YM778.TV Chapter 518: In Terms of Strategy, We Are Ancestors! (2)
“Understood, bro. I’ll keep an eye on it tomorrow,” Zhou Chao replied casually.
After hanging up the phone, Jiang Li looked at Zhou Chao with curiosity. “Brother Chao, what were you guys talking about? It sounds so secretive.”
Zhou Chao shrugged. “Nothing much, just some precious artifacts we acquired abroad. Like the Dunhuang Three Treasures we brought back earlier and later items such as the Nine-Scroll Lady’s Admonitions, Liao Tri-colored Pottery, Eastern Zhou Golden Vanguard, and some volumes of the Yongle Encyclopedia. It’s Brother Yang’s idea to excavate them together with the Dunhuang Three Treasures in Dunhuang.”
“S-Seriously, re-excavating them? That’s hilarious! Everyone knows that the esteemed national treasure, the Nine-Scroll Lady’s Admonitions, is in the Great Eagle Museum. It will be quite interesting when they make their appearance. Whose brilliant idea was this? It’s like playing with people’s psychology,” Jiang Li contemplated, thinking about the buzz this excavation would create online.
“Well, there’s no other way. This is the only way to exhibit them openly. As for what those people across the ocean think, it’s not our concern. After all, they’re our own national treasures. Who dares to gossip about them?”
“That’s true. Bringing national treasures back home without showcasing them would be a real shame,” Jiang Li agreed, nodding her head.
Zhou Chao picked up a tea cup and took a sip. “Haha, I’m actually looking forward to the official announcement tomorrow!”
Time passed, and the night quietly slipped away.
The next morning, Zhou Chao and Jiang Li woke up early, eager to witness the exciting moment.
“Brother Chao, do you think there’ll be a headline like ‘Shocking Discovery: Tang Replica of the Nine-Scroll Lady’s Admonitions Unearthed in an Eastern Han Tomb’ today? It sounds so amusing.”
“Everything happens for a reason. As long as the artifacts are authenticated as genuine when it’s done, it’s fine. Whether it’s the same as the one in the Great Eagle Museum or not, it’s not our concern. After all, they’re our own national treasures, and no one can question that.”
“Brother Chao, have I ever told you that you can be quite naughty?” Jiang Li looked up at him, lying in his arms.
Zhou Chao grinned mischievously, “Am I naughty? You don’t know.”
“Psh!” Jiang Li felt her face turning red. She touched her cheek and could feel the warmth.
Time quickly ticked away, and at nine o’clock, the live stream began. Zhou Chao immediately noticed that there were already several thousand people in the live chat. It seemed that the earlier promotional work had been quite successful. Of course, some of the participants were likely arranged as “mouthpieces” to hype up the event.
“Does anyone know what they’ve discovered? The online news is so vague; there are no specifics.”
“I don’t know, but it’s said that they’ve unearthed national treasures, quite a few of them. But we don’t know if it’s true.”
“It’s true. My cousin’s second uncle’s third aunt’s grandson is part of the excavation team, and they’ve already uncovered them. We just don’t know if they’ll be displayed.”
“Bro, you’re quite impressive; your relatives have taken quite a few twists and turns.”
“We’ll wait for the official announcement!”
The live chat in the streaming room instantly buzzed with excitement. However, the live stream continued to focus on a tomb pit, where several people were busy. It didn’t provide any specific information.
There was no commentary in the live stream, just a continuous shot of the tomb. The number of viewers gradually increased, and by ten o’clock, a breaking news message exploded in the chat.
“Guys, head to the official website! The national treasures excavated this time have been revealed. It includes the Nine-Scroll Lady’s Admonitions and Liao Tri-colored Pottery, among other national treasures. They’ve been authenticated by experts from the Forbidden City as genuine.”
“Wow, seriously? Is it true that the Nine-Scroll Lady’s Admonitions, which only has a Tang replica left besides the Song version, has been unearthed again? I wonder if it’s the original!”
“Let’s go, let’s go, check it out.”
Within moments, the number of viewers in the streaming room began to drop, and only a few hundred remained.
“Let’s check it out too,” Zhou Chao said as he exited the live stream and quickly logged into his V-blog. As expected, news about the Dunhuang excavations had already shot up the trending topics, landing within the top five.
As soon as Zhou Chao entered the official announcement, he couldn’t help but exclaim. There was no sign of hiding on the official side; they directly showcased all the cultural relics, including the Nine-Scroll Lady’s Admonitions. It seemed like they were only a step away from stating in the announcement that these were brought back from the Great Eagle Museum. “Brothers, is this for real? I’ve seen quite a few of these items abroad. How did they return to our country? Did patriotic individuals gift them?”
“Are you upstairs being silly? Even if they were gifted by patriotic individuals, it wouldn’t be such a big production.”
“Could someone have stolen them from the Great Eagle Museum?”
“Are you kidding? That’s not stealing; it’s reclaiming our own belongings.”
Based on the official announcement and related photos, observant netizens quickly discovered some traces and confirmed that several national treasures were indeed previously exhibited in the Great Eagle Museum.
The online community erupted in cheers and excitement. Many netizens praised patriotic individuals. However, the earlier excavation site setup seemed to be forgotten, and everyone’s focus shifted to these national treasures. They were curious about how they returned to China. Many netizens flooded the official V-blog, leaving comments and questions, but unfortunately, they didn’t receive any official responses.
“This is hilarious. These netizens are really amusing.”
“I wonder if these curious netizens will visit the Great Eagle Museum’s official website and leave comments. If someone really does, it might stir up some trouble for them.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Think about it; the Great Eagle Museum has valuable cultural relics from many countries. Once our news spreads, won’t people from those countries go to the Great Eagle Museum and create a fuss? Even if they don’t, the power of the masses could push them to do so. So, the pressure is on the Great Eagle Museum this time. Although we officially claim these were re-excavated, anyone with a discerning eye can see what’s going on!”
“I understand now. Whose idea was this? It’s truly brilliant!” Jiang Li exclaimed excitedly, sitting up without even minding the fallen blanket, revealing her fair skin to Zhou Chao.
Zhou Chao couldn’t help but burst into laughter. “It’s necessary. When it comes to schemes, we’re their ancestors.”
This move could be described as hitting three birds with one stone. Firstly, the national treasures were back. Although they couldn’t explicitly state that these were swapped from the Great Eagle Museum according to their previous agreement, it was reasonable to claim that they were re-excavated from the tomb.
Secondly, it was a moral victory. Retrieving these national treasures from abroad was a source of great pride and rallied the nation, strengthening their sense of unity on a larger scale.
As for the final point, it encouraged people to take the lead. It had been mentioned earlier that the Great Eagle Museum possessed valuable cultural relics from many countries. Now, with this development, who would want their own belongings to remain abroad? Certainly, there would be someone willing to take the lead in this matter. All they needed to do was sit back and wait for the outcome.
The two of them spent the entire morning in bed, just to see how online netizens were reacting. Opinions were diverse, and some netizens had even gone to foreign websites to publicize the situation. As a result, many countries turned their attention to the majestic ancient Eastern nation.
Zhou Chao gently stroked Jiang Li’s head and asked, “Are you hungry?”
“A bit. We didn’t have breakfast, and it’s already noon now.”
“Let’s go have lunch. We’ll dine at the guesthouse today and see if the home- cooked dishes recommended by the landlady are really as delicious as she claims.”
“Sure!”
After getting dressed, the two of them headed towards the front courtyard of the guesthouse.