Restoring cultural relics: Starting with the crying Tang Dynasty figurines

Chen Xiaohe closed the door, his face full of worry, and said, "Su, that Sun Guoliang wants to see you now."

Su Yuan's heart skipped a beat: "Why do you want to see me?"

Chen Xiaohe looked completely innocent.

"They said they wanted to get to know about your work situation. Director Zhang will be with you. They asked me to come and get you, Su. Your time to be tested has come!"

Su Yuan quickly thought of a solution in his mind and followed Chen Xiaohe out of the warehouse.

Zhang Weiyi's office door was open, and Su Yuan walked in and saw a middle-aged man in his late thirties sitting on the sofa.

He was wearing a blue jacket, his hair was neatly combed, he wore gold-rimmed glasses, and his expression was very serious!

Zhang Weiyi was sitting behind his desk, holding a teacup. When he saw Su Yuan come in, he quickly nodded and introduced him:

"Xiao Su, this is Sun Guoliang, Director Sun, who was sent by the higher-ups to assist with the work."

Sun Guoliang stood up, extended his hand, and said with a forced smile, "Su Yuan? I've heard so much about you. Director Han mentioned you to me, saying you're a descendant of the Su family and your skills are excellent!"

Su Yuan had no choice but to shake his hand. The moment his hand touched his palm, the jade ring suddenly felt cold.

He pretended not to notice, withdrew his hand, and said, "Hello, Director Sun."

Sun Guoliang smiled, sat down, took out a notebook from his briefcase, opened it, and said to Su Yuan:

"I'll just ask a few simple questions first. I hope it won't interfere with your work?"

Zhang Weiyi coughed and said, "Xiao Su, please sit down. Don't stand."

Su Yuanyi sat down on another sofa as instructed, and Sun Guoliang then asked:

"How long have you been at the repair center?"

"It's almost seven months."

How many cultural relics were repaired during that period?

There are more than a dozen items.

After Sun Guoliang finished writing in his notebook, he stared at him and said, "I heard that when you're restoring cultural relics, you like to be alone and sometimes talk to yourself?"

Su Yuan's heart tightened upon hearing this, but he didn't show it on his face. He took a deep breath and replied:

"It's a habit. When I get bored while working, I talk to myself. It doesn't affect the repair."

Sun Guoliang squinted at him for two seconds, then smiled:

"That's normal. I sometimes mutter a few words when I'm fixing things."

He finished writing, closed the notebook, and said, "Okay, that's enough for today. We'll have plenty of time to talk later."

Su Yuan stood up, and Sun Guoliang also stood up, extending his hand to him: "Su Yuan, we're colleagues from now on. Feel free to contact me anytime if you need anything."

Su Yuan had no choice but to shake hands with him again. This time, the jade ring was even colder, like holding a block of ice!

He left his office and stood in the corridor for a while, looking at the jade ring on his hand. The temperature was slowly returning, but the chill still made him feel uneasy.

Chen Xiaohe came over from the side, patted his arm, and asked softly, "Are you alright? What did he say?"

"It's nothing. They just asked me how long I'd been here, how many things I'd fixed, and whether I was talking to myself while I was working."

Chen Xiaohe frowned: "He even asked that? What does that mean?"

Su Yuanqian chuckled twice without answering, and walked towards the warehouse. When he reached the door, he heard the bronze Buddha statue and Xiao Jue talking inside.

"Brother Buddha, you said that the new guy also smells?" Xiao Jue asked.

"Yes, I can smell it from far away even before I see it. It's the same as that guy surnamed Han; they both keep unclean things."

After listening to the bronze Buddha statue finish speaking, Su Yuan pushed open the door and went in, and both voices stopped at the same time.

"You two can continue, I heard everything."

Su Yuan approached, and the bronze Buddha statue hesitated for a moment before saying, "Master Su, the creature that person keeps looks very similar to Han Zhengming's. You must be very careful!"

"Yes, there's not much we can do to help here..."

Xiao Jue sounded a little dejected, but Su Yuan smiled and said, "It's okay."

He walked up to Awu, gently touched the cuff of the terracotta figurine with his finger, and whispered:

"I'll be careful..."

A week has passed since Sun Guoliang arrived, and Su Yuan feels that life is even more awkward than when Han Zhengming was here!

Han Zhengming at least managed a smile; whether it was genuine or not, at least he maintained a semblance of politeness.

Sun Guoliang never smiles; he always has that stern face, and everyone looks to him as if they owe him tens of thousands of yuan.

He stayed at the guesthouse next to his workplace and would appear in the canteen at 7:30 every morning, usually with a bowl of millet porridge, two steamed buns, and a plate of pickled vegetables.

After finishing our meal, we went back upstairs to the second floor and entered the office next to Zhang Weiyi's that had been vacated.

Su Yuan hadn't taken on any new repair tasks this week, thinking he could finally relax and slack off. However, that evening, as he was heading back to his dorm, about a hundred meters from his workplace, a gust of cold wind swept by, followed by a voice calling out:

"Master Su..."

The sound was eerie. He turned around and saw a small ball of phosphorescent light, its blue glow startling Su Yuan. He stammered, "..."

"Who...who are you...?"

The eerie, ghostly voice said:

"Master Su, please help me fix my leg bone. I'm in a cemetery about three miles away, and my leg bone was fractured by a falling rock..."

Su Yuan felt a chill run down his spine and broke out in a cold sweat. He wanted to say no, but he was scared!

"I...I..."

"Master Su, please help me. If you can repair these things, you can definitely help me fix my leg bone. I'm in so much pain, I can't sleep peacefully..."

"I have never harmed anyone in my life, and I have not frightened anyone in the afterlife..."

Upon hearing its pitiful state, and realizing it didn't seem like a bad "person," Su Yuan's pity overcame his fear, and he asked it tremblingly:

"Okay... Where exactly are you located? Can I come tomorrow during the day? It's kind of scary at night..."

The phosphorescent light was silent for a moment, then said softly:

"During the day... I dare not go out during the day, the sun will burn me to ashes. Master Su... please, come tonight, I'm in so much pain."

Su Yuan gritted his teeth and was about to agree when a voice suddenly shouted from behind him, "Su Yuan! Don't go!"

It was Chen Xiaohe who knew something was wrong when he saw Su Yuan standing there gesturing something during his patrol.

"Are you out of your mind?"

Chen Xiaohe grabbed Su Yuan's arm, his voice trembling slightly, and said, "When did you start taking on this kind of work? You dare touch dead people's bones!"

"It says it hurts..."

"Does it hurt?" Chen Xiaohe mustered his courage and glared at the phosphorescent flame, then anxiously asked Su Yuan:

"Do you think you're an orthopedic surgeon? You're repairing objects, not human remains! What if you touch something you shouldn't? Who's responsible if something goes wrong?"

The phosphorescent flame, trembling and its eerie blue light flickering, spoke with a mournful tone:

"I didn't mean to hurt Master Su... I just... it just hurts so much..."

"I was awake when that rock hit me, and I just watched my leg bone crack... The pain was indescribable to anyone who's alive..."

Su Yuan felt a pang in his heart upon hearing this!

He realized that the porcelain pillow-wearing young nobleman was the same, and he no longer hesitated:

"Wow!"

Chen Xiaohe's scalp tingled with anxiety: "Su Yuan!"

"Brother Chen, you're coming with me too."

"What?!"

Chen Xiaohe looked at him with a troubled and questioning expression, and finally followed Su Yuan back to the dormitory to get the tool bag while cursing.

A small hammer and bone file, adhesive and a few thin copper wires, along with raw lacquer and linen that he had never used to work bones before…