Joining Tiandao Company: Starting by mending a zombie world

"Alright, alright, I'll go myself."

Chu Sheng slammed his phone on the table, took a deep breath, and pushed open the door to leave the hall.

Two hundred large items, Dai's Antiques.

Chu Sheng stood at the door and peeked inside through the glass door. Dai Mingde was still the same as before, lying in a rocking chair by the window, holding a small purple clay teapot in his hands, with Suzhou storytelling playing on the radio.

Dai Ran is not downstairs.

Chu Sheng pushed open the door and entered, the wind chimes on the door tinkling a few times. Dai Mingde opened one eye, recognized the person, and a meaningful smile appeared on his lips:

"Oh, what a rare guest..."

"Grandpa Dai, you're too kind," Chu Sheng said with a smile, sitting down in the chair opposite him. "I have been quite busy lately; I just got back from out of town."

"Busy?" Dai Mingde slowly sat up, placing the purple clay teapot on the coffee table. "Too busy to even answer the phone? Ran called you seven or eight times, and you only answered one."

Chu Sheng was speechless.

"This old man doesn't interfere in your young people's affairs." Dai Mingde picked up the purple clay teapot, took a sip, and looked at Chu Sheng through the steam rising from the spout.

"Speak, what is it?"

"I would like to ask you for a favor." Chu Sheng briefly explained the matter of the Treasure Appraisal Association.

After listening, Dai Mingde put down the teapot, raised his eyelids, and looked at Chu Sheng.

"I can definitely get invitations to that treasure hunting event in Shanghai. Since you're on holiday anyway, why don't you take Ranran along for a relaxing trip?"

Chu Sheng was stunned.

"What are you glaring at me for?" Dai Mingde snorted irritably. "That girl spends all day holed up in the library researching; she's practically going crazy from boredom."

Chu Sheng opened his mouth, wanting to say that he went to the Treasure Appraisal Meeting not to relax, but to search for meteorites and ebony.

But looking at Dai Mingde's face, which seemed to say, "You have to agree whether you want to or not," he swallowed his words.

"Okay," he said.

"Great." Dai Mingde lay back in the rocking chair, took out a business card from his pocket, and tossed it to Chu Sheng.

"Call this number when you go to Shanghai, and someone will come to pick you up."

Chu Sheng took the business card. The front had only a name and a phone number, while the back had a vermilion seal that read "Guanshanzhai".

"Guanshanzhai?"

"My friend's shop specializes in stationery and miscellaneous items." Dai Mingde closed his eyes. "Go on, Ran'er is in her room. The first room on the left on the second floor."

Chu Sheng stood up. The stairs were made of wood and creaked as he stepped on them.

He walked to the first door on the left on the second floor, raised his hand, hesitated for two seconds, and then knocked on the door.

No one answered.

I knocked twice more, but still no one answered.

"The door wasn't locked."

Dai Ran's voice came from inside, her tone revealing neither joy nor anger.

Chu Sheng pushed open the door.

Dai Ran sat with her back to the door, holding a book titled "A Study of Ancient Chinese Decorative Patterns." Without turning her head, she asked, "What's up?"

Chu Sheng leaned against the doorframe and cleared his throat: "I heard that your grandfather has a junior brother who runs an antique appraisal business in Shanghai."

"Hmm." Dai Ran turned a page.

"I'd like to visit that antique appraisal event; I need two invitations."

"Oh." Dai Ran turned another page.

Chu Sheng walked into the room, pulled up a chair and sat down next to her: "Dai Ran, I was wrong last time."

"I was really busy those few days, barely having time to breathe. I was in the mountains when you called! The signal was bad—"

"And then what?" Dai Ran put down her book, turned to look at him, her eyes devoid of life, but filled with inquiry.

"later……"

Feeling guilty under her gaze, Chu Sheng lowered his voice, "After returning to the hall, I was busy refining pills, and in my busyness, I forgot about returning the call."

"I forgot." Dai Ran repeated the word, a slight smile playing on her lips. "You're quite good at forgetting things."

Chu Sheng thought about it carefully and realized that she was telling the truth, and each of her points was enough to make her angry.

He simply stopped arguing, leaned back in his chair, and spread his hands: "Then tell me, how can I calm down?"

Dai Ran stared at him for a while, then closed the book and turned to face him.

"I don't want to calm down," she said. "I want to go to the antique fair with you."

Chu Sheng was taken aback: "Your grandfather has already done it for you—"

"My grandfather is my grandfather, and I am me," Dai Ran interrupted him, her tone unusually serious.

"Chu Sheng, do you know why I'm angry? It's not because you didn't return my call, it's not because you stood me up, it's because you never think of contacting me whenever you're in trouble."

Chu Sheng gave an awkward smile, his voice tinged with helplessness: "I was just afraid of causing you trouble, weren't I?"

"What a pain," Dai Ran snorted smugly. "Do you think I'm like Bai Xue, a little girl who needs to be coaxed? Or like Cai Ningning, a clueless junior student?"

Chu Sheng was taken aback, not expecting her to compare him to others.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say, "Of course you're not," but the words caught in his throat. He felt that saying that would sound like he was trying to coax someone, and Dai Ran hated being coaxed the most.

"I'm telling you, Chu Sheng." Dai Ran slammed her book on the table, stood up, and despite being a head shorter than him, her imposing manner was in no way inferior.

"I've been to graves, seen corpses, and spent three years in the field with Professor Liu. You think I'm afraid of trouble? I'm not even afraid of death, why would I be afraid of you bothering me?"

Chu Sheng looked at her, remained silent for a long while, and then smiled.

"Okay," he said. "I won't hide anything from you this time when we go to Shanghai."

"Okay," he said. "I won't hide anything from you this time when we go to Shanghai."

Dai Ran stared into his eyes, as if trying to determine how much of his statement was true and how much was false.

Three seconds later, she snorted softly through her nose and sat back down in her chair.

"That's more like it."

She picked up her phone from the table and flipped through the calendar: "The appraisal event starts next Saturday and continues on Tuesday, a total of five days. If we arrive a day early and stay there for five days, will that be enough time for you?"

Chu Sheng nodded: "That's enough."

"Okay." Dai Ran opened her memo app, her fingers flying across the keyboard. "I'll book the plane tickets. We'll stay at my grandfather's friend's house. His junior apprentice has an old villa in Shanghai, it's just sitting empty anyway. Once we arrive, we'll go get the invitation from him first, and then—what are you laughing at?"

Chu Sheng's lips did indeed curl up. He leaned back in his chair, his tone tinged with emotion: "It's nothing, it's just that I feel you're more efficient at making arrangements than I am."

"Nonsense." Dai Ran rolled her eyes at him. "If we expect you to make the arrangements, we probably won't even be able to find the door when the time comes."

Chu Sheng smiled but did not refute, though he genuinely felt that Dai Ran was a comfortable girl to be around.

Not pretentious, not clingy, when you're angry you'll be angry clearly and decisively, and once you've calmed down you'll move on without bringing up the past.

Despite being born into a wealthy family, she is more decisive and efficient than anyone else.

"I'm leaving." He stood up. "I'll pick you up the day after tomorrow morning."

"Then you can go earlier," Dai Ran called out to him. "If you dare make me wait, I'll definitely not let you off the hook."