Restoring cultural relics: Starting with the crying Tang Dynasty figurines

Su Yuan returned to his office, closed the door, and sat in his chair for more than half an hour, unable to figure anything out. He didn't go to the cafeteria for lunch either.

Around 2 PM, someone knocked on his dorm room door. It was Zhao Cheng standing there, holding a folder in his hand.

"Would it be convenient to chat for a bit?"

Su Yuan hummed in agreement. Zhao Cheng walked in and sat diagonally at the table opposite him. He opened a folder and pushed it towards Su Yuan, saying:

"Here's the CCTV footage from last night, take a look."

Su Yuan looked down at the printed surveillance screenshots, one by one, with timestamps from 23:00 PM last night to 05:00 AM this morning.

From 23:00 to 01:00, everything was normal.

Su Yuan was stunned when he saw the picture at 02:00. There was a person standing in the middle of the warehouse in that picture!

They were facing away from the camera, so their faces were obscured; only their outlines were visible. They were wearing the same work uniforms as the others!

At 02:06, that person took a few steps forward.

At 02:12, that person was standing in front of the innermost row of shelves.

At 02:22, from the moment that person turned around, the screen became filled with static, and nothing could be seen!

Things didn't return to normal until 05:00 AM, but that person was long gone. Su Yuan stared at the snowflake picture for a long time, then he looked up at Zhao Cheng:

"What is this?"

Zhao Cheng looked at Su Yuan with a scrutinizing expression:

"I wanted to ask you that too."

Su Yuan didn't understand:

"Ask me?"

Where were you between 02:00 AM and 05:00 AM?

"Of course I sleep in the dorm."

"Can anyone prove this?"

"I…"

Su Yuan was speechless. He lived alone in the dormitory, and no one could vouch for him. Zhao Cheng stared at him for a few seconds, then closed the folder and asked again:

"Do you know what that pattern on the left sleeve of that figurine means?"

Su Yuan blurted out instinctively:

"The way home."

"Who told you that?"

Su Yuan didn't speak. Zhao Cheng stood up, walked to the window, and turned his back to him.

"When that figurine was unearthed, something else was found next to the epitaph..."

Su Yuan hurriedly asked:

"What is it?"

"A bronze mirror! And four characters are engraved on the back..."

He turned and looked at Su Yuan:

"The Seal of Su Yuan!"

Su Yuan was completely dumbfounded. What? Zhao Cheng's expression remained unchanged. Su Yuan reacted and asked him:

"Where is that bronze mirror now?"

"The mirror in the safe in the higher-level unit is from the same era as that figurine, the Tang Xuanzong period."

After hearing what he said, Su Yuan's mind went blank. How could his name be on an official seal from the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang?

Do you understand what this means?

Zhao Cheng asked Su Yuan, and seeing him shake his head, he added another sentence:

"You might be the one she's been waiting for."

Upon hearing this, Su Yuan stood there, his mind blank. How could he possibly be the person she had waited for for thirteen hundred years?

"But that's impossible. I'm only twenty-four years old, and she's from thirteen hundred years ago..."

Before Su Yuan could finish speaking, Zhao Cheng interrupted him:

"I know you don't believe it, and I don't believe it either!"

He stood up and tucked the folder under his arm:

"But the person in last night's surveillance footage, whose figure is practically identical to yours, and the pattern on the left sleeve of that terracotta figure moved to the right overnight—it was her who spoke to you, right?"

He glanced back at Su Yuan as he reached the door:

"Think about it yourself..."

After the door closed, Su Yuan remained standing there motionless. After a long time, he took out his phone and called his mother. The phone rang three times before she answered.

"Hey, Yuan'er?"

His mother's voice was still the same, tinged with a hint of surprise:

"Why are you calling at this hour? Is something wrong?"

Su Yuanzhang wanted to ask where his family's ancestors came from, whether any old objects had been passed down, and whether there were any strange things.

But after thinking about it, he didn't ask, and only said:

"It's nothing... I just wanted to hear your voice."

The voice on the other end of the phone changed; it sounded a little nervous as it asked:

"What's wrong, Yuan'er? What happened? Is something wrong at work? Or is someone bullying you?"

"No…"

"Then why are you suddenly calling to say this?"

Su Yuan thought for a moment:

"I just... suddenly missed you."

I heard his mother laugh on the other end of the phone:

"What's wrong with this kid today? Alright, if you miss me, just call me more often, don't keep it bottled up!"

"Um."

After hanging up the phone, Su Yuan sat down in a chair until the sun outside the window was already setting in the west. He stood up and walked outside, the slanting light through the window casting a long shadow on him!

Su Yuan walked to the first floor in a daze and stood next to Old Wu, who still didn't look up.

"What's up?"

"Uncle Wu, I have something to ask you."

"explain."

Do you know Zhao Cheng?

Su Yuan sat down next to Lao Wu, and Lao Wu paused for a moment while flipping through the newspaper:

"The one from upstairs?"

"Um."

Old Wu silently put down the newspaper.

"know…"

"So who is he?"

"Haven't you already seen it?"

Seeing that Su Yuan didn't speak, Old Wu asked:

"Did he tell you about that bronze mirror too?"

Su Yuan nodded, and Old Wu sighed:

"I've seen that mirror before."

"More than 20 years ago, when Zhou Peiyuan was still alive, that mirror was in our warehouse. Later, after the incident, people from higher up came and took the mirror away."

"What happened?"

"More than 20 years ago, there was a young man surnamed Su who came to work here after getting married for less than two years."

Old Wu's words made Su Yuan's heart tighten again, thinking:

"Why is it the surname Su again? Could it be...?"

Old Wu continued:

"He touched the terracotta figure, and then he started dreaming."

"dream?"

"I dreamt of things that happened 1,300 years ago."

Old Wu looked at him meaningfully:

"He dreamed of a palace maid named Su Awu, and dreamed of how she entered the palace, how she endured twenty years of palace life, and how she died."

"And then?"

"He went mad eighteen years ago."

Su Yuan listened with his mouth agape:

"Are you crazy?"

"It's not that he's really crazy, it's that he can't tell whether he's a person from now or a person from 1,300 years ago."

He looked at Su Yuan, his gaze becoming much more complex:

"He kept saying someone was waiting for him, that the palace maid was waiting for him, and that he had to go back!"

Su Yuan wanted to ask if it was..., but Old Wu got up, took two steps outside, and stopped.

"That person's surname is Su, and his name is Su Fu..."

He glanced back at Su Yuan:

"That's your dad."

Su Yuan stood there, stunned, and sure enough…

Old Wu had already walked out the door, leaving him all alone in the hall!

As she watched her hands tremble violently, fragmented images of her childhood flashed through her mind: her father, her mother's enigmatic gaze, and A-Wu's words…

Someone was waiting... Was it his father, or him? He looked up towards the warehouse.

—I need to find an opportunity to ask her!

Su Yuan sat on the bench in the hall for a long time, his mind a jumbled mess.

From childhood to adulthood, I only remember seeing my father before I was five or six years old, and I haven't seen him since. I've asked my mother countless times, but I have no answer!

Over time, he stopped asking.

By the time he came to his senses, it was completely dark, with only the light from the streetlights shining in from outside. Old Wu had somehow returned to sit beside him, saying nothing, just smoking.

Su Yuan said in a hoarse voice:

"Uncle Wu..."

"Um?"

"Where is my dad now?"