Restoring cultural relics: Starting with the crying Tang Dynasty figurines

"In Wu...Uncle Wu's hands."

Zhang Weiyi was silent for a moment, then took something out of his pocket and placed it on the table. It was a stone slab with engravings, about the size of a palm, as if it had been knocked off something.

Su Yuan took it and examined it carefully. The stone slab was engraved with line drawings of deities, just like the main deity recorded on it.

"The main deity of Yongle Palace!"

Su Yuan stared sharply at Zhang Weiyi: "Was this knocked off the center of the monument?"

Zhang Weiyi nodded gravely:

"That year, he and two others were on a mission when they managed to pull themselves out of the rift. The rift chased them to near the rift's exit, went berserk, and the other two didn't come out alive!"

"If I hadn't been sent by my superiors to assist them, Old Wu would be gone too. But I arrived too late and couldn't stop him from doing something foolish..."

"Then what does he need this for?"

"Let's cultivate the gaps," Zhang Weiyi sighed.

"The gap needs certain things to nourish it. The core of the main deity's tablet, which is the strongest part of the energy vein on the central tablet of the temple, and the rust on the bronze sword are all nourishment."

"The real reason I stole this sword was to get you to find out who it was..."

"What about the central stele and the main deity's tablet?"

"He also dug it out. In 1990, Zhao Huaishan sealed the gap elsewhere, and he took the opportunity to dig out the stele and hide it in the crack. The main shrine broke due to the material of the stele."

Su Yuan sat there, his mind churning over Old Wu's past, feeling that he shouldn't be a bad person!

What Lao Wu said earlier sounded strange, and even though Su Yuan had thought of it, he was reluctant to believe it.

"Then why would he allow a rift to develop?"

Zhang Weiyi took a very old envelope from the drawer, placed it on the table, and pushed it towards Su Yuan:

"This was left by Zhao Huaishan. He wrote it in 1992 and told me to wait until he died before opening it."

Su Yuan picked up the letter and saw that the envelope was addressed to Zhang Weiyi in pen.

Upon opening the envelope, it reads:

"Wei Yi:"

"By the time you read this letter, I'll know I'm no longer here. There's something I've never told you. Wu Zhenshan kept something in the hidden compartment."

"In 1990, when I went in to seal the gap, I found that stele. Back then, it was still possible to go in. Later, I asked Lao Wu, and he said he didn't know! I know it was him who did it!"

"I talked to him once and learned that he kept that thing to save his son."

"His son had an incurable disease, and there was no cure. He heard that the thing in the interlayer might be able to save him, so he destroyed the main shrine and the Taoist painting in Yongle Palace, and released the gap to raise the child."

"I told him that fostering a fissure would be dangerous, that those things can kill people! He wouldn't listen, saying that as long as he didn't leave the fissure, he could stay inside and be fine!"

"We've worked together for almost twenty years, and Lao Wu saved my life, I can't bring myself to do it..."

"If anything happens to me someday, keep an eye on him for me, and don't let him touch that thing again! He's just temporarily infatuated..."

"Huai Shan, January 1992."

After reading the letter, Su Yuan was deeply moved and asked Zhang Weiyi:

"Director, what happened to his son later?"

Zhang Weiyi shook his head: "He died... He couldn't be saved in 1995."

Su Yuan remained silent after listening, so Zhang Weiyi continued:

"Old Wu has been different since then."

Su Yuan recalled Wu Zhenshan's piercing eyes. He had thought Wu Zhenshan was just good at judging people, but now he realized that they were something else entirely, something he couldn't quite put his finger on!

"That sword..."

Zhang Weiyi put the letter away and said, "He thought you would investigate, but you didn't, so he returned it himself."

Su Yuan was taken aback. "He put it back himself?"

"Last night, he used your fingerprint to open the storeroom door again, put the sword back, and locked it."

Zhang Weiyi continued:

"He thought the surveillance cameras wouldn't capture it, but Zhao Cheng had already installed a new camera without telling him."

Su Yuan thought to himself, "No wonder Zhao Cheng said that." Zhang Weiyi added:

"He smelled Old Wu's scent on the sword case. We're talking about Old Wu having connections, we just don't want you to know too soon..."

Su Yuan didn't blame them, especially since Wu Zhenshan hadn't harmed him. He then asked:

"Where is Uncle Wu?"

"Old Wu is in the warehouse, go check on him..."

Upon arriving at the warehouse, Su Yuan saw Wu Zhenshan standing in front of the innermost shelf with his back to him. Su Yuan walked over and stood next to Old Wu.

Neither of them spoke, both staring at A-Wu's Tang Dynasty figurine. After five or six minutes, Wu Zhenshan spoke:

"You already knew, didn't you?"

"Um."

Wu Zhenshan looked at Awu: "She is the first thing you repaired after coming here."

Su Yuan continued to stare at A Wu without saying a word.

"Not bad," Wu Zhenshan said with a smile, "but he talks a bit too much..."

Su Yuan, clutching the bronze mirror in his pocket, finally spoke:

"Uncle Wu..."

"Um."

"What's your son's name?"

Wu Zhenshan looked up at the fluorescent light above, closed his eyes, and said:

"Wu Yuan... the Yuan in Yuanjin."

Su Yuan felt a surge of heat in his eyes, and Old Wu's voice choked slightly:

"He died in 95...when he was only ten years old, because he had leukemia as a child..."

"Someone said the stuff in the interlayer could save him, so I kept it... but it ended up costing two of my colleagues their lives, and it still didn't work!"

He turned to look at Su Yuan, his eyes red, and smiled:

"Son, you are better than your father."

Su Yuan wanted to comfort Old Wu, but didn't know what to say.

"I've put the sword back. The stone fragment is in your hands. You can do whatever you want with it..." Wu Zhenshan said, rubbing his eyes a couple of times.

He patted Su Yuan on the shoulder and left the warehouse!

Su Yuan didn't turn around to see Old Wu off, but just muttered to A Wu, "A Wu, Uncle Wu has had a tough time too, hasn't he..."

Wu Zhenshan's face is in my mind, along with his stories and what he said:

"Is there anything about this workplace that I don't know?"

Zhang Weiyi came in with the bronze sword: "Xiao Su, you can put it back."

Su Yuan silently took the bronze sword, carefully put it back, and closed the box.

"Uncle Wu, he..."

"He has his own plans, and the higher-ups haven't held him accountable. After all, he made significant contributions before, and it's up to him to decide whether to stay or leave."

"Make preparations; you should go to Yongle Palace tomorrow!"

After Zhang Weiyi finished speaking, he went back to his office. Su Yuan stayed alone for a while, looked at A Wu, and then went out.

In the lobby on the first floor, Old Wu was no longer on the bench; his thermos and newspaper were gone, and he was staring blankly into space.

His phone rang; it was his mother calling.

"Yuan'er, what's wrong with your Uncle Wu? He just called."

Su Yuan gripped his phone and said, "It's nothing, Mom. What did he say?"

"Just tell him he's going on a long trip and that you shouldn't look for him."

Su Yuan didn't speak, but his father's voice came through:

"Yuan'er, where is your Uncle Wu going?"

"Dad, he didn't say, I don't know..."

The voice on the phone was still his father's: "Let old Wu be. Alright, take care of yourself."

"Yes, Dad, Mom, please take good care of yourselves too!"

After hanging up the phone, Su Yuan sat on a bench, took out the bronze mirror, and looked at himself. Several shadows in the mirror seemed to be drawing closer.

"Master Su..."

"Um?"

"Has Old Wu left?"