CHAPTER 324: CHAPTER 109: LANSHAN APPRAISAL

"He’s already gone mad, the church is all abuzz," said the priest, who was about the same age as Yamai Ichiro, his eyes filled with pity, "He keeps telling fortunes to anyone he meets, spouting words that others cannot understand."

Where did Yellow Love go then, Su Ziceng wondered as he looked at the thinly-clad Yamai Ichiro. If he truly was insane, even if he did possess Yellow Love, he probably didn’t know where it had gone now.

Gone mad, were all those things Yamai Ichiro said before just nonsense? As he saw them out, the priest also emphasized, "No matter what, the Lord will grant you perseverance and tolerance, everything will get better."

Su Ziceng walked on the street, with the female exchange student continuously yawning beside him. What a pointless fuss, busying themselves for a month just to find a madman.

During the following two days, Su Ziceng visited Yamai Ichiro again, this time without the female exchange student. The insane Yamai Ichiro, no matter who asked him whatever questions in whatever language, wouldn’t respond at all. But a lucid Yamai Ichiro, could speak Chinese.

But since that night, there had been no change in either Yamai Ichiro or Red Love. Su Ziceng never again heard that Northeast-accented Chinese coming from Yamai Ichiro.

On the eighth night, Yamai Ichiro didn’t appear in the church anymore. He had left, wandering off to who knows where.

The spring cherry blossoms had already withered, with the leaves taking over, budding at the treetops. Yamai Ichiro’s appearance was like walking under the fleeting cherry blossom rain; dreamlike and illusory, Su Ziceng couldn’t be sure whether she would meet that pitiful man who pulled people aside to tell their fortunes on the streets when she returned to Karuizawa next year.

The first objective of her trip to Japan had been met, and Su Ziceng didn’t send the female exchange student away immediately but asked her to help her a little longer as she wanted to find some suitable antiques in Japan.

"Miss Ziceng," as their time together grew longer, they became like close friends, yet the female exchange student still insistently addressed Su Ziceng as Miss, "My graduate program is starting soon, I might not be able to accompany you every morning."

The curriculum at Nagano University, where the female exchange student was enrolled, was quite flexible, and thanks to her patient companionship, Su Ziceng’s trip in Japan had been smooth.

But not long before the female exchange student’s semester was about to start, Su Ziceng received some bad news, told to her by Yan Wuxu. While Subi Auction House was delaying Christie’s Auction House’s request to buy into their shares, Christie’s had already opened their first auction house domestically.

Standing in the ryokan, Suz Ceng still wore a loose bathrobe, adapting her outings to align with the female exchange student’s schedule and mostly went out in the afternoons now.

"Why don’t you return to your country first? I’m going to give birth in two more months. Qing Chang isn’t hurrying the progress at Subi either, I reckon let Christie’s buy in as per their wish," recently, Yan Wuxu was practically confined at home.

Chang Mei, citing her impending childbirth, forbade her from going out on her own, and with Su Ziceng not around, it was quiet and lonely at home; Yan Wuxu was almost suffocated into illness.

"In another half a month, I’ll walk around the neighborhood a bit." They had agreed on a three months’ time, and one month had already passed.

Su Ziceng was getting a bit impatient, fortunately, she had brought along Director Luo’s contact information when she went abroad. After the last auction, Director Luo who had also put a lot of effort into the auction items had retired with honors, leaving his homeland after dedicating most of his life, and had flown to his daughter’s home in Ottawa.

When she got in touch with Director Luo, it happened that he had just become a grandfather, and his mood was exceptionally good. After congratulating him for a few sentences, Su Ziceng started to inquire.

When Director Luo heard that Su Ziceng was now in Japan, he was quite surprised, finding it hard to believe that Su Ziceng, still somewhat a youngster, could act with such astonishing initiative.

Moving forward, Su Ziceng also talked about Christie’s Auction House’s investment in Subi Auction House. Director Luo greatly praised Su Ziceng’s decision, lauding her as a patriotic youth of the new era, which made Su Ziceng feel a bit embarrassed by such high praise.

Once the conversations started flowing, Director Luo wasn’t concerned that this was an international call across the Pacific and reminisced about antiques.

Japanese collectors mostly don’t like living in modern metropolitan areas, they generally reside in historical cities like Capital City, Nara, and Himeji. These places have a rich cultural atmosphere and often host collection exchange meetings. After providing some general information, Director Luo also informed Su Ziceng about some etiquette to be mindful of when visiting and meeting people in Japan, and after these reminders, the respectable elder then hung up the phone.

The first stop chosen by Su Ziceng was Capital City, where the local museum’s director had once had a relationship with Director Luo. Introduced by a female exchange student, Su Ziceng soon found out that there was an exchange meeting in Lanshan in early May in Capital City. The director agreed to take Su Ziceng with him at that time.

Lanshan is a famous place for viewing autumn maple leaves, and in spring, the maple leaves just start to sprout tender leaves, occasionally showing some soft red buds.

The.exchange meeting was held in a tea house in Lanshan, and all attendees wore traditional kimono. Su Ziceng, not fond of overly complicated clothing, borrowed a set of tea clothes made of synthetic fabric from the host of the tea house.

Considering that she did not understand Japanese, she chose a corner of the tea house and knelt to sit. Guests in various colored kimonos continued to come in, and the tatami mats quickly filled up with people. During this time, there were also some foreign visitors not from Japan, but most of them were dressed formally and sat in their designated spots.

The female exchange student sitting next to her had also never experienced such a scene before and was even more nervous than Su Ziceng. She kept introducing to Su Ziceng, today’s appreciation meeting in Lanshan turned out to include many cultural celebrities such as the former Chief Secretary of the Culture Office who was leading the appreciation meeting.

"Why can’t I see any items for appreciation," Su Ziceng had been anxious about coming empty-handed and standing out, but now she noticed that every guest seated had not brought any items and seemed to have come empty-handed.

When everyone had almost arrived, the sliding doors in Japanese style were closed by the tea girl serving the guests, and the room fell into silence. Just as the former Minister of the Cultural Office, sitting on the tatami, was about to speak, the door was suddenly pulled open with force.

The person’s actions were rough and, without greeting, startled the tea girl sitting nearby, almost making her lose her seat.

Everyone wondered who could be so disrespectful. A few outspoken appreciation guests were already openly scolding the person.(To be continued. If you like this work, we invite you to Quidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation ticket and monthly ticket, your support is my biggest motivation.)