In any country, regardless of the ceremony, the fixed procedure is to start with a speech, rehashing what everyone already knows in various ways, before the official ceremony can commence.
As for the process after the start, it, too, had been pre-arranged. It was originally planned that Furukawa Shizuka would hand over the wooden box containing the bronze hairpin to Xiao Ming, who would then pass it to the leader of the national museum.
The implication was that the treasure, after passing through the hands of two nations and three parties, would finally return to where it belonged.
How splendid!
But Xiao Ming just had to be a pain, feeling uneasy without causing some commotion.
As Furukawa Shizuka solemnly approached Xiao Ming with the wooden box, and reporters' fingers rested on their shutters, waiting for the instant snapshot of them both holding the box, he simply smiled slightly and stepped to the side.
