Zhang Shuyi was still missing with no leads. Bu Tao’s request for information to the provincial police department was a bureaucratic nightmare.
Li Yun reviewed Wing Bo’s report. If he didn’t have an underground networking channel, he wouldn’t have access to information. Maybe it was why so many good politicians ended corrupt after entering politics, following him protocol rarely gets things done.
According to Abbot Haoyang, Zhang Shuyi had disappeared two weeks prior to the missing person report. Zhang Shuyi’s calligraphy master assumed his student had isolated himself to create the next great artwork; he was known to disappear for weeks to create the artwork. Zhang Shuyi was a loner and orphan, so only his master was considered closest to him. A month after his disappearance, his master reported him missing to the police.
Li Yun took out a burner phones and called Wing Bo. He had too many people he wanted to protect and needed to limit as many connections to the Abyss as possible.
Wing Bo explained how the underground operated. There were organizations known for art thefts and forgery. Some was still at large and others were being watched by the authorities. The authorities needed underground resources when things weren’t moving quickly enough above ground.
"One of the forgers said he was contacted by email about a possible job, but the description was vague," said Wing Bo. "If he accepted the offer, it would be 100k yuan for the work. The forger was planning on retiring, so he didn't take the offer. We couldn't trace much information on the email, but it is possible that two other forgers were sent the same information."
"Did you track down the other two?" Li Yun asked.
"One of them happened to be the master."
"Then it looks like he's the most suspicious."
Unfortunately, the master was adamant that although he had received the request, he never responded to it. Li Yun wondered if it was possible for Zhang Shuyi stumble upon the email and responded.
“Did you track down the IP addresses?” asked Li Yun.
“The email is old, so it’s not going to be very effective,” said Wing Bo. “I did narrow the area to the Imperial City, but that’s 21 million people.”
“We can narrow it down further to who would want to make a copy,” said Li Yun. “Also, who would know that Song Taiji has the original? They have to consider that he would come across the fake eventually.”
“I’ll look into it,” Wing Bo replied.
After ending the conversation, Li Yun still had much to plan, like his upcoming engagement. Song Taiji was also going to attend, so it was a good time to ask him.
“Is it possible that the forgerer wants to use it to switch out the real one from Song Taiji’s archive?” Li Yun thought. He also couldn’t rule out Song Taiji copying his own calligraphy for dubious reasons. Copying one calligraphy wasn't much, but if the operation could be scaled up to where he sold multiple pieces to multiple museums, it was possible to make billions.
****
At the time of graduation, Wu Ling and her friends prepared their outfits, only to be covered up with the college robe. As it was mainly ceremonial, Wu Ling wanted to skip the ceremony, but all her friends made her dress up.
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"I don't understand what is the point," said Wu Ling. "It's just a piece of paper and they are going to mail it to us anyway."
"My dear, it’s about the experience," Zhu Ah Nin said. "You only get a chance to graduate for a bachelor's degree once in your lifetime. Even walking down the aisle can happen once or twice."
"No, it's entirely possible to get multiple degrees," Li Ching commented.
Zhu Ah Nin glared at her friend for contradicting her. "Little Ching, your boyfriend is going to miss your ceremony?"
"He's on call." Li Ching pouted. She was still dating Lui Jing, but he couldn't make it to the ceremony until later that evening.
"You should have asked Li Yun to pull some strings," said An Zhang Mi.
"It's better this way, most ceremonies are a bit long-winded and boring," Li Ching stated. "And besides, since big brother Yun is here, who's going to look after the hospital?"
The girls headed to Rouxi's car after they finished putting on their ceremony gown. They arrived early to practice for the ceremony. The overall process looked simple on paper, but the took overall practice took over an hour. The group of thousand students lined up alphabetically and walked to their seats. Afterward, they were called up to the stage.
The students repeated the process an hour later when the real graduation ceremony began. The graduation ceremony was the same every year, just with different speakers. Li Yun, his family, and Wu Ling’s family arrived on time. By the 7th student, most everyone lost focus. Li Yun spent his time in between mindless clap to use Jing Sonar on various objects.
After the ceremony, Ju De hosted a party for everyone at a large banquet. The girls and their friends celebrated with their families. Li Yun barely knew anyone and also knew that Rouxi didn't have a large circle of friends.
Li Yun had planned the formal engagement around that time. Wu Ling assisted and prepped everyone on the upcoming engagement that Li Yun had planned for Rouxi. No one was aware that Li Yun had already proposed while they were aboard.
As the guests entered the banquet and settled in, a loud music was cut off. The mc of the party made a joke about how the end of college represented a beginning of many other life journeys. From there, the spotlight turned to Li Yun.
"I think I'm going to need a drink," Xuxu commented to her boyfriend.
"Why, are you anticipating your friend to say something cheesy?" Gian Đào asked.
"Considering he's friends to Bufu, I say yes, digustly cheesy, I don't want to hear it without a couple of alcohol in my system."
"Me too," Wu Ling said, joining in.
The bartender poured out a glass of straight tequila for the two girls.
"Better give me some as well," said Ju De.
During the graduation party, half the guests were expecting Li Yun to propose. Xuxu drove Rouxi and the girls into the banquet party from her SUV. Xuxu stared curiously at Rouxi, and knew she was likely aware of the engagement. It would be odd if she didn't know it was about to happen.
Xuxu parked a block away and they walked into the pedestrian-only street before arriving to the banquet hall marked by a grand traditional gate. Inside was a courtyard built during the Tang dynasty specifically for wedding banquets that had kept in traditional form, but the interior was renovated to accommodate many guests. As they walked inside the main ballroom, the lights suddenly went out.
"What's happening?" asked some of the guests.
The lights turned back on after a brief moment, and a rainbow of lights appeared shooting from the assortment of spotlights. Li Yun appeared dressed in a fancy suit and had four other guys around him. They did a dance skit, which made everyone either laugh or cringed.
"Who put him up to this?" Everyone asked, as no one could believe Li Yun was dancing at all.
His movement was as good as the other professional dancers, but his movement was stiff. The audience hollered and laughed.
"He could have waited until everyone was drunk," Bufu said.
"That would have been the smart thing, but he wanted to get this over with," said Fatty Fang.
"Did he lose a bet or something?" asked Xuxu.
"Probably pissed off Sister Meilin," Ju De responded.
Ju De was close to being accurate. As retribution for pulling a prank on Rouxi with her aunt, Li Yun was forced to reenact a dance routine during the engagement party. After the three painful minutes, Li Yun got on his knees and officially asked Rouxi for her hand. Considering he had already embarrassed himself enough, she agreed.