Restoring cultural relics: Starting with the crying Tang Dynasty figurines

Lost in thought, Su Yuan leaned back in the seat, so tired he could barely lift his eyelids.

Zhao Cheng glanced at him in the rearview mirror, said nothing, and slowed down the car to drive more steadily.

Shen Yue's SUV followed behind, the two vehicles one after the other, heading back along the same road they had come from.

Su Yuan vaguely dreamed of the fog inside the wall, and the huge thing behind the fog. He couldn't see what it was, but he could feel that it was staring at him!

He woke up with a start, his chest pounding.

The bronze mirror was pressed against his chest; its temperature was normal, and A-Wu was quiet inside. Su Yuan touched the mirror through the cloth bag and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Had a nightmare?" Zhao Cheng asked, staring at the road ahead.

"Um."

Su Yuan sat up straight, rubbed his face, and took out his phone to check it. The signal wasn't very good, so he put the phone back in his pocket.

After driving for nearly two hours, we entered the town, and my phone vibrated several times.

Chen Xiaohe sent several messages, the earliest one being: "Have you arrived yet?"

Half an hour later, he sent another message: "How are you?" The latest message was: "Let me know when you get back."

Su Yuan smiled and replied, "You're back. It's nothing."

Less than ten seconds after the message was sent, Chen Xiaohe called.

"Su! You're finally back! Director Zhang asked me three times already!"

"Just arrived in town, going straight to work."

"Okay, okay, I'll wait for you at the door." Chen Xiaohe hung up the phone.

When Zhao Cheng turned the car into the courtyard of the renovation center, Chen Xiaohe was indeed standing at the entrance of the hall, craning his neck to look in their direction.

After the car came to a stop, Su Yuan got out with his toolbox. Chen Xiaohe ran over and looked him up and down. Only after confirming that he was alright did she breathe a sigh of relief!

"You scared me to death! I didn't hear from you all morning, I thought something had happened."

"The signal is bad over there." Su Yuan patted his shoulder. "It's okay, Brother Chen."

Shen Yue arrived in the car and entered the yard. Xiao Meng got out of the passenger seat, nodded to Su Yuan, and didn't say anything. Shen Yue walked over and shook hands with Su Yuan.

"Master Su, you've returned to the unit safely. We'll head back now; we still need to report to Director Zhou and Director Gu."

"Okay, thank you so much for today."

Shen Yue smiled, turned around and got into the car. Xiao Meng followed him. The SUV turned around and drove out of the yard.

Zhao Cheng walked over carrying his bag and looked at Su Yuan: "You go and rest for a while, I'll go and report to Director Zhang."

"It's okay, I'll go with you."

Zhao Cheng glanced at him and nodded.

The two went upstairs. Zhang Weiyi's office door was open, and he was sitting behind his desk smoking. There were already several cigarette butts in the ashtray in front of him.

Seeing Su Yuan and Zhao Cheng come in, he stubbed out his cigarette and pointed to the chair.

"Sit down. How is it?"

Zhao Cheng took out his phone, pulled up several photos he had taken of the sealed area, and handed them to Zhang Weiyi.

As Zhang Weiyi flipped through the photos, his initially worried expression gradually eased:

"Is it sealed off?"

"Yes, it's sealed off."

Zhao Cheng glanced at Su Yuan: "Little Su is leading the sealing efforts, with Shen Yue and Xiao Meng assisting. The fluctuation value has now dropped to three percent, the cracks have closed, and the walls are no longer shaking."

Zhang Weiyi smiled and handed the phone back to Zhao Cheng, then looked at Su Yuan: "How are you?"

"It's alright, just a bit exhausted."

Su Yuan touched the jade ring on his hand: "The ring's power has been used up quite a bit; it feels cool to the touch now, whereas it used to be warm."

"That's natural."

Zhang Weiyi took out an unopened pack of cigarettes from the drawer, opened it, took out one, and lit it:

"Jade rings are not infinitely powered; they need to be maintained after prolonged use. If you wear them regularly, they will gradually recover their power."

Su Yuan nodded.

Zhang Weiyi took a drag of his cigarette, remained silent for about ten seconds, and then said:

"Sun Guoliang's car has been found, as you all know. When you went to seal off the wall today, did you notice anything unusual?"

Su Yuan and Zhao Cheng exchanged a glance.

"Nothing was found."

Zhao Cheng said, "We checked the rubble at the base of the wall, and there were no fresh footprints or tire tracks, so it's likely that no one has been there."

"That's good."

Zhang Weiyi flicked his cigarette ash and said, "But we can't let our guard down. It's too quiet on Han Zhengming's end."

Remembering what Zhong Ming had said, Su Yuan hesitated for a moment before speaking up: "Director, there's something I need to tell you."

"Speak."

"Jiang Weiguo met Han Zhengming in the provincial capital; it was Zhong Lao who saw him in the bronze mirror."

Zhang Weiyi frowned, and asked, with a cigarette between his fingers:

Are you sure?

"Um."

Zhang Weiyi stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, stood up, walked to the window, and stood with his back to Su Yuan and Zhao Cheng for a while.

"I understand about this. Don't make a fuss about it yet. I'll contact Director Zhou about the Ninth Division."

Su Yuan and Zhao Cheng stood up, and as they walked to the door, Zhang Weiyi said again:

"Xiao Su, you've worked hard today. Go home and get some rest. You can go to work as usual tomorrow."

"Um."

Su Yuan left the office, and Zhao Cheng patted him on the shoulder before returning to his own office. Su Yuan, carrying his tools, saw Lin Xi standing at one end of the corridor.

She saw Su Yuan, hesitated for a moment, and then walked over.

"You're back?"

"Um."

"Are you alright?"

"fine."

Lin Xi looked at him, then at the toolbox in his hand, wanting to say more, but in the end only said one sentence:

"Then you should get some rest."

After saying that, she turned and left. Su Yuan watched her retreating figure and sighed.

Back in the dormitory, I put the toolbox away, took the bronze mirror off my neck, and placed it on the bedside table to look at.

Awu's humanoid silhouette has emerged, though it's a bit fainter than before; you can barely make out her head, body, and arms.

"Awu, you must be exhausted today."

The humanoid figure of light and shadow moved slightly and waved its small hand.

Su Yuan smiled, washed up, and went back to bed. His phone vibrated; it was a message from Zhou Peiyuan.

"Xiao Su, Zhao Cheng told me about today's situation. You did a great job. Remember to get some rest."

Su Yuan replied with an "okay," put his phone next to his pillow, turned over, and looked at A Wu in the bronze mirror.

"Awu..." The humanoid figure nodded.

"You should get some rest too, I won't bother you anymore."

The light and shadow nodded again and slowly disappeared. Su Yuan closed his eyes, and the fog in the wall and that enormous thing reappeared in his mind…

The next morning, Su Yuan was woken up by a phone call from Chen Xiaohe.

"Su! Get up! Aunt Li made meat buns, they'll all be gone if you don't get up soon, come straight to work!"

Su Yuan rubbed his eyes, glanced at his phone, and saw it was 7:30. He quickly got up, washed up, changed his clothes, and went out.

When I got to the second floor of the office building, I saw Chen Xiaohe standing in the corridor, holding two steamed buns in his hand and chewing on the ones he hadn't finished eating.

"Hurry up, hurry up! Today's steamed buns are limited to one per person, but I got two for you because I arrived early."

Su Yuan smiled as he took the bun, took a bite, and found it was filled with pork and scallions. Li Xiulan's cooking skills were impeccable.

The two ate as they walked downstairs. When they arrived at the cafeteria, Li Xiulan saw Su Yuan and served him another bowl of millet porridge.

"Xiao Su, did you go out again yesterday? Eat more."

"Thank you, Aunt Li."

Su Yuan sat down with his bowl of porridge. Zhao Cheng and Qian Weidong had already eaten half of their meal. Qian Weidong looked at Su Yuan and asked, "..."

"Have you used the items yet?"