The silence in the living room lasted for a few minutes. Song Nuan sat on the sofa, feeling as if she were suffocating.
Fang Yaozu still stood not far away. He had wanted to chase after Gu Qichen and Qin He, but after failing to catch them, he just stood there.
Song Nuan's voice was tight and dry: "Husband, they've already left."
Fang Yaozu slowly turned his head and looked at Song Nuan.
"Is what Qin He said true? You did it on purpose, and you even dared to harm Gu Qichen's sister?"
Song Nuan clutched her hands tightly: "Husband, I didn't do it. This video must be Qin He's trick to deceive you. You know she's always hated me—"
Fang Yaozu didn't reply. He walked to a corner of the living room and picked up a golf club that was placed there…
After leaving the Fang residence, Qin He sat in the car, rubbing her temples.
"Song Nuan probably won't be blocking my way to your house anymore."
Gu Qichen drove, turning to look at her: "What do you want to eat for lunch?"
Qin He put down her hand and thought: "Let's eat at Master's place. It's been a few days since we last visited. Master's exhibition hall has been reported by quite a few media outlets recently. I'll go ask about the situation."
Half an hour later, their car stopped at the entrance of the hutong leading to the siheyuan.
As they got out of the car, they saw a reporter knocking on the door of the siheyuan.
Qin He looked at Gu Qichen: "It seems the reports have attracted a lot of attention."
The door of the siheyuan opened, and a middle-aged woman came out.
"I'm sorry, my master and mistress prefer peace and quiet and do not accept interviews."
The reporter was eager: "Auntie, why don't you let us meet them? I can try to persuade him. We're from Qingcheng Television..."
The middle-aged woman shook her head and was about to close the door.
Seeing this, Qin He quickly called out: "Wait!"
The middle-aged woman looked at Gu Qichen and Qin He and immediately smiled: "Young Master Gu, Miss, please come in."
She opened the door halfway, keeping the reporter at bay, and welcomed Qin He and Gu Qichen in.
After entering, the middle-aged woman immediately closed the door.
Qin He smiled: "May I ask who you are?"
"I'm the nanny Mr. Liu just hired, my name is Wang Juan."
Qin He nodded with a smile: "How do you recognize us?"
"When I came for the interview, Mr. Liu showed me your photos and said you were his apprentice. He told me to call you Miss. Young Master Gu is also one of us."
Qin He smiled: "I'm here to see Master. Where is he now?"
"Master is in the main hall," Wang Juan said with a smile.
Qin He thanked Wang Juan and took Gu Qichen into the main hall.
In the main hall, by the desk on the east side, Liu Xingan was sitting there drawing blueprints.
He had slight presbyopia and wore rimless reading glasses when drawing blueprints. He was bent over, and the glasses dangled below his nose.
Qin He walked over respectfully: "Master."
Gu Qichen followed: "Master."
Liu Xingan habitually used a small brush to draw. He tapped his glasses with the other end of the brush.
"You're here. Did you see anyone at the door when you arrived?"
Qin He nodded: "Master, it seems those previous reports were quite effective. Someone even found their way to your home."
Liu Xingan let out a cold laugh.
"I did agree to let those people interview me before, and my original intention was to promote the mortise and tenon, a Chinese intangible cultural heritage. But now!"
Qin He picked up the inkstone beside her: "What's happening now?"
"Their focus is not on the mortise and tenon at all!" Liu Xingan said displeasantly. "Why do they always insist on interviewing me? What do they want to interview me for? Why not take more pictures of the works? At first, I reluctantly entertained their interviews for a while, but then these people wouldn't stop asking me why I started learning woodworking at such a young age and how I got into mortise and tenon!"
Qin He chuckled: "Isn't that a good thing, Master? You know, many people want to become famous but can't."
"I don't want this kind of fame. I set up this exhibition hall for people who are interested."
Liu Xingan was displeased.
"They come and say that mortise and tenon is about to disappear, and then they ask me what the purpose of setting up the exhibition hall is? What other purpose could I have?"
As they were talking, there was a commotion at the door. Mrs. Liu came in with a plate of pastries and happened to overhear this conversation.
Mrs. Liu smiled: "He'er, these people are indeed too noisy. It's no wonder Master finds them troublesome."
After several media outlets reported on it, it was good. Later, after an international media outlet reported on it, it attracted a lot of attention.
Liu Xingan put down his brush sullenly and looked up at Qin He: "If they were truly interested in the culture, it would be fine. Why are they following me? And they've even followed me to my home!"
"Do these reporters understand how to respect people? You also know that your mistress has always disliked dealing with these things. It's forced me to hire another person to work specifically to refuse their interviews!"
Gu Qichen looked at the blueprints: "Reporters are mostly like this. It's useless to talk about respect with them."
Mrs. Liu said helplessly: "I don't know who leaked our home landline number. We've been getting constant calls lately, many of them asking to apprentice with your Master."
Qin He raised her eyebrows: "Does that mean I'm going to have more junior brothers and sisters?"
Liu Xingan's eyes widened: "Nonsense! Don't even think about it. I've never heard of these people before. One of them even told me he has no foundation at all, but just wants to inherit the intangible cultural heritage. He said young people should sacrifice and dedicate themselves. Sacrifice and dedication my foot! This is an industry I treasure, and they think it's a waste of their youth, acting like they're doing me a favor!"
Qin He burst into laughter: "They probably came for the sake of the intangible cultural heritage title."
"That's why I'm so annoyed now," Liu Xingan sighed.
"This isn't difficult to handle. Don't worry, Master, I'll take care of it tomorrow," Qin He said with a smile.
Liu Xingan grinned: "Actually, this is easy to handle. Just announce to the public that you are my apprentice, and that will make them give up their ideas."
Qin He had no objections: "If you think it's necessary, you can make it public."
The ink Qin He was grinding was almost ready. She put the ink stick aside and reached for a pastry that Mrs. Liu had brought in.
Mrs. Liu was skilled at making various Chinese pastries. Soft and chewy, paired with a cup of tea, it was very pleasant.
While eating, she looked at the blueprints Liu Xingan was drawing: "Master, what are you planning to make?"
"A roof."
"A roof?" Qin He looked at Liu Xingan curiously.
Liu Xingan nodded: "A small model, to conduct experiments and determine its pressure resistance and other data first."
Qin He was very interested: "If the model is successful, can it be scaled up to make a real roof?"
Liu Xingan nodded.
Qin He and Gu Qichen stayed with Liu Xingan until he finished drawing the blueprints. The various small wooden parts needed for the blueprints had been drawn, and Liu Xingan had marked the dimensions.
Mrs. Liu came into the room to call the three of them for lunch.
"It's already lunchtime. Let's eat first, then you can continue marking."
Liu Xingan called Qin He to the dining room. Just as the four of them sat down, they heard activity outside again.
Soon, the nanny named Wang entered the room again.
"Sir, Madam, it's nothing, just reporters again."
Liu Xingan said with a cold face: "From now on, if any more reporters come, drive them away! All of them!"
The leak of their address had made Liu Xingan extremely annoyed with these interviewers.