Back To The 80s-Chapter 72 - 71: Mural_1

Jin Cheng shrugged and followed them out. Ling Yun picked up the paper from the floor, secretly sighing a sigh of relief, they had been so careless.

Gu Xiaobei was walking with Qin Li, but her mind kept circling back to the Y-language words she had just seen: affreschi, StatuediPietra.

Wall painting? Stone statue? Did she miss any letters?

Qin Li, on the other hand, was extremely excited: "Haha, Jin Cheng is finally in my hands today."

Gu Xiaobei gave Qin Li a sympathetic look, this poor kid, she was beyond help.

Qin Li lowered her head and said, "You must think I’m really stupid. I think I’m pretty stupid too, but what can I do if I’m in love?" She lifted her head, her beautiful misty eyes smiled at the corners.

Gu Xiaobei let out a long sigh, "Child, you must be strong. I look forward to the day you trick Jin Cheng into the bridal chamber. Don’t let me down."

Qin Li chuckled, "You just wait. You will give me a big red envelope." Unbeknownst to Gu Xiaobei, Qin Li never married for this reason. If she had known, she would have made Qin Li go on a blind date every day until she got married.

After parting with Qin Li, Gu Xiaobei wondered if she should continue since Lu Zhanguo’s vacation was about to end.

When she arrived home, she was surprised to find Yuan Tan, but Shen Heng wasn’t there. She was annoyed, was this a infiltration tactic?

Seeing Gu Xiaobei’s return, Lu Zhanguo visibly breathed a sigh of relief. His eyes burned into her, as if to say: I didn’t invite her, she came here on her own.

Gu Xiaobei secretly shot him a glare: I’ll deal with you later. She turned to Yuan Tan with a smile, "Tantan, you’re here. Did Shen Heng not come with you?"

Yuan Tan replied with a smile, "I have no idea what Shen Heng is busy with. He disappeared this morning, and since I had nowhere else to go, I figured I’d visit."

Gu Xiaobei said in surprise, "You could have come to me. Lu Zhanguo doesn’t know how to chat at all. Whenever we’re at home, we don’t say a word to each other all day."

Yuan Tan became even more convinced of the unhappiness in Lu Zhanguo’s marriage, she laughed, "No, Brother Zhanguo just told me many fun stories from the army."

Gu Xiaobei secretly shot a sideways glance at Lu Zhanguo. He seemed to be enjoying chatting? Lu Zhanguo looked oppressed, his pitiful little eyes seemed to say: It’s not like that.

Yuan Tan, completely oblivious to the way they were looking at each other, continued, "Sister-in-law, I would like to invite you and Brother Zhanguo to dinner tomorrow evening. Would that be okay?"

Gu Xiaobei smiled and said, "Sure. I don’t feel like cooking because of the heat." In her heart, she didn’t feel like making dinner that night either.

Looking at Gu Xiaobei, Lu Zhanguo said, "I kneaded some noodles this afternoon, let’s have noodles for dinner."

Yuan Tan was surprised, Lu Zhanguo could cook? What a good man.

Gu Xiaobei nodded and said, "Then I’ll go prepare the sauce."

"No need, you sit. I’ll go." As Lu Zhanguo stood up, he headed towards the kitchen.

Yuan Tan watch Lu Zhango’s handsome silhouette, determined that she must have this man.

Watching Yuan Tan’s undisguised gaze, Gu Xiaobei sneered in her heart, she thought, this man will never be yours in this lifetime.

While Lu Zhanguo was cooking, Yuan Tan was too lazy to chat with Gu Xiaobei anymore and sat in a daze. Gu Xiaobei was biting her fingernail, thinking about the words she had seen on the piece of paper today.

Lu Zhanguo simply cooked some tomato and egg sauce and mixed vinegar and chili. Gu Xiaobei loved spicy food.

After eating, Yuan Tan sat for a while longer before leaving. As soon as Yuan Tan left, Gu Xiaobei immediately gestured Lu Zhanguo to sit next to her, saying, "I want to discuss something with you."

Lu Zhanguo wondered, noticing the seriousness in Gu Xiaobei’s tone, he moved closer and asked, "What’s the matter?"

"Today, I discovered two Y-language words on a piece of paper that Ling Yun dropped: wall painting and statue. I’m not sure if I missed anything," Gu Xiaobei said worriedly.

Lu Zhanguo frowned, "Our place is a vital spot on the Silk Road, and it was very prosperous back in the day. Many cultural relics and ancient artifacts remain here. Murals are one of the most renowned of these."

Gu Xiaobei didn’t understand, she knew about the Dunhuang Mogao Caves, and there were probably many similar relics near here. But why would Ling Yun write this? She asked puzzled, "If they’re referring to stone statues or copper ones, I could understand smuggling cultural relics, but murals can’t be smuggled, can they?"

Lu Zhanguo patted her head and said, "Alright, don’t think about it too much. You should refrain from doing such things in the future. When my break ends next week, you should come back with me."

"I’m not going, I want to stay," Gu Xiaobei replied firmly.

Lu Zhanguo’s face darkened, "No, it’s not safe for you to stay here alone. How would I protect you then?"

Gu Xiaobei was delighted by Lu Zhanguo’s obvious care and concern. Holding onto his arm, she said, "Staying here will help Shen Heng. Even though you haven’t told me exactly what he does, I know he’s not a simple man. Right now, I’m the only one who can understand these foreign languages."

Lu Zhanguo shook his head, "Things aren’t as simple as you think. You should come back with me."

Gu Xiaobei pouting, didn’t say another word. She knew this man was stubborn, and he was doing this for her own good. She didn’t want to seem ungrateful.

Helplessly, Lu Zhanguo hugged her and said, "Don’t worry, if Shen Heng doesn’t understand something, he can ask you. If you’re there, you might hinder their operations."

Gu Xiaobei thought about it and agreed, she couldn’t really do anything, and having to worry about her might even be a hindrance. Although her life was a fortunate one right now, she still cherished it. Wrapping her arms around Lu Zhanguo’s waist, she said, "Alright, besides, when I go back, I can concentrate on translating the original novel that was sent this time."

Just as the two were talking, a rapid knock echoed through the house. They looked at each other, puzzled – it was nearly ten o’clock, who could it be?

As soon as Lu Zhanguo opened the door, Shen Heng breezed in and said, "Something happened, the mural panel that was supposed to be delivered to the provincial museum was stolen!"

Murals! Lu Zhanguo and Gu Xiaobei looked at each other. They had reacted quickly. Lu Zhanguo spoke in a deep voice, "Don’t panic. We were just about to discuss this with you."

"Gu Xiaobei found the words ’mural’ and ’stone statue’ at Ling Yun’s place today, presumably they’re related." Lu Zhanguo analyzed.

Shen Heng clapped his hands, "We couldn’t translate a Y-language document. That’s why I came to seek your help in the middle of the night." He then pulled out a stack of papers from his pocket and handed it to Gu Xiaobei.

Knowing the urgency of the situation, Gu Xiaobei began to read as soon as she received it. The more she read, the more her face clouded with frustration, and she angrily said, "This one is a list; it’s full of cultural relics. This one is about the pickup time and location. Looking at the time, it should have happened yesterday. Does that seem wrong to you?"

Shen Heng’s face grew serious, "It seems that this report was intended to mislead us. We can now only secretly seal off all the traffic choke points and begin a secret search. As long as the cultural relics are still in T City, they can’t escape. Who would’ve expected that we’d stumble on a cultural relics smuggling case while dealing with White Fox."

Gu Xiaobei continued to look through the remaining papers, "This one is about a special combat unit, and lists their weapons and personnel."

Lu Zhanguo and Shen Heng looked at each other in shock. Lu Zhanguo had just received a letter stating that he was to form a special combat unit. Was the news leaked so quickly? Who could it be?

Narrowing his eyes, Lu Zhanguo spat out a name.