Restoring cultural relics: Starting with the crying Tang Dynasty figurines

Han Zhengming squinted at Su Yuan's reaction, paused, and continued:

"Everyone praised your restoration skills!"

Su Yuan looked at him expressionlessly and said, "You're really well-informed!"

"Those of us in this line of work have to listen and observe a lot. By the way, I've also heard about your Su family's bronze sword; it even has the words 'Su Zhi Jian Zuo' (Su's Sword Making) engraved on it?"

Su Yuan angrily put down his chopsticks and stared at him coldly.

Han Zhengming smiled immediately upon seeing his reaction:

"Don't be nervous, Xiao Su. I'm just curious. The Su family's products are quite famous in the industry; the older generation has mentioned them!"

Su Yuan kept his hands clenched tightly under the table and didn't reply.

Han Zhengming shoveled a couple more mouthfuls of rice onto his plate, then stood up. "You can eat slowly. I'm going to chat with Lao Zhang for a bit."

With that, he picked up his tray and left.

Su Yuan sat there without moving, finished his porridge in a few gulps, and ate the steamed bun.

As he was leaving, he glanced at Zhang Weiyi and Han Zhengming, who were chatting. Zhang Weiyi gave him a wink, but Han Zhengming didn't turn around!

It was already dark outside, but the lights in the yard were on.

Su Yuan stood in the yard and smoked a cigarette, but after only two puffs, he stubbed it out and threw it in the trash can.

Back in the lobby on the first floor, I saw Qian Weidong inside, holding something in his hand and looking at it under the light.

Su Yuan went inside and asked, "Old Qian, have you eaten? Why haven't you left yet?"

Qian Weidong handed him a piece of yellowed old paper, about the size of a ten-cash Xianfeng Tongbao coin, with some lines drawn on it:

"Look what this is, Xiao Su."

Su Yuan took it and examined it. The paper was very brittle; he didn't dare to squeeze it too hard. It depicted a circular pattern with some ancient, archaic lines inside, looking like an ancient character? Ancient runes…

It doesn't seem like it!

"Where did it come from?"

"Xiao Chen handed the car over to me today. I found it while cleaning and washing the car. I don't know when it fell there."

Su Yuan turned the paper over to look at it, and there was nothing on the back.

"This looks familiar," Qian Weidong said.

"When I saw it, I thought of your great-grandfather's handwriting. I had seen it in some books from his workplace. This handwriting looks a lot like his."

Su Yuan held the paper up to the light and examined it. The paper fibers were coarse, indicating it was handmade and quite old.

The central circle of the design contains a smaller circle inside it, with dotted patterns between the two circles forming a circle.

There is a symbol in the very center that looks like a simplified version of the Chinese character "苏".

After reading it, Su Yuan returned the paper to Qian Weidong and said:

"You can keep it for now."

Qian Weidong put the paper in his pocket, nodded, and left.

Su Yuan went upstairs, carried his toolbox back to his dormitory, washed up, placed the bronze mirror next to his pillow, and lay down on the bed.

All I could think about was Han Zhengming's words; he knew far too much!

Su Yuan didn't sleep well tonight, waking up twice in the middle of the night.

When I first woke up, I glanced at my phone; it was 2:10. The bronze mirror was beside my pillow, its light dim, unlike its usual brightness.

He drowsily turned over, closed his eyes, and went back to sleep.

I woke up a second time because of noise from downstairs!

There were people talking downstairs. I wasn't sure if they were people. Their voices weren't loud, but it was a quiet night, and the whispers were making a lot of noise as they crept in through the window cracks.

Su Yuan didn't hear what they were saying, nor did he want to listen, so he covered his head with the blanket.

When I opened my eyes again, it was already 6:40.

He yawned and got up to wash up. After washing up, he came back, changed his clothes, and sat on the bed to calm himself down. His mind was still foggy.

Around 7:30, he put the bronze mirror in his pocket, picked up his toolbox, and left the dormitory. From a distance, he saw two cars parked next to the entrance of the unit: Qian Weidong's white van and a black sedan.

Su Yuan glanced at the black car; it seemed familiar, yet he couldn't quite place it...

I left my toolbox in the office and went to the cafeteria for breakfast: a bowl of soy milk and two fried dough sticks.

When they were almost finished eating, Zhang Weiyi sat down with the last bit of food on his plate and told him:

"Han Zhengming didn't leave last night."

Su Yuan suddenly realized that the black sedan might be the one that followed when he delivered the painting!

A chill ran down my spine. I took a sip of soy milk and asked, "Didn't you say he was only staying for two days?"

"He changed his mind at the last minute, saying that his superiors wanted him to take another look at the warehouse management here and write a research report."

Su Yuan drank his soy milk without saying a word. Zhang Wei asked him:

What are you planning to do today?

"Nothing much planned. Just pack up the toolbox and check what else in the storeroom needs urgent repair."

Zhang Weiyi got up, patted him, and left. After Su Yuan finished eating, he returned to his workplace. The lobby on the first floor was quite quiet, and there were no animals wandering around.

In the office, I opened the toolbox and took out each tool one by one to check them.

The glaze touch-up materials are running low, and there's half a bottle of aging solution left, enough for a few more uses. Several sheets of sandpaper are used up, the finest grit is gone, and there's still…

Su Yuan took notes of the materials that needed to be supplemented and stuffed the note into his pocket.

After tidying up his tools, he got up to go to the storeroom. As he reached the door, Chen Xiaohe was coming up the stairs, holding a glass of water.

"Going to see A-Wu again?"

"Um."

Chen Xiaohe didn't follow; he took the water into his own office.

Su Yuan stood in front of the shelf, staring at A Wu for a long time. The path that had been traced on the cuff that had been mended before was still unchanged!

After walking around the warehouse again and finding nothing that needed repair, he turned and walked out.

Upon exiting the warehouse, Han Zhengming noticed an extra person in the corridor. He stood in the middle of the corridor, looking at a calligraphy piece on the wall.

According to Chen Xiaohe, the calligraphy had been hanging there for many years, and it read "Restore to its original state" and was framed.

Han Zhengming greeted him with a broad smile:

"Xiao Su, you've come to see that Tang Dynasty terracotta figure again?"

Su Yuan closed the warehouse door:

"Um."

"Did you know, I heard that the terracotta figure was originally donated by someone surnamed Su!"

Han Zhengming took two steps toward him:

"When it was donated, it came with a stand, but someone broke it later."

Su Yuan hadn't expected this; there were plenty of people with the surname Su, and none of them were that special. He controlled his tone:

"You know a lot about these things!"

Han Zhengming's eyes narrowed even more as he smiled:

"I've heard quite a bit about the Su family's history over the generations in your circle."

After saying that, he walked away with his hands behind his back, making a swaying sound. Su Yuan didn't stop, but went back to his office and sat for a while before taking out the bronze mirror and placing it on the table.

Then Su Zhizao's sword was taken out and placed there as well. The shadows swayed in the depths of the mirror, and the old man's shadow stood there with his mouth open but no sound.

wrong!

Today it wasn't bent over; today its body was straight, and one hand was raised, pointing in a certain direction.

"Is there something you want to tell me?"

After asking the question, Su Yuan looked in the direction it was pointing, and it was pointing to the sword Su Zhi had made on the table!

Su Yuan picked up the sword and placed it next to the bronze mirror. Only then did the old man's shadow lower his hand and retreat back into the pile of shadows.

Su Yuan looked at the sword, then at the bronze mirror, then at the ring on his hand, thinking about that message…

There is an invisible connection between these three things. At this moment, the warmth of the ring is going up along the finger, past the wrist and arm, and stopping at the chest!