tombs and fought with tomb raiders. He was muscular, had a loud voice, and was the most straightforward person in the Qian family. Hearing that Xiao He was playing Emperor Chen, he couldn't help but start talking about his past experiences in tombs. Xiao He was enthralled and decisively decided to stay for lunch before leaving.

...

About twenty minutes later, Fourth Uncle Qian was still talking about his glorious feat of speeding through the desert to force a tomb raider's car to stop, when the family doctor responsible for checking Qian Wenhao's physical condition came down.

Immediately, everyone turned their attention to the doctor.

Qian Wenhao's parents stood up and gestured for the doctor to detail the situation to the side.

"...Currently, he's mainly too thin and mentally tense..."

Xiao He overheard a bit, mainly saying that Qian Wenhao's mental state wasn't very good.

The doctor suggested more rest and eating more. If his appetite was truly poor and couldn't be improved, he might have to rely on intravenous fluids to maintain basic bodily balance.

Xiao He thought for a moment, then stood up and said to Fourth Uncle Qian, "Can I go up and see Qian Wenhao? I see his mental state isn't very good. Perhaps we peers have more in common; chatting for a while might make him feel better?"

Although the doctor suggested more rest, Xiao He felt that Qian Wenhao probably couldn't sleep right now.

Furthermore, he really wanted to contact the other party to see if he could try to open his heart and learn about that unknown secret.

Fourth Uncle Qian thought about it and naturally had no objection. He even called over several other younger family members of Qian Wenhao's generation to take Xiao He upstairs to have a look.

One of them was Fourth Uncle Qian's daughter, who reportedly just graduated from university this year. Since she first saw Xiao He, her eyes had been shining, and she sat there very excitedly. Hearing her father's words, she nodded frantically and immediately stood up to lead the way.

Xiao He was naturally immune to such sparkling gazes from fans. He narrowed his eyes and smiled at her in a friendly manner, instantly causing her face to turn bright red.

"He-Hello, Brother Xiao."

Qian Wenya introduced herself very bashfully, "I'm your fan."

"Yes, I know. Thank you for your love and support."

As the two spoke, they went upstairs. The other young people of the Qian family looked at each other and consciously took a step back, giving Qian Wenya space to interact with her idol.

The group arrived at the door of Qian Wenhao's room.

Qian Wenhao's room was at the very end of the second floor, in a spot with very good lighting. However, the door was tightly shut at the moment, refusing entry to anyone. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"Brother Wenhao!"

Qian Wenya found the door was locked from the inside and could only knock for a long time, but there was no response from within.

After knocking for a while longer, Qian Wenya could only apologize to Xiao He sheepishly, "Sorry, Brother Xiao, he might indeed—"

Xiao He was no longer listening to the girl's explanation.

He just stood in front of the door, sniffed lightly, then suddenly leaned closer to the door and sniffed carefully. "Do you smell something?"

"Eh?"

The others also began to twitch their noses in confusion.

Fortunately, this was an old house, and the door's insulation wasn't very good. Soon, the others also faintly smelled the scent of something burning.

The next moment, Xiao He quickly removed the hairpin from beside Qian Wenya's ear, said "Sorry," then deftly picked the lock to Qian Wenhao's room and rushed in—

"Qian Wenhao, what are you doing?"