She lifted a hand and signaled to her assistant waiting not too far away, letting her know she was ready to leave.
"My reputation is built on accuracy, Professor Zhang. Never diplomacy. I understand that you need as much resources as you can get for your exhibition, but by all means, yours should be too."
Director Zhang sighed and adjusted the pair of little glasses perching on his nose.
"Very well. It's just a pity that we may have to lose his patronage."
"Better to lose a patron than credibility, sir."
Tang Lin checked her watch again and nodded politely to him. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have another appointment due soon."
Her assistant, Little Zhou stepped forward and took her brown leather briefcase holding the tools she had used earlier.
She was not actually little at twenty-two, but having had the nickname since she was a teenager and never being able to rid herself of it since then, the name had stuck.
"Another dissatisfied collector?" she asked, falling into step beside Tang Lin.
"Mm. No one likes to know that they've been taken for a fool, I guess. Especially when it comes to antiques with millions of yuan involved. The aftertaste left in the mouth must be unpleasant."
Little Zhou chuckled dryly, mulling over her words.
"Perks of being a poor person, I guess. I would probably never know what that feeling is like."
Tang Lin glanced at her briefly, a brow arching up in question.
"Is that a roundabout way of saying I don't pay you well enough?"
Little Zhou appeared shocked as soon as she heard her, then figuring she was joking by the smile hanging on her lips, relaxed a little.
"Look at what you're saying! Am I that kind of person? With how good of a boss you are, I don't dare to complain about you."
She laughed coyly, licked her lips and added, "if my President Tang were to give me a raise though, it won't be bad."
Amused by the obvious bootlicking, Tang Lin couldn't be bothered to continue playing with her.
"Let's talk about it later. Meanwhile, text Master Wen that we are heading to her place now and would be there by three at most. Also ask her to prepare some more of that special tea for me."
Little Zhou nodded, pulling out her phone to send Master Wen Ling a message reminder.
"The Da Hong Pao tea?"
"That one," Tang Lin answered quietly and resumed her silence.
"Okay," Zhou Qing nodded and hit send after typing and confirming that she had everything correctly.
She pocketed the phone and took a careful look at her.
"You took too much time at the museum today. It's too dangerous to only leave this close to the time.
Tang Lin didn't respond, but she knew her assistant was right.
She could not afford to be careless with the least thing on her daily schedule, or she would risk having an episode at the wrong place and wrong time.
Her thoughts drifted to the precise schedule she would need to maintain for the rest of the week and she exhaled deeply, exhaustion sweeping through her body.
Her condition required that she live by a strict adherence to medication times and calming rituals.
Any deviation, the slightest one, could trigger an episode, and unprepared for episodes meant extended lost time, confusion, uncontrolled vulnerability.
And vulnerability was something Tang Lin could not afford.
Not in her status, or position. Not with her reputation at stake, and definitely not with her past.
_____
The sleek black Aston Martin waited for them at the curb, a testament to how successful of a career she had built for herself over the years.
Little Zhou briskly stepped forward to pull open the back door for her and stepped back to allow her lower herself into the seat.
Moving a step forward, she got into the passenger seat next to the driver and shut the door.
She leaned down to grab a bottle of water from a case, twisted the cap and turned to hand it to Tang Lin.
"Thank you," she quietly mouthed her gratitude and proceeded to take little sips of the water while looking out the window.
As they drove by, passing through T city's gleaming Golden Quarter, Tang Lin watched the city passing in a blur.
She couldn't help but take in the highrise state of the art commercial buildings and very few ones that looked to be from a different period.
This city that had opened its arms to her, watched over her and allowed her thrive…
Pulling down the window, she allowed the air to rush into her lungs for a few seconds before she pulled it back up.
Leaning back into her seat, she pulled off her stylish glasses and put them in the case, raising her hand to rub between her brows.
Her phone lit up and buzzed for a few seconds, announcing the arrival of a new email.
Another authentication request, this one from the Jiangjiang Antiquities Foundation.
Madame Song Fu's organization had sent it. It was the third one this month.
Probably the 10th email since the year began. As for how many had been sent in the past four years, she had lost count.
Tang Lin resolutely deleted the email without opening it. Some clients were far too dangerous, and their motives far too unclear.
She would never step into waters that were too murky for her to see her own feet.
Closing her eyes, she felt the first emergence of the transition threatening to spill forth at the edges of her consciousness.
The medication would help, but she needed to get to Master Wen's as soon as possible.
The traffic crawled forward, completely unaware of the or indifferent to her increasingly urgent need for it to ease up.
"Zhou Qing," she said quietly, doing her best to hold on to the last threads of her consciousness as Tang Lin.
"Reach out to Master Wen again. Call her this time. Tell her to prepare the back room immediately."
Her assistant's worried eyes met hers through the rearview mirror.
"She's coming faster today, isn't she?"