Restoring cultural relics: Starting with the crying Tang Dynasty figurines

Arriving at the old residential area, climbing the unlit stairs, and standing at the entrance of Room 301, his mother looked at the dilapidated security door, didn't knock, and just stood there quietly...

Su Yuan called out "Mom," but she ignored him. Finally, she gently pushed the door open and went inside. The curtains in the room were already drawn, letting in the setting sun.

After his mother went inside, Su Yuan leaned against the door without going in. Soon, his mother's voice came from inside the house:

"Su Fu..."

After a moment of silence, his father's voice came through, trembling as he called out:

"Xiuyun!"

After another period of silence, Su Yuan heard his mother's suppressed sobs, which pierced his heart like needles.

He quietly closed the door, went downstairs and stood outside for more than an hour, smoking half a pack of cigarettes, until the streetlights came on, and then he heard footsteps coming downstairs from upstairs!

His mother took Su Fu's arm and they came downstairs. Su Fu had changed into a clean blue cotton jacket, his hair was neatly combed, and his face had been washed. He looked much more energetic.

"Yuan'er," his mother called. Su Yuan stubbed out his cigarette and stood up. "Mom."

"Yuan'er, your dad said that Old Wu from his workplace has spoken to you, and your pension and medical insurance have all been arranged!"

Su Fu was looking at him with a smile when Su Yuan asked, "Dad, aren't you going back to your hometown?"

Su Fu looked at his mother, and Xiu Yun looked at him, and they nodded slightly.

"Your uncles and the others are taking care of things back home, so I'll stay here with your dad for a few days."

Su Yuan had so much to say, but it was all stuck in his throat. In the end, he could only utter one sentence:

"Back in my hometown..."

"It's alright!" His mother walked over with a smile and took his arm. "Come on, Mom will treat you to dinner."

The three of them went into the small restaurant at the alley entrance that Xiao Chen had recommended. As soon as they sat down, his mother asked Su Yuan:

"By the way, what exactly does your company do? Your dad has never really told me!"

"Cultural relic restoration".

"Cultural relic restoration?"

His mother glanced at Su Fu, then at Su Yuan, and chuckled as she teased him:

"So, wouldn't you say your dad is an antique now?"

Su Yuan smiled but didn't speak, while Su Fu nodded:

"It's... an old item."

His mother smiled and put a piece of food into Su Yuan's bowl.

Looking at his parents sitting there, Su Yuan felt a warmth in his heart. Remembering that the food was still waiting in line for him, he sighed and muttered to himself:

"The students in this class..."

His mother turned around and glared at him:

"What are you muttering about? Can't you just eat properly? What are you thinking about?"

"N-nothing."

Su Yuan quickly shoveled rice into his bowl, but couldn't help smiling. The restaurant lights were warm like a fire, illuminating this reunion that had been missing for eighteen years!

At 7:30 a.m. on Monday, Su Yuan stood at the entrance of his workplace but didn't go in. He knew they were all lined up there!

The bronze mirror in his pocket was burning hot. He took it out and looked at it. The mirror was full of shadows behind him.

He walked into the lobby on the first floor, stood in front of Old Wu, and said:

"Uncle Wu...those outside..."

Old Wu chuckled and flipped through the newspaper without looking up:

"Are you in line?"

"I know... but so much..."

"You said it would be fixed on Monday, and today is Monday. They're here right on time, no problem. Get to work."

Old Wu said with a smile that Su Yuan was trembling as he gripped the bronze mirror. He went upstairs to his office and organized the items in his toolbox one by one.

Magnifying glass, flashlight, brush, paint, gelatin, and rice paper—I had barely finished preparing them for two minutes when the door was pushed open!

It was Xiao Chen. He poked half his head in, his expression a little strange.

"Hey, there's something they need from the warehouse. Old Wu asked me to tell you. It's the first one..."

The first one?

Su Yuan took a deep breath in exasperation, picked up his toolbox, and walked out.

The warehouse was empty, the fluorescent lights were still on, and then I saw a figure leaning against the wall in the shadow of the innermost shelf.

It's the one that clogs the toilet!

That thing wasn't an antique; it looked like a demon...

A withered hand dangled down; it turned out that the finger bones were dislocated, the skin and flesh had turned black, and it had begun to ulcerate.

Su Yuan thought to himself:

"I'm an artifact restorer...it...is right!"

Shaking, he placed the toolbox on the workbench beside him, and pulled out two items from under the box: cinnabar and glutinous rice paste.

"I heard Lao Zhou mention once that cinnabar and glutinous rice paste can replenish yin..."

Wearing a mask and holding my breath, I began to use tweezers to clean the decayed parts. A sudden gust of cold wind arose, and the lights on the worktable and overhead flickered!

Hearing it groan in pain, and seeing its withered hand twitching, Su Yuan broke out in a cold sweat. He gritted his teeth, steadied himself, and began to fill the gaps in the bone with cinnabar and glutinous rice paste.

The bronze mirror beside it emitted a faint light!

Having suppressed the yin energy, and after Su Yuan finally put the dislocated finger bone back in place, the ulcerated area began to slowly heal. The creature bowed and thanked him, then said:

"Ah Wu is right, Chef Su's cooking is really good..."

After saying that, he turned into a wisp of black smoke and disappeared...

Su Yuan lost his steady hand and dropped the tools in his hand to the ground, his whole body shaking like a leaf!

Seven or eight minutes later, he recovered and took off his mask to tidy up when a blurry shadow appeared. It was an old man wearing a long robe, with his hair tied up in a bun, dressed in ancient attire, and his back to him.

Su Yuan remained motionless with his mouth agape. The shadow slowly turned around. Although it had no facial features, Su Yuan could clearly tell that it was looking at him and speaking:

"Master Su?"

"Hello."

"I have a problem, and I'd like you to take a look!"

Su Yuan asked, "W-what's wrong?"

The shadow didn't speak, but slowly circled around him. There were several cracks on its body, diagonally from its shoulder to its waist. These weren't ordinary cracks; they were etched on.

It looked like it had been hit hard by something heavy, leaving these cracks on its body!

Su Yuan took two steps closer, enduring the tingling sensation on his scalp as he examined the surroundings closely:

"How...did this happen?"

The shadow's voice was quite calm, as if it were talking about someone else's affairs:

"Someone wants to kill me as a painting, not me as a person. I am Wang Weizhen, a person from Yongle Palace."

Su Yuan's mind went blank:

"Yongle Palace? You are...?"

"I am the one in the 'Chunyang Emperor's Divine Journey' painting in Chunyang Palace."

Wang Weizhen added:

"I've been painting this for hundreds of years. Around the 1980s or 1990s, someone started throwing something on me—black dog blood mixed with cinnabar."

"Each time he splashed water on the body, it would crack, and by the time he never came again, it had cracked seven times!"

Su Yuan counted the cracks; there were indeed seven.

"Can I... see the real thing first?"

Wang Weizhen nodded and extended a transparent hand, revealing the shelf behind it. Su Yuan hesitated for two seconds, then grasped it with trembling hands; it felt empty and cold.

The scene before him blurred, and when he opened his eyes again, he was standing in a grand hall!

The main hall is very large and tall, with murals covering the walls, pillars, and ceiling.

Wang Weizhen introduced:

"This is a scene reminiscent of the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea, the Peach Banquet, and the Celestials Paying Homage to the Emperor..."

"The painters used vibrant colors and fluid lines; look, all the immortals are so lifelike!"

Su Yuan stared at these genuine works, his eyes wide with amazement!

Wang Weizhen's voice came again:

"here…"