Restoring cultural relics: Starting with the crying Tang Dynasty figurines

But where is that lock? Where did Great-Grandpa hide it?

Completely clueless, Su Yuan carefully put away the bronze mirror, locked the office door, and went downstairs. He saw that the streetlights were already on outside, and Liu Jun was scrolling through his phone in the security room.

Seeing Su Yuan come out, he quickly peeked out and whispered:

"Master Su, when you weren't in your office, that Director Sun stood outside your office door for a while this afternoon. I saw it on the security camera; he stayed for five or six minutes before leaving."

"Okay, thank you."

Su Yuan felt a slight tremor in his heart. He turned his head and saw that the light in Sun Guoliang's office on the second floor was still on. His shadow was reflected on the curtains, and he was motionless, as if he was thinking about something!

He nodded to Liu Jun and went back to his dormitory.

After washing up and lying in bed, Su Yuan placed the bronze mirror next to his pillow. Tonight, they were very quiet, and no one spoke.

I woke up in the middle of the night because I needed to pee. After I got up to use the toilet, I glanced at the bronze mirror when I came back, and the light seemed to suddenly brighten!

It quickly went dark again. Su Yuan rubbed his eyes and stared for a few seconds, but nothing happened. He thought he was seeing things...

I lay back down, still half asleep, and went back to sleep.

When Qian Weidong arrived at work the next morning, Chen Xiaohe was already waiting for him in the courtyard. Qian Weidong also came downstairs, carrying two old towels and a roll of rope.

"Let's go move the table."

Chen Xiaohe waved to him, and the three of them went to the old warehouse. Chen Xiaohe went inside, saw the crooked table, and clicked his tongue:

"Can this still be used? The leg is broken."

"It can be repaired... just replace the leg."

Chen Xiaohe slapped his forehead: "Hey, I forgot that Su Yuan loves fixing these things..."

After they finished speaking, they cleaned up the clutter piled on the table together and wrapped the table legs and the parts of the tabletop that were prone to bumping with towels.

Qian Weidong carried one end, Chen Xiaohe carried the other end, and Su Yuan helped them move towards the door from behind.

"Slow down, slow down, the door is narrow."

Chen Xiaohe watched from behind, while Qian Weidong walked backwards in front, and Su Yuan helped the two of them carry the table out of the old warehouse!

A short while later, they went up to the second floor, entered the storeroom, and placed the table near the window.

The window was on the east wall of the warehouse, forming an L-shape with the workbench on the north wall. Su Yuan placed the toolbox on the wooden table, feeling quite pleased with himself!

The desktop height is also just right, five centimeters lower than the worktable, and it's perfect for sitting on a high stool.

Chen Xiaohe and Qian Weidong helped straighten the table, and Chen Xiaohe patted the dust off his hands:

"Alright, you can handle the rest yourself. If you need a new leg, I'll find you some old wood right away."

"Thanks, Brother Chen! Thanks, Lao Qian!"

The two people left with expressions that said, "You're being too polite." Su Yuan closed the door and stood in front of the worktable, looking at it.

After the table was set up, the pattern engraved on the crossbar faced the window, and the morning sunlight from the east shone in, illuminating the words.

Su Yuan looked at the pattern again, took out a bronze mirror from his pocket, placed it on the table, and stared blankly into space…

Su Yuan didn't actually start using his great-grandfather's workbench until three days after it was moved into the storeroom.

A couple of days ago, during his free time, he carefully cleaned the tabletop. He didn't bother to repair the small pits, scratches, or heat marks on the nanmu wood surface.

Those are traces left by my great-grandfather. Just wipe off the dust; there's no need to erase them!

He spent the entire morning repairing his broken leg, though.

Chen Xiaohe found an old piece of nanmu wood in the old warehouse, about the same age as the tabletop.

Su Yuan sawed a section off the original leg, compared it to the original leg's dimensions, and joined it using mortise and tenon joints, then sanded it to give it an aged look.

The aging solution was applied twice. After the color was absorbed, the newly grafted leg was indistinguishable from the original three legs!

"This skill... is truly exceptional."

When Chen Xiaohe was inspecting the warehouse, he glanced at Su Yuan but didn't bother him. He left after saying this.

After Su Yuan fixed his leg, he moved the table back. Now, the warehouse, which was already spacious, looked even more like a proper restoration workshop.

He sat there to savor the moment, placing the bronze mirror on the table. Zhong Ming remained silent today, but the short, stout figure spoke:

"The moment this table was moved in, the atmosphere in this warehouse felt much better."

Little Jue has been talking less lately and often sleeps during the day, while the Buddha statue beside him responds with "uh-huhs".

Su Yuan stared at it and asked, "Old man, what is your surname...?"

"Hehehe, my surname is Miao, Miao Deyu. Your great-grandfather used to call me Old Miao..."

Su Yuan thought to himself, "These bronze mirrors all depict people from my great-grandfather's generation and earlier, all my elders..."

"How did you get in there?"

"Me?" Miao Deyu thought back:

"I remember when I first left this world, I somehow ended up in a mezzanine. There was an evil creature inside that wanted to eat me, but luckily I met Miss A-Wu, who took me in..."

Su Yuan really wanted to ask about his great-grandfather and the whereabouts of his ancestors.

He hesitated for a few seconds but still didn't dare to ask...

Looking at his phone, it was past 2 PM. Su Yuan hurriedly went to the cafeteria and ate a bowl of noodles. On his way back, he was thinking about some of his great-grandfather's past. On the way up to the second floor, he ran into Sun Guoliang in the corridor.

He asked quite politely:

"Su Yuan, are you free this afternoon? I'd like to see your restoration files from the past few months, is that alright?"

"Okay, please wait a moment, I'll go get it right away."

Su Yuan returned to his office and took out a thick stack of repair reports from his drawer.

These reports were compiled with Lin Xi's help, and every cultural relic he repaired is recorded.

Tang Dynasty figurines, ancient zithers, bronze wine vessels, bronze Buddha statues, etc., all have dates, techniques, and materials used, all clearly written down.

He took the report to Sun Guoliang's office.

Sun Guoliang took the file folder, but instead of opening it immediately, he pointed to the sofa:

"Please sit down."

Su Yuan sat down, feeling somewhat uneasy and troubled.

Behind the writing desk, Sun Guoliang opened the file folder, took out the reports one by one, and arranged them in chronological order.

He read very slowly and carefully, turning to every page, and even pausing to take a second look at some parts!

Su Yuan noticed that he paused for quite a long time on the page about the bronze cauldron.

"This bronze tripod..." Sun Guoliang held up the file and looked at Su Yuan: "Did you use the soldering method?"

"right."

"That's right. I've heard some older people talk about the Su family's soldering skills."

Sun Guoliang put down the report, picked up another one, and said:

"And these Song Dynasty paintings, the silk paintings with colors, the patching, backing, and aging—did you do all of that yourself?"

"yes!"

Sun Guoliang stared at the file, nodded, put the report back into the file folder, sealed it, and handed it back to Su Yuan.

"Alright, I was just checking if the procedure was correct. Everything's fine, you can take it back."

Su Yuan stood up and took the file folder. Sun Guoliang casually added:

"I've heard that your great-grandfather, Su Demao, was famous far and wide for this craft back in the province!"

Su Yuan looked at him, unconsciously tightening her grip on the file, and waited for him to continue without saying a word.

Sun Guoliang leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms over his stomach, glanced at Su Yuan, and said in a chatty tone:

"I've heard quite a bit about him, besides his repair skills, there are other things about him, if you're interested..."

"Shall we talk sometime another day?"