Restoring cultural relics: Starting with the crying Tang Dynasty figurines

Su Yuan put the bronze mirror back in his pocket, leaned back in his chair, and stared at the ceiling for a long time.

"There are only a few days left until the end of the month."

He took out his phone, flipped through the calendar, tapped the box next Wednesday, and set a memo.

There was a knock on the door, and Lin Xijin came in with a folder in his hand, walked to Su Yuan's desk and put it down.

"I've finished writing the restoration file for Su Wu's private seal. Take a look at it, and if there are no problems, I'll file it."

As Lin Xi spoke, her gaze fell on Su Yuan's face, a look of heartache on her face:

"Su Yuan, you don't look well. Haven't you been resting well?"

Su Yuan stammered and smiled, "It's nothing..."

Lin Xi smiled at his expression: "Take a look first, sign it after you're done, and then I'm leaving."

"Um."

Su Yuan flipped through the restoration file. Lin Xi had written it very carefully, recording the restoration steps, materials used, and the current state of the artifacts very clearly.

He finished reading, signed his name on the last page, closed the folder, and put it aside.

Around 4 PM, Su Yuan came out of the office, put the files on Lin Xi's desk, and then went to the storeroom.

The clay mold of the Tang Dynasty stone Buddha statue was still covered under a damp cloth. He lifted a corner to take a look. The surface was dry, but the inside was still soft. He would have to wait a little longer.

Xiao Jue's voice came from the shelf: "Master Su, the base is on now, it's much more comfortable for me to stand."

"That's good." Su Yuan smiled.

Su Yuan stayed in the warehouse for a while, covered the clay mold again, and looked at the Awu terracotta figurines and other items.

Xiao Jue swayed back and forth: "Master Su, did you run into some trouble on your trip to the provincial capital?"

Su Yuan was taken aback: "Why do you ask that?"

"I guess it's just a feeling."

Xiao Jue's voice swayed: "After you came back this time, your work was still as steady as ever, but I felt that your aura was a bit off, a little heavier than before."

Su Yuan didn't reply and closed the toolbox.

The bronze Buddha statue's voice came from the shelf: "The interlayer is going to be unstable."

Su Yuan turned his head to look at the bronze Buddha statue.

It doesn't talk much usually and mostly stands quietly on the shelf. Now that it suddenly speaks, Su Yuan can't help but listen attentively.

"Can you feel the difference in the interlayer?" Su Yuan asked.

"It's not a feeling."

The bronze Buddha statue's voice slowly said, "Yes, it can be heard. There's something moving in the interlayer, and it's making quite a commotion."

The stone lion head on the baluster also chimed in in a muffled voice, "It's that wall that's cracked, isn't it?"

Su Yuan's heart skipped a beat: "How did you know?"

Stone Lion Head said, "The wind seeps out from the cracks in the wall in the interlayer, and it blows here very weakly, but we can feel it."

Su Yuan listened without saying anything, took the bronze mirror out of his pocket, and placed it on his great-grandfather's workbench.

Ah Wu's light flickered lively inside, and Zhong Ming's shadow drifted out, his voice quite serious.

"They're right. We felt it in the bronze mirror last night too, but we didn't tell you because we were afraid you wouldn't sleep well."

Su Yuan frowned after hearing Zhong Ming's words: "Mr. Zhong, in the future, you can just tell me about these kinds of things directly."

Zhong Ming glanced at him and nodded.

Miao Deyu's voice came from the mirror, tinged with worry:

"Young man from the Su family, you'd better hurry up and get that wall done."

"This isn't to rush you, but if that wall can't hold up and the stuff in the interlayer comes out, it will hit your repair center first."

Su Yuan hummed in agreement, put the bronze mirror back into his pocket, picked up his toolbox, and left the storeroom.

The corridor was quiet, and the setting sun shone through the west-facing windows, accentuating the somber atmosphere.

Su Yuan walked to his office door, pushed it open, put down his toolbox, sat back in his chair, and his phone vibrated.

The message came from Zhou Peiyuan and contained only one sentence: "The fluctuation value of the fissure in the east has risen to 8.6 percent."

Su Yuan stared at the number for a few seconds.

Yesterday it was 8%, but overnight it jumped by 0.6%! At this rate, it won't be long before it breaks through the 10% warning line!

Just as he was about to reply to the message, his phone vibrated again; this time it was Zhang Weiyi calling.

"Xiao Su, come to my office."

Su Yuan stood up, grabbed his phone, and went out. Zhang Weiyi's office door was open; Su Yuan knocked twice on the doorframe and went inside.

Zhang Weiyi sat behind his desk, with three or four cigarette butts in the ashtray in front of him. He didn't usually smoke this much; this amount was unusual.

"sit."

Su Yuan sat down and waited for him to tell him about the incident.

Zhang Weiyi was silent for a while, then took out a file folder from the drawer and pushed it in front of Su Yuan.

"Take a look at this."

Su Yuan opened the file folder, which contained several photos and a printed report.

The photo shows a wall that resembles the Loess Plateau; the lighting is dim, as if it were taken at night. There are several new cracks on the wall, one of which extends from the base to about waist-high!

The report was issued by the Ninth Division and was dated yesterday.

The sign reads: "The wall cracks have expanded by about three centimeters compared to last week, and the seepage rate in the interlayer has accelerated. It is recommended that personnel be arranged to conduct an on-site inspection soon."

Su Yuan put the photos and report back into the file folder and looked up at Zhang Weiyi.

"Director, what do you mean?"

"What I mean is..."

As Zhang Weiyi spoke, he lit another cigarette: "I'm not letting you go alone. Zhao Cheng will go with you, and Gu Yuanhang will also send people."

Su Yuan nodded: "Mm."

Zhang Weiyi took a drag of his cigarette and slowly exhaled: "There's one more thing. Sun Guoliang's car has been found."

Su Yuan quickly sat up straight: "Where did you find it?"

"It's in a village not far from that wall."

Zhang Weiyi flicked the ash into the ashtray and said, "But there was no one in the car, and no blood. His phone, ID, and everything else were in the car, but he's gone."

Su Yuan's mind went blank for a moment, and he quickly asked, "Where is he?"

"I don't know." Zhang Weiyi shook his head.

"The Ninth Bureau's men searched the area but found no clues. It's like he vanished into thin air."

Su Yuan remained silent for a while before asking, "Doesn't he have the 'gap' that Han Zhengming gave him? Can we find him through that?"

Zhang Weiyi glanced at him, his eyes holding something indescribable:

"That rift is gone too. Either it was taken back, or... it dissipated after the backlash. In either case, it means that Sun Guoliang is probably in grave danger."

The office was silent for a few seconds.

Su Yuan couldn't understand it. He touched the jade ring on his finger, and the Spirit-Locking Pearl inside felt warm.

"Director, is there any news from Han Zhengming's side?"

"No, we just arranged for Wang Jianguo to come to our unit and give him a sinecure."

Zhang Weiyi said, "The people in the Ninth Division said that things have been very quiet these past few days. People are going to work as usual, and meetings are being held as scheduled."

"The disciplinary committee's access to his files didn't have any real impact on him; he's still doing what he was doing!"

"Isn't he too quiet...?"

Su Yuan said, and Zhang Weiyi glanced at him and nodded: "Yes, it's too quiet, so we felt something was off..."

It was almost dark when Su Yuan came out of Zhang Weiyi's office. A few muttered words echoed in the corridor:

"Master Su is going into that wall again..."

"Yes, the situation is more serious this time than last time."

"Just watch, as long as Master Su is alright, that's all that matters."

"Um…"

Su Yuan ignored what they were saying and bumped into Zhao Cheng at the stairwell. Seeing Su Yuan's expression, Zhao Cheng asked:

"Did Director Zhang tell you?"

"Um."

"About that wall?"

"And... Sun Guoliang's car."

Su Yuan leaned against the stairwell wall and asked, "Brother Zhao, do you think Sun Guoliang is dead or...?"