The old things I repaired have become fine

Chapter 768 Pottery House, wait a minute! I haven't saved it yet!

Since Shen Le acquired these pottery fragments, the spirits of the artifacts had remained quiet and composed. This was the first time Shen Le had seen them so eager.
Those that drilled downwards continued to drill downwards, while those that floated upwards continued to float upwards, stirring up the clay in the large box into a cloud of smoke and creating a great commotion.

Even before Shen Le had brought it over, the pottery pieces on the large plate in the middle began to vibrate slightly, tilt, and move towards the porcelain clay box.

He looked just like a wanderer who had been away from home for a long time, carrying a bundle and walking slowly along the path leading to his hometown.

Approaching home, I felt apprehensive, hesitant to go forward, but upon seeing the large camphor tree at the village entrance, I could no longer resist and started running...

"Okay, okay..."

Shen Le sighed and waved her hand. An invisible vortex of wind enveloped the tray, rolling up the ceramic pieces one by one and gently lifting them toward the clay box.

Sink slowly, let them fall gently, try to prevent them from colliding with each other, and let them sink into the porcelain clay slowly and quietly.

Soon, they adjusted themselves to the right positions and pieced together a somewhat incomplete but roughly recognizable pottery house.

Then, the clay in the box continued to shrink and compress inward, coalescing into missing roofs, walls, railings, and even various human and animal sculptures...

By the time the soil inside the box had completely settled, nearly half of it had been removed.

The pottery house, now largely restored, sits steadily inside the box, its surface occasionally shimmering with a grayish-green light.

Shen Le stared at it with wide eyes, her heart pounding faster and faster.
"So beautiful..."

Although it has been nearly two thousand years, and although it has been worn down and eroded in the soil and the ocean, becoming gray and almost unrecognizable, it has been exposed to the elements.

However, when it is restored to its original state, when it has absorbed enough clay to reshape itself, the radiance it regains is truly breathtaking.

Every corner, every part, is clear and sharp, as if it has just been repaired by a craftsman, just finished firing, and taken out of the kiln.

The porcelain figure's hem, hair bun, and the smile on its lips;

The saddle, bridle, and necklace carved on the porcelain horse, and the bells around its neck seem to make a sound;
When the piglets are rooting around and fighting for food, their big ears keep flapping.

The rooster's tail feathers are held high, the hen is pecking at the food, and her claws are digging into the soil...

Every detail, every missing element or blurred by time, is vividly revealed.

Shen Le circled around it once, then again. Then, as if suddenly waking up, she looked around the room, ran out of the room, and grabbed an angle grinder from the toolbox.

Squeak, squeak, squeak, along the outer edge of the box containing the clay, first a vertical cut was made, then a large horizontal cut was made along the soil layer, exposing the entire pottery house:

"scanning!"

"Photograph!"

"Quickly, write it down!"

"Sigh, I'm trying to negotiate with it to break it down into pieces so I can record its contents more easily, but I don't know if it will listen to me..."

Whether he could hear or not, the work still had to be done. Shen Le set up the scanner and scanned from multiple directions, trying to record every detail as completely as possible;
Then, I dragged over a ladder, climbed up myself, and started snapping photos from above.

After he had photographed all the details he wanted and scanned the entire area from all angles, he opened the previously scanned version on his computer and saved a new one.

Turn your head and take a look, make a change on the scanned document, look at it again, and make another change.

Once the exterior, that is, all the outermost, visible parts, was completely modified, Shen Le closed his eyes slightly, extended his spiritual power, and carefully landed on the pottery house.

There was no other way; if we wanted to trace its internal structure and modify its internal details, we had to rely on ourselves before we could discuss with the pottery maker and ask it to disperse.

However, the moment his spiritual energy rippled out and seeped into the pottery house, a faint light and shadow swept back from the direction of the pottery house, directly engulfing Shen Le...

Shen Le: !!!
Are you going to show me past memories again?

Wait a minute! I just finished editing half of the file, and I haven't saved it yet!

But it was too late. The light flickered, illuminating and fading. When Shen Le opened his eyes again, he swayed and nearly fell over.
In fact, if he hadn't been kneeling on the floor with a low center of gravity, he probably would have already crashed headfirst to the ground.

Even so, he pressed his hands to the ground, his head drooping, and his vision blurred intermittently.
"I...what's wrong with me?"

"Sanlang! Sanlang, hold on!" Someone rushed over and shook him violently. Shen Le became even more dizzy from the shaking, his body jolted, and he vomited a few mouthfuls of bile.

His body felt heavy, cold sweat broke out on his forehead in waves, and the stomach cramps quickly made him realize his condition:

"I'm hungry...give me something to eat..."

"Shh!" A warm hand immediately covered his mouth. The person supporting him lowered their voice, almost whispering in his ear:

"Sanlang, you mustn't speak carelessly! 'During the three-year mourning period, one should not eat or drink for three days.' What filial son could eat during this time! Hold back! Hold back!"

What utter nonsense… Shen Le was so hungry she was dizzy and wanted to collapse on the spot. What does it mean to not eat or drink for three days?
Can a person survive for three days without food or water?

Oh, a person can barely survive three days without food, but three days without water will cause severe dehydration, and could even lead to death!

What kind of idiot decided on this funeral arrangement? Is it to kill off the heirs all at once?!
"Fifth Uncle, you're wrong!" A clear, childlike voice broke in, melodious and ethereal amidst the crackling flames.
The Book of Rites, in its chapter on mourning, clearly states that when one feels sorrow and pain, the kidneys are damaged, the liver is parched, and the lungs are parched, one cannot eat or drink anything, and cannot light a fire for three days. Therefore, the neighbors prepare porridge for one to eat.

"—It means he's too heartbroken to eat, so we're feeding him thin porridge. He won't really stop eating and drinking in three days! Third Brother is already very upset; if we push him like this, he'll die!"

"Qilang, what do you know!" The person who spoke earlier was a little exasperated, pulling Shen Le closer to his arms while reaching out to press down on the head of the person opposite him.

"With the passing of the patriarch, our Shen family is in dire straits. Someone has to step up and support us! If Sanlang cannot establish a reputation for filial piety, and the officials of the Central Court do not approve of him, what will become of the family in the future?"

As he spoke, he had already scooped up Qilang's head and slammed it to the ground with a thud, making a small sound. All three of them bent over, and Shen Le heard "Fifth Uncle" beside him say:

"Don't speak! If you really can't take it anymore, pretend to faint or pretend to vomit blood! -- The porridge will be brought later, after everyone has calmed down!" ...So this is how you observe mourning...

Shen Le silently rolled her eyes inwardly, not wanting to speak. Lacking energy, she couldn't even process memories, and had no idea what era it was or what her family's situation was.

The only certainty is that it's probably still with the Shen family, but who knows how many generations ago...

Hmm, Sanlang? If he's the third son, there should be an eldest and a second eldest above him, so why are we expecting him to step up and support the family?

If this body's father dies, what happens to the two older brothers?
Shen Le closed his eyes and lowered his head, remaining silent and pretending to be so grief-stricken that he was on the verge of death.

After a while, "Seventh Brother" retreated, and after a while, "Fifth Uncle" also left. They were probably not the ones wearing the heaviest mourning clothes, so they could go to eat normally.

Only he, the filial son, remained, wearing a rough linen garment without any seams, kneeling on a bundle of straw. Besides pulling out the straw, he could only pull out the loose threads from the linen...

After patiently waiting until it was pitch black, "Fifth Uncle" finally sneaked in and brought him a large bowl of thick porridge.

The porridge was a bit cold, and there wasn't any sugar or meat added, but Shen Le still slurped it down with great relish.

He finished eating in one go, closed his eyes, and began searching his memory: What's going on now? Which memory is the clay block giving me now?
Hmm, it seems like several decades have passed since he last transmigrated—or rather, since he last entered the memories of the clay pottery. The Wei Kingdom has fallen, the Wu Kingdom has fallen, and it's currently the Jin Dynasty—

As to whether it was the Eastern Jin or the Western Jin, further searching of memory is needed.

Over the past few decades, the family has not made much progress in officialdom. The highest official position they have attained so far is that of this body's father, a mere county magistrate.

Given that my father has just passed away, I don't know who will take over as county magistrate.

Compared to their official careers, the family fared quite well in other areas. Their population quadrupled, with core male members numbering around two to three hundred, not counting children.

When I traveled through time last time, there were probably a thousand tenant farmers. This time, the number has more than doubled.

Hundreds of acres of farmland—if this were in the heart of Guanzhong, it would have been fought to the death long ago. It's only because this place is sparsely populated and has been constantly being reclaimed that it hasn't attracted much attention.

Even so, a large number of the tenants were relocated to various industries by their family:
Ceramics making, brocade weaving, shipbuilding, trade...

Aside from the fact that they were not very willing to sell smuggled salt, or rather, only dared to obtain a small amount for their own family and tenants to consume, and dared not sell it on a large scale, their industry and commerce were quite developed.

The family's profits from various industries account for more than 70% of its total income, and two fleets are out trading all year round.

By the way, what era is it now?

Shen Le searched his memory, but his head was spinning and he couldn't remember anything, so he had to ask his fifth uncle. His fifth uncle also frowned and thought for a long time:

"Reign title? I really don't remember. The reign titles have been a complete mess lately. The higher-ups keep announcing new reign titles every few days... Yongning? Tai'an? Jianshi? Yong'an?"

Shen Le's heart skipped a beat. Oh no, oh no! The more chaotic the times, the more frequently the reign titles change.

Moreover, the reign title Tai'an—wasn't that the reign title before the War of the Eight Princes?
Before Shen Le last triggered the memory of the pottery shard, he had memorized a lot of history by rote and could barely remember some of the reign titles.

However, he had a deep impression of the reign title "Tai'an," thanks to a senior female student:
That senior student was writing her own novel. After much deliberation, she chose the reign title "Tai'an," finding it both stable and auspicious. Uploaded smoothly, then smoothly got blocked—

Upon further investigation, she discovered that this seemingly auspicious year name actually shared the same name as a dangerous chemical. She was quite upset about it, and when gossiping with Shen Le, she was furious:

"I shouldn't have chosen this! I must have been out of my mind. How could a reign title from the War of the Eight Princes be auspicious? It's bad luck!"

Writing novels in modern times, one can lament that the auspicious meaning is truly bad and unlucky; but if one were born in that era, one could only complain.

During the War of the Eight Princes, members of the Sima family took turns rising and falling, each round accompanied by brutal battles and slaughter.

With each new round of leadership, the central authority collapses, and local forces begin to stir.

The curtain has been raised on a chaotic era.

Shen Le's only consolation was that they were currently in Jiangnan, not in Luoyang or Chang'an, the epicenter of the chaos. Even so, it seemed that even his family wasn't entirely at peace?

As he was pondering, suppressed arguing could be faintly heard coming from the side room behind the mourning hall, growing louder and louder.

Shen Le listened intently for a few moments and gleaned fragments of words like "selling land," "seeking refuge," and "punishment," none of which sounded like good news.

Shen Le took a deep breath, shoved the empty bowl back into her fifth uncle's hands, straightened her rough hemp clothes, picked up her mourning stick, and used it to prop herself up.
"Sanlang, where are you going?"

"This is a family matter. As the eldest son, how can I ignore it?"

Shen Le answered softly. Although his steps were still a little unsteady, his eyes had regained their clarity and determination. Composing himself, he pushed aside his fifth uncle's hand and walked straight toward the direction from which the argument was coming.

The door to the side room wasn't fully closed, and Shen Le gently pushed it open. Inside, the room was brightly lit, and seven or eight elders sat around it, each with a solemn expression.

An elderly man with white hair and beard in the center, the most senior uncle in the clan, was pounding his fist on the table and growling:

"...The fleet and the cargo are all lost! That was the capital pooled together by seven or eight families in our county! Now the owners are all coming to our door, how can we compensate them? We can't fill this hole even if we sell everything we own!"

"Go bankrupt?" another plump elder immediately retorted:
"We've lost everything, gone bankrupt. How are we, hundreds of people, supposed to survive? If you ask me, we should immediately go and plead with the prefect! The patriarch died for the country; the court has to give us an explanation, at least ease up on this debt!"

"The prefect? ​​Hmph, the new prefect is just looking for an excuse to deal with us local bullies! Relying on him? You might as well hope the pirates return the goods!"

Another person sneered:
"In my opinion, it would be better to make a tough decision and pledge the fleet and salt fields to the Zhou family of Wuxing! The Zhou family is deeply entrenched; as long as we pledge allegiance to them, they can easily cover up this debt by slipping through their fingers, and we'll also gain their protection..."

"Support the Zhou family? Then is the Shen family still the Shen family? A century-old foundation, just handing it over to someone else?" Someone immediately stood up and objected.

A cacophony of noise erupted, and despair and anxiety filled the air. At that moment, someone noticed Shen Le, who had been standing silently by the door for a long time.

An elder immediately frowned and scolded, "Sanlang! Why aren't you observing mourning at the coffin? This is no important matter for you to hear! Go back!"

(End of this chapter)