Tang Lin paused at the door and said, "Young Master Zhao, discretion is at the heart of my work and reputation. And this reputation is very carefully hard-earned through the years."
Then, not waiting for him to respond, she stepped out of the office and slammed the door shut.
His mellow laughter followed her down the corridor, and she could hear it all the way until the end of it.
She brought out her phone and stood there staring unblinkingly at Master Wen's message.
It took all her mental capacity to prevent herself from crumbling to the floor of the elevator.
The jade remembers.
She kept reading this line over and over again.
What did the jade remember that she could not?
And Master Wen… how did she know to send her that message as at the time she did?
Was it a mere coincidence?
Or was there more to it?
—----
The smile still played on Zhao Jun's lips, and the mirth in his eyes stayed until Tang Lin shut the door, then both vanished without a trace.
His eyes that were light and shining with warmth just seconds earlier morphed into a dark, bottomless shade that would make others afraid to go close.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Walking back to the table, he stood by it and drummed it rhythmically as his brows scrunched up slightly in thought.
Tang Lin, Tang Mei. Finally, we meet.
This face had once been a prominent feature of his dreams for an entire week.
The first few days, he waved it off.
Yet they kept coming.
Then he became increasingly curious.
Because he had never met her before.
In fact, for the longest time, the number of women he had met could be counted on one hand.
And that was including his mother and sisters.
What kind of fate was there between them that caused her to be such a constant part of his dream?
Then he began to ask questions. He tried to seek out answers that might explain this phenomenon.
Unfortunately, with no name it was almost impossible to get any results.
.
.
.
About a year ago, when he was getting ready to come out of seclusion, he began to have some kind of dreams…
It was already strange enough that these dreams were coming in a season he almost never dreamed, but with such a distinct face?
It was a beautiful face.
He tried to ignore it, to brush it off as nothing consequential.
But the dreams persisted, even haunting his waking hours and invading his sleep.
Then one day, his most trusted subordinate, Hsu Jin, came to him with a magazine.
"Young Master, I think you should see this," he had said, his voice calm and emotionless as usual.
Zhao Jun had raised an eyebrow, curious what it was.
Apparently it was a magazine that had a column with speculations about him and when he would come out of seclusion, get married and some other pointless gossip.
He took the magazine, glanced through the cover and flipped it open.
When he saw the picture on the second page, he froze.
His face that rarely ever showed any emotions was coloured with shock and disbelief.
There, on the glossy paper, was the face from his dreams.
It was like he had a sudden lightbulb moment.
Like all the scattered pieces of a puzzle were suddenly coming together.
As it turned out, the dreams were not just random occurrences; they were a sign, a connection to someone important.
Someone he probably needed to find.
He had ordered Hsu Jin to investigate the woman in the magazine and have everything about her on his desk by noon the next day.
It turned out that she was Tang Lin, a well respected antiquities appraiser known for her sharp eyes and even sharper tongue.
The more he read the document detailing her entire existence, the more intrigued he became.
Tang Lin was supposedly an enigma, a paradox.
She was said to be cold and aloof, yet there was a hidden vulnerability behind all that.
He learned of her exceptional skills with authentication, her meticulous work, and her reputation for being upstanding.
He also learned of her condition.
There were whispers of her "episodes," the rumors of her reliance on medication, and the stringent protectiveness of her assistant, Zhou Qing.
He had always known that beyond being an elite family, one that could be considered as one of the pillars of the nation,
His family members were descendants of some ancient guardians.
Over the years, they had moved with the times. Settled in the capital, went into business, contributed immensely to the growth of the nation's economy.
However, they had always kept a very low profile, keeping away from the media and the public eye as much as possible.
When rumors of his return to Beijing from his seclusion began to make rounds among those who knew about his existence, Zhao Jun had already been back for two weeks.
And before they could catch a glimpse of him there, he had already gone to T City and had been there for close to a month.
He was simply observing, understanding the situation of the place, and most importantly, he had been searching.
The fragment of the jade in his possession had led him here, its subtle energy pulsing whenever he was in certain parts of the city.
It was not until tonight that the jade had practically vibrated against his skin when he caught sight of Tang Lin walking into the auction house.
Even without the jade's reaction, he would have recognized her immediately.
That straight, elegant posture was outstanding.
The sharp, steady and discerning eyes that seemed to see through everything. The reserved demeanor that hid everything she didn't want to show.
Tang Lin, who was also Tang Mei.
Zhao Jun pulled the Buddhist beads from his wrist, rolling each individual one between his fingers as he thought about their meeting.