Volume One, Chapter 16: The Nameless One

The female teacher looked very displeased.

Su Jin had just undergone a checkup this month and was in perfect health.

As long as Wang Qiqi hadn’t moved out of the dormitory, any unexpected incident would be troublesome.

The female teacher spoke harshly, “Wang Qiqi is moving out of the dorm today!”

Wang Qiqi couldn’t believe it. “If I move out, where am I supposed to live? It’s the teacher who wants her to take a leave of absence. Why blame me?”

She didn’t want to move at all.

The dorm she was currently living in originally belonged to the Yue History Department. Because there weren’t enough students in that department and she had registered too late to get a dorm, she was allowed to stay here.

Here, she could have a single room, but her own dorm would probably mean sharing a room with someone else.

The conditions there would be much worse than they were now.

But these words only infuriated the female teacher further.

All the anger the teacher held toward Su Jin was vented on Wang Qiqi because of that remark.

“Spreading baseless accusations about a fellow student, deceiving the teacher—give her a major demerit. Arrange a dorm for her to move out today!”

Wang Qiqi’s face turned pale.

A major demerit?

She was now marked with a blemish!

“Thank you, teacher.”

Su Jin stuffed the report back into her backpack, turned, and left the academic affairs office, completely ignoring Wang Qiqi’s cries behind her.

After today’s ordeal, she finally understood all the strange behaviors Wang Qiqi had displayed.

Frequently lingering outside her door, rifling through her trash, always finding excuses to come into her room.

If she were just a normal roommate, after finding the medicine bottles, she should have come to ask her directly, not gone to the academic affairs office to make a fuss.

Fortunately, she had been locking her door recently; perhaps Wang Qiqi had already discovered the secret of the scroll.

It was safer to have the dorm to herself.

If she hadn’t brought the checkup report with her today, the academic affairs office’s casual mention of “leave of absence” would have caused her to miss the seminar. By the time she returned from her leave, who would even care if she graduated?

Because of the delay, by the time she took the bus to the antique shop, it was already afternoon.

As soon as she entered, Zhao Yao, dressed in a pink qipao, greeted her warmly. “Are you bringing any more copper coins to sell today?”

Su Jin stared at her in surprise several times. Zhao Yao’s smile remained unchanged. “Those two copper coins of yours were snatched up by several senior collectors. Grandpa was reluctant to sell them. We’re all waiting for you to bring more.”

Zhao Yao’s frankness made Su Jin feel a little more favorable toward her.

“No copper coins today. I want to consult Elder Du.”

She had sold some just a few days ago and didn’t plan to sell more today—it would be too conspicuous.

Though somewhat disappointed, Zhao Yao still called Grandpa over.

Elder Du was delighted to see Su Jin. “Thanks to your copper coins recently, my reputation has soared!”

There were many researchers studying Yue history, but they lacked materials.

When Elder Du produced those two copper coins, experts who had devoted their lives to studying Yue history flocked to him.

In recent days, Elder Du had been basking in their admiration.

However, no matter how much others praised him or offered high prices, Elder Du was unwilling to part with those two coins.

Su Jin smiled with joy. “So the copper coins can already prove the existence of Yue history?”

Elder Du’s mood was somewhat downcast.

“The coins alone aren’t enough to prove much; they only increase the possibility. To this day, we know very little about the history of Great Yue. We don’t even know how Yue history was established. The unofficial histories are incomplete. It’s difficult to reconstruct a dynasty.”

“If we could obtain Yue history, could it prove the existence of the Yue dynasty?” Su Jin asked eagerly.

Elder Du shook his head. “There are no surviving official histories.”

But she had one!

Shen Yubai was currently helping her transcribe it!

Su Jin was so excited she struggled to keep her tone calm. “What if we find it?”

“Then we could begin to unveil the mysteries of the Great Yue dynasty, adding a piece to the puzzle. But confirming the accuracy of what’s recorded in the history book will take a lot of time and effort.”

So the history book’s role wasn’t as great as she thought.

But then she understood.

History books that don’t need their authenticity proven are those passed down for many years and accepted by everyone.

Suddenly appearing or unorthodox histories are often treated as unofficial accounts.

Until Shen Yubai’s transcription is verified, it too can only be regarded as unofficial history.

Her excitement dimmed somewhat.

But Elder Du was extraordinarily enthusiastic: “We know so little about Great Yue. Even if the history book’s authenticity can’t be proven, it’s still a treasure for those of us researching Great Yue. The history of every dynasty is pieced together bit by bit like this.”

Su Jin felt a bit ashamed.

Elder Du was right. Proving a dynasty’s existence and uncovering its political, cultural, and culinary aspects requires countless people’s painstaking efforts.

Now that she had the scroll, she could greatly shorten that time.

Feeling happy again, she asked Elder Du several more questions, then posed a question that had long troubled her: “The unofficial history I read always replaced that prime minister with ‘the great traitor.’ What was that prime minister’s real name?”

“Not only your unofficial history fails to record it; all unofficial histories omit that person’s name.”

Su Jin was surprised. “How could that be?”

“A few of us old fellows have a theory that any books mentioning that person’s name were destroyed. The remaining books don’t name him directly and by chance survived.”

Su Jin felt something was wrong.

Even if there were grudges against that prime minister, the historian would have labeled him a historical villain rather than destroying all records of him.

Elder Du smiled bitterly and shook his head. “Without experiencing that era or having historical records, we simply don’t know.”

By the time Su Jin left the antique shop, it was already four in the afternoon.

Learning so much from Elder Du had lifted her spirits. She went to a famous restaurant, ordered a full table of dishes, saved some for herself to eat, and packed the rest to go.

The meal cost her over six hundred yuan.

But she wasn’t worried at all.

She had money and was generous.

If she ran out, she could just sell more copper coins—many people wanted to buy them.

After finishing the meal, Su Jin even bought herself a strawberry sundae before taking a taxi back to school.

When she returned to the dorm, Wang Qiqi had already moved out.

Humming a tune, Su Jin entered her room and, after seeing a note on the desk, teleported the food over and picked up a pen to reply.

Shen Yubai was deeply engrossed in transcribing the book, and many dishes had been placed on the kang bed.

A slight smile curved his lips.

Miss Su was back.

Setting the food aside, he took up his pen and wrote down the details of the glass teapot sale from today.

After finishing the note and sending it over, Su Jin’s reply came just in time.

Shen Yubai read it in a good mood, but gradually the smile faded.

To be slandered by a roommate as having tuberculosis and nearly forced to take a leave of absence by a teacher?

Miss Su had quite an eventful day.

A surge of frustration welled up in Shen Yubai’s chest.

Calming himself, he wrote rapidly on paper, each neat character leaping onto the page.

“Someone must be trying to prevent Miss Su from attending the seminar.”

Su Jin’s note came quickly: “Right, right, that’s what I thought too.”

Seeing the messy handwriting, Shen Yubai chuckled, and the gloom in his heart vanished.

“I’m the one who caused trouble for Miss Su.”

“Not at all, not at all. I’m still counting on you to help me find materials to prove the existence of the Yue dynasty, and you also help me earn money. I went to the antique shop again today; the owner still wants to buy copper coins. The glass tea set sold for so much money—if we convert it all to copper coins, we’ll be rich!”

Shen Yubai read her words twice, then sent all the large bills he had exchanged today to Su Jin.

He also sent the purchased history books and calligraphy supplies.

“These history books and calligraphy tools were bought at the shop today. They should be essential for Miss Su.”