Chapter Eighty-Three: The Peacemaker

Zhang Qinglin lifted the silk manuscript from the wooden box with both hands. Tears had already broken from his eyes. They said men did not shed tears lightly, yet in this moment the pain of losing his loved ones surged up so violently that he could no longer hold it back.

He clutched the torn half of the manuscript tightly to his chest. This was something his whole family had protected with their lives, and he would protect it with his own.

Uncle Jiang patted Zhang Qinglin on the shoulder and said gently, “Don’t worry, Xiaolin. I’ll do everything I can to help you too. Before, I thought you were too young, so I kept you away from anything connected to that time. But you’ve already gone through hardship out there this time; you should be able to bear a little pressure now. I believe you’ll find your father.”

Uncle Jiang said he had once studied this half of the manuscript with a few acquaintances, but the characters on it were far too unusual, and its contents were exquisite, profound, and full of depth.

“Uncle Jiang, there’s one more thing I want to know.” Zhang Qinglin put the manuscript back into the wooden box.

Uncle Jiang had been looking out the window; at the sound of his voice, he turned back with a composed expression. “You mean the bronze fish coin and what was written in that letter?”

“Yes. Uncle Jiang, how did you know I wanted to ask about that?” Zhang Qinglin said in surprise.

“Before I left yesterday, I could already see you weren’t in good shape. Yueyue also told me about what happened to you last night. You must have had a fever. Every time you’ve had symptoms like that before, it was usually because of some unusual old object. How are you feeling now?” Uncle Jiang looked at him with concern.

Zhang Qinglin gave a faint smile. He had already grown used to that pain. That was his fate—no one could take it from him—and he did his best not to affect others or make anyone worry.

He said slowly, “I’ve taken medicine, so I’m fine now. But Uncle Jiang, is that bronze fish coin really an antique? It felt different to me this time.”

Uncle Jiang lowered his head in thought. “Different? Could it be because it’s a burial object?”

“A burial object? You mean something taken from a tomb?”

Uncle Jiang nodded and moved toward the desk. “Yes. The letter said that bronze fish coin was stolen from an ancient tomb in the Qin Mountains. It was a specially made piece, not ordinary currency, and not the low-grade old trinkets on the market either. I showed it to Uncle Fu yesterday, and he said it was top quality.”

“Not ordinary...” Zhang Qinglin murmured, lost in thought.

Then he heard Jiang Xinyue calling from outside the door, “Something’s wrong! Something’s wrong! Cheng Che is fighting with someone at the gate! Dad, Brother Qinglin, come out and take a look!”

“What happened? Who’s he fighting with?” Zhang Qinglin ran out and asked.

“Chi Tan!”

Zhang Qinglin and Jiang Xinyue hurried to the front gate and saw that several people had already gathered to the right of the entrance.

“Xiaolin, come quickly and have a look,” an elderly woman with snow-white hair called out anxiously.

Zhang Qinglin walked over quickly and soothed her. “Grandma Gu, please don’t worry first. What happened?”

“Look, look at Da Che and my Chi Tan—they’ve started fighting. Go break them up, please, make them stop!” Grandma Gu pulled Zhang Qinglin’s hand and led him into the crowd, pointing at the two men locked in a struggle ahead.

Cheng Che had both arms wrapped around Chi Tan’s waist, while Chi Tan bent low and struck at Cheng Che’s hip. Cheng Che then raised a knee into Chi Tan’s stomach and drove him straight to the ground.

“What, still want to keep going?”

“Come on! Who’s afraid of who?” Chi Tan sprang up quickly from the ground and threw a punch.

Cheng Che backed away, dodging right and then left. With a sidestep, he seized Chi Tan by the shoulder, hooked a leg out to trip him to the ground, pinned him down, and then raised his fist to strike.

“Stop!” Zhang Qinglin shouted. “Cheng Che, what are you doing? Why did you start hitting people?”

“Ask him! If he hadn’t stirred up trouble, why would I hit him?” Cheng Che said fiercely, straightening his clothes.

Grandma Gu went up to Chi Tan and brushed the dust from his clothes. “Are you all right, Tan Tan? Good heavens, your nose is bleeding.”

“Grandma, I’m fine.” Chi Tan wiped the blood that had run from his nose, then glared at Cheng Che and snapped, “Say it clearly. What exactly did I do to provoke you?”

“Everyone, disperse. Go on home, go on with what you were doing.” Zhang Qinglin glanced at the onlookers and waved them away.

Once the crowd had scattered, only the few of them remained standing in the street.

Jiang Xinyue looked at Cheng Che, then at Chi Tan, and said, “Cheng Che, weren’t you fighting with some very tall guy just now? What’s going on between you two? There must be some misunderstanding!”

“A tall guy?” Zhang Qinglin asked.

“Old Zhang, I was talking with Xinyue just now when I saw someone sneaking around at our gate, so I went over to check. Who knew that as soon as he saw me, he ran. I took one step and blocked him. He was wearing a hat, and when I asked him something he didn’t say a word. So I asked again, and he still kept silent. Then he just swung a knife at me, so I fought him. Who would’ve thought this kid would come charging out and let him get away? It pissed me off to death! He even got dye all over me. Tell me, didn’t he deserve a beating?” Cheng Che angrily recounted what had just happened.

Chi Tan lifted his chin and said, “I wasn’t doing it on purpose. Brother Xiaolin, look how hard he hit me. It was just a piece of clothing—I’ll pay you back for it.”

“Pay back? Can you even afford to? You let that man get away. He could very well have been a bad person, don’t you understand?” Cheng Che said indignantly.

Zhang Qinglin stood between the two of them, looking back and forth with a helpless shake of his head. Then he patted Cheng Che on the shoulder and tried to calm him. “All right, all right. Cheng Che, don’t be angry yet. Chi Tan is still young—don’t hold it against him. Take off your shirt and let Yueyue wash it for you. Chi Tan, come here and apologize to Brother Da Che.”

Chi Tan folded his arms over his chest, turned his head away, and snorted.

“Chi Tan, you child, all you do is cause trouble. If you really dirtied Da Che’s clothes, hurry up and apologize,” Grandma Gu said.