Wang Jinwu and Xu Yongjian had known each other for a long time, and Xu Yongjian also recognized Xu Chunliang, who was considered one of the emerging influential figures in Hu Shan Town. However, Xu Yongjian couldn’t understand how a deputy director of Changxing Hospital could suddenly transform into the deputy town mayor of Hu Shan Town. As per a popular saying nowadays, this leap was quite a breakthrough.

Ding Si only invited his close friends tonight: Xu Chunliang, Wang Jinwu, Pu Jian, Zhang Haitao, Lu Qi, and Li Zhong.

When Xu Chunliang and Pu Jian came in together, they encountered a few experts from the Cultural Relics Bureau dining in the restaurant. Pu Jian was also considered a self-taught expert in the Antique World. He had known Xiao Dong, the deputy director of the Cultural Relics Bureau, before. This time, Xiao Dong and the others came for an archaeological project, and Pu Jian, as the discoverer and one involved, assisted them and became quite familiar with them.

Pu Jian greeted, "Dean Xiao, you’re here for dinner too?"

Xiao Dong smiled and said, "We’re just having a quick bite. We still have to go back to work soon."

Xu Chunliang said, "Since we ran into each other, let’s sit together."

Xiao Dong replied, "No, no, we’ll still need to work later."

Pu Jian said, "This is Town Mayor Xu. He’s the one who protected the underground site of the distillery."

Xiao Dong said, "Nice to meet you, and thank you."

At this moment, Lu Qi and Li Zhong also arrived. They interacted more frequently with Xiao Dong and invited him to join them. Xiao Dong, unable to decline their warm invitation, joined them in the private room. He was already half full, and Xu Chunliang arranged for their table’s bill to be put on Ding Si’s tab.

Originally, Ding Si wanted to arrange for Xu Chunliang to sit at the head of the table, but since Xiao Dong was there and held a higher position, Xu Chunliang offered the head seat to him and sat beside him with Lu Qi on the other side.

Ding Si brought Maotai wine that had been repackaged. Bringing the original packaging would be too conspicuous, so he poured the wine into transparent bottles beforehand, which might have been mistaken as an unbranded product by the uninformed.

As soon as the bottle was opened, the fragrance of Maotai filled the room.

Xiao Dong, being someone experienced, secretly acknowledged the fact that one should not underestimate Hu Shan Town, nor these young people, who are getting more resourceful today.

Wang Jinwu said, "This restaurant has the most distinctive fish dishes on the entire Weishan Island, and all the fish and shrimp are absolutely fresh."

Pu Jian asked, "How does it compare to the restaurant on your farm?"

Wang Jinwu replied, "Different ball game; our chef is professionally trained, while the chefs here are all self-taught."

Ding Si said, "Self-taught chefs make the tastiest food. I just love dishes prepared by them."

Zhang Haitao stood up to pour wine. Lu Qi and Li Zhong’s work had been completed, and since there were no outsiders present, they planned to rest at Wang Jinwu’s place after the meal and head back to Dongzhou the next morning.

Xiao Dong initially intended to decline politely, but Pu Jian insisted on pouring for him, saying, "Teacher Xiao, you must drink. Technically, I’m your student, and you were my guide into the Antique World. With Brother Si’s wine, I must properly toast to you today."

Xiao Dong protested a bit but eventually stopped refusing, knowing that at the Cultural Relics Bureau, they weren’t as strict as the police when it came to drinking.

According to tradition, they downed three cups of wine together.

Xiao Dong praised the wine, saying it was indeed good, and the food was quite excellent too. The dishes were well-presented and flavorful, generously portioned, and reasonably priced, unlike anything one could find in Dongzhou.

Pu Jian stood up to serve wine to Xiao Dong, who said, "No need, no need, let’s not stand on ceremony, we can drink while sitting."

Pu Jian replied, "That wouldn’t do. Once a teacher, a lifelong guide. When I was just entering the field and didn’t understand something, I’d go to the museum to ask you, and each time, you’d humbly explain to me. A senior official like you being so approachable, I toast to you, Teacher Xiao."

After Xiao Dong drank two cups of respect toast, he said, "I’m no big official. I used to be a teacher, just a bookworm. Other than archaeology, I liked to have a few drinks. I remember when Pu Jian used to come looking for me, he was still young, and I hadn’t been at the job for long. We’ve known each other for about ten years, haven’t we?"

Pu Jian nodded repeatedly, "Yes, it’s been ten years. When I was setting up a stall on Zhuangyuan Street, you often visited."

Xiao Dong laughed, "Time flies, doesn’t it? It’s been so many years in a blink." During those years, he and Pu Jian lost contact, not seeing each other until this meeting. They only learned in conversation that Pu Jian had been in Capital City all those years in between.

Xu Chunliang also toasted Xiao Dong. Although he didn’t know Xiao Dong personally before, he had dealt with the Dongzhou City Museum and brought up Liang Baxian in the conversation.

Xiao Dong said, "Director Liang used to be my old supervisor and also my teacher. He’s now semi-retired and hardly comes to the museum anymore."

Xu Chunliang nodded, "He’s currently at the Longgu Museum, helping out over there."

Xiao Dong asked how Xu Chunliang and Liang Baxian knew each other, and Xu Chunliang recounted how his grandfather had donated a dragon bone to the Dongzhou City Museum. Xiao Dong had only been with the Dongzhou City Museum for nearly a decade, and the donation of the dragon bone was over twenty years ago. Xiao Dong didn’t experience that firsthand, but he knew about it. He expressed regret when talking about the fire incident back then; over twenty years ago, the overall level of cultural relic management was generally low, and even professional cultural relic conservation organizations lacked significant security awareness.

The incident at the Dongzhou Museum was not an isolated case; there are too many examples in the country of valuable cultural relics being damaged due to improper protection.

At this time, restaurant owner Xu Yongjian came in to offer a toast. Xu Yongjian had been quite frightened the past couple of days after realizing so much time had passed since the explosion at the Yu Shuqing Restaurant, only to discover there was a tunnel hidden beneath the old restaurant site.

The seemingly honest chef Liu Haiyu was actually a notorious criminal hiding under an alias. Although Xu Yongjian did not directly participate in the theft of cultural relics, he had sheltered Liu Haiyu at the time, and the police could hold him accountable.

Xu Yongjian meant to discretely gather information while offering drinks. Although the police had let him go, they hadn’t said his matter was over, and he would still be needed for future investigations.

His uninvited appearance made the atmosphere slightly awkward.

Xu Chunliang calmly said, "Boss Xu, there’s no need for formalities, we’re all the same here." Implying that Xu should not disturb them.

Xu Yongjian grinned and said, "With Town Mayor Xu visiting, I have to do something to show my respect. I’ll cover tonight’s meal."

Ding Si retorted, "What’s that supposed to mean? Afraid I won’t pay you?"

"No, that’s not what I meant." Xu Yongjian looked imploringly at Wang Jinwu, who he knew best among them.

Wang Jinwu said, "Brother Si, don’t get upset. Boss Xu is an honest man. How about this, Boss Xu, finish your drink and let’s just relax."

Realizing the timing of his appearance wasn’t right, Xu Yongjian quickly downed his glass. Xu Chunliang and the others took symbolic sips as he excused himself and retreated.

Wang Jinwu excused himself to the restroom, stepping outside to scold, "Old Xu, haven’t you run the restaurant long enough to know the etiquette?" The people inside weren’t ordinary guests — more than half were from the system, including a deputy town mayor of Hu Shan Town. Xu Yongjian’s hasty entry was indeed inappropriate.

Xu Yongjian sighed, "I’m just scared. I want to ask Officer Lu about the tunnel under Yu Shuqing. I swear I don’t know anything about it."

Knowing Xu Yongjian was timid, Wang Jinwu advised him to hurry up and serve the food, advising against disrupting their enjoyment. Without belonging to the circle, forcing oneself in would only lead to embarrassment.

After Wang Jinwu returned, Lu Qi continued discussing the case, saying, "This tunnel likely existed for a long time. Late last year, Nanyue Customs seized a batch of smuggled cultural relics and found a batch of Han Dynasty relics, initially judged to have been unearthed from the Dongzhou region, with a burial period not exceeding two years. But there have been no recent cases of relic theft in Dongzhou."

Xiao Dong said, "I know about that. At the time, Nanyue Customs asked us to assist in the investigation, and I went there for a week. Those relics should have come from some ancient tomb."

Lu Qi said, "That’s right. Back then, it was suspected that this portion of relics came from an ancient tomb in Dongzhou. So, our focus is on tracking the tomb raiding gangs near Dongzhou."

Xu Chunliang recalled when he used a cobra to coerce two guys from Da Hu Metal Recycling Company to turn themselves in to Lu Qi.

Lu Qi said, "Last year, we caught two habitual thieves at Da Hu Metal Recycling Company. I also suspected their involvement in the relics case, but they denied it. Clearly, we need to investigate this matter thoroughly."

Xiao Dong lamented, "The tomb raiding in Dongzhou is rampant. These grave robbers will stop at nothing for immediate profit, wantonly destroying the legacy of our ancestors. They’re utterly insane. Officer Lu, you must uncover this theft gang this time. We cannot allow our country’s cultural relics to be lost overseas."

Lu Qi assured, "Rest assured, Dean Xiao, we will get to the bottom of this case and strive to recover the stolen relics."

They shared a drink, and Pu Jian asked, "Teacher Xiao, in your opinion, is there an ancient tomb beneath the distillery?"

Xiao Dong said, "Preliminarily, it doesn’t conform to common ancient tomb standards. Rather than an ancient tomb, it’s more of an underground storeroom. Since this structure is located under the ancient cellar, I suspect it might have been used to store brewing materials back then. Of course, this is just an initial assessment. Our experts are conducting further research, and I believe we’ll have discoveries soon."

Xu Chunliang asked, "Dean Xiao, do you think those three ancient cellars have any value?"

Xiao Dong smiled and said, "The greatest value of the ancient cellars lies in the microbial population within. As the saying goes, ’A thousand-year-old cellar, ten-thousand-year-old mash.’ But this isn’t our area of expertise. If you want to know the value of the ancient cellars, you can invite relevant professionals to help analyze and examine them. I have connections in the Biochemistry Department of the Medical University. Do you need me to introduce an expert to you?"

Xu Chunliang shook his head, "The distillery has been leased out now, so dealing with those three cellars is the business of the lessee. Dean Xiao, I wonder if we could apply for provincial-level cultural relic protection for these three ancient cellars?"