Trafford’s Trading Club

“…Recently, the police have rescued several men and women from an abandoned factory in the suburbs… The convict is still on the run. The police are appealing to the citizens to inform them if any suspicious person is seen…”

“Now here’s the follow-up report. Out of the people saved by the police, some have turned themselves in. A man claimed to have stolen from several apartments…”

The voice was from a radio program.

“Gee, to some degree, it’s not bad that those people have been arrested…Eh?” Zhang Qingrui asked Luo Qiu, who was sitting at the passenger seat.

Still wondering why he was here, the club’s new master mumbled a ‘Yeah’ as he looked outside.

Why was he here… in Zhang Qingrui’s car… on the road?

The story should be told starting from this morning.

…

In Boss Luo’s opinion, he must have been controlled by a ghost, otherwise he would not have chosen this major which only had two students and a very lax management. Just like most days, today he had no class; therefore, he turned left after leaving his home, setting foot in the club.

Then, his phone rang.

“Luo Qiu, haven’t you come to school yet?”

It was a sudden phone call from Zhang Qingrui.

He thought of the last time he had class … was it the day that singer shot her MV? It’d been a while. Boss Luo kept silent for a while before answering, “…What’s the matter?”

“Eh, didn’t the professor inform you?”

Boss Luo who always checked his cellphone (mostly to see if Subeditor Ren had any ridiculous message, or suddenly appeared in his school, that kind of situation) replied, “No.”

“Oh… Where are you now? I’m going to pick you up!” Zhang Qingrui said in a very firm tone, “There’s something to do.”

…

…

The manager of Gu Yue Zhai who decided to enjoy her campus life with a peaceful mind was now very focused on driving her yellow Volkswagen POLO.

Although Boss Luo felt that her concentration was so much better than some other female driver (Ren Ziling), he still asked, “…So, where are you going to take me to?”

What was the feeling of being dragged into a car?

“I’ll explain it later, get on first!”

‘But you said that before I got in…’

“It’s not where I’m taking you but that we’re going.” Zhang Qingrui looked out through the front windshield and the yellow Volkswagen POLO was steadily driven onto that same lane. “The professor told me to go to his house.”

“So he actually didn’t call me?”

“But I think it’s my obligation to take care of your credit points as the class president,” Zhang Qingrui said fishily. “And you should show your face to the professor, aren’t you afraid he’ll forget about you?”

There’re only two people in the class, if he could forget one, that has to be considered some kind of talent, right?

“So actually you even don’t know why the professor called you?”

She merely wanted someone to go with her… maybe for company or for sharing the guilt?

Zhang Qingrui glared at Luo Qiu, who had read the meaning of that glare and understood what he was thinking.

It was silence for the rest of the journey.

The place the professor of paleontology lived was a villa that was built during the initial stage of development for the new city region.

The surface of the 3-floor villa was covered with little brown tiles. It was quite old, with green Virginia creepers overgrowing the whole length of the wall on one side of this European-style house.

But from the old façade of the house, Boss Luo thought the rumor that the professor embezzled research funds might not be true.

That was because it would be like burning money living in such an antique building at a rich neighborhood.

The two of them rang the doorbell as they arrived. When the supervisor of paleontology greeted them, he was surprised to see someone other than Zhang Qingrui present.

Miss Zhang showed a smile at the professor’s shock, “Professor, Luo Qiu said he wanted to visit you too.”

To avoid awkwardness, Luo Qiu had to nod— he actually thought he could just leave if there was not much to do. Yet after arriving, he became interested in these house buildings that had western style designs from the early development of the city.

That full wall of green Virginia creepers was seldom seen.

“Since you are already here, do come in.” The professor nodded, leading the way without making conversation.

Through the front yard, they went into the house. Luo Qiu kept looking around the house until at last they were brought to a room that seemed to be a workplace.

Without much deliberation, the professor immediately stated the reason he asked Zhang Qingrui to come. He pointed the workbench in the center of the room, “That is your homework for this period and it’ll be counted in your final mark.”

Now, this was very awkward.

Boss Luo realized that the professor originally had no intention of asking him, so he had to ignore the second half of what the professor said, merely shifting his attention to the workbench.

What did he find?

Some mudstones of various sizes were randomly spread across the table. It seemed like they used to be parts of a huge rock or of a larger clod.

Some greyish white objects could be faintly seen in these mudstones… Deducing from the limited information, it seemed to be bones.

Zhang Qingrui walked around the workbench, frowning, “Professor… these are fossils?”

“Originally it was a whole one but it got separated during the process of transporting.” The professor said, “What I need you guys to do is get rid of the debris. Be careful, don’t break anything inside. After separating the rocks and the fossils, restoration has to be done as well. It’s a long-term work.”

Hearing the phrase ‘long-term work’, Boss Luo felt he finally got exposed to something useful from this major.

Apart from those boring texts and theories, Luo Qiu felt it would be interesting to handle these bone fragments.

He touched one of the broken pieces.

“The sunset makes the wind sad… and sounds from all directions, don’t… know whom the inner voices pour out to…”

…

…

The faint and indistinct sound was like a sad melody that rang beside Luo Qiu’s left ear, flowing into his heart.

He was stunned, and wanted to listen closely but there was a sudden knock on the door.

“Dad, the tea and pastries are ready. Let your students have a rest first after the long travel.”

A simply dressed lady with a graceful figure appeared at the door.

Luo Qiu was astounded to see the lady. Putting aside her perfect features, what caught his attention was her identity…

Qin Chuyu… Yu Sanniang!