Restoring cultural relics: Starting with the crying Tang Dynasty figurines

Xiao Jue's voice was a little hoarse as he said, "I... am looking at myself."

"Are you done?"

"It's done." Xiao Jue's voice was clearly choked with sobs.

"It doesn't hurt anymore, it doesn't hurt at all. You stitched up all the cuts on my body so neatly..."

A soft feeling welled up in Su Yuan's heart: "That's good."

"Thank you so much, Master Su. I've had this crack for ages, and it's been hurting for so long. Now it's finally fixed."

Su Yuan opened his mouth as if to say something, but felt that nothing he said would be enough to express his current feelings.

Little Jue continued happily:

"You saved my life, I'll remember you. If you ever come to the mezzanine again, I'll show you the way. I've been in there for thousands of years, I know the mezzanine like the back of my hand."

Su Yuan thought to himself, "What am I going to do in the mezzanine?" and smiled, "Okay."

Xiao Jue was silent for a few seconds, then said:

"Master Su, your hands are so steady when you're fixing things, not shaking at all. My heart was in my throat watching you drill, but your hands didn't tremble even once!"

Su Yuan felt pleased to hear this, but didn't reply. He gently picked up the bronze jue and said to it:

"You can stay here tonight. You can stay if you want, or leave if you want."

"Great," Xiao Jue said with satisfaction, "It's so good to be here!"

Su Yuan placed the bronze jue on a shelf very close to A Wu, turned off the lights, and left the storeroom.

The corridor was quiet. As he reached the stairwell, he heard a voice behind him, squeezed out from under the storeroom door:

"Goodnight, Master Su."

Su Yuan turned around and glanced in the direction of the warehouse, thinking to himself that this young master was quite knowledgeable about modern things.

Goodnight, Little Jue.

The next day, after breakfast, when he returned to the entrance of his workplace, Liu Jun was talking to a man in a dark jacket in the security room, with a silver-gray sedan parked nearby.

The person had their back to Su Yuan, so his face was not visible, and from his back view, he didn't seem to be someone from the company.

Su Yuan paused for a moment, feeling something was familiar. He hesitated for a second, but still walked over!

Liu Jun saw him and waved:

"Su, this gentleman is from the provincial capital, his surname is Zhou. He says he's here to see Director Zhang. He says he's your teacher..."

The person turned around at the same time.

He was in his fifties, with a square face and gray hair. He wore silver-rimmed glasses and had a gentle yet wise look in his eyes.

The mentor who had been with Su Yuan for six or seven years was a little different.

When he saw Su Yuan, a familiar, enigmatic smile appeared on his face.

"Su Yuan."

Su Yuan snapped out of his daze and immediately smiled, "Teacher Zhou? What brings you here?"

It was Zhou Peiyuan who tricked him into coming here. What Su Yuan didn't know was that Zhou Peiyuan was not only his mentor, but also a high-ranking official with deep ties to the Su family.

His appearance as a teacher was merely to protect and instruct him; his true identity was that of someone from the Ninth Bureau…

Having been apart for only half a year, seeing that face again warmed Su Yuan's heart.

Zhou Peiyuan walked over, patted Su Yuan on the shoulder, and said:

"I came to see you. You've lost a lot of weight. Is the food in the cafeteria not to your liking?"

"No, it's fine... Why didn't you tell me you were coming so I could have picked you up?"

"They're not outsiders, why should we accept their invitation?"

Zhou Peiyuan smiled and said, "I'm here on some official business, and I also wanted to see how you, my student, are doing. Is Director Zhang upstairs?"

"Yes, I'll call it for you right away..."

"No need, I can go up by myself." Zhou Peiyuan nodded to Liu Jun and stepped into the building.

Su Yuan followed behind, feeling much more at ease. In his heart, Zhou Peiyuan was one of the people he trusted most, who had taken good care of him back in school!

When he graduated, I even specially picked out this place for him.

At first I had some minor complaints, but now it seems the teacher was right, it's a job that matches my major... It's fate.

The two went up to the second floor. Zhou Peiyuan didn't rush to find Zhang Weiyi. He stood in the corridor for a while and looked at the old photos hanging on the wall.

"Has this place changed much since you first arrived?"

"Not much, it's still the same, they just replaced the automatic doors in the office, some sofas and stuff, and then there's the security booth, and they've enclosed a parking lot."

"Uncle Wu, he..."

Zhou Peiyuan nodded, turned to look at Su Yuan, and lowered his voice: "I know... did Han Zhengming make things difficult for you?"

Su Yuan's heart tightened. Did Teacher Zhou also know Han Zhengming?

"without…"

"What did he say to you?"

After a few moments of internal struggle, Su Yuan simply told Han Zhengming the things he had asked.

Zhou Peiyuan didn't react much after listening; he simply nodded.

"How did you respond to all the questions he asked?"

"I said what I could say, and didn't mention what I couldn't say..."

"Okay." Zhou Peiyuan smiled. "You've never been a talkative person since you were little, but you've changed quite a bit now."

Su Yuan smiled sheepishly, feeling that it was better to speak more casually to non-humans.

Zhou Peiyuan patted him on the shoulder:

"I won't say much more to you today. Let's have a good talk before I leave tomorrow. There are some things I need to tell you."

After saying that, he knocked on Zhang Weiyi's door and went inside.

Su Yuan stood in the corridor, his smile still lingering. The teacher's arrival made him feel much more at ease.

But then I thought about it again, Zhou Peiyuan's special trip was probably not just for some official business!

He asked Han Zhengming directly, as if he knew something beforehand.

Su Yuan shook his head, not thinking too much about it, and returned to his office. He closed the door, took out a bronze mirror, placed it on the table, and lit it up. The old man's shadow emerged from among the other shadows again.

"That bronze jue..."

Su Yuan stared at it and muttered, "It said it took it a long time to find me. Is the path in the mezzanine very long?"

"Whether it's far or not is another matter; the key issue is the danger."

The old man's shadow's voice was very soft today:

"It traveled such a long way despite being so badly injured; it risked its life. By coming to you, it's as if it's entrusting its life to you."

Su Yuan was deeply shocked after hearing this and fell silent.

"You fixed it, and according to the rules of the interlayer, it owes you a life." The old man's shadow finished speaking, then retreated back into the pile of shadows.

"Those within the inner circle understand the rules: if someone owes you a life, you must repay it in another way. In the future, you will receive their help..."

Su Yuan put the bronze mirror away and went to the storeroom. Just as he closed the door, the cheerful voice of the bronze lord reached his ears:

"This place is so nice, it's warm, and the terracotta warrior next to me is also radiant. I really like her."

Su Yuan looked at A Wu without saying anything, only saying, "That's good."

Around 9 a.m., Han Zhengming's black sedan was still parked in the yard. Su Yuan stood at the window of the second-floor corridor and looked down. Qian Weidong's bread cart was not there; he probably went out.

The sound of a door opening came from behind her, and Lin Xi walked out of the archives room, carrying a stack of folders.

"Su Yuan, your restoration report from last week is still one page short; the dimensions of the bronze cauldron section are incomplete."

"I'll add it later..."

Lin Xi nodded, thought for a moment, and then said:

"Director Han said he'd be leaving this afternoon. He'd check the accounts this morning and then check the warehouse again this afternoon. Director Zhang asked me to prepare all the warehouse registers."

Upon hearing that the warehouse needed to be inspected, Su Yuan's heart tightened.

Which warehouse does he want to check?