The waiter in the restaurant cleared the table and even replaced the tablecloth with a new one.
Looking at the delicious lobster and red wine, Xia Lei had no appetite at all. The way Long Bing looked at him made him feel a little uncomfortable. Long Bing's eyes were very special, as if they could penetrate his body and discover all his secrets.
"Aren't you in Kyoto? Why are you back in Haizhu?" Xia Lei broke the silence between the two.
"I'll come back to find you." Long Bing said.
"Is something wrong?" Xia Lei seemed to be influenced by her, and his words became concise and to the point.
Long Bing picked up the wine glass, clinked it with Xia Lei, and took a sip of red wine with Xia Lei before saying, "You welded the key to the Ming Dynasty, and then you helped Jiang Ruyi solve the murder case of Professor Zhang Boqing." ,Yeah?"
Xia Lei was stunned on the spot. He was sure that Long Bing was not present during these two incidents, but what she said now was as if she was watching from the side and knew all the details!
Long Bing opened his handbag and took out a small red cloth bag, then pushed it from the dining table to Xia Lei, "Take a look."
Xia Lei hesitated, "What is it?"
"Open it." Long Bing had no extra words.
Xia Lei then opened the red cloth bag and was stunned again when he saw it. The thing wrapped in the red cloth bag was the key to the Ming Dynasty that he had welded!
"Did you weld it?" Long Bing looked straight at Xia Lei.
Xia Lei nodded, "I welded it, but... why is it here with you?"
Long Bing said: "I've actually been paying attention to you, and I know everything you do."
Xia Lei's brows suddenly frowned, "Are you spying on me?"
Long Bing neither admitted nor denied, but changed the topic, "The police in Haizhu City arrested the two criminals who killed Professor Zhang Boqing and recovered the key. An expert has seen the key you welded and called it It's a miracle. He said that even a welding engineer with ten years of experience couldn't do such a welding process. How did you do it?"
"Are you here to ask me how I welded this key?" Xia Lei was a little surprised.
"This question seems childish, but I really want to know the answer. I am becoming more and more curious about everything about you." Long Bing's eyes looked sharp and suspicious.
Xia Lei couldn't help but smile, "Okay, I'm becoming more and more curious about you. Tell me your true identity, and I'll tell you how I did it. You can't be the only one asking questions, right?"
Long Bing said: "It's not time for you to know yet. Don't mention this issue again in the future. When it's time to let you know, I will let you know."
"How insincere." Xia Lei had long known that she would say this, and he was not surprised at all. "However, even though you didn't answer my question, I am willing to answer your question. I used a welding tongs to get this key." Welded with cast iron rods.”
Long Bing was stunned for a moment, and then smiled for the first time, "Do you think I'm a child?"
Xia Lei said: "I don't mean to deceive you at all. How can I weld this key without welding pliers and welding rods?" After a pause, he said: "Actually, you look pretty when you smile, but We've met several times, and this is the first time I've seen you smile. Why don't you smile more?"
Long Bing suddenly put away that smile again, "Don't make such a joke with me, I don't like it."
Xia Lei stopped talking and reached out to pour her a glass of wine.
Long Bing added: "Actually, the real purpose of my coming here is to ask you to do me a favor."
"What did you want me to do?"
"It's still related to Professor Zhang Boqing's case." Long Bing said: "Archaeological experts have found the sunken ship and found an iron cabin from the sunken ship. They used this key to open the iron cabin, and there was nothing unexpected inside. of exquisite porcelain, gold and silver treasures, and only a compass.”
"A compass?"
"Well, a compass, a very strange compass." Long Bing described: "It is actually a very precise instrument, just like a clock. There are pointers on the compass, but because some parts of the compass have been broken, it It won't work. I want your help to weld the broken parts, rework the irreparable parts, and repair the compass."
Xia Lei said with a smile: "I am not a watchmaker. Welded parts will increase the weight and affect the accuracy of the compass. If new parts are processed with a lathe, can they be integrated with other parts from hundreds of years ago? Also Yes, you trust me so much that you are willing to give me such an important cultural relic to restore?"
Long Bing said: "I don't want excuses, I just want answers. Just give me an answer. Will you help me or not?"
She is always so domineering. Xia Lei thought for a while and finally nodded, "Okay, you believe me so much, it would be inappropriate for me to refuse you. Where is the compass? I want to take a look first."
Long Bing stood up, "Then let's go."
Xia Lei stood up and followed Long Bing to the front desk of the restaurant, where he rushed to pay the bill. This meal cost more than a thousand yuan, which made him feel a dull pain in his heart. Inadvertently, he saw Jiang Ruyi eating at another table, and Jiang Ruyi glared at him fiercely.
"Why is she staring at me? It's inexplicable." Xia Lei felt very strange.
After leaving the restaurant, Xia Lei got into Long Bing's car and arrived at the Haizhu City Archeology Bureau. This is an old government compound, with a four-story brick-concrete building and a row of bungalows.
When entering the office building, Xia Lei couldn't help but asked out of curiosity: "Ms. Long, Professor Zhang's case has been solved, and the nature of this matter has become archaeological. Why are you still involved in this matter?" Woolen cloth?"
Long Bing gave him the impression of someone who worked in a hail of bullets, and he also guessed that she was a very high-level agent or something. How could she ask such a person to weld a compass? Even if someone wanted to ask him to take action, it should be someone from the Archaeological Bureau, not her.
Long Bing said: "This case is more complicated than you think, but you are not from the police or us, so I can't tell you too much. You'd better stop asking about things related to the case and help me. Fix that compass."
Xia Lei smiled bitterly and shrugged, "Okay, take me to see it."
Long Bing brought Xia Lei to a showroom.
There was an old man and a young woman in the showroom. The old man is about sixty years old, has gray hair on his temples, wears colorless glasses, and has a rather scholarly demeanor. The woman is in her twenties, tall and thin, with an oval face and a pair of colorless glasses. She looks elegant and delicate.
The old man and the young woman were discussing something. There was a cast iron compass on a display table next to them, and there were several broken parts next to it.
Xia Lei's eyes fell on the compass and he was immediately attracted to it. The compass placed on the display table looks like an enlarged clock, very complicated. With the manufacturing technology of the Ming Dynasty, it is really a miracle that this compass can be produced. He couldn't help but have a question in his mind, what is this compass used for
Long Bing walked over and said, "Professor Huang, Dr. Ning, hello. I've brought the technician who repaired the compass."
Only then did the old man and the young woman realize that someone had come in, and their eyes moved to Long Bing and Xia Lei. Long Bing and the others must have known each other, but when they saw that the "technician" Long Bing brought was so young, both of them had a look of surprise on their faces.
Long Bing said: "Let me introduce to you, this is Professor Huang Weiguohuang, an authoritative professor in the domestic archaeological field. This is Dr. Jing Ning, she is the proud disciple of the late Professor Zhang Boqing." Then she pointed at Xia Lei and said : "This is Xia Lei who has repaired Ruoyi, the owner of Thunder Horse Studio."
This introduction made Xia Lei a little embarrassed. He is not a technician. In fact, he is just a wage earner with a welding certificate. His Thunder Horse Studio was just a small street shop that had no reputation at all. When Long Bing introduced him like this, he really meant to deliberately raise his worth.
However, Xia Lei kept his composure and said politely: "Professor Huang, hello Dr. Ning."
Professor Huang Weiguo took the initiative to shake hands with Xia Lei and said with a smile: "Master Lei, after seeing the key you welded, I wanted to meet you. Before you came, I thought you were about forty or fifty years old, but... I didn’t expect you to be so young, you are really a formidable person.”
Xia Lei smiled and said, "Professor Huang, you're welcome, you're welcome."
Ning Jing, who was standing next to Huang Weiguo, smiled and said, "I told you not to be polite. Let's talk about business."
Ning Jing looks quiet and sweet, and has a soft and pleasant voice. She has a gentle and pleasant temperament unique to intellectual women.
Xia Lei had a good impression of both Huang Weiguo and Ning Jing. He was not restrained and went straight to the display table to observe the compass placed on the table.
At this time, Ning Jing came to Long Bing's side, "Miss Long, he is so young, is it really he who welded the key?"
"Dr. Ning, you are about the same age as him, haven't you become an important figure in the archaeological world?" Long Bing said.
Jing Jing lowered her voice, "My situation is different from his. To do his job, you must have many years of work experience."
Long Bing stopped talking to her.
Although the conversation between Ning Jing and Long Bing was very quiet, Xia Lei still heard it. However, Ning Jing's questioning did not arouse his disgust. He believed that it was just her curiosity. If it were him, he would also have such doubts. He didn't take this matter to heart either, his mind was focused on the compass.
The size of the compass is similar to the Feng Shui compass used by traveling Taoist priests today, but it is divided into three layers: upper, middle and lower. It looks like a round sandwich biscuit. There was a seemingly gold pointer on the face of the compass that had stopped rotating. There are strange patterns on the surface of the compass. They are completely symmetrical, but they do not have any special meaning.
Xia Lei's left eye twitched slightly, and the situation in the middle layer of the compass came into his sight without any cover. There are hundreds of gears and rotating shafts of different sizes in the middle layer of the compass. There are still some sediments that are invisible to the naked eye in the gaps of some gears. Finally he looked at the underside of the compass and saw four Chinese characters - Yongle Emperor.