Old Harden, can you handle having your vision-shifting abilities on all the time?

Xu Xing didn't aim too high and headed straight for Area B.

The shelves were filled with a dazzling array of porcelain pieces, but they were all incomplete; some had chipped edges, some had broken handles, and some were cracked into several pieces.

The original value on the tags ranged from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands, while the value of the damaged items was only a few thousand to tens of thousands.

He walked slowly, his gaze sweeping over each broken artifact.

Finally, we stopped in front of a mid-Qing dynasty celadon gourd-shaped vase.

The bottle is about 25 centimeters tall, with an elegant shape and warm glaze. Unfortunately, it is broken into three sections from the neck, and there are several cracks on the body.

The label reads "Qing Dynasty, Qianlong Period, Celadon Glazed Gourd Vase," originally estimated at 300,000, now valued at 18,000 and graded B (due to damage).

Xu Xing picked up the label and examined it carefully. Then he carefully picked up the special tray containing the broken porcelain and examined the break and crack conditions.

The break is clean with no missing fragments, the crease is fine and straight without any cracks, and the glaze is well preserved without peeling.

"This one will do."

Chen Ming was somewhat surprised.

Although the damage to this gourd-shaped bottle is not particularly complex, the celadon glaze is difficult to repair, as the glaze color is hard to match and can easily result in color differences after firing.

Many restorers prefer to choose polychrome porcelain with intricate patterns rather than monochrome glaze.

But he didn't say anything, just nodded: "Okay, you can take it after registering."

Xu Xing completed the formalities and carried the tray back to his studio on the 22nd floor.

It was already past 11 a.m., almost lunchtime.

Liu Zhen, Zhao Fang, and Sun Hao all stopped what they were doing and were packing up their tools.

Seeing Xu Xing return carrying a celadon gourd-shaped vase, Liu Zhen glanced at it, twitched his lips, and said nothing.

Zhao Fang took a closer look and said, "Xu Gong chose this one? Celadon glaze is not easy to repair."

"Give it a try."

Xu Xing smiled.

Sun Hao leaned over to look at the broken porcelain on the tray and said, "The break is quite neat and the crack is not complicated. It's just that the glaze ratio is troublesome. The celadon glaze base material here is not very good and tends to be grayish."

Xu Xing nodded and said, "Thank you for the reminder."

"Let's go eat."

Chen Ming greeted them, "The cafeteria is on the 21st floor, and the buffet is pretty good."

The five people took the elevator downstairs.

The cafeteria is large, simply and brightly decorated, and the food pick-up area offers a wide variety of dishes, including four meat dishes, four vegetable dishes, two soups, as well as fruit and yogurt.

It is indeed a self-service system; employees swipe their cards to collect their meals.

Xu Xing got a meal and sat down at an empty table with Chen Ming and the others.

Liu Zhen took a couple of bites and casually asked, "Where did Xu Gong work before, and what did he mainly repair?"

Xu Xing picked up a piece of braised pork and said, "I used to work at the Jingyang County Museum. The museum had all sorts of things—porcelain, bronzes, woodwork, calligraphy and paintings. Whatever came in, we repaired."

"That's quite a talent."

Liu Zhen quipped sarcastically, "We specialize in one area here. Porcelain is divided into several categories, such as blue and white porcelain, polychrome porcelain, monochrome glaze, and pottery. It's not easy for Xu Gong to be so versatile."

Zhao Fang glanced at Xu Xing but didn't say anything.

Sun Hao smoothed things over, saying, "The county museum has limited resources, so it's natural that they have to know a little bit about everything. But since Xu Gong is here, his skills must be pretty good."

Xu Xing smiled at him, but didn't reply and continued eating.

Seeing his reaction, Liu Zhen felt it was pointless and lowered his head to eat his rice.

The atmosphere was somewhat awkward.

I returned to the studio at 1 p.m. after lunch.

Xu Xing didn't rush to repair it. Instead, he carefully spread the broken porcelain from the gourd bottle on the worktable and turned on the high-powered microscope to carefully measure various data.

He first used tools to measure the thickness of each fragment.

The celadon glaze is about 0.3 mm thick, and the body is between 4 and 5 mm thick, with the neck being slightly thinner and the belly being thicker.

Record the data at each location, and then plot the thickness variation curve in a notebook.

Next is the analysis of the fracture morphology.

He aligned the two broken pieces under a microscope to observe their fit. The broken pieces were irregularly serrated, which is a typical characteristic of porcelain fracture.

He used a high-definition camera to photograph the details of the fracture and marked several key interlocking points.

The situation at the finish line is more complicated.

The three lines range in length from 5 to 8 centimeters, with one extending to the cloud pattern on the bottle.

Xu Xing used a fiber optic lamp to shine light from the back to observe the light transmittance of the crack and determine the depth of the crack.

An ultrasonic flaw detector was then used to inspect both sides of the rim to confirm that there were no hidden microcracks.

After completing these basic tests, he began to analyze the glaze color.

Celadon glaze is a famous monochrome glaze of the Qing Dynasty. Its color is between bluish-white and clear, like the warm and subtle sky after rain.

Xu Xing took the celadon glaze base material prepared by Chengxinzhai from the materials area, applied a thin layer to the test piece, and put it into a small electric kiln and set the heating curve.

While waiting for the firing to complete, he consulted the database for data on celadon porcelain from the same period and kiln, comparing parameters such as glaze color, gloss, and transparency.

Half an hour later, the test piece was fired and removed.

Xu Xing compared the glaze under standard light and found that the glaze color of the base material was too gray and lacked saturation, and lacked the clear and transparent feel of celadon glaze.

He frowned and activated his X-ray vision to penetrate the glaze surface for further analysis. Then he took several different metal oxide colorants and remixed the glaze.

This is an extremely meticulous task.

Cobalt oxide can produce a bluish color, but adding too much will turn it black.

Iron oxide can increase the yellow tint, but too much will make it look dirty.

Copper oxide can make the glaze more lustrous, but it is prone to bubbling.

The amount of each colorant added must be precise to the microgram level.

Xu Xing weighed, mixed, and ground the materials, making more than a dozen test pieces with different proportions, and then labeled and placed them into the electric kiln.

This time, instead of letting the electric kiln fire directly, he activated his X-ray vision at a critical moment to see the microscopic changes in the glaze during the firing process, penetrating the surface of the electric kiln and the test pieces.

It was already 4 PM by the time this batch of test pieces was fired.

He selected three formulas that were closest to the original glaze color, and then made a third round of test pieces based on them with minor adjustments.

As dusk settled outside the window, everyone else in the studio had already left work.

As Liu Zhen left, he glanced at Xu Xing, who was still busy, pursed his lips, and left without saying goodbye.

Zhao Fang asked Xu Gong if he wasn't leaving yet, and Sun Haoran also politely said goodbye.

Xu Xing responded and continued working.

The third batch of test pieces was fired at 7 p.m.

After comparison, he found that the glaze color of formula No. 7 was basically the same as the original color. Under standard light source, the color difference was less than ΔE 0.8, and it was difficult to distinguish even with a magnifying glass.

Xu Xing breathed a sigh of relief and wrote down the recipe in his notebook: 100 grams of base material, 0.12 grams of cobalt oxide, 0.08 grams of iron oxide, 0.05 grams of copper oxide, 3 grams of quartz powder, and a firing temperature of 1280 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes.

The recipe is basically like this, but Xu Xing is a perfectionist, so he decided to make some minor adjustments tomorrow and burn a few more test pieces for comparison.

With the glaze issue largely resolved, the next step is to develop a comprehensive repair plan.

Xu Xing opened the 3D modeling software on his computer, input the dimensions of the gourd-shaped bottle, and built a complete model.

Then, the bonding sequence is planned by simulating the fracture and puncture locations on the model.

In the repair of such multi-fractured components, the bonding sequence is crucial.

An incorrect sequence may result in the inability to close the structure properly, or cause stress concentration that could affect its strength.

He simulated several options repeatedly and finally decided to first glue the two largest pieces of the bottle body together, then glue the neck together, and finally finish the rigging.

Each bonding point must be secured with custom-made clamps for at least 24 hours to allow the epoxy resin to fully cure.

The process of finishing the line is more complicated.

For cracks as fine as a hair, a special injection device is needed to infiltrate low-viscosity epoxy resin, followed by local curing with an ultraviolet lamp, and finally surface glazing.

With all the plans finalized, Xu Xing glanced at the time: 8:30 PM.

He saved the file, uploaded it to the cloud, turned off the computer, carefully put the broken porcelain into a shockproof box, and locked it in his personal locker.

He was the only one left in the studio. The overhead light dimmed automatically, and only the shadowless lamp on the worktable was still on, casting a warm halo on the smooth surface.

Xu Xing leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh of relief.

My neck is a little sore but I feel great.

He hadn't experienced this feeling of being completely immersed in his work for a long time.

When I was working at the county museum, restoration was just a job to make a living. The equipment was rudimentary and the budget was tight. Many times, even though we knew there were better ways to handle the situation, we had to make do because of the limitations.

But it's different now.

Here you'll find the most professional equipment, the most complete materials, and the most relaxed environment.

He can work entirely according to his own standards and pace, restoring each piece of porcelain to the best condition within his capabilities.

This is the stage and work attitude a restorer should have.