Chapter 61 - 46: The Lost Dragon Bone

Although the Dongzhou Museum is only a municipal-level museum, it boasts a rich collection and has been selected as a national first-level museum, which is rare in prefecture-level cities.The people of Dongzhou aren’t particularly enthusiastic about ancient culture, so the museum, despite its numerous collections, remains largely deserted. There’s no admission ticket required; one just needs to present their resident ID card to receive a free electronic ticket online.

Upon entering the exhibition hall, Xu Chunliang headed straight for the Yin Shang exhibition area. His purpose was clear: to find the oracle bones that his grandfather once donated. Xu Chunliang looked through the display room for the oracle bones from start to finish, yet he didn’t find any documents related to the "Inner Canon of Huangdi". There were no annotations indicating donors, which suggested that the artifacts his grandfather donated were not displayed here.

Approaching the docent, Xu Chunliang asked if all the oracle bones the museum had were on display.

The docent, filled with pride, informed him that the oracle bones on display were just a small part of the museum’s collection, which totaled over three thousand pieces.

Xu Chunliang knew that his grandfather had personally donated more than a thousand pieces. He initially thought that such a significant donation would be known to the docent, but upon inquiry, the docent was unaware and suggested he visit the archives for more information.


Following the docent’s guidance, Xu Chunliang went to the museum’s office area.

Upon hearing that Xu Chunliang was the grandson of Xu Changshan, the early donor, Liang Baxian, the head of the archive, specially received him.

Liang Baxian, now fifty-seven, was the one who handled Xu Changshan’s donation. He remembered it vividly—the donation took place twenty-two years ago. Xu Changshan donated a total of 1,173 pieces of oracle bones, introduced by Professor Bai Mushan. Liang Baxian, on behalf of the Municipal Cultural Relics Bureau and the City Museum, accepted the donation. To commend Xu Changshan’s righteous act, they awarded him a bonus of 100,000 RMB along with a pennant and honored him with the title of "Cultural Relics Guardian".

Though 100,000 RMB doesn’t seem like much now, back then in Dongzhou, it was enough to buy an apartment over a hundred square meters.

Xu Chunliang thought to himself that, aside from the content of the more than a thousand oracle bones, they were already invaluable. His grandfather truly didn’t realize their worth. However, donating the relics to the country was indeed correct, aligning with the mainstream of the era.

It’s not that Xu Chunliang was heartbroken about the money; he was genuinely concerned about the content of the oracle bones, so he expressed his desire to observe the relics his grandfather had donated to Liang Baxian.

Regretfully, Liang Baxian told him that after the donation, the museum and Dongzhou Normal University established a joint ancient script research studio. The main project of this studio was to decipher the oracle bones donated by Xu Changshan. Before deciphering, they had taken rubbings and photographs of these oracle bones for archiving.

The project had yet to make progress. In the summer of that year, due to a short circuit, a fire broke out. By the time the fire was extinguished, most of the artifact data had been burned to ashes. What was salvaged was incomplete, losing the original value of the relics. This was why Xu Changshan’s donated oracle bones weren’t displayed in the exhibition hall.

At that time, some backup rubbings had been kept, but they hadn’t been digitized. That same year, a theft occurred at the museum. Among the stolen artifacts were those rubbings. Although the case was quickly solved and most artifacts were recovered, the thieves didn’t realize the true value of those rubbings. When stolen, they were used as packaging paper and discarded somewhere unknown.

Liang Baxian spoke of this with guilt and lingering regret. The intention behind donating the relics was for better protection, but they failed to uphold that responsibility. To prove what he said, he specially found the artifact list from back then.

Xu Chunliang didn’t say much, but he felt there was something suspicious about the whole incident. It seemed that the real answer might only come from Bai Mushan.

The matter of Xu Chunliang treating Director Gu Houyi’s illness wasn’t known to outsiders. Xu Chunliang didn’t speak of it, and Gu Houyi, even more so, wouldn’t mention it. The only other person aware was Gao Xinhua, who was always very discreet, especially concerning matters that affected Gu Houyi’s dignity.

The head of the Traditional Chinese Medicine department, Zhu Mingyuan, had been somewhat depressed recently. Gu Houyi’s attitude towards him was noticeably different from before. Although he recovered on the day of his illness, Zhu Mingyuan was very aware that he had no part in the healing.

He privately consulted Zhao Yongsheng about whether he should find an opportunity to apologize to Gu Houyi. Zhao Yongsheng secretly advised him that it wasn’t necessary, as Gu Houyi was likely to leave soon.

Even though Gu Houyi’s reassignment hadn’t been officially announced, the news had quietly spread, quickly fermenting within Changxing Hospital. The fate of senior leadership is directly linked to the interests of every employee, making it the top issue at Changxing.

Gu Houyi specifically addressed this at the hospital’s weekly meeting, assuring that he wouldn’t be leaving and urged not to believe the rumors.

His clarification didn’t stop the rumors. News about his potential move to the Science Association continued spreading. The most concerned about this were the middle management at Changxing, who were already seeking information, secretly mobilizing, and seizing this new transition opportunity.

Zeng Hongwen, after weighing the pros and cons, finally chose to proactively terminate the contract.

The evaluation results for Tong Meili and Shi Zhiwei are out. It turned out that there was no error in Tong Meili’s surgery. However, this didn’t absolve the aesthetic center from responsibility. The review revealed multiple unreasonable charges, and Zeng Hongwen faced significant fines.

Now, the primary focus of Tong Meili and her husband’s compensation claim was the broken jade bracelet. They even hired a lawyer for this purpose.

Once the issue entered legal proceedings, it signaled that it was nearing conclusion, bringing a sense of relief to the Medical Department. Zhou Wenbin has a good habit of reviewing every medical dispute that occurred, learning from experience to emphasize strengths and avoid weaknesses.

Cheng Xiaohong recently started dating someone, and her mood was good, humming songs even during work.

Zhou Wenbin coughed to remind her to be more restrained during working hours.

Realizing her misstep, Cheng Xiaohong blushed slightly, just as Mrs. Jiang knocked on the door and entered.

Mrs. Jiang wasn’t here to complain this time; she came specifically to bring Xu Chunliang homemade buns. Since the last incident, Xu Chunliang left a great impression on the old lady. She believed this young man was genuinely helping her, and she’d occasionally bring him homemade food.

Cheng Xiaohong quickly called Xu Chunliang.

The Medical Department’s workload had been light recently. Xu Chunliang was at the library reading when he heard Mrs. Jiang was there, so he rushed back.

When he arrived at the Medical Department, he found Mrs. Jiang had already left. It turned out her daughter and granddaughter came to visit, and she hurried home to prepare a meal.

Cheng Xiaohong pointed to the buns left for him by Mrs. Jiang, "Hey Xiaoxu, you’ve got some charm there. Even Mrs. Jiang treats you so well."

Xu Chunliang smiled proudly, "Can’t help it, this irresistible charm, even I can’t escape it." Everyone harbors both good and evil in their hearts. If you understand them well enough to touch their kindness, they will undoubtedly reciprocate.

Zhou Wenbin, eyes on the computer screen, remarked, "Young man, don’t let a little work success go to your head. Be humble, cautious, and guard against arrogance and impetuosity."