Restoring cultural relics: Starting with the crying Tang Dynasty figurines

The warehouse was quiet. Su Yuan waited for half a minute but still received no response. He sighed and was about to stand up and leave.

As he stood up, the female figurine's eyes moved, and Su Yuan's eyes met hers, sending a chill down his spine!

The terracotta warrior's eyes were slowly turning to look at him.

This time, it wasn't the fleeting movement of during the day; it was a slow, living turn, and then Su Yuan saw her mouth moving, still without making a sound. But Su Yuan clearly saw the shape of her lips:

"Who are you?"

Those three words made Su Yuan's heart skip a beat again. He replied tremblingly:

"I—my name is Su Yuan, I just…"

Then I saw her shaking her head very slowly, as if she were moving through something, and then she opened her mouth again:

"You have... something on you..."

Su Yuan quickly looked down at himself, noting his work clothes, T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers, and mustered his courage to ask:

"What?"

The gaze of the female figurine as she stared at him changed. It wasn't the gaze of an artifact looking at a person, but the gaze of a family member looking at another family member—full of warmth and emotion.

"It smells like...home..."

Su Yuan watched as the female figurine's eyes slowly turned back to their original positions, and her mouth closed, remaining motionless.

He dropped the repair brushes in his hands to the ground, bent down and picked them up with trembling hands, took a deep breath, and opened the toolbox in front of the shelf.

He took out mineral pigments, a palette, a dropper, and a magnifying glass, sat down in front of the female figurine, placed the palette on his knees, and unconsciously swayed his body.

While mixing the paint, she said in a very soft voice:

"I don't know what you mean by the taste of home..."

"But I examined the piece that peeled off; the area wasn't large, the edges weren't raised, and the body of the tire was sturdy, so it shouldn't be difficult to repair!"

He mixed the colors, then, using a magnifying glass and cleaning tools, examined the terracotta figurine's sleeve and stammered:

"The paint on your cuffs... is a mix of lapis lazuli and malachite green; it's gotten a bit grayish over time..."

"I have raw azurite and malachite powder here, along with my own homemade glue, which can help you restore it to over 90% accuracy."

The female figurine remained still.

Su Yuan put down his tools, picked up the repair brush, and said, "I'll fix it for you, please don't scare me, okay?"

As he spoke, he dipped the tip of his brush into some paint and scraped it along the edge of the palette, trying his best to keep his mind focused on her face:

"I'm about to begin. Tell me if you feel any pain..."

Su Yuan began repairing the equipment and got into work mode, unaware that he had stopped shaking.

The small repair brush tip landed steadily on the peeling glaze. Watching the brush tip and the area that needed repair, Su Yuan's hand was steady and light. This was a skill he had practiced for several years!

From his freshman year, his teacher, Lao Zhou, had said:

"To succeed in this line of work, the most important things are steady hands, a calm mind, and only focus on what needs fixing, nothing else!"

But he can't do those things today. In his eyes is a girl who entered the palace at the age of nine and died without any relatives to claim her body!

With a touch of sympathy, I bent down and carefully filled the peeling area with paint, covering the exposed white paint, and then joined the new and old colors together.

When Su Yuan straightened up, the peeling was no longer visible. The newly applied color blended seamlessly with the old glaze, making it almost indistinguishable. He put down the repair brush and was about to breathe a sigh of relief…

Suddenly all the lights in the warehouse went out!

Su Yuan's mind went blank for a moment, he broke out in a cold sweat, and his hand was still hanging in mid-air.

As he collapsed to the ground, he heard a voice in the darkness—a woman's voice, very soft and delicate.

"Thanks…"

Su Yuan was too weak to move. He could hear his heart pounding in his chest, about to jump out of his throat!

The lights came on again.

The fluorescent lights buzzed, but the female figurine remained in the same pose and with the same smile, as if nothing had happened. Su Yuan trembled and slowly recovered for two or three minutes.

His hands were shaking violently. He finally managed to pack everything up and hurriedly walked out, his legs weak. As he reached the door, he couldn't help but look back one last time...

The paint that was recently applied to the right sleeve of the female figurine has dried and blended with the surrounding colors, but looking at her face, it seems a little different.

It's the corner of the mouth!

That standard smile of a Tang Dynasty lady seemed to curve upwards slightly. Su Yuan stared at it for a few seconds, then quickly opened the door and went out.

Xiao Chen was still squatting outside when he lit another cigarette.

Seeing that Su Yuan came out with sweat on his forehead, he stood up and asked:

"Is it finished?"

"Um…"

"How is it?"

Su Yuan forced himself to calm down, and after thinking for a moment, he told the truth:

She said thank you!

After listening, Xiao Chen stood there, cigarette dangling from his lips, glaring at Su Yuan. Ashes had fallen onto his shoes.

Did you hear that?

"Um."

Xiao Chen stubbed out his cigarette, turned around, and left, walking even faster than during the day.

"Let's go, it's time to get off work..."

Su Yuan followed behind, feeling as if he were walking on cotton, and asked at the top of the stairs:

"Brother Chen, you've heard about it before, haven't you?"

Xiao Chen paused for a moment, then continued walking down:

"no."

"Then why are you running?"

Xiao Chen didn't answer. Su Yuan stood there watching his figure disappear around the corner before slowly going downstairs.

Old Wu was still reading the newspaper in the lobby on the first floor. Su Yuan walked over and stood in front of him again. Old Wu stared at the newspaper and asked:

"Is it finished?"

"It's fixed..."

"What did she say?"

Su Yuan suddenly perked up:

"How did you know she spoke?"

"Because I know that she will only talk to people with the surname Su."

Su Yuan looked blank. Old Wu smiled and continued:

"Young man, do you know who used to live in that dormitory room you're in?"

Su Yuan shook his head. Old Wu put down the newspaper, stood up, and patted him on the shoulder:

"Your mentor, Zhou Peiyuan."

After saying that, he leisurely disappeared out the door. Su Yuan stood in the center of the hall, suddenly realizing what had happened:

"Did Old Zhou also live in Room 202?"

Su Yuan is having trouble sleeping tonight!

It wasn't because the bed was too hard; it was because those things kept going on in his mind.

The female figurine spoke, the lights went out and came back on, and the dormitory where Old Zhou used to live, along with that "thank you," kept echoing in his ears!

He got up around 3 a.m., opened the window a crack, and lit a cigarette. He rarely smokes, but he was really feeling the urge to smoke today.

When Su Yuanyan was halfway through his cigarette, he thought about whether Lao Zhou used to get up in the middle of the night to smoke. He smiled to himself and put out the cigarette.

The next morning around 7:30, Su Yuan arrived at the lobby on the first floor with dark circles under his eyes. Old Wu was already sitting on the bench reading the newspaper!

"morning…"

Su Yuan greeted everyone as he entered, and Old Wu looked up at him.

"Didn't sleep well?"

"good…"

Old Wu scoffed and continued reading his newspaper. Su Yuan stood there motionless. Old Wu looked at his newspaper and asked:

"What's up?"

"Uncle Wu, I have something to ask you."

Old Wu smiled:

"I knew you'd ask that!"