Restoring cultural relics: Starting with the crying Tang Dynasty figurines

"Is there anything happening in this building that I can't hear?" Wu Zhenshan took a sip of tea. "Did you revise the Book of Songs first?"

Su Yuan remained silent, so Wu Zhenshan continued:

"He also oversaw the repair of an incense burner, a porcelain vase, and an inkstone."

Su Yuan stared at him blankly, while Wu Zhenshan grinned, revealing his gap-toothed smile:

"Don't look at me like that! I've been in this building for years, I can tell what's going on or what's making just by listening!"

Su Yuan sat down next to him: "Uncle Wu."

"Um?"

"That bronze mirror on the form... it's the one in my pocket. What does 'pending processing' mean?"

Wu Zhenshan hesitated for a moment before replying, then took a sip of tea and asked:

"Did your dad send you something?"

Su Yuan asked curiously, "How did you know?"

"I asked him to send it..." Wu Zhenshan stood up and walked around. "You'll know when it arrives in a couple of days."

He left. Su Yuan sat there for a while, then walked back and glanced at the hall. Old Wu's thermos cup was still steaming on the bench, the lid wasn't screwed on tightly.

He went back to tighten the cup lid before leaving. Back in his dorm, he lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking about how he still had to study the Analects tomorrow. He slowly fell asleep. The bronze mirror on the table flipped over by itself, and he heard a muttering sound in his ear:

"Is Master Su asleep?"

"Going to sleep."

"Shall we go see him tomorrow?"

"I'll look for it tomorrow."

"What number are you in line?"

"I don't know. There must be dozens by now."

"Dozens?"

"Yes, the news has spread even inside the mezzanine."

"What's being spread?"

"Praising Chef Su's cooking skills is one thing, but he talks too much..."

Su Yuan rolled over and pulled the blanket over his head. The sounds were still going on, though he couldn't hear them clearly through the blanket. But he knew they were talking, and he had to fix it tomorrow and the day after!

The day after tomorrow too...

He closed his eyes, and after a while, he took out his phone and sent his mother a WeChat message: "Mom, what did Dad send?"

His mother replied after half a minute: "I told you I didn't know. You'll find out when you open it yourself..."

Su Yuan placed his phone next to his pillow, closed his eyes, and finally fell asleep. In his dream, there were good people lining up, their line stretching as far as the eye could see. He stood at the very front, holding a magnifying glass and a calligraphy brush.

Someone at the back of the line shouted:

"Master Su, I have a serious problem, could you please take a look first..."

He casually called back, "Queue up!"

The next morning, Su Yuan was woken up by a phone call. He took out his phone and saw it was 7:10. It was his mother calling. He quickly got up to answer, and his mother's voice was a little louder than usual.

"Yuan'er, the things your dad sent have arrived. They were delivered by SF Express and left at the security guard's office at your workplace."

Su Yuan sat up: "So fast?"

"Your dad sent it by express delivery early yesterday morning..."

"Okay, Mom!"

After hanging up the phone and getting dressed, he glanced in the mirror while washing his face and noticed his eyes were swollen. He hadn't slept well last night. Those shadowy figures chattered until midnight, keeping him tossing and turning, and he didn't even know how he finally fell asleep!

Su Yuan went downstairs and saw that the sky was overcast, as if it was about to rain. He thought to himself:

"Old Wu is right, it's going to rain today..."

When Su Yuan arrived at the company gate, the old security guard was sweeping the floor. As soon as he saw Su Yuan, he pointed to a cardboard box on the table:

"Xiao Su, that's yours, it was just delivered this morning!"

The cardboard box was small, a square sealed with yellow tape, and the sender's name was written on the shipping label:

Su Fu!

Su Yuan picked up the box and tested it; it wasn't heavy, and something inside seemed to be swaying. He carried the box upstairs, passing the director's office, and saw that the door was still closed; Zhang Weiyi hadn't arrived yet!

After arriving at his office, he placed the box on the table and began to unpack it.

Inside was something wrapped in several layers of newspaper, until finally revealing a notebook with a kraft paper cover, the edges of which were frayed. Tucked inside was a Hero brand fountain pen, its cracked cap taped back together…

Su Yuan took out the notebook and opened it to the first page. Looking at the crooked handwriting, he saw it was his father's handwriting from when he was young; it was written with considerable effort. It read:

"Work notes from the Special Cultural Relics Restoration Center, 1989."

Su Yuan paused for a moment, then turned to the second page:

"March 12th, sunny. Today was my first time entering the warehouse, and I saw that female figurine. It seemed like she was looking at me!"

Page 3:

"March 15th, cloudy. Went to the warehouse again. The female figurine was still in the same pose. But I felt like her position was different from last time... I asked Lao Wu, and Lao Wu said, 'Don't overthink it!'"

Su Yuan flipped through the pages one by one, and saw that as he wrote more and more, the words became increasingly messy, with some parts being scribbled over and rewritten repeatedly.

Turning to the middle, there was a piece of paper folded neatly. Su Yuan took it out and saw that it was a letter written by his father. It was in penmanship, much more neat than the handwriting in his notebook, as if it had been written slowly, stroke by stroke!

"Yuan'er, this notebook is from when I was at work. Your mother doesn't even know about it. I've kept it hidden for over twenty years. I only found it a few days ago when I came back. Your Uncle Wu said you were fixing things, and you did a pretty good job!"

"I'm sending this to you; it might be useful. Remember, don't follow in your father's footsteps."

Su Yuan read the letter twice before folding it, putting it back in his notebook, and continuing to flip through the pages until he reached this chapter, which read:

"September 5th, Zhao Huaishan came today, bringing a bronze mirror. He said something came out of the hidden compartment and needs to be sealed off! When asked what it was, he wouldn't say, and neither would Lao Wu. Zhang Weiyi told me not to ask!"

After turning a few more pages:

"On October 20th, Zhao Huaishan came again, and this time he looked very unwell. He said the wound was sealed, but the root cause was damaged. When asked where it was damaged, he said it was nothing! As he left, he said to me, 'Don't let your son come here again.'"

Su Yuan's finger hovered over that line of text, thinking:

"Don't let your son come here... Zhao Huaishan, Zhao Cheng's father! He said this in 1990. I wasn't even born then!"

How did Zhao Huaishan know that my dad would have a son? How did he know that I would come here?

He turned to the next page, which was blank. The rest of the notebook was blank... That was the end of the notebook. Su Yuan closed it and placed it on the table, his mind a complete blank...

The bronze mirror moved slightly in his pocket, but he ignored it and didn't take it out.

After sitting there absentmindedly for a while, Su Yuan stood up, picked up his toolbox, and headed out. Passing the director's office, he saw the door was open and Zhang Weiyi was looking at documents. Su Yuan walked over and knocked on the doorframe.

Zhang Weiyi looked up and only said one sentence:

"I'm going to the storeroom... to fix that Analects..."

Zhang Weiyi nodded at him without saying anything. Su Yuan walked towards the warehouse. It started to drizzle outside. Chen Xiaohe wasn't at the warehouse door, so he opened the fingerprint lock himself.

Inside, Su Yuan walked to the shelf, glanced at A Wu for a couple of seconds, then continued walking. On the bottom shelf at the very back, there was a wooden box.

It's carved from rosewood, and the lid is covered in a layer of dust!

Su Yuan took out the wooden box and placed it on the shelf next to him. He opened the lid and saw that there was a layer of yellow silk inside, and a book was lying on the silk.

The Song Dynasty edition, bound in a butterfly style, has a cardboard cover with a note that reads "The Analects." The edges are badly curled, and it's torn in some places and missing parts...