I am uncertain whether the animosity between the Bai family and the Wu family will be resolved, but I have clarified all that I could.
As for whether Bai Zhujing believes my explanation, that remains unknown.
In truth, looking at the situations of the Bai and Wu families over the past few years, Bai Zhujing has already let go to some extent. If he hadn't put this feud behind him, he wouldn't have maintained the current relationship with the Wu family.
Perhaps in his heart, he has long accepted that Old Master Bai's death was an accident, but he simply needed evidence to confirm his suspicions.
The reason Wu Tingxiu didn't come forward to clarify things with Old Master Bai was that she knew no matter what she said, he wouldn't believe her, so she chose to remain silent.
If it weren't for my father's affair this time, which led me to uncover all of this, Old Master Bai's death might have truly become a lingering concern for Bai Zhujing.
Ni Li's life at An Yuan Tang has been somewhat unexpected. She adapted quickly, and with Hong Yunpeng's care, she is now capable of handling things independently.
Every time I visit the shop, I see Hong Yunpeng by her side, chatting and laughing.
Seeing them like this, I don't feel I should say much, as it's a matter of their own feelings.
Moreover, both of them are older than me, so they don't need me to dictate their lives.
However, Uncle Hong seems to have noticed some signs. He privately asked me about Ni Li a few times.
This puts me in a difficult position, as Ni Li's story is both simple and complex.
The simple version is that she once had a husband in the Philippines, and after his death, she returned to China with her daughter to live.
The complexity lies in Ni Li having lived in a place like Hekou for so many years, and her entanglements with some of the local mine owners are not something that can be explained in a few words.
Uncle Hong is a rather conservative person. I fear that if he knew the truth, he would beat Hong Yunpeng to death.
Therefore, I've been evasive, telling him that I don't know much about Ni Li's affairs, only that her husband died in an accident.
As for what Uncle Hong thinks, that's no longer my concern.
When I had some free time, I organized my father's notebooks. Eventually, I managed to decipher the jumbled words he had written, and what I pieced together was quite different from my previous conjectures.
I have also spent a considerable amount of time studying our family's ancestral text, the "Qi Xing Jiu Jue Xuan Kong Mi Shu." The methods for restoring antiques described within are indeed peculiar, requiring very specific techniques and materials.
Although I had previously used some of the methods described to artificially age antiques, I had only scratched the surface. The actual operating steps and techniques were obscure and difficult to understand.
An Ying had mentioned before that she might need my help in the future, asking me to use the secret techniques to restore antiques for her. However, she didn't specify when this "future" might be.
After all, time is not something that holds much importance for her.
It could be a year or two later, or perhaps a decade or more, or even a century...
Every time I think of her, I can only sigh inwardly.
While organizing my father's notes, I noticed traces of pages being torn from the notebook, particularly the last few. Judging by the tearing patterns, it seemed quite difficult to remove them cleanly, as if torn multiple times to conceal the evidence of the removal.
I found this rather strange. This notebook had always been with my father. When he was alive at home, he practically kept it with him at all times.
Even when teaching me about appraisal or helping me with my homework, he would hold this notebook and scribble notes on it.
After his accident, I found this notebook in the locked cabinet in his study.
I had to break the lock on the cabinet before I discovered the notebook.
This means that besides my father, no one else had touched this notebook. Therefore, this torn mark must have been left by my father.
Why would he tear out the last few pages?
What was written on these pages?
If he didn't want me to discover what was on them, he could have easily burned the notebook.
This implies that he wasn't afraid of me seeing the content of these pages, but rather afraid of someone else seeing it?
Afraid of being seen by whom?
The only people who visited him were members of the Illuminati, meaning he was afraid of them seeing the content of these pages.
So, what exactly was written on those pages?
The earlier content was not feared to be seen by them, but the last few pages were?
I fell into deep thought, pondering meticulously and recalling my past experiences bit by bit.
I remember my father, at my father's burial, holding my hand and telling me not to think about avenging him, that I was no match for them...
What did he mean? If Su Houzhu was responsible for my father's death, why did he tell me not to avenge him? That I was no match for them?
Who were the "them" he was referring to?
Was it the Illuminati?
It really doesn't seem to be the Illuminati. So, who were the "them" he was referring to?
Or, was my father trying to conceal the matter of Su Houzhu, not wanting to reveal too much to me, and thus said that? Meaning he wanted me to believe he was murdered, rather than it being due to Su Houzhu?
This possibility isn't impossible, but to figure out the truth, it seems I still need to find those last few pages of the notebook. They must contain some very important information.
With this thought, I immediately bought a train ticket back to my hometown.
Bai Hanyan insisted on coming with me, saying she wanted to visit my old home.
She has been with me for the past few days. While I was at home organizing my notes, she helped around the house, cooking and washing clothes.
She's not someone who usually does such chores, and seeing her clumsily doing housework made me feel a bit guilty.
After we took the train back to my hometown, my old house still stood there. I had renovated it once the last time I returned, and most of the items inside remained untouched.
Back in the familiar old house, I went to my father's study. It was covered in dust. The bookshelf was filled with many books, and in a corner, there was a rocking chair with a small tea table beside it.
My father would usually sit in the rocking chair, reading and drinking tea.
I let out a sigh, opened the window, and let the air circulate.
I walked to the rocking chair, dusted it off, and sat down, gently rocking myself.
Seeing this, Bai Hanyan said, "This place is full of dust; it needs a good cleaning. Where are the dust cloths?"
"They should be in the courtyard," I replied.
"Alright, I'll go take a look. You rest for a while."