Restoring cultural relics: Starting with the crying Tang Dynasty figurines

Gu Yuanhang looked at him and continued, "When this photo was taken, your grandfather, Su Shouzhou, was standing in the third position from the left in the second row."

Su Yuan held the photo closer.

See the third one from the left in the second row, a young man in a Zhongshan suit, with a thin face and a calm gaze!

Su Yuan noticed that the lines of the eyebrows and eyes on this face bore a resemblance to his father, Su Fu.

"My grandfather worked at the Ninth Division?"

"It wasn't just a place I worked there," Gu Yuanhang said. "Your grandfather was one of the founders of the Ninth Bureau."

Su Yuan was completely bewildered and stunned.

He turned to look at Zhou Peiyuan, who didn't say anything, but judging from his expression, he clearly knew about it.

"Your grandfather was a carpenter by trade, and his skills were superb. But what truly made him remarkable wasn't his carpentry skills, but his ability to see things that others couldn't."

Gu Yuanhang continued:

"In the 1950s, the province established a special department to handle cultural relic issues that could not be resolved by conventional methods."

"Your grandfather was transferred in and became one of the first core members. Later, this department underwent several adjustments and became the current Ninth Division."

"What exactly does the Ninth Division do?"

Su Yuan finally found a suitable opportunity to ask, and Gu Yuanhang looked at him and said, word by word:

"To safeguard the balance of the mezzanine."

After he finished speaking, the meeting room was silent for a few seconds.

"The interlayer isn't something that exists naturally," Gu Yuanhang said, taking a sip of water. "Under normal circumstances, the interlayer and the real world are parallel and do not interfere with each other."

"But if the interlayer gets out of control, the contents inside will seep out and affect reality."

"How will it affect us?"

"At best, the object will be destroyed and its spiritual energy will dissipate. At worst..." Gu Yuanhang paused, "You know about your father's condition, right?"

Su Yuan clenched his fist on his lap and grunted in response.

"But your grandfather held on," Gu Yuanhang continued. "He worked in the Ninth Division for over ten years, going in and out two or three times but always getting out. It's a pity he passed away so young..."

Su Yuan knew all this and didn't dwell on it any further.

"What about my great-grandfather?" Su Yuan glanced at Zhou Peiyuan, who nodded, signaling Gu Yuanhang to continue.

"Your great-grandfather, Su Demao, lived even earlier than your grandfather," Gu Yuanhang said, crossing his legs.

"The predecessor of the Ninth Bureau was an organization during the Republic of China era called the Cultural Relics Preservation Committee. Your great-grandfather was the resident restorer there."

"Back then, they called the mezzanine the 'inner world,' and people who could enter the mezzanine were called 'passersby.'"

As he spoke, Gu Yuanhang pulled out another photo from the file bag and showed it to Su Yuan.

The photo was torn at the edges and the image wasn't very clear. But Su Yuan still recognized the person in the middle of the photo at a glance—his great-grandfather.

My great-grandfather stood in the middle of a group of people, wearing an old long gown, with the same expression on his face as in the photo in front of the stone tablet!

Su Yuan placed the two photos side by side and looked at what his great-grandfather and grandfather looked like when they were young. He realized that he really looked like them when they were young.

After Su Yuan finished looking at it, he returned it to Gu Yuanhang, who put the photo back in the file folder and looked at Su Yuan, saying:

"Your ancestors, including your great-grandfather, dedicated their entire lives to guarding the mezzanine."

"Your father also wants to keep it, but he's not capable enough. Now the pressure has shifted to you... Are you willing to continue keeping it?"

After Gu Yuanhang finished speaking, he stared at Su Yuan, waiting for his reply.

Su Yuan touched the jade ring on his finger. The Spirit-Locking Bead was pressed against his skin on the inner wall of the ring, and both the bead and the ring were getting hot.

He thought of the words in his great-grandfather's letter: "The door to the hidden compartment can only be opened by Su."

"I do!"

Su Yuan spoke very seriously. Gu Yuanhang looked at him, nodded, his expression unchanged, only the light in his eyes softened a little.

"From today onwards," Gu Yuanhang stood up and extended his hand to him, "welcome to the Ninth Division."

Su Yuan was stunned for a moment and looked to Zhou Peiyuan for help.

Zhou Peiyuan laughed: "Don't be nervous, Xiao Su. I'm not asking you to transfer to the provincial capital right now. You'll stay at the renovation center."

"We'll repair cultural relics where necessary, and we won't neglect non-human matters either. Your position in the Ninth Division is just a title, but it will give you more influence in the province in the future."

Zhou Peiyuan patted Su Yuan on the shoulder:

"Director Gu will be your liaison with the Ninth Division. Just contact him if you need anything. He will also contact you regularly to keep track of the situation in the inner circle."

Without further hesitation, Su Yuan stood up and shook hands with Gu Yuanhang.

"Don't overthink it." Gu Yuanhang released his grip and sat down again. "Your task now isn't to get into the mezzanine; you need to make them form a unified whole within you."

Su Yuan knew what he meant by "them" and asked, "How are they formed?"

Gu Yuanhang said, "Just focus on repairing it. When the time comes, you'll naturally know what to do."

Su Yuan nodded.

Zhou Peiyuan glanced at his watch: "It's almost one o'clock, time to eat."

The three of them left the reception room together and walked down the corridor toward the stairwell.

As Su Yuan reached the corner, his gaze inadvertently swept across the end of the corridor, where a figure flashed past and entered the office at the end!

The silhouette of that figure seemed familiar to Su Yuan. He stopped and stared at the closed door.

"What's wrong?" Zhou Peiyuan asked.

"It's nothing," Su Yuan said, withdrawing his gaze. "I might have misread it."

But he knew he wasn't mistaken; that figure was Sun Guoliang.

Lunch was arranged at a restaurant next to the Cultural Relics Bureau.

When the three arrived at the private room, Zhao Cheng and Xiao Meng were already waiting inside. Upon seeing Gu Yuanhang, Zhao Cheng stood up and greeted him with a smile.

"Good job, Director Gu."

Gu Yuanhang nodded, said nothing more, and sat down next to Zhou Peiyuan.

The group ate and chatted, but Gu Yuanhang didn't talk much and ate very quickly, as if it were a habit he had developed over many years!

Zhao Cheng was quite relaxed, chatting with Zhou Peiyuan about provincial affairs and the personnel changes at the renovation center.

Not long after he finished eating, Gu Yuanhang's phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID, got up, and went outside to answer it.

Taking advantage of the moment, Zhao Cheng leaned close to Su Yuan's ear and whispered, "What did Gu Yuanhang say to you?"

Su Yuan glanced at him, hesitated for a moment, and said, "They asked me some questions about my grandfather..."

Zhao Cheng said "Oh" and didn't ask any further questions.

Su Yuan noticed that Zhao Cheng's gaze towards Gu Yuanhang was not just that he recognized Gu Yuanhang, but that he recognized him in a very different way!

After a while, Gu Yuanhang returned, his expression more serious than when he left.

He didn't sit down immediately. Instead, he picked up his jacket from the back of the chair and said to Zhou Peiyuan, "Something came up at the office, so I have to go now."

He walked over to Su Yuan, patted him on the shoulder, and nodded to Zhao Cheng and Xiao Meng.

Finally, Gu Yuanhang exchanged a glance with Zhou Peiyuan, opened the door, and walked out!

Zhao Cheng watched Gu Yuanhang's retreating figure, picked up a piece of food with his chopsticks, and casually said:

"Gu Yuanhang is a big shot in the province; everyone in the Ninth Division knows he's not someone to mess with."

Zhou Peiyuan calmly picked up his teacup and took a sip. Su Yuan didn't say anything, but picked up some food and ate his meal.

But she was uneasy, thinking about Sun Guoliang in the corridor!