Restoring cultural relics: Starting with the crying Tang Dynasty figurines

Su Yuan tried his best to pry and pry, but it still didn't work. He couldn't help but complain, "This thing... it's really hard to deal with!"

Su Yuan sat on the ground, panting, staring at the seam for a while, when he suddenly remembered the key.

I also realized that since my great-grandfather left the key, this cover couldn't possibly be pried open by brute force!

Unless it is violently destroyed.

Su Yuan took the brass key out of his backpack and used the tip of the key to probe around the seam.

When he reached the lower right corner of the cover, the tip of the key touched a small hole blocked by mortar. He used a screwdriver to pry out the mortar from the hole, cleaned it, and then inserted the key.

That's perfect now, it fits perfectly!

Su Yuan gently twisted it, but nothing happened. He then tried twisting it in the opposite direction.

"Click"

With a soft click, something inside seemed to loosen, and the cover fell off the stone lion, startling Su Yuan who quickly caught it!

He set the cover aside and reached into the stone lion's belly to feel around. The space inside wasn't large, only slightly larger than a palm.

I touched a metal object inside; it felt smaller than my fist and quite heavy.

Su Yuan quickly took it out and saw that it was a copper lock!

The square lock has a layer of oxidized green rust on its surface.

Its shape is also very special. It is not a common old-fashioned copper lock, which is long and narrow. This is a cube with patterns engraved on all six sides.

Su Yuan examined it carefully.

The lock has the character "苏" engraved on the front and a circular pattern engraved on the back.

The pattern on the crossbar of my great-grandfather's worktable, and the old piece of paper that Qian Weidong found, are exactly the same!

The top of the lock has a keyhole, the shape of which perfectly matches the teeth of the brass key.

Su Yuan hurriedly inserted the key and tried to turn the lock beam, but it didn't budge.

He thought about it and decided not to try opening it again on the spot. This wasn't a safe place; the ancestral graves were exposed on the mountain, and it would be troublesome if someone saw them.

My phone vibrated; it was a message from an unknown number: "Did you pick up the item?"

Su Yuan's mind went blank for a moment. He looked around and saw no one, so he didn't have time to think too much.

Wrap the lock tightly in a cloth and put it in the innermost layer of the backpack!

The cover plate was then put back on the lion's belly to restore its position, and the fallen mortar debris was moistened with purified water and then filled back into the joint.

Although it's not quite the same as the original, you can't tell it's been tampered with unless you look closely.

He stood up and bowed deeply to the tombstone of the Su family ancestral grave!

"Great-Grandpa, I've got the things." Su Yuan thought to himself, "Don't worry, I won't let anything belonging to the Su family fall into the hands of outsiders."

A mountain breeze blew by, and the cypress branches swayed as if in response to him.

Su Yuan didn't waste any more time. He turned around and went down the stone steps, returning much faster than he had come.

When Su Yuan got home, it was still dark.

Liu Xiuyun was collecting the quilts that were drying in the yard when she saw him come in, and her gaze lingered on him for a moment!

He didn't ask about his trip to the back mountain, but simply said, "Yuan'er, quickly wash your hands, dinner will be ready soon."

Su Yuan responded, went inside, put his backpack on the sofa, and went to the kitchen to wash his hands.

Dinner was simple: millet porridge, a plate of stir-fried greens, a plate of pickled radish, and a scallion pancake.

Liu Xiuyun sat opposite him, served him porridge, and didn't eat much herself, just watched him eat.

"Mom, why aren't you eating? Where's Dad?"

"I'm not hungry." Her mother smiled. "You should eat more. You can't get this kind of food in the city. Your father has already eaten some."

Su Yuan hummed in agreement and lowered his head to drink his porridge. His mother's porridge tasted better than the porridge he got at work.

After dinner, Su Yuan helped Liu Xiuyun clear the dishes and then watched TV with Su Fu in the living room for a while.

Su Fu was very quiet tonight, sitting on the sofa holding the porcelain cat, his eyes fixed on the TV screen, his gaze unfocused, not knowing what he was looking at!

Around nine o'clock, her mother said, "Yuan'er, go to bed early. You haven't had a good rest today."

Su Yuan nodded, went to the bathroom to wash up, and entered his old room. The room wasn't big, and posters he had bought when he was in school were still on the walls.

The edges were all curled up. Liu Xiuyun would come and clean it every now and then. The sheets were clean and the quilt even smelled of sunshine!

Su Yuan closed the door, put the toolbox on the table, opened his backpack, first placed the bronze mirror next to the pillow, and then took the bronze lock out of the cloth bag.

Anxin carefully examined the cube-shaped copper lock; each side was about seven centimeters long.

It has six sides, each with a different design. The front has the character "Su", the back has the circular pattern, the left side has a cloud pattern, and the right side has a water ripple pattern.

The top surface is a keyhole, and the bottom surface is plain and unadorned, except for a small indentation the size of a grain of rice in the very center.

Su Yuan examined the lock from all angles, and the more he looked at it, the more unusual it seemed.

This is not a lock you can find on the market. My great-grandfather made it himself, from the ratio of copper to the carving of patterns, it was all done by hand!

Every surface of the lock was polished very smoothly. Although it had developed a layer of green rust, it felt delicate to the touch, without a single burr.

He took out the key and carefully inserted it into the keyhole.

I heard a click, and it reached the bottom.

Su Yuan first gently twisted the lock beam, but it didn't move. Then he twisted it evenly in the opposite direction.

"Click"

The lock beam popped out and was unlocked!

"It's that simple?"

Su Yuan was stunned for a moment in disbelief, then quickly pulled out the lock beam, revealing the internal structure of the lock body.

He leaned closer to examine it closely and discovered that the lock body did not contain an ordinary pin tumbler mechanism, but rather an extremely ingenious device.

After the key is inserted, instead of turning the pins, a gear set is rotated. The gears drive a slider, which pushes open the latch of the lock beam.

Although Su Yuan wasn't a locksmith, he had studied locksmithing!

Having also repaired so many cultural relics through practice, he also has a certain understanding of mechanical structures, so he can tell at a glance.

The craftsmanship of this gear set doesn't seem to be at the level of the Republic of China era; it's more like an ancient technique that I feel I've seen somewhere before, but I can't quite place it.

He closed the lock again, pulled out the key, and put it back in to turn it once more.

It wasn't opened this time!

Su Yuan frowned and tried again, but it still wouldn't turn on, making him feel uneasy.

"It was open just now, why isn't it open now?"

Su Yuan muttered to himself as he brought the lock closer to the lamp for a closer look, only to discover a tiny protrusion next to the keyhole!

Like a small bead, it will dent when pressed and bounce back when released.

He tried again, pressing the bead, inserting the key, and turning it; the lock opened. He released the bead, removed the key, and inserted it again, but it wouldn't open.

Su Yuan understood!

This lock requires a key and a "token" to open.

The bead is a device for sensing the token. The small jade piece left by my great-grandfather was probably used to press this bead.

Su Yuan took out the jade piece, about the size of a fingernail, from the cloth bag, pressed it against the bead, inserted the key, and turned it to open it.

I tried opening it without the jade piece and it worked.

Does this mean the lock senses not the jade piece itself, but the aura emanating from the jade ring? The jade piece and the jade ring are made of the same type of jade and carry the same spirituality.

The jade ring on my finger was locked when I pressed it!