Pats Little Shrike's Tail - Chapter 17

Chapter 17

It was past two in the morning. Shan Ling had already woken up from a nap and found the light still on in the study.

Shen Qingyi was probably extremely tired and had already had two cups of coffee to stay awake. The client had said she was driving from out of town, so she waited for three hours before receiving a call from the client, Ms. Chen.

“I’m downstairs now.” The voice on the phone sounded tired. She said to Shen Qingyi, “I’m so sorry to have you wait for me this late. Could you please swipe the elevator card?”

“I’ll bring it down.”

Shen Qingyi grabbed the book, put on a coat, and went out. Shan Ling also followed her quickly, landing on her shoulder.

Shan Ling was so small and light that Shen Qingyi didn’t notice her when she was quiet. She was startled to find that Shan Ling had followed her when they were in the elevator.

“How did you get out?” Shen Qingyi frowned slightly. Seeing that the elevator had already started to descend, she helplessly took Shan Ling off her shoulder and put her into her pocket.

Shan Ling poked her head out of Shen Qingyi’s pocket and “cheeped” in a dignified manner.

I won’t run around. Don’t treat me like a normal bird.

Shan Ling was also curious about the client of Old Stories of Longcheng. She felt that there must be a story, both in and out of the book.

When Shen Qingyi got downstairs, she saw two people standing outside. One of the men was wearing a black jacket and was listening to the woman in front of him.

The two turned around when they heard the noise, and Shen Qingyi got a good look at the woman who had her back to her.

Shen Qingyi had a Weibo account with over 200,000 followers and a video account with over 500,000 followers on a video platform. She mainly documented how she restored books and introduced some rare second-hand books.

She had managed these accounts for a long time. Ms. Chen had found her through these accounts and asked Shen Qingyi to help restore Old Stories of Longcheng.

Shen Qingyi had only been in contact with Ms. Chen through WeChat. The other person’s profile picture was a very beautiful landscape photo, and her Moments only displayed content from the past six months, all of which were very ordinary photos and texts. She never expected that Ms. Chen would be… so wealthy.

Ms. Chen was dressed in international designer brands. She was dressed very appropriately for being out in the middle of the night. The two-tone Maybach parked at the entrance of the building was a display of quiet luxury.

If Shen Qingyi was not mistaken, her father, Shen Hongjun, had a similar car, which cost at least 30 million RMB.

Adding Ms. Chen’s designer outfit, which cost over ten thousand RMB, Shen Qingyi couldn’t help but wonder about the other person’s true identity.

Ms. Chen looked to be in her thirties or forties. Her elegant attire made her appear very refined. She waved her hand, signaling for the driver to wait in the car, and then walked over.

“Excuse me, are you Miss Shen?” Ms. Chen looked at Shen Qingyi and said politely and kindly, “I’m the person who asked you to restore Old Stories of Longcheng. We’ve spoken on the phone.”

“Hello.” Shen Qingyi looked at her, handed her the restored book, and said, “You seem older than me. You don’t have to be so formal.”

Ms. Chen smiled softly and quickly took the book from Shen Qingyi’s hands.

She took the book out of the waterproof bag and quickly flipped through it. Her face was a mixture of anxiety and satisfaction. Finally, she closed her eyes tightly and held the book to her chest.

“Thank you so much,” Ms. Chen sighed deeply, looking at Shen Qingyi. “You can’t imagine how important this book is to me.”

“Now that you have the book, I won’t bother you anymore.” Shen Qingyi said as she was about to turn back. It was chilly at two or three in the morning.

“Please wait a moment.”

Ms. Chen quickly stopped Shen Qingyi, brushed her hair from her temple in the night wind, and was silent for a while before saying, “I still don’t quite understand the musical score in the book. I’m on my way to the hospital. Could you please explain it to me on the way?”

Shen Qingyi was about to refuse. It didn’t feel right to go with a stranger in the middle of the night. Besides, her little chubby bird was in her pocket, and she was afraid the little creature would fly away if she wasn’t careful.

Ms. Chen saw her frown slightly and quickly continued, “Miss Shen, please don’t worry. I have no other intentions. I just don’t understand how to play this piece.”

“You can just download an app. Give me your phone, and I can do it for you,” Shen Qingyi said calmly.

Ms. Chen didn’t hesitate and handed her phone to her.

She watched Shen Qingyi seriously operate her phone, her gaze lingering on her face for a long time. “Miss Shen, you’ve read this book, right?”

Shen Qingyi simply “hmmmed,” looking at the gray app icon that was loading on the phone.

“Mr. Chen in the story is my great-grandfather.”

Shen Qingyi looked up at Ms. Chen in front of her, and their eyes met.

Ms. Chen pulled her gray cashmere shawl around her shoulders. She held her arms and smiled at Shen Qingyi. “The story about Mr. Chen abandoning his wife and child and going to the UK is actually true.”

“My great-grandfather met a British friend and resolutely left my great-grandmother and my one-month-old grandfather to go abroad,” Ms. Chen said. “After he arrived in the UK, he did remarry. My great-grandmother didn’t die in the war as the book said, but rather, she heard that her husband had married a new wife, became heartbroken, and drowned herself in the river.”

Ms. Chen looked at the dark night and said slowly, “My grandfather was lucky enough to survive the war. With the help of relatives, he escaped the war and went to Hong Kong. I found this book while cleaning my grandfather’s study a while ago. The story inside also shocked me because it really happened.”

Shen Qingyi glanced at Ms. Chen. She exported the file she had sent to Ms. Chen’s WeChat and put it into the app. She then heard the “cheep cheep” melody. It swirled in the cool night with the wind.

Ms. Chen looked at her phone and couldn’t help but smile bitterly. “The reason I was so eager to have you restore this book is that my grandfather doesn’t have much time left. He has severe organ failure, and the doctors told us it would be a matter of days.”

The song seemed to travel through time and space, coming from across the ocean, carrying a hint of sadness and desolation.

After the entire, somewhat out-of-tune piece was played, Ms. Chen sighed softly and said to Shen Qingyi, “Thank you. With this song, I think I can go and see my grandfather.”

Ms. Chen took her phone back from Shen Qingyi and was about to turn to leave when she heard Shen Qingyi speak.

“Can I meet Mr. Chen?” Shen Qingyi looked at the elegant and wealthy young woman in front of her. “I’d also like to know what happened after the book’s story.”

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