The first thing the little clay figurine did upon waking up was to inspect itself thoroughly, fearing that Jin Mutong had damaged it.
It wasn't worried for long, though, and soon felt a surge of excitement.
"Hahaha! Not bad at all! You've done a great job making me look so handsome. No, no, I was always handsome, but now I look even better! And my clothes, you've cleaned them up quite nicely! Very good, very good! And here—oh, not bad at all!"
Jin Mutong smiled as she watched the little figurine, now back to its chatty self.
For someone as inexperienced as she was, being able to restore an antique to the point where the object itself was satisfied was something to be truly proud of.
Watching the little clay figurine's excitement, she paused for a moment before asking, "Do you have a brother?"
The little figurine froze for a moment, then nodded.
"Where is your brother now?" Jin Mutong quickly asked.
"My brother..." The little figurine hesitated, its mood suddenly sinking. "Never mind, he's basically impossible to find. The last time we were reunited, it took almost a century."
Jin Mutong felt a pang of sympathy and softened her voice. "It's okay. Just tell me what you know. There might still be a chance."
The little figurine looked up, meeting Jin Mutong's gaze.
"To be honest, I don't know exactly where. All I remember is that my brother and I were both at a street market, and there was a yellow tower there. One day, I was snatched by a pickpocket and sold along with other items to that old man, who then sold me to you. If my brother hasn't been sold yet, he might still be with that market vendor." The little figurine pondered as it spoke.
"A yellow tower…" Jin Mutong murmured, "Do you remember anything else?"
The little figurine shook its head. "That's all I know, and it's been so long since I was taken away. My brother has probably been sold by now. It's really hard to find him."
"Okay, I see," Jin Mutong nodded, silently resolving to do everything she could to find the little figurine's brother.
But there was no urgency at the moment. She had just pulled an all-nighter repairing the little figurine, and now it was time to get some rest.
As she turned to leave, the little figurine suddenly called out to her.
Jin Mutong turned back, looking at it in confusion.
"Uh... I see you've got some skills. Could you maybe help adjust my nose a bit?" the little figurine asked hesitantly, its face flushing with embarrassment.
"Why do you want to adjust your nose?" Jin Mutong asked, surprised.
The little figurine blushed even more. "My brother's nose is higher than mine. I've been annoyed about it for years. Since you have the skills of a restorer, I'm sure you can fix this little thing, right?"
Jin Mutong shook her head, "No, that's not possible."
"No, no, no, you can do it! You totally can! Big sis, please grant me this one wish! Hey, don't walk away! Please!"
...
After eating and resting, Jin Mutong woke up the next morning. Perhaps because restoring the antique had drained her energy, she'd slept in. By now, the quiet Haixi Road was starting to come alive.
But as usual, their store, "Pingu Zhai," remained as quiet as ever.
Jin Mutong wasn't in a rush, though. First thing in the morning, she opened her computer.
Following the principle of "Ask Google for external matters and Baidu for domestic ones," she found the "China Antique Network" on Baidu, the largest antique forum in the country. After registering an account, she posted a question.
This forum had tens of thousands of active members, and every day there were many question threads. Some people asked for expert advice on antique knowledge, while others posted photos of newly acquired treasures for others to appreciate.
There were two types of question threads. Regular posts usually received some replies, but if you offered a reward, even more people would jump to answer.
Many retired collectors frequented the forum and could make quite a bit of money helping others with their inquiries.
After doing some research, Jin Mutong posted a reward thread offering 5,000 coins, which cost her 50 yuan. The post was simple:
[Looking for the location of an antique market near a yellow tower.]
As soon as she posted it, several people responded:
[Plastic Big Brother]: Hahaha, there are lots of yellow towers in Thailand, all over the streets!
[Tang Dynasty's Wu Yanzu]: Are you asking about the whole country? That's hard to find. @Mumu, you need to provide more details. What else is nearby?
[I'm Not Drunk]: Wow, 5,000 coins! I searched the internet for this. [Pictures][Pictures][Pictures][Pictures][Pictures] If no one gets it right, pick me, pick me!
[Driver of Chai Corgi]: No idea... next.
...
The replies were mostly unhelpful, and some even posted irrelevant pictures, which left Jin Mutong feeling a bit disheartened.
However, the reward coins seemed to be doing their job, as plenty of people were replying. Even if it was like searching for a needle in a haystack, she had to try.
Finally, after a few hours, Jin Mutong received a promising reply.
[OMG Turtle]: There's actually a park near my house with a yellow tower, and there's a weekend antique market nearby. It's in Dafu City.
Excited, Jin Mutong searched online but couldn't find any information about this antique market. She replied to the post:
[Mumu]: Could you please send a photo?
Unfortunately, after posting that message, the other person went offline and never replied again.
Jin Mutong checked and found that there was a direct bus from Jin City to Dafu, which took only three hours on the highway. It was possible to make a round trip on the same day.
Today happened to be the weekend, and after calling the long-distance bus station, she confirmed that there were still buses going to Dafu. She brought the little clay figurine with her and headed straight to the bus station.
The little clay figurine, feeling both excited and touched, said, "Wow, beautiful lady, I didn't know you cared so much about my situation! You found a clue and immediately brought me along to look for it. You're really kind to me!"
Jin Mutong smiled but said nothing in response.
Three hours later, they arrived in Dafu. Jin Mutong asked around for the specific location of the park and then took a taxi there.
The park was not small, and near a rock garden, there was indeed an ancient-looking pagoda. However, it wasn't famous enough to have any pictures online.
In one corner of the park, there were indeed some people selling antiques, but it was not as large-scale as the Haixi Road market in Jin City. There were only a few scattered stalls.
Standing beneath the pagoda, Jin Mutong asked the little clay figurine, "Is this the place you were talking about?"
The little clay figurine took a few glances and shook its head. "No... The color of this pagoda is a dull yellow. The one I remember was more brightly colored, and the surroundings aren't the same either. This isn't the place."
Jin Mutong felt a little disappointed.
However, she had been mentally prepared before coming, so she didn't feel too discouraged.
"It's okay, little figurine. We'll go home first and keep looking next time."
The little clay figurine had also expected this outcome. Though it was disappointed, it maintained a positive attitude. "Oh well, I'm afraid I'll never find my brother. But getting to hang out with a beautiful lady and looking this good after being fixed is not bad at all. If you could just adjust my nose a little, that would be even better..."
Jin Mutong: "...Stop thinking about your nose."
The little clay figurine: "Aww..."
After returning to Jin City, Jin Mutong continued checking online for any updates every day.
Even though the clue provided by the previous forum user had been incorrect, she felt that she hadn't given enough information, so she still paid the reward coins and increased the bounty to 10,000 coins. While there were many replies, none of them were useful.
After a week, the bounty post expired and automatically closed. Just as Jin Mutong was considering another approach, she stumbled upon a random post.
[I shut myself off after arguing with my wife.]
The post consisted of three pictures: one of a shattered porcelain bowl, one of a distant view of a temple, and the last of someone copying scriptures in a temple hall.
As soon as the post was published, many people responded.
[Always Helpful]: Hahaha, you argued with your wife and smashed the porcelain bowl. It looks nice—I sympathize with you for three seconds because I don't even have a wife yet.
[Caribbean Kelp]: Whoa, this looks like a decent piece of work. You really smashed it?
[6666]: Seems like the original poster is really upset, even going to the temple to copy scriptures. Sorry, I can't help but laugh.
[Missed Again]: What a shame about the porcelain bowl! What era is it from? Copying scriptures won't help—go home and kneel on a keyboard, or else more antiques will be in danger.
...
Jin Mutong was only reading the post out of curiosity, but the little clay figurine suddenly spoke up.
"Ah! Beautiful lady, can you show me that picture again?"
Jin Mutong glanced at the little figurine and then scrolled back to the post, enlarging the second image as requested.
"This is it! I remember this place!" The little figurine excitedly pointed to the picture on the screen. "Before we were separated, the old lady used to set up her stall right outside this temple!"
Jin Mutong looked at the picture. "But this temple only has a gate and walls—there's no yellow pagoda."
"This is definitely the place. It looks so familiar!" the little figurine insisted.
Without hesitating further, Jin Mutong quickly contacted the original poster, asking about the location.
To her surprise, she got a quick response.
[Little Tower Listening to the Rain]: This is Qiyu Temple in the southern part of the city. It's quite famous.
[Mumu]: Thank you so much! By the way, is there an antique market near Qiyu Temple?
[Little Tower Listening to the Rain]: As far as I know, no. But there's an antique store nearby.
[Mumu]: Ah... no market? Well, thank you anyway!
[Little Tower Listening to the Rain]: You're welcome. I have to go now.
Jin Mutong, still feeling a bit unsatisfied, searched online for more information about the area surrounding Qiyu Temple, but as expected, she couldn't find any mention of an antique market.
She shared the information she had found with the little clay figurine.
The little figurine, initially full of hope, was now disappointed, muttering to itself, "Did I really remember wrong? Can I never find my brother again?"
Seeing the figurine's downcast expression, Jin Mutong recalled the story of two brothers she had read earlier and made a decision.
"We'll still go check it out."