Restoring cultural relics: Starting with the crying Tang Dynasty figurines

After saying that, he opened the door and left. Around 3 p.m., Su Yuan was repairing a damaged base of a Ming Dynasty wooden carving in the warehouse when his phone vibrated.

He put down his carving knife, took out his phone, and saw a message from Zhou Peiyuan:

"Xiao Su, I've made a slight change. I've booked your train ticket for Monday morning. Come to my place at noon, and I'll take you to meet someone in the afternoon."

"I've sent the detailed arrangements to your email."

Su Yuan replied with "Okay" and put his phone back in his pocket.

"Master Su, are you going to the provincial capital?"

Xiao Jue's voice came from the shelf. Su Yuan smiled and nodded. The stone lion head asked in a muffled voice beside him:

"If Master Su goes to the provincial capital, how will we chat?"

Little Jue rolled his eyes at it: "You've only been here a few days? You've lived in the grass for decades and never suffocated."

"That's different."

The stone lion head said, "Nobody paid attention to me back then, but now that people are paying attention to me, I want to chat."

Listening to their bickering, Su Yuan smiled to himself: "Talk to Xiao Jue, or have it take you out to play sometime..."

"It? It's fierce..."

"Who was being mean..."

Su Yuan listened to their commotion while repairing the base with a smile, finding it a very pleasant experience.

As Su Yuan was packing up his toolbox and going to the sink to wash his hands near the end of the workday, he heard footsteps in the hallway.

When he came out carrying his toolbox, he saw Sun Guoliang standing in the corridor!

"Su Yuan."

Sun Guoliang walked towards him with a water glass in his hand and asked, "Are you done with your work?"

"Um."

Sun Guoliang nodded, leaned against the windowsill in the corridor, and took a sip of water. As if preparing something, he spoke after a few seconds:

"Tomorrow's the weekend, do you have any plans?"

Su Yuan became alert, but didn't show it on his face: "It's nothing serious, I might work half a day overtime to finish up a few small tasks."

"That's perfect."

Sun Guoliang said, "If you're free tomorrow afternoon, how about we chat? About what we talked about last time, about your great-grandfather."

Su Yuan looked at him.

Sun Guoliang's expression and tone were very casual, as if he were inviting a colleague for tea.

But Su Yuan noticed that he gripped the water glass with a bit more force!

"Okay." Su Yuan thought to himself that they would have to talk sooner or later, and asked, "What time?"

"How about three o'clock? Come to my office."

"it is good."

Sun Guoliang nodded in satisfaction and left. Su Yuan watched his retreating figure with a pounding heart. He then returned to the storeroom, closed the door, and took out the bronze mirror.

"Did you all hear that?"

"I heard you."

Zhong Ming's voice was grave as he spoke first: "It looks like he's going to make his move tomorrow!"

"Make a move?"

Su Yuan frowned and asked, "Wasn't he just going to chat?"

"They're just pretending to chat; they're really just trying to get information out of each other."

Zhong Ming said, "When you go tomorrow, remember not to bring up the jade ring or anything about Miss A-Wu. Let's leave it at that for now!"

Su Yuan nodded, keeping these words in mind.

He walked up to Awu and reached out to touch the cuff of the terracotta figurine. The jade ring warmed up a little, as if someone was holding his hand.

"I have to see him tomorrow, could you keep an eye on things for me...?"

Su Yuan muttered to himself, and the light in the bronze mirror flickered. He smiled, put the mirror away, locked the storeroom door, and went downstairs.

There weren't many people in the cafeteria for dinner. Chef Li Xiulan made sauerkraut fish tonight. Su Yuan took a bowl and a serving of rice and sat down opposite Chen Xiaohe.

Chen Xiaohe ate pickled fish, spitting out fish bones all over the table. Seeing Su Yuan sit down, he quickly wiped the bones with a tissue and asked softly:

"Sun Guoliang wants to talk to you tomorrow?"

"Um"

Chen Xiaohe asked curiously, "What exactly happened to your great-grandfather that made them go through all that trouble?"

Su Yuan ate and thought for a moment, then said:

"I'm not too sure either. Maybe he's just an old craftsman who used to be somewhat famous in the province."

Chen Xiaohe looked at his expression, scoffed, and didn't ask any more questions.

After finishing his meal, Su Yuan didn't go back to his office; instead, he left the company and headed straight for his dormitory.

He called his mother on the way:

"Mom, I'm going to a meeting in the provincial capital next week. I'll leave on Monday and come back on Wednesday. Let me know to Dad."

"Okay, be careful on the road."

The sound of a television came from the other end of the phone: "Your dad and I are doing fine. We were talking about you yesterday, saying we miss you."

Su Yuan felt a pang of sadness for no reason: "I'll go back and see you when I have time."

After hanging up the phone, Su Yuan returned to his dormitory, washed up, placed the bronze mirror next to his pillow, and lay down on his bed.

"Can I manage tomorrow?"

Su Yuan stared at the ceiling and muttered to himself, as the sound of a bell tolling came from beside his pillow:

"Yes, you are better than your great-grandfather. He wasn't as calm as you back then."

Su Yuan smiled and closed his eyes.

The next morning, Su Yuan woke up naturally.

He glanced at his phone; it was 8:30. He'd slept in late, a rare occurrence, and his mind was much clearer than usual!

After washing up, I went downstairs and bought two steamed buns and a cup of soy milk from a roadside shop. I ate them as I walked to work.

The workplace was quieter than usual today, being the weekend. Only two cars were parked in the yard: Qian Weidong's bread truck and Sun Guoliang's silver-gray sedan.

Su Yuan finished the remaining half of the steamed bun, drank the rest of the soy milk, threw the bag in the trash can, and went to the office!

After tidying up, he went to the warehouse. He had been working absentmindedly this morning.

He repaired a piece of Han Dynasty pottery twice, but he still felt it wasn't right. He was only barely satisfied on the third attempt.

Xiao Jue didn't speak today, and his reflection in the bronze mirror was also very quiet, giving him enough space to think.

Su Yuan ate a bowl of instant noodles for lunch and then dozed off for half an hour while leaning back in his office chair.

At 2:50, he washed his face, put the bronze mirror in his pocket, and knocked on Sun Guoliang's office door!

Hearing the knock on the door, Sun Guoliang looked at Su Yuan from behind his desk:

"You're here? Come in and have a seat." Su Yuan went in and sat down on the sofa. Sun Guoliang closed the file, took a sip of water, leaned back in his chair, and stared at Su Yuan without saying a word.

That gaze reminded Su Yuan of how he felt when he first met him!

Feeling like he was being watched, he felt uneasy from head to toe. Then, Sun Guoliang coughed lightly.

"Xiao Su, don't be nervous, I just want to chat with you for a bit."

Su Yuan nodded without saying anything.

Sun Guoliang picked up the file folder on the table, pulled out an old photo from it, and pushed it to the center of the table.

"Take a look at this."

Su Yuan stood up and went to the table to look at the photo, which seemed to be an old photo from the Republican era.

The yellowed photo is quite brittle, with many creases all over it, indicating that it has been taken out and looked at countless times!

In the black and white image, there is a middle-aged man standing in front of a stone tablet, holding an old-fashioned putty knife in his hand and wearing a traditional Chinese jacket.

Su Yuan certainly recognized the stone tablet!

It's the one he just repaired.

Looking at the middle-aged man's face in the photo, it was a bit white from the sunlight, but his facial features were still somewhat recognizable.

He has a square face, thick eyebrows, bright eyes, and slightly pursed lips, conveying a serious and persistent expression.

Do you recognize him?

Sun Guoliang asked a question.

Su Yuan stared at that face, his heart racing, the bronze mirror in his pocket felt warm, and the jade ring on his finger also heated up!

He realized that this was a photo of his great-grandfather at work, restoring a stone tablet. Although he had never met him in person, he felt a sense of closeness when he saw the photo of his great-grandfather!

"This is...my great-grandfather?"