Restoring cultural relics: Starting with the crying Tang Dynasty figurines

Su Yuan listened to him finish speaking:

"What? I don't know where it came from?"

Zhang Weiyi nodded.

"Many of the things in this warehouse come from who-knows-where. Some were transferred from higher up, some were collected by Old Wu, and some...from other channels..."

Su Yuan didn't ask Zhang Weiyi what the other channels were. He stood up to leave, but Zhang Weiyi asked again:

"Did you look at your dad's notebook?"

Su Yuan turned around calmly: "I've seen it."

"Did you also see Zhao Huaishan's message?"

"I've seen it..."

Zhang Weiyi looked at him without saying anything, then after a while, he waved his hand:

"Alright, go ahead..."

Su Yuan walked back to his office, put down his toolbox, took out the paper, unfolded it, and looked at the sixth item. He took a pen and wrote "Repaired, awaiting appraisal" on the back.

There's one more thing: the Tang Dynasty bronze mirror that Awu gave herself, which needs to be dealt with!

He folded the paper and put it back in his pocket. He took out a bronze mirror from his pocket and placed it on the table. As soon as the mirror faced up, the shadows crowded together and started to swarm around. One of them squeezed to the front, and it was an old woman's voice:

"Master Su, my bronze mirror..."

"Are you also a bronze mirror?" Su Yuan interrupted her abruptly upon hearing this.

"No, no... I'm the box for the bronze mirror. The lid wasn't closed properly; it opened with the slightest touch!"

Su Yuan calmly thought for a moment and then asked, "What kind of wood is the box made of?"

"Red sandalwood!"

"The sandalwood lid isn't sealing properly because the wood has dried out and shrunk. Wipe the opening of the box with a damp cloth, and wait for the wood to absorb some moisture and swell a bit. Remember not to wipe too much, just a little is enough..."

After Su Yuan finished speaking, the old woman's shadow asked:

"this one?"

"Otherwise what..."

The voice retreated as soon as Su Yuan finished speaking, and another one squeezed in:

"Master Su, my jade disc..."

Su Yuan had intended to lean back in his chair and rest for a bit, but they were too enthusiastic, so he waved his hand helplessly.

"Let's do it one at a time!"

He leaned back in his chair and listened to the voices talking one by one: an incense burner, a porcelain vase, an inkstone, the scroll end of a painting, and the finger of a Buddha statue.

The problems weren't serious; they could be explained in a few words, and the animals could easily solve them themselves. After pointing out about twenty of them, the sound disappeared!

Su Yuan leaned closer to look at the mirror. Most of the reflections were gone, with only a few remaining huddled in the corner, muttering softly:

"Master Su can do everything!"

"Yes, I can do everything..."

"Ah Wu is right, he's quite the talker..."

Su Yuan chuckled inwardly, flipped the mirror over, put it back in his pocket, and prepared to lean back and rest for a bit, when his phone rang. It was his mother calling.

"Yuan'er, have you eaten?"

"without…"

"What time is it? Why aren't you eating?"

Su Yuan glanced at his phone: "11:40, it's not lunchtime yet."

"Your dad asked if you've finished your sword training..."

Su Yuan sat up straight after hearing this, and was stunned for a moment: "How did my dad know I was practicing sword cultivation?"

"Your Uncle Wu told him."

Su Yuan thought for a moment but didn't say anything. His mother continued:

"Your dad said he'd seen that sword before. He said the tip was chipped off, that someone had sharpened it!"

"Mom, I know that..."

"Your dad said the person sharpening the sword... his surname is Su!"

Su Yuan was a little confused: "What?"

"Your father said exactly this: 'The person who sharpened that sword was surnamed Su.' He wanted you to check if there was a name on the sword!"

Su Yuan immediately stood up: "Mom, I'll hang up now."

He hung up the phone and walked quickly into the storeroom, went to the innermost part, opened the iron box, took out the sword, and searched for the inscription under the spine of the sword:

"...self-actualizing...end..."

He carefully examined each one with a magnifying glass, but this one had no name!

Su Yuan turned the sword over to look at the other side. Below the two characters "King of Yue" in the middle of the spine, there was another line of characters, much smaller than the ones above, covered by rust that he hadn't noticed before. He gently scraped it with a scalpel, and a rusty piece fell off, revealing a stroke...

Scrape again! It's a "阝" radical. Scrape again, and it's an "东" radical.

It's out! It's Su! Su… He continued scraping, and there were more words underneath. After scraping it clean, he could see clearly that it was four characters:

"Su's Sword Forging!"

Su Yuan's hand froze, his heart trembling slightly.

"Made by someone surnamed Su? Not by the King of Yue's son himself... but by a craftsman from the Su family for the King of Yue's son! The sword tip was sharpened, but who sharpened it?"

The man surnamed Su that his father mentioned, the one who sharpens the sword, and the one who makes the sword, are they from the same family?

Su Yuan put the sword back in the box, closed the lid, and squatted there, at a loss. His legs were numb, but he didn't move. The bronze mirror burned his pocket, but he didn't move either.

After a long while, he finally stood up and walked up to A-Wu:

"Ah Wu, I never expected... that sword was made by the Su family..."

Awu did not respond.

Do you know the person who made the sword?

Su Yuan stood there for about a minute until the numbness in his legs subsided before walking to his office. His mind was in complete turmoil.

"Su Zhi forges the sword, Su Yuan forges the seal, Su Awu... Su Fu, Su Yuan!"

They both have the surname Su, and they both have connections to these things—it's no coincidence! It's definitely not a coincidence…”

He didn't know how he got back to the office door. He pushed the door open, sat down in the chair, and as soon as he placed the bronze mirror on the table, his reflection began to appear:

"Master Su doesn't look well..."

"What's wrong?"

"have no idea!"

Su Yuan ignored them. He took out the paper and saw that there was still one item left: Tang Dynasty bronze mirror, pending processing. He wrote a line at the bottom:

"The bronze mirror was made by the Su family, the sword was made by the Su family, A-Wu is from the Su family, my father is from the Su family, and so am I."

His phone rang again; it was his mother calling.

"Yuan'er, have you found out?"

"Mom, I found it! The sword says 'Swordsmanship by Su' on it!"

His mother was silent for a moment, then said, "Your father is right..."

"Mom, what else did Dad say?"

"He told you not to be afraid!" His mother paused for a moment:

He said that the Su family has dealt with these things for generations, including your grandfather and your great-grandfather.

Su Yuan was completely bewildered: "How come I didn't know?"

"Your dad never said anything before," his mother said, lowering her voice, "He was afraid you'd get involved with these things too, but you did anyway..."

Su Yuan didn't speak, and his mother continued:

"Your dad said, since you've already gotten it, don't try to avoid it, just fix it and that's it."

Su Yuan, holding his phone, asked in confusion, "Is it over once it's fixed?"

"That's what your dad said..."

After hanging up the phone, Su Yuan sat in a chair, staring at himself in the mirror for a long time. He tidied himself up and went downstairs. Wu Zhenshan had returned to the lobby and was sitting on a bench, drinking tea and reading a newspaper. Seeing him come down, he asked:

"Is it finished?"

"Um…"

"Is the sword repaired too?"

"It's fixed..."

Wu Zhenshan nodded, and Su Yuan sat down next to him and asked:

"Uncle Wu, did you know that the sword was made by the Su family?"

Wu Zhenshan did not answer.

"A-Wu is also a member of the Su family, the bronze mirror is also a member of the Su family, my father is too, and so am I..."

Su Yuan looked at him: "This is no coincidence!"

Wu Zhenshan took a sip of tea: "I never said it was a coincidence..."