Chapter 2448: Chapter 2351: Admiration

By the time she had finished explaining everything to Su Qingqing, the rendezvous time she’d set with Zhang Xiaomei and her daughter had arrived. Huo Sining said goodbye to Zhou Shitao and Xie Daoyuan and the others, then picked up her suitcase and headed down the mountain.

As soon as she left the camp, a special police officer walked up eagerly, wanting to help Huo Sining carry her suitcase.

Huo Sining hurriedly waved off his offer, gave an embarrassed little smile, grabbed the suitcase and practically bolted, leaving that officer full of feelings. When he rejoined the patrol squad, he was still singing Huo Sining’s praises.

"This Miss Huo really doesn’t have the slightest bit of a celebrity’s airs. The stars I’ve seen before, even the bit‑part nobodies way out on the eighteenth line, all act like they’re worth millions. None of them are as easygoing as she is."

Hearing him say that, the others immediately nodded in agreement:

"Yeah, I once ran into a model who’d only shot some ad or magazine or whatever, and she really thought she was some big star. Wherever she went, whatever she did, assistant, nanny, driver, maid—she had to bring them all along. She wouldn’t even drink water unless someone fed it to her!"

"This Miss Huo isn’t just a celebrity, she married into a high‑ranking official’s family—she’s a bona fide wealthy society lady. But look at her: just like an ordinary person, making soup and breakfast herself, no nanny, no assistant, even going home she carries her own suitcase. Not the least bit pretentious, miles better than those fake‑acting stars!"

"..."

Huo Sining had no idea the special police were talking about her like this behind her back. Otherwise she’d surely have wanted to find a crack in the ground and crawl right into it.

Come on, it’s not that she didn’t want someone to help with the suitcase—it was that inside that suitcase she only had two sets of clothes to change into. Everything else she’d tossed into the Space. If she really let that officer carry it, she was afraid she’d give herself away and arouse suspicion.

After coming down the mountain, Huo Sining met up with Zhang Xiuchun and her daughter. The Cultural Relics Bureau sent them straight to the airport, where the special plane was already waiting. They flew directly to Xiang Province’s Huanghua Airport without wasting a minute.

When they arrived in City C, the first place Zhang Xiaomei took Huo Sining was the Hunan Province Museum. Huo Sining was very familiar with this place. Back when she was tracking down Zhong Fang, the first person she’d taken down was this museum’s Deputy Director, Zeng Fugui.

Zeng Fugui was now in prison. After a thorough investigation, the Hunan Province Museum had weeded out a whole batch of parasites. These days it was much more aboveboard. As soon as they got word that Zhang Xiuchun and Huo Sining were coming, Director Li of the museum waited at the entrance well in advance.

This director had seen what Huo Sining was capable of. Now, with honorary curator Zhang Xiuchun—who hadn’t gone out in many years—coming as well, Director Li naturally didn’t dare be careless. He even proposed clearing the museum for them, but that plan was immediately stopped by Huo Sining and Zhang Xiuchun.

They weren’t some big‑shot VIPs, and they’d come to the museum mainly to see that displayed volume of the Mawangdui Silk Texts, so of course they didn’t want to make a grand, showy fuss.

So the group entered the Hunan Province Museum low‑key. Led by Director Li, the three of them went inside and saw that legendary volume of the Mawangdui Silk Texts.

It wasn’t as if Huo Sining had never been to Xiang Province before, but back then she’d been focused entirely on investigating the antiquities swapping case, and hadn’t had the mood to appreciate Han Dynasty artifacts. Now, coming here again and seeing this legendary Han‑era encyclopedia, Huo Sining felt deeply moved.

Feeling the same deep emotion was Zhang Xiuchun. Through the glass of the display case, under the dim light, she gazed at that silk manuscript with a sensation as if time itself had shifted.

In recent years, because of her age, Zhang Xiuchun hadn’t traveled far in a long time. She’d also not visited the Hunan Province Museum for many years.

Now, seeing this silk manuscript again, it was as if she were looking at her own child. Flashing before her eyes were scenes from when it had just been unearthed, the tribulations it had gone through in her hands, and how in the end it was stripped of all dross.

She remembered the years of torment, bearing enormous pressure, all so that this monumental work could be made public.

In the end, Heaven did not disappoint her. She succeeded. Watching this silk manuscript win acclaim the world over, she felt that everything had been worth it.

And having achieved her work and withdrawn, perhaps in the future no one would know the name Zhang Xiuchun—but this silk manuscript would be passed down forever, and that was enough.

Her eyes grew moist. She stroked the glass of the display case, silent for a long time.

Beside her, Huo Sining and Zhang Xiaomei didn’t disturb the old woman’s reminiscence. They simply stayed quietly at her side.

No one knew how long they stood there. Only when the old woman’s legs were starting to tremble did Zhang Xiaomei finally speak:

"Mom, let’s go back."

Zhang Xiuchun nodded, turned, and walked away without a backward glance. Only when she reached the exit of the museum did her steps pause. She turned her head slightly to address Director Li, who had been standing respectfully to one side:

"I’ve heard about the swapping of artifacts at the museum. Every scrap of paper and piece of wood here is a treasure of the entire Huaxia Nation. As director of this museum, the responsibility on your shoulders is great. Don’t betray the people’s expectations of you."

Her words carried deep feeling. Most of the items in this museum had been dug up from the earth by her team through countless hardships. And Director Li had once been a member of the archaeological team she led.

Shamefaced, Director Li lowered his head. Even though she hadn’t harshly accused him, he felt awful inside and didn’t dare meet her gaze.

After all, it was Zhang Xiuchun who had solemnly entrusted the heavy responsibility of the museum to him, and he had sworn to her that he could handle it, that absolutely nothing would go wrong.

Yet he had let her down, nearly causing irreparable damage.

He’d thought she would say something harsh, but to his surprise, the old woman said nothing more and simply walked ahead.

Though she was already in her nineties, though her steps were a bit unsteady, though her back was slightly hunched, what Huo Sining perceived from her was a different kind of dashing bearing.

What sort of stunning young woman must such a cool Old Granny have been in her youth? Huo Sining couldn’t quite picture it, but from the old woman’s present poise and style, and from how Zhou Shitao and those other old men treated her with such respectful, almost childlike admiration, one could glimpse a little.

Elegant and intellectual, yet at the same time tough and resolute; a woman who dared to shoulder pressure and push through a thousand obstacles no matter what. A person like that was like the straight‑A goddess at school—someone to admire from afar, not to profane.

Back then, Zhou Shitao and the others must have truly respected and cherished this senior schoolmate Zhang Xiuchun from the bottom of their hearts.

That kind of affection probably had nothing to do with worldly notions of romance between men and women—just the pure admiration of juniors for their senior. And it is precisely this that, in such a restless world, shows how rare someone like Zhang Xiuchun really is.

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