Restoring cultural relics: Starting with the crying Tang Dynasty figurines

Su Yuan remained silent, wondering if Han Zhengming was about to be finished.

Zhou Peiyuan came over and patted him on the shoulder:

"Don't think too much about it now. Let's finish tomorrow's training first. Tomorrow is a group discussion, so you don't need to say much, just listen carefully."

"Don't leave after you're done, come back to me."

Su Yuan nodded and went back to the second bedroom.

He flipped the bronze mirror over from the bedside table. It was quiet inside, and Su Yuan didn't ask anything.

I put my phone next to my pillow, closed my eyes, and thought about the east...it's that wall on the east side again...

I drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, Su Yuan got up at seven o'clock.

After washing up, Su Yuan found that Zhou Peiyuan had already set out breakfast. He didn't mention last night's events again today, but simply told Su Yuan to eat more.

At 8:10, Shen Yue arrived downstairs on time.

Today was the last day of training, held in the conference room of the Cultural Relics Bureau for group discussions. Zhao Cheng was waiting for Su Yuan downstairs, and the two went upstairs together.

The layout of the conference room has changed; the U-shaped long table has been replaced with rows of seats, making it look like a lecture hall!

There was a whiteboard in front of us with today's discussion topic written on it: "The Collaborative Mechanism between Interlayer Monitoring and Cultural Relics Restoration".

Su Yuan found a seat towards the back, and Zhao Cheng sat down next to him.

At nine o'clock sharp, Zhou Peiyuan walked in, followed by two people: one was Deputy Director Chen, and the other was a man in his fifties wearing glasses, whom Su Yuan had never seen before.

Zhou Peiyuan walked to the front, tapped the whiteboard, and said:

"Today we'll have group discussions, divided into three groups. The bronze ware group is in the east room, the ceramics group is in the middle, and the miscellaneous items group is in the west room. Each group will have a moderator to record the discussion!"

He glanced at the list in his hand and read aloud, "Su Yuan, miscellaneous tasks group, and..."

Su Yuan stood up and followed the others towards the conference room on the west side. The miscellaneous tasks group's conference room wasn't large, and could seat about ten people.

The host was Deputy Director Chen, who sat at one end of a long table with a voice recorder and notebook in front of her.

Su Yuan found a seat. Jiang Weiguo wasn't in this group; Su Yuan looked around and saw mostly unfamiliar faces!

Deputy Director Chen coughed lightly and said:

"The scope of discussion in the Miscellaneous Items Group includes: bronze mirrors, statues, jade artifacts, bamboo, wood, ivory and horn artifacts, as well as non-bronze and non-ceramic artifacts."

"Everyone, please speak freely and don't hold back."

The discussion proceeded rather uneventfully, with several people taking turns speaking, all saying very conventional things.

Su Yuan listened without saying much.

He noticed that a middle-aged man sitting diagonally across from him kept staring at him!

The man was in his early forties, with a round face, wearing a dark jacket. There were only a few words written in the notebook in front of him, but his eyes kept glancing in his direction, intentionally or unintentionally.

Su Yuan glanced at him, and the man immediately looked away.

The discussion was halfway through when we took a break.

Su Yuan stood up and stretched his neck. When the round-faced man carrying a teacup walked past him, he paused for a moment, then walked away without saying a word.

Zhao Cheng, having slipped away from the next group at some point, leaned close to him and whispered:

"The man who just passed by is named Wang Jianguo. He works at the Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau's Museum Department. He had contact with Sun Guoliang before."

Su Yuan frowned: "Hmm?"

"Yes, before Sun Guoliang was transferred to the repair unit, he had eaten with Wang Jianguo a few times." Zhao Cheng said helplessly, "I couldn't find out what they talked about."

Su Yuan didn't say anything, but memorized that round face.

Let's return to the miscellaneous discussion.

When it was Su Yuan's turn to speak, he steered the conversation toward bronze mirrors, not the one he was wearing, but rather ordinary bronze mirrors unearthed in archaeological excavations.

He spoke in a very technical way, focusing entirely on restoration techniques, without touching on any supernatural or supernatural aspects.

After listening, Deputy Director Chen made a few notes in his notebook and nodded.

An older male colleague nearby added a few more examples, and the discussion returned to normal.

The discussion ended at 11:30.

Su Yuan packed his things and followed the crowd out. In the corridor, he saw Jiang Weiguo and Wang Jianguo talking. When they saw Su Yuan, they smiled and nodded at him.

Su Yuan looked away, but something still felt off.

They ate lunch at the Cultural Relics Bureau canteen. Su Yuan took his tray and sat down in a corner, and Zhao Cheng followed him.

They chatted casually until 3:30 p.m., when the training was finally over.

Zhou Peiyuan gave a brief summary, and each person was given a certificate of completion, which marked the end of the course!

The attendees gradually left, some exchanging business cards, others making plans for dinner. Su Yuan didn't linger; he greeted Zhao Cheng and went downstairs to wait for Shen Yue.

My phone rang as I stood in front of the Cultural Relics Bureau.

Chen Xiaohe sent a message: "Su, Sun Guoliang still didn't come to work today, and his car wasn't in the yard either. Director Zhang asked Qian Weidong to cover for him."

Su Yuan stared at the message, his unease growing stronger.

Sun Guoliang hasn't shown up for two days!

Just as he was about to put his phone back in his pocket, another message came in; it was from Zhou Peiyuan:

"Xiao Su, Gu Yuanhang and I are treating you to dinner tonight at six o'clock. I'll send you the address."

The address was a small restaurant in the alley behind the Cultural Relics Bureau. Su Yuan replied with an "okay".

Shen Yue's car arrived, and Su Yuan got in, leaned back in the seat, closed his eyes, and his mind was in turmoil!

He touched the jade ring and spirit-locking bead on his wrist; they warmed up slightly, and the bronze mirror in his pocket also warmed up slightly…

It felt like Awu was comforting him.

At 5:30 in the evening, Shen Yue dropped Su Yuan off at the entrance of the alley. The restaurant sign read "Old Li's Private Kitchen," and the lights above the entrance were already on.

When Su Yuan entered, there were only three tables occupied. The innermost table had two people sitting there: Zhou Peiyuan and Gu Yuanhang.

Gu Yuanhang was wearing a dark jacket, and the teacup in front of him was empty, indicating that he had been there for a while.

Upon seeing Su Yuan, he stood up and extended his hand: "Su Yuan, we meet again."

Su Yuan quickly shook hands with him: "Director Gu."

"Please sit down."

Zhou Peiyuan pointed to the chair next to him.

After Su Yuan sat down, the waiter came over and poured him a cup of tea, and then served four dishes: braised pork, stir-fried seasonal vegetables, a plate of peanuts, and a steamed fish.

They were all large portions of home-style dishes, and Su Yuan smelled them very delicious.

Zhou Peiyuan placed a piece of braised pork into Su Yuan's bowl: "Eat first, we can chat while we eat."

Su Yuan didn't stand on ceremony and started eating. Gu Yuanhang, holding his teacup, looked at Su Yuan and asked, "How have you been feeling these past few days of training?"

"It's alright." Su Yuan quickly put down his chopsticks. "I learned a lot..."

"I'm afraid you haven't learned anything useful," Gu Yuanhang said with a smile, putting down his teacup. "But you've learned to see through some people, haven't you?"

Su Yuan knew what he was talking about and quickly nodded.

As Gu Yuanhang spoke, he took a file bag from the chair next to him, placed it on the table without opening it, and simply pressed it down with his hand.

"Xiao Su, there are a few things I'd like to tell you."

"First, Han Zhengming has been more active in the past two weeks than in the previous six months. Old Zhou already told you, right? But he didn't just go to the east; he also went to the south twice!"

"We also have a monitoring point in the south. Although the fluctuations in the fissures are not as large as in the east, they are still increasing."

Su Yuan asked, "Do you know what he's looking for?"

"uncertain."

Gu Yuanhang said, "One thing is certain: what he's looking for is related to what you have!"